Archive for May, 2010

President Nicolas Sarkozy says it's "completely abnormal" that Africa has no permanent seat on the UN Security Council in a fast-changing world in which the continent has a vital role to play. Opening the Africa-France summit with 38 African leaders, Sarkozy said on Monday that "Africa is our future" and will be a principle reservoir for world growth in the decades to come. The 25th Africa-France summit ... Full story

Zambia, which plans to sell $1 billion of bonds this year in its first international debt issue, is unlikely to get a higher credit rating than the B+ assigned to Angola earlier this month, analysts say. The southern African nation expects a rating higher than Angola’s and that B+ “should be the minimum,” Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said in a May 28 interview with CNBC Africa ... Full story

The United Party for National Development  says it will go into the 2011 general elections as  a pact with PF regardless of who will be the presidential candidate. UPND Mazabuka central Member of Parliament Garry Nkombo has been quoted by QFM radio saying no attempt by the MMD leadership to break the UPND/PF pact will succeed because the members have agreed to work under any of ... Full story

Convicted MMD National Secretary Katele Kalumba has declined to state whether or not he will step-down as the ruling party's chief executive officer. Asked in an interview with Qfm this morning whether he intends to step-down from his position following his conviction by a Lusaka Magistrate court last week on corruption charges, Dr Kalumba said he has restrained himself from issuing statements to the media. Dr. Kalumba ... Full story

President Rupiah Banda has invited the President of Chad, Idriss Deby to pay a state visit to Zambia on dates yet to be agreed. President Banda made the invitation on Saturday when he made a stopover in Chad on his way to France for the on-going France-Africa summit. President Banda left for Chad on his presidential challenger. Planes from Zambia are not ... Full story

Following the conviction of former Finance Minister and MMD National Secretary, Dr. Katele Kalumba and others, the champions of the so called fight against corruption, went into frenzy celebrations congratulating themselves for achieving a worthy cause. Mutembo Nchito, the private prosecutor who has been at the centre of the cases until recently, received gallant praises in their ... Full story

Malawi’s Minister of Gender and Children, Patricia Kaliati has issued a stern warning to Tiwonge Chimbalanga alias ‘Aunt Tiwo’ that he will be rearrested if he continues same-sex liaison with his gay partner Steven Monjeza after being pardoned. Monjeza, 26, and Chimbalanga, 20, were released from prison on Saturday evening, hours after President Bingu wa Mutharika announced their pardon. Free-speaking Kaliati ... Full story

Former president Fredrick Chiluba has questioned the decision by  government to hire a faulty plane to evacuate him to South Africa when he fell ill in 2006. Chiluba was speaking at a Church Ceremony in Lusaka Sunday afternoon at the Bible Church in Africa (BIGOCA). In his sermony entitiled ' Iam a living testimony' , Chiluba said God saved him from the jaws of death. He said he ... Full story

 President Rupiah  Banda on Sunday appealed to politicians to avoid using the name of the late President, Levy Mwanawasa, to gain political mileage. President Banda said he was shocked to read comments attributed to opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) leader  Hakainde Hichilema that President Mwanawasa was a good leader. He said  Hichilema and his supporters called the late President all sorts of names and refused ... Full story