A delayed peacekeeping operation in Lesotho is set for an official deployment launch on Saturday, according to the Southern African Development Community. The SADC said forces from neighboring countries continued to arrive head of the deadline, which was originally set for November 1 but changes to the mission, including the…
The United States said Friday it was postponing a decision on importing African elephant-hunt trophies, following a global outcry from wildlife and environmental activists. President Donald Trump said he was putting the big game trophy decision affecting Zambia and Zimbabwe on hold until all the conservation facts had been reviewed….
Beginning on Friday, the United States will reverse its ban on importing elephant-hunt trophies from Zambia and Zimbabwe, while keeping the Tanzania ban in place and under review. It’s a move that’s sparking outrage from wildlife and environmental activists, who question the reversal by President Donald Trump’s administration of a…
Zambia’s commitment to economic development through agribusiness has a dark side, and it’s bringing hardship to rural communities and smallholders who are forced from land where they have lived and farmed for decades. That’s according to a new Human Rights Watch report based on interviews with more than 130 affected…
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says alarm is ever-growing over extreme violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the number of refugees now fleeing into neighboring Zambia. Some 3,360 refugees poured across the border in September, more than doubling the total number who have sought safety…
Zambian opposition politician Hakainde Hichilema is expected at the Lusaka High Court on Monday, his United Party for National Development (UPND) announced on Sunday amid reports that treason charges against Hichilema will be dropped. Hichilema, the UPND presidential candidate who ran unsuccessfully against President Edgar Lungu last year, was arrested…
Back in April, Zambian opposition politician Saviour Chishimba said he feared for his life and had gone into hiding. The United Progressive People (UPP) leader had evaded armed men he said were state operatives, who broke into his home to steal laptops and documents relating to corruption cases that Chishimba…
More than half of all people living with the HIV virus now have access to treatment, while AIDS-related deaths have nearly been cut in half since 2005, the United Nations said in a new report. “Communities and families are thriving as AIDS is being pushed back,” said Michel Sidibé of…
There is no escape, really, from the realization that the incremental encroachments on Zambia’s democratic freedoms have now moved the country into a frightening moment. Word that President Edgar Lungu is to declare a national state of emergency appears to mark a new phase of political power for a president…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Four dozen members of Zambia’s political opposition party currently holding seats in parliament were suspended on Tuesday – effective immediately – for boycotting President Edgar Lungu’s address to parliament back in March. The 48 MPs, all members of the United Party for National Development (UPND), were suspended for 30 days and…
Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, where he is expected to face treason charges after being accused of blocking a presidential motorcade, according to legal counsel. Hichilema, a prominent businessman and leader in the United Party for National Development (UPND), was arrested Monday night during…
An aftershock earthquake that measured 5.0 magnitude on the Richter scale hit Botswana shortly before 3 a.m. Wednesday morning, according to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC). The United States Geological Survey (USGS) also measured the quake at a 5.0 magnitude, with an epicenter in the same location as Monday night’s…
The strong earthquake that hit Botswana on Monday night registered at a 6.5 magnitude on the Richter scale, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The quake struck shortly before 8 p.m. near Moiyabana in the rural east-central Ghanzi region of the country. The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC)…
The International Criminal Court based in The Hague has warned that violent killings and related human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo may meet criteria that fall within its legal mission. Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, a native of The Gambia, expressed concern over developments in DR Congo, particularly in…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
The Zambian government plans to crack down on “fake churches” and religious leaders that are taking advantage of struggling citizens, a move that is welcomed by the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ). The CCZ recently appealed to the Ministry of Home Affairs to strictly enforce provisions of the country’s…