The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Zambia

  • Big Brother Hotshots: Nigeria’s Tayo, others for eviction…as two housemates get the boot

    Big Brother Hotshots: Nigeria’s Tayo, others for eviction…as two housemates get the boot

    After one-week of seeming familiarity among housemates, tension heightened, Sunday night, in the ongoing Big Brother Africa reality show tagged ‘Hotshots Edition’, after two housemates were evicted, leaving their cronies in tears.

    Such is the reality of the show, which has staked $300, 000 prize money on the would-be winner, following normal, but constructive backstabbing that will see many facing evictions until the last man standing.

    There was palpable silence as 12 housemates were asked to stand during the eviction on Sunday night. And as the first ‘hammer’ landed on Resa, a contestant from Zambia, her friend, Sipe, wept profusely.  While Resa felt unperturbed as she was asked to leave the house before joining the show host, IK, on the live stage for her interview, another female housemate, Esther, shouted: “I love you Resa.”  Although the evictee, with a wry smile, told IK that she was at peace with the turnout of events, she said she would miss Sipe the most.

    The second evictee, Mira, is the first to be associated with romance in the house. The Mozambican lady, who was initially thought to be shy, surprised many when she kissed Luis and Nhlanhla during the party on Friday. The scandal soon passed, as it was blamed on alcohol. Mira came to the ‘limelight’ again when her name was announced as second evictee. She lunged into Luis’ arms for the last embrace, kissing him, as the bespectacled young man cried and was comforted by Idris and Sipe.

    Hardly had the 24 remaining housemates retained their breathe from the eviction scare than Big Brother, the unseen lord of the game, invited them to the diary room for secret nomination for next week evictions. Called in alphabetical order, each housemate must nominate two others from the Green team, the group that had lost the Extravaganza contest the previous day. The team of 13 had the two Nigerian housemates, Tayo and Lilian, as members.

  • Zambia land policy reform efforts gather steam

    Joan Kagwanja, Head, Land Policy Initiative (LPI), said over the weekend in Lusaka that the Zambia’s efforts in land policy reform had gathered steam with the support of many stakeholders.

    He said the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the Land Policy Initiative (LPI), a joint undertaking of the African Union Commission, African Development Bank (AfDB) are giving needed support to the reform.

    Kagwanja said to reach a common understanding of the land policy reform process, government would host a stakeholders meeting on Jan. 24 in Lusaka, in partnership with the stakeholders.

    PANA reports that Zambian government has identified priority areas of reform or improvements, which include computerisation of land records and land information systems.

    The head said the meeting would be attended by representatives of the government, private sector, civil society and research and academia as well as development partners.

    He said LPI would facilitate the participation of land policy experts to support Zambia’s efforts to review its land policy, drawing lessons and best practice from other African countries which experienced success in this regard.

    Kagwanja said that there would be multi-stakeholder consultations and engagement throughout the policy development process, in accordance with the AU framework.

    He said it would also include guidelines on land policy in Africa, and consider views and roles of all stakeholders in the land sector and, in particular, indigenous institutions, the land using public and civil society organisations.

    Kagwanja said government wished to see a new land policy developed and finalised soon, to provide an appropriate framework for governing and managing land, especially customary land that constituted almost 90 percent of Zambia’s land.

     

  • Ethiopia may face Zambia for Eagles

    Ethiopia may face Zambia for Eagles

    Ethiopia may face Zambia in a warm-up match ahead of a 2014 World Cup playoff against Nigeria after they could not secure Ghana or Cameroon.

    The Walya Antelopes welcome the Super Eagles on October 13 in the first leg clash for a place at next year’s World Cup in Brazil.

    Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) vice-chairman Teka Asfaw told a local radio station ShegerSport Radio that Ghana and Cameroon have rejected a warm-up against Ethiopia.

    He said Ghana and Cameroon told EFF that their foreign-based players’ late arrival was the main reason for turning down Ethiopia’s request for a friendly.

    The only chance remains for friendly match to the Walya’s seems to be with Zambia which the Zambian officials had confirmed their willingness to be in Addis Ababa as soon as their team returned from a similar friendly overseas.

    The East Africans had also proposed to Egypt, but the seven-time African champions insisted the game be played in Cairo, which officials turned down as their qualifier against Nigeria is at home.

    Ethiopian Football Federation vice Chairman Teka Asfaw also disclosed that the key players Shemelse Bekele,Addis Hintsa and Getanhe Kebede will be join the rest of the squad in Addis Ababa this weekend.

  • AfDB eyes $1.5b bonds

    AfDB eyes $1.5b bonds

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) is planning to raise $1.5 billion in local-currency bonds in Nigeria and Zambia to finance infrastructure projects.

    This became exigent as emerging-market bond yields rise on speculation the Federal Reserve will reduce economic stimulus.

    The AfDB, which gives money to African governments for projects in areas, such as roads, ports and energy, is completing the planned size of the medium-term note programmes and is in talks with authorities in the two countries, Olivier Eweck, financial technical services manager in the bank’s treasury department, said in a statement.

    “Before the end of the month we would have made up our minds on the numbers,” he said.

    The Nigerian issues may be worth as much as $1 billion and the Zambian debt may reach the kwacha equivalent of $500 million,” he said.

     

  • Lessons from Zambia’s iconoclasts

    Lessons from Zambia’s iconoclasts

    Nigeria sees itself as big, strong and free, but it still has a lot to learn from other African countries, particularly from the iconoclasts of Zambia. To Zambians, there is no one too high or mighty to be questioned or brought to trial, not even their presidents. The immediate past president, Rupiah Banda, was on Monday arrested by the police and charged in court on Tuesday for corruptly enriching himself through an oil deal with Nigerians in which he was said to have siphoned $11m through his son, Henry’s bank account. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and alleged that he was being persecuted by his political enemies, notably President Michael Sata.

    With the exception of former President Levy Mwanawasa who died in office at the age of 60, no Zambia president has escaped prosecution. The first president of Zambia and author of Zambia Shall Be Free (1963), Kenneth Kaunda, was tried for being a foreigner (Malawian) and not qualified to stand for the 1996 presidential election. In 1999, a Zambian High Court eventually declared Kaunda stateless, even though he ruled Zambia between 1964 and 1991. The author of his distress was of course his opponent in the 1991 election, Frederick Chiluba, who caused the constitution to be amended to preclude foreigners from standing for elections.

    But Chiluba himself was tried for corruption after he left office. Accused of embezzling $500,000, Zambia spent about $13m to prosecute him, a cost Banda would later describe as obscene and irrational. Chiluba’s trial, which took place under the presidency of Mwanawasa, his mentor, further cemented Zambian iconoclasm by proving that no one in Zambia was above the law. Though Chiluba was acquitted of the charges in 2009, a London Court, however, found him guilty in 2007 of laundering stolen money estimated at $40m.

    The prosecution of Zambia’s ex-presidents evoked images of a game of musical chairs in a quaint way. While Banda prosecuted Chiluba for corruption, he was to take his turn on the ‘guillotine’ early this week when his successor, Sata, began prosecuting him for corruption. The cumulative effect of these prosecutions was that in 2010, the World Bank described Zambia as “…one of the world’s fastest economically reformed countries.” Politically too, the country has enjoyed pluralism for more than four decades, with no military hiatus. The country has been ruled by at least three political parties since independence. First was Kaunda’s socialist United National Independence Party (UNIP), followed by Frederick Chiluba’s social-democratic Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMPD), and then the Patriotic Front (PF) of the current president, Michael Chilufya Sata.

    Since 1960 when Nigeria gained independence, no president or military ruler has ever been prosecuted for corruption. Indeed, the culture of lifelong immunity for past leaders seems to have been adopted. That culture has in turn bred impunity, encouraged civil dictatorship, and may very well engender fascism if care is not taken. This was why the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) swore after the 2011 polls to stay in office for the next six decades. And this was why in 2005 Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, while still president, unethically and unscrupulously raised almost N5bn for his presidential library. This was also why on March 16, President Goodluck Jonathan felt no qualms organising a fundraiser for his church back in his village, and raising about N6bn. Considering the appalling behaviour of the two Nigerian presidents, Zambia has shown better judgement, more restraint, and higher degree of morality.

    Zambia may be a country of a little over 14 million people with a nominal GDP of about $19.206bn, compared with Nigeria’s 160 million people and a nominal GDP of $238.920bn, but the former has demonstrated more sanity and maturity in its 49 years of independence than the latter in its 53 years of independence. Zambia’s iconoclasts show that sometimes, small may indeed be beautiful, and that foolishness is no respecter of size or delusion of grandeur.

     

  • Ex-Zambian president arrested over Nigerian oil deal

    Ex-Zambian president arrested over Nigerian oil deal

    Zambia has arrested former President Rupiah Banda for abuse of authority over a Nigerian oil deal, a spokeswoman for the government’s investigative team said on Monday.

    Reuters says Banda last week appeared before an official panel to answer allegations of corruption during his three years in charge of Africa’s biggest copper producer.

     

  • Mixed reactions trail Egyptian referee’s sack

    Mixed reactions trail Egyptian referee’s sack

    Football fans have expressed mixed reactions to the sack of Egyptian Referee, Ghead Grisha, who officiated in the Nigeria match against Zambia at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations South Africa.

    The Confederation of Africa Football sacked the referee on Sunday following the award of a dubious penalty to Zambia for a foul the Eagles committed outside the 18-yard box during Friday’s match.

    The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that the Super Eagles played a 1-1 draw with the Chipolopolo of Zambia in the group C match played at Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit.

    Some fans told NAN that they were glad over the referee’s sack, while others regarded it as harsh, saying that he could have been given a two-match ban.

    Dr. Hammed Odeyemi, a football instructor at the National Institute of Sports, Lagos welcomed the development, saying the decision would serve as a deterrent to referees who are partial judges.

    “With this development, referees in Africa will check their excesses and measure up to the international standards. Of course, the sack is a wakeup call to referees to be cautious in their decisions.

    “It will also give a good image to African football in the world,’’ he said.

    Odeyemi urged African referees to go for more courses and be careful in their judgments on the pitch, to reposition African football and in international soccer competitions.

    A lawyer, Adewale Akande, said the referee deserved the punishment, adding that there was no excuse for ignorance in law.

    “The sacking is very orderly as there is no room for ignorance in the court of law,’’ he said.

    Akande, however, urged the Super Eagles to put up a more fighting spirit in their encounter against Ethiopia on Tuesday, to go far in the tournament.

    He added that Nigerians were expecting more than their output so far in the tournament.

    Temitope Akinrinmisi, a banker, said tthe referee’s decision was wrong and he had to pay for it because it cost most Nigerians their happiness on a match they were expecting to win.

    “The match portrays poor officiating that characterised most African leagues. I think the development is an indication that there are changes in African football,’’ he said.

    Akinrinmisi, however, said that the CAF’s decision to sack the referee could have been re-considered as no one was above mistake.

    “Nobody is above mistake, I feel that the body should have softened their stance on the referee by just sanctioning him for some matches, for others to learn,’’ he said.

  • NIGERIA VS ZAMBIA REFEREE: CAF expels Gehad

    NIGERIA VS ZAMBIA REFEREE: CAF expels Gehad

    Sequel to the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF)’s threat of protesting against the biased officiating of the center referee that officiated the Nigeria versus Zambia match in Mboembela, Nelspruit on Friday, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Committee on Referees has sent packing Egyptian referee, Grisha Gehad, who was in charge of the match.

    The Super Eagles versus defending Champions Chipolopolo match ended in a 1-1 draw, but the equalizing goal for the Southern Africans was the result of a questionable spot kick call by the referee Gehad, who replays showed, had wrongly adjudged SS Lazio of Italy midfielder Ogenyi Onazi as having held the arms of a goal-bound Zambian attacker in the 83rd minute of the game.

    A very competent source close to CAF told SportingLife under condition of anonymity that the referee has been sent back to his home country, Egypt.

    “The center referee that officiated the Nigeria versus Zambia second group match that ended in a 1-1 score draw has been sent packing.

    “The Egyptian referee, Grisha Gehad, who was in charge of the match between Nigeria and Zambia has been sent packing. Ghead, who was in charge of the match between Nigeria and Zambia has been sent packing. He was sent home because of his mishandling of the match”, the source told SportingLife.

    “The penalty call by the referee was wrong. If there was a foul, it was definitely outside the 18-yard box and not a penalty. Referees are not allowed to re-write the rules of the game”, a top CAF executive member was quoted as saying by the source.

  • NFF protests poor officiating to CAF

    NFF protests poor officiating to CAF

    The Nigeria Football Federation has officially written to the Confederation of African Football over the refereeing in Friday’s game against Zambia at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

    NFF had earlier complained about the officiating during Super Eagles’ opening game against Burkina Faso on January 21.

    The Nigerians also felt they were victims of controversial refereeing in Friday’s game against African champions, Zambia in Nelspruit, Supersport.com reports.

    Egyptian referee, Gehad Grisha penalised SS Lazio man, Ogenyi Onazi for a perceived foul on Emmanuel Mayuka with television replays showing that there was little contact from the Nigerian midfielder.

    The replays also showed that the foul also happened outside the box.

     

  • AFCON: Keshi sets sights on Ethiopia

    AFCON: Keshi sets sights on Ethiopia

     

    Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi, has said the team will now focus on the final Group C tie against Ethiopia on Tuesday.

    Nigeria and Zambia battled to a 1-1 draw on Friday.

    The Nigerians again could not defend their lead as they allowed defending champions to fight back and cancel out Emmanuel Emenike’s 57th minute opener on Friday.

    The two teams have recorded two points apiece in as many matches, while Burkina Faso which trashed Ethiopia 4-0 in Friday’s second match leads with four points.

    Ethiopia has only one point from the same number of matches.

    “We wanted the three points on Friday with due respect to Zambia, they are a great team and have been together for the past four years and also they are the defending champions.

    “All the same, I’m happy with the result.

    “We just have to get ahead and forge ahead against a very good Ethiopia team,” MTNFootball.com quoted Keshi as saying on the team’s last match slated for next Tuesday.