The Mast

23/08/2025

Saturday edition, August 23, 2025

Subscribe today visit 👉 https://mastmediazm.com/shop/

22/08/2025

WE’RE IN HELL

…HH, UPND have messed up the country - Changala

By Mast Reporter

ZAMBIANS are going through economic and governance hell under President Hakainde Hichilema and the United Party for National Development (UPND) administration, governance activist Brebner Changala has said.

And Changala has urged Hichilema and the UPND to urgently surrender the>>Read More>> https://mastmediazm.com/2025/08/were-in-hell-changala/

22/08/2025

“They aren’t real jobs; They are traps”

…Zambian CSOs call on govt to probe Alabuga Start programme as Botswana’s Interpol moves in

By Richard Lamu

Right next door, in Botswana, Interpol has commenced investigations into reports of alleged human trafficking by Russia’s Alabuga Start Programme, an initiative targeting girls between 18 and 22 years ONLY.

So far, several African girls in that age range have moved to Alabuga, Russia, for jobs that promise them good fortunes but most end up shunted in enemy drone manufacturing factories in their special economic zone in the Republic of Tatarstan, according to several media reports.

Associated Press has reported that some of the women said they were misled into believing it would be a work-study program, describing long hours under constant surveillance, broken promises about wages and areas of study, and working with caustic chemicals that left their skin pockmarked and itchy. And a recent report by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime revealed shocking details of exploitation, deception, and risks to safety faced by migrant workers.

While some governments have not yet moved to investigate the widely reported Alabuga recruitment programme, Botswana’s Interpol took these matters seriously by launching investigations into the reported human trafficking.

"Is the Alabuga start program a disguised form of human trafficking?" Operation Young Vote executive director Guess Nyirenda has asked, while Zambia Civil Liberties Union has called for an immediate recall of all Zambian girls currently in>>read more>>

"These aren't real jobs, they're traps," she added, urging young women to be cautious and verify all overseas job opportunities before applying.

22/08/2025

The real reason why the Zambia Police won’t arrest Maria Zaloumis

By Sishuwa Sishuwa

The failure by police to arrest Maria Zaloumis in connection with the murder of 22-year-old Enoch Simfukwe has little to do with the status of her mother, Hichilema’s former personal lawyer and Electoral Commission of Zambia chairperson, Mwangala Zaloumis. It has much to do with ethnic-regional considerations. Zaloumis is Lozi from Western Province while the victim is from Northern Province.

Under Hichilema’s rule, high-profile arrests and prosecutions are largely reserved for crimes committed by people from Eastern and the Bemba-speaking provinces of Luapula, Muchinga and Northern – the Chambishi-Luangwa region that has historically voted for the main opposition Patriotic Front. Zambians from the Tonga-speaking Southern, Lozi-speaking Western, and multiethnic (Kaonde, Luvale, and Lunda) Northwestern provinces – the Zambezi region that has historically supported Hichilema– appear to enjoy amnesty even when the offenses committed are similar.

Please join me in waiting for the Zambia Police Service to prove me wrong by arresting Maria Zaloumis – alongside the suspects already arrested. I am extremely outraged by the murder of an innocent person (take a minute to hear the cry of the victim’s mother in the attached video clip) and the police’s failure to arrest Maria Zaloumis for what I consider, based on an established pattern, to be ethnic regional considerations. Those of us from the Zambezi region have a greater responsibility in calling out ethnic-regional favoritism because it is hurting the country. It shows through in every aspect and is so sad. I opposed this discrimination and selective application of the law under the PF and I remain opposed to these practices under the UPND.

In addition to the well known case of Ronald Chitotela who was not even present at the crime scene but is now in jail, there are the cases of Archbishop Alick Banda and former president Edgar Lungu who were victims of clear hate speech by people from Western and Northwestern provinces. The culprits remain free. Emmanuel Banda was a victim of abduction by people from Southern Province whom he named as responsible for the ordeal. Police never even bothered to summon the accused for interrogation. There are several examples of clear cases of sedition and corruption involving people from the Zambezi region under this administration who have not been arrested. Yet similar offences have resulted in arrests and prosecutions when committed by Zambians from the Chambishi-Luangwa region. It is easy to see a pattern here, of selective application of the law based on ethnic regional considerations.

The police’s failure to arrest Maria Zaloumis in the latest case is a perfect example of a miscarriage of justice. She was at the crime scene and was recorded interrogating the murdered victim whilst his legs and hands were tied. Even if she did not touch the young man, she had authority over all those involved in beating him and she never tried to stop the beatings even when the victim desperately pleaded. At the very least, that makes her an accessory or accomplice to the murder.

22/08/2025

Friday edition, August 22, 2025

Subscribe today visit 👉 https://mastmediazm.com/shop/

21/08/2025

Dolika bemoans hard life in Zambia

By Tony Nkhoma

IT IS very hard to live in Zambia currently because the environment is not conducive, former president Rupiah Banda's niece Dolika Banda has said.

Banda who is set to challenge President Hakainde Hichilema as Republican President in the 2026 general elections said only strong leadership could help develop the country.

She said there was a bad precedent being created in the country where its citizens now>>Read More>> https://mastmediazm.com/2025/08/dolika-bemoans-hard-life-in-zambia/

21/08/2025

No one has outshone Levy Mwanawasa yet

Hicks Sikazwe

LAST week as Zambia eulogised in memory of the country’s third president Levy Mwanawasa, images of how I knew him vividly came to the fore.

Many knew him as a good Ndola based lawyer. He tackled some of the most complex of cases from foreigners involved in what President Kenneth Kaunda called economic sabotage to the treason accused.

He was initially a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Most members of my family belong to the same religious group. So whenever I was dragged to go and attend some of the circuit gatherings I would spot him there.

In the early 1980s when I joined the Times of Zambia, though I was not a court reporter whenever there was what bosses took as a big hearing, I was asked to help out.

Covering Mwanawasa making legal arguments was a marvel of an experience. Later when I moved to Kitwe around 1987 Dr Kaunda cracked down on business people, both local and foreign, who were accused of fraudulent deals involving mines.

Mostly those arrested in the clampdown found themselves as clients of Mwanawasa. Second national president Frederick Chiluba, while he was head of the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), Kaunda detained him. He was rescued by Mwanawasa.

Even when Kaunda appointed him Solicitor General his law firm continued to defend the most sensitive and difficult cases. Kaunda had no option but to relieve him of his duties and he went back to serve the people.

When the surge for multiparty politics struck he was elected in absentia as legal chairman if the new Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) at the first ever national symposium in Lusaka called to spearhead the lobby for the return to plural politics in Zambia.

Mwanawasa popularised court injunctions which were>>CONTINUE>> https://mastmediazm.com/2025/08/no-one-has-outshone-levy-mwanawasa-yet/

21/08/2025

Nurse fails to show up in Kambwili case

By Esther Chisola

THE Lusaka Central Correctional Facility nurse who was supposed to appear before Lusaka magistrate Kawama Mwamfuli to explain the health of jailed Patriotic Front (PF) member Chishimba Kambwili was not in court Tuesday.

And Kambwili who is serving an eight-month jail sentence yesterday also failed to appear before the court because of>>Read More>>

THE Lusaka Central Correctional Facility nurse who was supposed to appear before Lusaka magistrate Kawama Mwamfuli to explain the health of jailed Patriotic

21/08/2025

Witness relives Guntila Muleya murder

By Esther Chisola

THE murder case of former Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) director general Guntila Muleya on Tuesday shifted to the scene of his murder in Njolwe area of Chogwe District.

Lusaka High Court judge Vincent Siloka conducted the scene visit and heard how the body of Guntila was discovered in a bush facing down with a lot of blood as if people had killed an animal.
State witness General Mwewa, 42, a caretaker at National Housing farm in Njolwe applied for the court to be moved to the scene.

Mwewa was>>read more>>

THE murder case of former Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) director general Guntila Muleya on Tuesday shifted to the scene of his murder in Njolwe area of Chogwe District. Lusaka High Court judge Vincent Siloka conducted the scene visit and heard how the body of Guntila was discovered in a b...

21/08/2025

Thursday edition, August 21, 2025

Subscribe today visit 👉 https://mastmediazm.com/shop/

20/08/2025

Unite for the sake of the people, opposition urged

By Tony Nkhoma

IF THE opposition does not form a strong and united front, corruption in the country will reach alarming levels and people will suffer and die, Dr Lawrence Mwelwa has said.

Dr Mwelwa, a politician, academician and entrepreneur, said to ensure fair elections in the 2026 general elections, a united opposition should protect>>READ MORE>> https://mastmediazm.com/2025/08/unite-for-the-sake-of-the-people-opposition-urged-dr-mwelwa/

20/08/2025

THAT’S A LIE

…There’s no law or custom in Zambia on ex-presidents funerals - Prof Lumina

By Tony Nkhoma

PROFESSOR Munyonzwe Hamalengwa was absolutely wrong to claim that there is a law in Zambia that compels government to bury former heads of state at Embassy Park in Lusaka, another law professor has said.

Constitutional and international human rights lawyer Professor Cephas Lumina said there was absolutely >>read more>>https://mastmediazm.com/2025/08/thats-a-lie-lumina/