Like every Zambian who cares about mother Zambia, I was very saddened by news of the devastating inferno at Lusaka City Market on the morning of 4th July 2017. I …

They did it again! The four that were not on suspension walked out of Parliament on 11th July 2017 during one of the most consequential debates in the House for …

I have seen various arguments made for and against but was left dissatisfied because I felt that not enough research or analysis was done aside from the issues of costs of annual maintenance and increased space requirements.

Does it make sense for Munda Wanga to be a total mess after 67 years? I have hardly seen any real change since 30 years ago when I was a small boy playing in the place. Please let us be serious. Instead of giving the usual “government has no money” excuse, let us use our brains for once.

In terms of practices, how different are the fake foreign preachers from some of our local Pentecostal and Charismatic preachers right here in Zambia who also peddle teachings about God rewarding you and making you prosperous when you tithe and give offerings?

Every single party in power will overuse state power to some extent. It would have to take a very special “Messiah President” in the mould of Nelsom Mandela to resist using the excessive powers of the Executive.

Mr Saviour Chishimba recently alleged that there was a corrupt tender awarded by ZRA for an electronic Invoice Management System worth K140 million ($14 million). ZRA has denied any wrongdoing and have sued him for the grand sum of ten billion US Dollars! One wonders which dreamer in ZRA came up with this insane figure that is twice the Government budget and equal to the entire foreign debt of Zambia. Is the reputation of ZRA worth that much?

There is a striking similarity between the Icibemba language of the AbaBemba people of Northern Zambia and the Luganda language of the BaGanda people of Southern Uganda. Incidentally, both languages are the most widely spoken in their respective countries.

I have no doubt that United Party for National Development (UPND) president Mr Hakainde Hichilema is a a good man with a good heart and good intentions for Zambia. However, his recent political tactics are painting an ugly picture of a man seemingly out of touch with reality.

Recent events such as careless wanton teargassing of people, torturing murder suspects in the Ruth Mbandu court case to force a fake confession out of them, the unresolved death of Mapenzi Chibulo or the very suspicious death of a Zambia Air Force officer in police custody suggest that the police are becoming trigger happy. It seems they know they will be backed up whenever things go wrong.

My father often reminds me that when I was a small boy, I asked him what the best job in the world was, to which he responded, “Thinking!” I was surprised by the answer and yet it is so true. Why is it that in Zambia we always rush to ban things without being calm and thinking things through?

“A person who has twice held office as President is not eligible for election as President.” We submit that President Lungu has “twice held office”. The first was in January 2015, and the second was in September 2016, after the August 2016 elections. Article 106(2) states as follows: “A President shall hold office from the date the President-elect is sworn into office and ending on the date the next President-elect is sworn into office.”

The Zambian Republican president Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu has finally come out in the open to say he wants to be President until 2026. The debate on the legality of an ECL third term has started.

When I was a young man, one thing that was greatly valued was the art of “The Vibes” or “chuffing”; the ability of a guy to be charming and talk to a chick in a manner that made her begin liking him within minutes, without taking her out even if he was broke like a church mouse.

I suspect that the unlikely victory of DJT over HRC was primarily due to a rejection of wholesale corruption in the American government system, of which Clinton was the poster girl as the consummate insider.

This picture from 2015 ranks annual salaries of African presidents from highest to lowest on the left and on the right how they compare to the average earnings of their respective citizens (Gross National Income per capita).

Take a pay cut. Other leaders have taken a pay cut such as Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (20%), Namibian President Hage Geingob (20%), Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari (50%) and French president François Hollande (30%).

Zambian political parties always excel at outdoing each other in how many free things they promise Zambians during election campaigns. Free education from grade one to university, free fertilizer, free hospitals, free clinics, free title deeds, free land, free loans, free solar hammer mills; free, free, free.

If you spend an average of 5 minutes going through a roadblock, 4 in a day means you lose 20 minutes of productivity. Going through 10 sets of 4 roadblocks a month at 20 minutes each set is 2,400 minutes a year or 40 hours, which is a full working week lost each year! A person who earns around K4,000 per month will lose close to K1,000 in productivity per year as they go through roadblocks.

Whilst the Vodafone service is fast and great value for money, it is not for everybody. It is skewed towards the middle to upper class income brackets and is not yet very student friendly.