Posted by Charles Mafa on Thursday, October 10, 2013,
In :
Health
Zambia is drinking itself into a coma
By Charles Mafa It
is estimated that one in every five people in Zambia is living with some form
of mental illness.
This
astonishing figure was first revealed back in 2005 when the World Health
Organisation (WHO) estimated the prevalence of mental disorders to be at 20% of the population.
They went
further and said that 6% to 10% of Zambians have severe mental disorders that
need hospital care.
There has
been no statistical analysis of the prevalenc... Continue reading ...
The flood of second car imports: Good news & bad
Posted by Charles Mafa on Friday, October 4, 2013,
In :
Commerce
By
Charles Mafa
Last year, 66,000 secondhand vehicles were imported into
Zambia, mostly from Japan. That averages out at 180 used vehicles coming into
the country each and every day. These cars and trucks then add to the estimated
total of more than 427,000 vehicles already here – and that figure does not
include the thousands of vehicles registered as belonging to government.
In Japan, thousands of used vehicles constantly become
available for re-sale because of a strict and very hi... Continue reading ...
Medardo Cardinal Mazombwe dies at 81
Posted by Charles Mafa on Friday, August 30, 2013,
In :
Religion
We all know that some
day we are destined to die. Yet when the cold hand of death visits us, the
shock in us all is palpable. I can’t help but provide some reflections on the
death of Zambia’s first indigenous Cardinal, Medardo Joseph Mazombwe. The
country has been robbed of a much loved son of the land, the man who preached
the word of God to all of us and stood for justice.
I want to take you
back to 2010 when in the company of other Zambians, I travelled to Vatican in Rome,
Italy to ... Continue reading ...
Chief Mukuni, Zambia and Zimbabwe must work in tandem for tourism
Posted by Charles Mafa on Tuesday, August 20, 2013,
In :
Tourism
Snr Chief Mukuni
As Livingstone city gears up to host the United Nations
World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly this August, one man who
has been keeping a keen eye on the preparations is Chief Mukuni of the Leya people
in Kazungula District. This event is important to the traditional leader
because it is being hosted in his chiefdom.
Speaking to the B
& R at his Mukuni Palace, 7 kilometres east of the Victoria Falls, the
chief said: “In terms of preparations, we are on course... Continue reading ...
Sex workers cruise to UN Indaba in Livingstone
Posted by Charles Mafa on Monday, August 19, 2013,
In :
Health
Along the highway that winds to Livingstone, sex
workers are cruising. They are converging on the town from all points within
Zambia and from across the borders, heading for the hoped-for rich pickings to
come from the delegates, staff and others in town for the UN indaba on tourism
later in the month.
Already, as night falls in Livingstone, the
girls teetering on high heels totter down the street in their mini-skirts with
their jackets slipping provocatively off their shoulders. Perhaps ... Continue reading ...
‘Dilapidated, insufficient, worn out’ The state of our trades training schools'
Posted by Charles Mafa on Wednesday, July 24, 2013,
In :
Education
There is an argument that under-utilisation
of human capital – which could be described as a lack of job skills -- is
perhaps the biggest single factor contributing to Zambia’s lack of development.
Without it, all other resources such as capital, land and nature are of little
use. People have to be trained in the techniques and skills to do their jobs,
but in the area of technical and vocational training it all comes unstuck. Charles Mafa reports.
The importance of technical and vocati... Continue reading ...
The Lion from Mbole Village - A profile of Daniel Munkombwe
Posted by Charles Mafa on Monday, June 17, 2013,
In :
Politics
By
Charles Mafa
Daniel Munkombwe defies categorization. He has been called a radical, lion or even
someone “from the archives”. Whatever name you may choose to call him, he is a
man of all seasons. He has worked with both the UNIP and MMD governments, and
now at 81, people may have thought there might be no role for him in modern
politics. They were wrong. His nomination
as Member of Parliament and subsequent appointed as Southern Province Minister
by President Michael Sata, proved h... Continue reading ...
Scruffy Livingstone scrubs up for UN Indaba
Posted by Charles Mafa on Thursday, May 9, 2013,
In :
Tourism
By
Charles Mafa
Livingstone is scrambling to have all promised facilities in
place in time for the much – heralded general assembly of the United Nations
World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), scheduled for August.
The conference which is being co-hosted by Zambia and
Zimbabwe in both Livingstone and the town of Victoria Falls across the border
is the principle gathering of the UNWTO, which meets every two years to
consider its budget and programme.
Zambia and Zimbabwe won the right to ... Continue reading ...
UNZA fails the grade
Posted by Charles Mafa on Monday, December 31, 2012,
In :
Education
Mired in debt estimated to
be at least K1 trillion, Zambia’s bastion of higher education, UNZA, appears to
be crumbling under the burden of poor funding, low staff numbers, inadequate
facilities and an out-of-date curriculum. Charles Mafa investigates
Picture the scene. A poor boy from the rural area works hard at his local school, passes his exams with flying colours, then comes to Lusaka for the first time to get a degree, only to find a crumbling university education system and nowher... Continue reading ...
School in the community
Posted by Charles Mafa on Thursday, October 4, 2012,
In :
Education
From the centre of Lusaka, it takes 20 minutes by
car to reach Linda Compound on the southern side of Zambia’s capital city.
Heavy traffic and giant potholes make it hard-going and the closer to the
compound the worse the road becomes, eventually deteriorating into little more
than a bumpy pass.
A township-cum-settlement is home to more than
18,000 people, most of whom are unemployed.
It is here where you will find Linda Open Community
School, which provides education to more than 1,600... Continue reading ...
The Good, the Bad and the Chinese
Posted by Charles Mafa on Thursday, October 4, 2012,
In :
Commerce
China’s voracious appetite for natural resources
has driven a boom of investments and aid to African countries. In the Southern
African country of Zambia, Chinese companies are building roads, hospitals,
sports stadia as well as reviving copper mines abandoned in the country’s
Copperbelt region.
The Chinese have also chosen Zambia as the place to
set up its first out of five free trade zones in Africa. The Chambishi
multi-facility economic zone on the Copperbelt is anchored by a 200 m... Continue reading ...
Liberation City for Africa
Posted by Charles Mafa on Thursday, October 4, 2012,
In :
History
The South
African envoy has observed that Zambia’s contribution to the emancipation of
southern Africa makes the country ideal for the creation of a city to be a
“symbol of the liberation” in Africa.
Moses
Chikane said that he has been assigned by President Jacob Zuma to come up with
a “token of appreciation” for Zambia’s role in liberating southern Africa and
South Africa in particular. Chikane said Zambia was “the nerve centre of the
liberation movements” in Southern Afr... Continue reading ...
19-year wait for closure
Posted by Charles Mafa on Thursday, October 4, 2012,
In :
Sport
Nineteen years after the plane crash in
which the entire Zambian football squad was killed, the Zambian government has
yet to release the full official report of the inquiry into the disaster.
And as next week’s anniversary of the
1993 crash looms, a relative of one the dead players has called on the
government to come clean.
Michael Chanda, the elder brother of
former Zambian forward Kelvin Mutale, said that although the report will not
bring back his brother, it might prompt the autho... Continue reading ...
Fugitive Banda son in SA
Posted by Charles Mafa on Thursday, October 4, 2012,
In :
Corruption
The fugitive son of Rupiah Banda, Zambia’s
fourth president, has permanent residence in South Africa where he enjoys
business connections despite being on the police wanted list in his home country.
The Zambian former president
revealed to the Mail and Guardian that his son Henry has permanent residence in
South Africa and that he is a “successful businessman who has a highly regarded
business career.”
“It is well known that my son Henry
has permanent residence in South Afri... Continue reading ...
Former first son can't go home
Posted by Charles Mafa on Thursday, October 4, 2012,
In :
Corruption
The son of former Zambian
president, Rupiah Banda this week told the Mail & Guardian that he could
not return to Zambia because there was “reliable inside information that he is
a marked man”.
Henry Banda is wanted by the
Zambian authorities in connection with his alleged involvement in corrupt
government deals when his father was president. The Zambian police told the Mail
and Guardian that they have not made public the charges against Banda
because he has not appeared before them.
B... Continue reading ...
French Engeneering giant fined for bribery
Posted by Charles Mafa on Thursday, October 4, 2012,
In :
Corruption
By
Charles Mafa and Lionel Faull
The
World Bank has slapped a hefty $9.5 million fine on the Alstom Corporation; a
major French engineering company involved in the South African nuclear
industry, and blacklisted two of its subsidiaries, after it admitted to bribing
a senior Zambian government official.
The corporation was also fined by Swiss authorities last year after
being implicated in bribery scandals in three other countries.
The Zambian fine was imposed after Alstom admitted ... Continue reading ...
Zambian VIPs choose SA doctors
Posted by Charles Mafa on Thursday, October 4, 2012,
In :
Health
Zambian leaders, including
current president Michael Sata, have flocked to South Africa for medical
treatment at government expense, prompting a complaint by a leading NGO that
“they have no confidence in their own healthcare system”.
This week, a Zambian medical
doctor who has immigrated to New Zealand this week blamed the lack of
government investment in the state health sector for the skills drain and the
worsening crisis in the country’s health services.
Contacted in Christchurc... Continue reading ...
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