Judgment to either send Frederick Chiluba to jail or set him free deferred to next Monday, August 17.

By John Chola - 14/08/09
Judgment to either jail or set Zambia's former President Frederick Chiluba to freedom has been deferred to next week Monday, August 17.

Former President of Zambia Frederick Chiluba was this morning supposed to receive judgment in a case he is accused of stealing public funds amounting to US$ 500,000.

Seven years ago Chiluba's successor late President Levy Mwanawasa asked Parliament to remove his immunity for him to be prosecuted on corruption allegations while he served as republican President.

Chiluba ruled Zambia from 1991 to 2001.

Chiluba was forced to leave office in 2001 after a failed attempt to rule for a third five-year term of office.

The Constitution of Zambia only allows a president to rule for a maximum of two five-year terms of office.

Chiluba’s theft and corruption cases have dragged on for years because of his poor health.

Chiluba has been frequenting South Africa for medication because of a heart problem.

Chiluba is jointly charged with two directors of a defunct privately owned financial services company for theft of public funds amounting to US$500,000.

Chiluba is facing counts of theft by public servant, contrary to Sections 272 and 277 of the penal code, Cap 87 of the Laws of Zambia.

In his defense before a High Court registrar Chiluba argues that the National Assembly was clear when it stated that he would only be amenable to the court’s jurisdiction in respect of acts done in his personal capacity while he held presidential office.

Chiluba states that the charges brought against him for acts or offenses allegedly committed while acting in his official capacity are legally incompetent as he is not amenable to criminal jurisdiction of any court in Zambia.

He states that Zambia prides herself in upholding the old tenets of justise and that this is one of the cases where the prosecution has failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.

Chiluba did file the submission and it now remains to be seen whether his defence has satisfied the court or not for him to either walk out as a free man or go to prison as a convict.

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Zimbabwe must re-enter the Commonwealth family demands Kaunda and Malcolm Fraser.

By John Chola - 13/08/09

Former President of Zambia Kenneth Kaunda and former Prime Minster of Australia Malcolm Fraser wants Zimbabwe welcomed back into the Commonwealth family.

The two former leaders have urged the Commonwealth to engage proactively with the new Zimbabwean government.

The two were speaking at a Commonwealth summit in Lusaka.

Fraser has described Zimbabwe as one of the Commonwealth’s greatest successes as well as its greatest failures.

Dr. Kaunda said that the road to recovery that the world is now witnessing in Zimbabwe shows that she belongs to the Commonwealth.

Kaunda and Fraser have told the Royal Commonwealth Society that the Commonwealth can achieve great things if only leaders can make better use of it and take it seriously as a forum to enact change.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) took place in Lusaka 30 years ago this week in August 1979.

The Summit paved the way for Rhodesian independence.

The Summit is viewed as a turning point in the history of southern Africa and a defining moment in the life of the Commonwealth.

It was after a two day retreat at the historic meeting that leaders emerged with a commitment to genuine majority rule in Rhodesia and a promise from British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, to hold a London conference – Lancaster House – that led to Zimbabwean independence in 1980.

The Lusaka Declaration on Racism and Racial Prejudice was a clarion call to equality, and remains a fundamental Commonwealth document today.

Fraser was Prime Minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983.

Dr. Kaunda was President of Zambia from 1964 to 1991.

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UN wants more women police into its peacekeeping operations

By John Chola - 12/08/09

The United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations is launching a global effort to recruit more women police into its peacekeeping operations.

The move is part of the campaign launched in May 2009 entitled “Power to Empower” that aims to move the ranks of the world body towards gender equity.

According to Marie-Evelyne Petrus-Barry, United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Director the recruitment push was centered on increasing the representation of female police officers in peacekeeping operations, while at the same time encouraging national training programmes to support women to join national police services.

Ms. Petrus-Barry said the goal was to have UN Member States raise the number of female police officers serving in peacekeeping missions to 20 per cent by 2014, up from its current number of eight per cent.

The UNIC Director said currently, there were 11,000 UN police officers working in 17 peacekeeping missions around the world instead of 15,000 the Organization was mandated to have.

“We need more female police as soon as we can get them,” said Andrew Hughes, the UN Police Adviser.
“There has been some progress when I commenced in this role in 2007, 6 per cent of the 8,000 police deployed were women, but this progress is not enough, we must accelerate this upward trend,” added Hughes.

UN police perform a vital role in creating trust and upholding law and order.
The UN police help civil societies in countries of operation rebuild following conflicts and they also play an essential role of training and coaching national police services in these situations.

In addition to regular policing duties, female officers bring a much-needed, extra dimension to the role.

“By having more women officers deployed in peacekeeping missions, they inspire more women to join their local police services, and this in turn will in the future give contributing countries a larger base from which to recruit officers,” said Ann-Marie Orler, the UN Deputy Police Adviser.

She added that frequently women and children were more comfortable reporting their experiences to female officers, and the fact that a woman is the authority could be empowering to women and girls.

Mr. Hughes. Said: “When the shooting stops, law and order is what brings security back to civilians, and often the most traumatized in a post-conflict society are women and children. Greater representation of women creates trust and boosts confidence for communities recovering from conflict, and helps the UN police to take into account all the needs of those societies.”

Women serving in UN peace operations were represented at every level, and deployed in whole units for example, in Liberia there is an all-female Formed Police Unit or individually.

Mr. Hughes stresses that the UN was committed to increasing the number of women and would actively seek to recruit female police officers, particularly at a senior level, in order to address the gender disparity.

He said the UN strongly encourages countries which contributes police to the UN also known as police-contributing countries, or PCCs to establish a policy that sets the percentage of their contribution of female police officers at par with their national police gender ratio.

The countries were also encouraged to review their recruitment requirements and procedures for international deployment to ensure that female candidates are not restricted from applying.

Contributing countries are also asked to consider providing incentives for officers who serve in peacekeeping missions.

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Summit on insecurity in DRC coming.

By John Chola – 11/08/09

Leaders from the Great Lakes region will soon hold a special summit on fostering peace in DRC.

The special summit will also provide an opportunity to United Nations envoys former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanja and former president of Tanzania Benjemin Mkapa can brief the leaders on the security situation in the war-torn country.

This is according to a communiqué issued at the end of a one-day summit in Lusaka last evening.

The leaders have also supported the efforts made by General Obasanja and Mr. Mkapa.

The special summit, which will be held in the DRC will also discuss joint military operations against the LRA, by the Central African Republic, DRC, Sudan and Uganda.

The just ended Summit in Lusaka was attended by presidents Rupiah Banda, Kenya’s Mwai Kibaki, Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and Yoweri Museveni of Tanzania among others.

The Heads of state have supported calls made by General Obasanjo and Mr Mkapa for donors to hold a pledging conference on security sector reform in the DRC.

Some of the leaders who attended the Lusaka summit were Burundi’s vice-president, Yves Sahinguvu, Central African Republic Prime Minister, Faustin Toundera and ministers from Angola, Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Sudan.

The regional leaders have bemoaned that the FDLR, Interahamwe and LRA remain the root cause of insecurity in eastern DRC, Central African Republic, Rwanda Sudan, Uganda and the region.

Meanwhile, donors have pledged support for well-designed programmes and focused proposals aimed at fighting the illegal mineral trade, gender-based violence and the region.

Netherlands Ambassador to Zambia, Harry Molenaar said during the opening of the summit that his country and other friends of the Great Lakes region are ready to help the region get back on the path to development.

At the same occasion, European Commission (EC) head of delegation, Derek Fee said the bloc will support efforts aimed at eliminating the illegal exploitation of resources in central Africa.

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Kenya’s Mwai Kibaki appeals to the world to help stop fighting in Somali and piracy.

By John Chola – 11/08/09

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has made a passionate appeal to the international community to get more involved in stopping the fighting in Somalia.

Mr. Kibaki has also urged the international community to help fight the problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

Mr. Kibaki said in Lusaka yesterday that a serious security situation still prevail in Somalia and related to it is the piracy problem.

Mr. Kibaki says the fighting in Somali and the problem of piracy are a matter of international concern and have continued to impact negatively on the regional and international trade.

He says the insecurity problem in the horn of Africa possess a great danger to the environment.

Piracy attacks around the world more than doubled to 240 from 114 during the first six months of this year compared with the same period in 2008.

This is according to a report of the ICC International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB) released in July.

Mr. Kibaki says a look at the human development shows a region faced with the most serious challenges of poverty, hunger, disease and environmental degradation.

He says almost all the problems faced by the horn of Africa are as a result of conflicts.

Mr. Kibaki was in Zambia to attend the third summit of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).

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Summit on insecurity in the Great Lakes Region has opened in Lusaka today ,,,. as leaders hope for long lasting solutions

By John Chola – 10/08/09
Leaders of countries making up the Great Lakes Region are optimistic that the Third Summit of heads of state and government which has opened in Zambia today will find a solution to the political instability in their area.

About 20 leaders including those from Congo DR, Central African Republic, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya are in Zambia for the Third Summit.

Former Nigerian President and now UN Secretary General special Envoy Olusegun Obasanjo and his counterpart former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa are also attending the summit.

Mr Obasanjo and Mr Mkapa will present their report on the situation between DRC and Rwanda and the entire Eastern DRC.

The leaders say they hope to use the third Summit in Lusaka to resolve security and other development issues in the area.

The leaders say the summit is an important forum for leaders to discuss security and development related matters affecting the region.

Central African Republic Prime Minister Faustin-Archange Touader has told this Journalist – Zambia Blog in Zambia that as leaders of the Great Lakes Region they are worried at the insecurity in the area.

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