Zambia Weekly Week 36, Volume 1, Issue 22, 10 September 2010

In this issue
In this issue Zambia’s police torture inmates
The Zambian government must call a halt to police
Zambia’s police torture inmates 1 abuse and torture in the country’s prisons, Human
High-ranking wife beater caught out 2 Rights Watch (HRW) has said in a report on prison
conditions.
Is Dow Jones part of State House? 2
The organisation described how inmates were routinely
Quotes 2 tortured and subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrad-
Dissent in the (former) ranks of Zamtel 3 ing treatment at the hands of police: “Hanging suspects
from the ceiling and beating them to coerce confessions
The elusive access to justice 4 is routine police practice in Zambia,” HRW’s Africa
Changes in the political top 4 director Rona Peligal said. “The government needs to call
an immediate halt to police abuse, investigate violations, and strengthen grievance mecha-
The end of two MMD rebels 5 nisms.”
Advert: Vergo Laboratory Equipment 6 The New York-based rights body and two local civil society organisations, the Prisons Care
Murderer of Kaunda’s son confesses 7 and Counselling Association and the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa, inter-
viewed prisoners at six prisons throughout Zambia between September 2009 and February
Vuvuzela launguage 7 2010 as part of research into the health conditions in Zambian prisons.
A new malaria drug? 7 Many inmates said they had been beaten with metal bars, hammers, broom handles, police
batons, sticks and electrified rods. “Many said they had been bound first and hung upside
down. Female detainees reported that police officers tried to coerce sex in exchange for their
Editor’s note release,” stated the report.
These reports of physical abuse of men, women and children held in police custody indicate
It was ludicrous to read about MP Geof-
a widespread and systematic pattern of brutality, in some cases rising to the level of torture,
frey Mwamba’s abuse of his wife. During
HRW said. The report said several former detainees still bore evidence of torture, such as mis-
the course of the week it turned out that
shapen fingers, impaired vision, chronic pain and swelling of the legs.
Mwamba is quite a regular wife-beater, as
she earlier had had a fractured skull. The This is not the first time Zambia has been rapped for its inhumane treatment of prisoners.
only reason why Mwamba had avoided the Earlier this year, a study by the Prisons Care and Counseling Association, the AIDS and
stocks on previous occasions was that the Rights Alliance for Southern Africa and HRW found that a lack of proper medical care
family had chosen to close ranks around in Zambian prisons was contributing to the spread of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis among
him. After all what is a broken skull in the inmates.
face of appearances? This time, however, the
The Zambian government rejected the findings of that report. This time the government has
family decided to report Mwamba to the
not responded to correspondence from the Human Rights Watch (AFP 7). The Zambian
police – because they had lost one sister to
Human Rights Commission has noted that inadequate funding, personnel and transport, and
a wife-beater last year. Honestly! Mwamba
resistance by the police have contributed to the authority’s ineffectiveness (see page 4).
himself was rather nonchalant about the
whole affair: “I am not the first one and I

“ “
will not be the last one to assault or not to
assault,” he said. So as long as my neigh- There were almost six guys – they were I was arrested...for burglary. I spent 11
bour is beating his wife, I can do the same? forcing me to accept a situation I never days in the police station. While I was
Is that the reasoning? What happened to knew... words were put in my mouth. I held by the police I was beaten on my
the Christian doctrine of “love thy neigh- know from civics class that I was sup- forearms with an iron bar. I have scars
bour as thyself ” now that we are living in a posed to go to court and get a lawyer, on my hands and forearms. They beat me

Christian nation? After all, we are talking
about an influential businessman come
politician. It makes one wonder how many
of the other influential people out there are
also beating up their wives without being
exposed – thanks to the silent approval of
their families? Mwamba has five children.
“ They arrested and they beat me, asking
Let us hope that none of them are boys.
Otherwise the next Mwamba generation
will also be beating up their wives, as vio-
lence is a learned behaviour passed on from
” ”
but none of that happened. every day, trying to force me to confess.
Titus, 21, male detainee, Peter, 18, juvenile detainee,
Mumbwa Prison. Choma Prison.
questions. They beat me up when I said I
didn’t know anything. They said, “we want
“ After [the beating], they were scared to
take me to a doctor because I still had
injuries. (...) the police followed me into
you to say this, then we will let you go.” the doctor’s room and listened to me. The
They (...) asked me to have sex with them. police told the doctor that I was lying.
They said they would release me if I did, “Just a simple torture that she was given,

” ”
and I said no. not much,” he said.
generation to generation. This is not a good
example to set, neither to your children, nor Gladys, 35, female detainee, Tandiwe, 27, female detainee,
to your electorate. Lusaka Central Prison. Lusaka Central Prison.

The best of the Zambian media 1

 Zambia Weekly News

High-ranking wife-beater caught out Quotes

Police have recorded a warn and caution state-
ment from Patriotic Front (PF) MP Geoffrey
Mwamba, popularly known as GBM, for as-
saulting his wife (Daily Mail 9).
“ I am a changed person and all I want is
for Zambians to forgive me for whatever
I did. I am now a Christian and I preach
GBM’s wife, Chama, sustained a deep cut on to people so that they can change their
her forehead – which needed to be stitched – ways and turn to God. I believe that
and bruises on one eye as well as on her shoul- once I tell my story, many people’s lives

ders, according to the medical report published
in the Daily Mail. “Fists are alleged to have
been used in the act. Beaten and assaulted by a
known person,” stated the report.
A family member narrated that GBM and
Chama had been having marital problems and
the latter had asked PF president Michael Sata
flickr.com/photos/jalex_photo/935667352
”
will be changed.
Serial killer Gilbert Benson Chilala who
claims to have killed over 200 people
using “very powerful black magic” and
more conventional ways. He is serving a
life-sentence in prison (Sunday Post).

the eyes of his party president (Post 7).

to counsel her husband. But GBM was very
furious with his wife for embarrassing him in
The domestic row started in the couple’s residence in Kabulonga and spilled over to the Hill-
“ So long as the human heart is strong
and human reason weak, tradition will
be strong since it appeals to diffused
feelings; and politics weak because it

”
appeals to the understanding.
top Hospital in Ibex Hill, where GBM again beat up his wife in the presence of his in-laws.
The incident has left Chama’s family “very upset”, and it has decided that GBM should face Senior Chief Mwamba on traditional
the law (Times 7). leadership (Sunday Post).

“
The family’s spokesperson, Chama’s brother, Chama Mwenso, explained the family had lost
All ministers are good but others are
another sister in Kitwe last year after she was beaten to death, which made them realise the

”
better.
need to start protecting their sisters. Chama – the wife – was apparently beaten up by GBM
two years ago to such an extent that she had to be treated for a fractured skull in South Africa New deputy minister in the Office of
(Times 9). the Vice-President Daniel Munkombwe
(see page 4) - Sunday Post.
GBM regretted beating his wife but blamed her family members for influencing her to report
the matter to police because he had been chasing them from his house lately.
“You know I married from the Mwenso family and they used to have a lot of money and they
have now become so broke. This is a family matter between the two of us. I come from a royal
“ The construction industry is at its peak
and stone breaking is now becoming
very lucrative for us. It is important for
family and a rich background but we have got our own ways of solving problems,” GBM said people to look on the brighter side of
(Times 8). our story instead of reporting the nega-
Chama’s family took great offence to these allegations. It strongly denied being broke: “My tives because I believe every business

”
sister is clearly fed up with her husband’s mentality. He talks about money everywhere he goes has challenges.
and in my view there are more important things than money,” Mwenso said (Daily Mail 9). Stone crusher Juliet Kayula (Times 8).
The women’s movement in Zambia, including the Non-Governmental Organisations Coordi-
nating Council, Women and Law in Southern Africa and Zambia National Women’s Lobby,
as well as the Human Rights Commission have all called for the immediate arrest of GBM
(Daily Mail/Times 8).
“ Cooperating partners have a great inter-
est in ensuring that administration of
– and access to – justice are improved
GBM and Chama have five children together and have been married for about 30 years. in Zambia. This is because a function-
ing, fair and accessible system of justice
is the foundation of every democratic

”
state.
Is Dow Jones a department of State House? Head of the EU delegation in Zambia,
Derek Fee (see page 4) - Times 8.
This week the internet was awash with praise of the Zambian mining sector – but it proved
impossible to find the source of the information. An article written by PR Newswire with the
title “Zambia’s Copper Mines Receive Global Recognition” was included on an impressive
amount of news sites – as well as in the state-owned press in Zambia (Times 8). In the article
“ We have managed to reduce our
backlog of new connections to 3,000
from 8,000 since the new tariffs were
released on 8 September PR Newswire wrote that “world-renowned business news service introduced. Results are already showing
Dow Jones has applauded Zambia’s copper mining successes in an article released yesterday and we want to reach a point where
[7 September]” and went on to highlight Zambia’s impressive copper output – but a search Zesco will have to start pleading for new

”
on Dow Jones’s website revealed no such article. At the end of its much circulated article, PR customers.
Newswire had put its source as “State House Lusaka, Republic of Zambia”, but a search on
State House’s website revealed no Dow Jones article either. Zesco MD Ernest Mupyaya on the
recent electricity tariff increase (Post 7).

The best of the Zambian media 2

 Zambia Weekly News
Dissent in (former) ranks of Zamtel
Rretrenched Zamtel workers
in Ndola are threatening to
demonstrate if they are not
paid their money.
First the workers said they
were not being paid - in
full. One of the workers, Mr
Chiyobwe, said only about 50
of 620 workers in Ndola had been paid (Times 8), while another
worker, Mr Mwape put the figure at 20 out of 620 retrenched work-
ers (Post 9).
The allegations were refuted by the Zambia Development Agency
(ZDA). About 213 billion kwacha has been paid to over 1,000
former employees of Zamtel, said ZDA director for investment pro-
motion privatisation Muhabi Lungu. “According to the transaction
documents, the process of paying off the redundancies was supposed
to happen at least within 60 days upon the takeover of new manage-
ment. We are still within that 60 days,” he added (Post 4).
Nonsense, said the workers, who stated that according to the cir-
cular that was signed and agreed upon by Zamtel management, the
workers were supposed to receive their money within 24 hours upon
receiving the letters of termination (Post 6).
Then the workers said they weren’t paid enough. One employee, Ms
Bwalya, explained that the workers had been retrenched, yet their
separation packages were calculated as though they had opted for
early retirement (Times 8).
Furthermore, they queried why they were given one month’s basic
salary in lieu of notice and not 20 months as earlier agreed. But
president of the National Union of Communication Workers
(NUCW ), Patrick Kaonga, said the union had agreed upon the one
month with management. He said the benefits and other payments
of retrenched Zamtel workers were in line with the signed collective
agreement (Post 8).
But in a letter NUCW branch officials in Ndola challenged Kaonga
to produce a copy of the actual agreement that NUCW signed on
behalf of the workers (Times 9).
“On several occasions we have asked you to reveal the entire docu-
ment to us as branch leaders and of course to the general member-
ship since this document is purported to have been signed on our
behalf, but alas you have time and again failed to bring out the
entire document except for a few selected clauses you have revealed
at your own discretion,” reads part of the letter.
Date set for third round of by-elections
The Electoral Commission of Zambia has set 28 October 2010 as
the date for the Mpulungu parliamentary by-election, which follows
last month’s death of MP Lameck Chibombamilimo (MMD). The
same day will see 4 local by-elections in Nkwazi ward in Ndola, Muva
Hill in Luanshya, Lwingishi in Mansa and Chandaula in Chinsali –
and probably two other parliamentary by-elections in Chilanga and
Kafulafuta (see page 5) to be announced later. The campaign period
begins on 7 October after the filing of candidates. The ward by-elec-
tions follow resignations or deaths of councillors (Daily Mail 8). In
2010, Zambia has already held two rounds of parliamentary and local
government by-elections in April and August respectively.
Cities in brief
Lusaka: New mayor
The Lusaka City Council has got a new mayor: Patriotic Front
(PF) Mulungushi ward 18 councillor Daniel Chisenga. He was
elected with 24 votes against a fellow party member, Chawama
ward 2 councillor David Mulenga, with 17 votes. At deputy
mayor level the PF lost to its pact-partner, the United Party for
National Development (UPND). Kanyama ward 10 councillor
Harry Hampende (UPND) was elected with 23 votes against
Lilayi ward 4 councillor Lazarous Chulabantu (UPND) with 9
votes and Kalingalinga ward 31 councillor Dapson Chansa (PF)
with 8 votes. The new mayor pledged to work hard and thanked
his predecessor Robert Chikwelete for having served the city
council well. Chisenga served as deputy mayor under Chikwe-
lete (Daily Mail 7). He said reducing the devastating impact of
floods in Lusaka in the forthcoming rainy season is one of his
key priorities (Post Online 9).
Chipata: From town to city
The Ministry of Local Government and Housing is seriously
considering the application by Chipata Municipal council to
confer it with city status. Minister Eustarckio Kazonga this
week commissioned the rehabilitated Kapata Bus Station, street
lighting on township roads and a statue at the civic centre. And
Chipata mayor Malvern Zulu said Chipata had what it took to
become a city: “I know that people will ask me that ‘where is
the cathedral?’ [but] the Pentecostal Assemblies of God Trinity
Temple (...) are constructing a cathedral. (...) Furthermore,
the RCZ [Reformed Church in Zambia] have serious plans to
construct a cathedral near Chipata Central Police Station,” the
mayor said (Sunday Post).
Ndola: Less dust from Ndola Lime
Ndola Lime has installed an electrostatic precipitator (ESP)
dust abatement system on its rotary kiln in order to control dust
emissions at Zambia’s sole lime stone mine. The company had
received numerous complaints from nearby residents, but the
Environmental Council of Zambia (ECZ) had given Ndola
Lime “progressive time” to reduce its emissions due to the “huge
capital investment” involved. The ECZ recently bought two
dust and gas analysers at a cost of 500,000 US dollars to enable
the agency to analyse air pollution. Another company which
is working on reducing its dust emissions is Lafarge Cement
(Times 3).
This week’s figure
For the first time in the history of Zambia, the country’s
foreign reserves have hit an all-time high of around 2 billion
US dollars (Times 3).
The best of the Zambian media 3
 Zambia Weekly News
The elusive access to justice
Three cooperating partners have given Zambia 11.35
million euro (about 71 billion kwacha) for the Access
to Justice programme to help the country improve its
justice services. This comes right after the release of a
second report about atrocious conditions in Zambian
prisons (see front page).
The programme was set up as a pilot project in 2007
with funds from Denmark, but the Danes have now
been joined by the European Union and Germany for
the next three years of the programme. At the signing
ceremony, Vice-President George Kunda, who is also
minister of justice, said the increased funding would
allow for a significant scaling up of activities.
The programme supports four government institutions, including the
Zambia Police, Prisons Service, Director of Public Prosecution and
Legal Aid Board. It is supposed to improve coordination between
these institutions and the judiciary in order to provide easier and
more equitable access to justice services in Zambia.
The tangible results will according to Kunda be a more efficient sys-
tem for processing of cases, increased use of non-custodial sentences,
Less donor dependency - in the future
The government plans to reduce its dependency on donors – in
line with Zambia’s vision of becoming a prosperous middle-
income country by 2030.
“It is expected that aid dependency should reduce over time
and this requires economic growth and diversification to be
accelerated and sustained while the revenue base is expanded.
This is also important in light of heightened unpredictability
of cooperating partner resources over the recent past,” secre-
tary to the treasury Likolo Ndalamei said at the release of the
2011 budget and the Medium Term Expenditure Framework
(MTEF) 2011-2013 (Times 8).
Over the medium term, however, development assistance would
play a pivotal role in the development process of the country
considering the development challenges faced.
Ndalamei said government expects to contract approximately 2
billion US dollars to support the financing of various infra-
structure projects over the MTEF period. This will increase
Zambia’s debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio from 9.1
to 14.9 percent over the same period (Daily Mail 6).
The MTEF, which seeks to translate government policies into a
spending plan, provides a platform for concerned stakeholders
to submit comments which can be factored in the 2011 budget
and the final draft of the Sixth National Development Plan
2011-2015.
less over-crowding in prisons and better access to
justice by vulnerable people.
Kunda, however, said it should be recognised that it
takes time and concerted effort of all key players to
improve the quality of administration of justice.
In this respect he was supported by Danish ambas-
sador Thomas Schjerbeck – although Schjerbeck
lamented the conditions in prisons: “[I] am not im-
pressed with the speed of improvements,” he said. He
hoped prisoners on remand would be addressed as a
priority (Times/Post/Daily Mail 8). Recently, western
province minister Richard Mwapele stressed that the
prison service needs the support of other stakehold-
ers as “government alone cannot fulfil all the needs of inmates in the
prison,” he said at a handover ceremony of the newly painted Mongu
Central Prison funded by the Roman Catholic Church (Post 3).
The Access to Justice programme will receive grants of 6 million euro
from the EU, 3.85 million euro from DANIDA (Danish Internation-
al Development Agency) and 1.5 million euro from GTZ (German
Technical Cooperation).
Changes in the political top
President Rupiah Banda has made his second rocade of politi-
cal players this year – accompanied by a bit of barking from the
opposition.
With immediate effect, minister of southern province, Daniel
Munkombwe, has replaced deputy minister Gaston Sichilima
in the Office of the Vice-President – according to Munkom-
bwe himself because he is a performer (Sunday Post). Sichilima
has instead been transferred to the Ministry of Home Affairs
as deputy minister, and Munkombwe’s old position has been
filled by deputy minister of Local Government and Housing,
Elijah Muchima (Times 3).
Banda also appointed Samson Phiri as new Permanent
Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
Services as well as Anthony Undi as new Permanent Secretary
of Financial Management and Administration in the Ministry
of Finance.
At the swearing in of Undi, Banda instructed that funds al-
located for development projects in this year’s national budget
should be properly utilised: “We are entering an election year
and we don’t have enough time. So, you have to work hard to
ensure that the ministry is running smoothly,” he said (Daily
Mail 4).
The reaction from the opposition Patriotic Front (PF) was im-
mediate: “I hope Zambians will see through this,” said Inonge
Wina, PF national chairperson, and that they will “be able to
distinguish between genuine development and some sort of
induced development” (Sunday Post).
Banda also appointed Keli Walubita as new chairperson of the
Police and Prisons Service Commission and Percy Kangwa
Chato as new Commissioner of Prisons (Times 4).
The best of the Zambian media 4
 Zambia Weekly Politics

The end of two MMD rebels People in brief

The governing Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) has expelled its two rebel
MPs, Ng’andu Magande (Chilanga Constituency) and George Mpombo (Kafulafuta Con-
stituency). Musokotwane:
Going to the World Bank?
The two MPs have spent a great deal of time criticising the MMD in general and president
Rupiah Banda in particular, and at a meeting of the MMD’s National Executive Commit- Zambia will appoint the executive direc-
tee (NEC) – called to specifically deal with disciplinary cases – the recommendations of the tor of the Africa Group 1 (AFG1) for
MMD’s disciplinary committee were adhered to (Sunday Mail). the next two-year tenure of the World
“The MMD wishes to inform the nation that at the NEC meeting a decision was made to Bank’s board of 24 executive directors.
withdraw the support (...) of those members of parliament because we do not wish these The 22 African member states of the
members to represent us, therefore expelling them too from the party,” MMD spokesper- World Bank are represented by a total
son, Dora Siliya (Sunday Post). of three African executive directors – of
which the position for Africa Group
She said the expulsions were not meant as a test of the party’s ability to retain the two seats 3 (AFG3) is completely new. Renosi
in the requisite parliamentary by-elections but merely to instil discipline at all levels in the Mokate, previously the deputy governor
party (Sunday Times). of the South African Reserve Bank,
Magande, who served as finance minister under late president Mwanawasa, said he would has just been appointed the first AFG3
accept the expulsion – which didn’t surprise anyone, as Magande already had declared his executive director. The increase in the
intents to run for presidency in 2011 via other avenues: “There are a lot of parties,” he said number of African executive directors
on ZNBC Television a few days before the NEC meeting (Post 3), but according to the is an accomplishment that the outgo-
MMD, Magande’s real intent is to form a new party. His expulsion comes right after he ing executive director of AFG1, Toga
declared on ZNBC Television that Mwanawasa handpicked him to be his successor. Gayewea McIntosh of Liberia, is proud
of. Executive directors oversee the day-
Mpombo, who has served as defence minister under president Rupiah Banda, will on the to-day operations of the World Bank;
other hand appeal to the MMD’s party convention. In a letter addressed to the MMD, they sit for a period of two years and are
Mpombo’s lawyers point out that the MMD has failed to hold a party convention for usually picked from the countries’ finance
more than five years: “As you may be aware the present NEC was elected during the party ministers (Post/Daily Mail 7).
convention which was held between 13th July and 17th July 2005 for a term of five years
only. In view of the above, your decision to notify the Speaker of the National Assembly to
declare the Kafulafuta parliamentary seat vacant seems to be misconceived under the provi- Cheque-bouncing Changwe:
sions of your party constitution,” the letter reads in part (Post 8). Already in court!
But MMD deputy national secretary Chembe Nyangu said the expulsion was legal because Deputy minister of gender, Lucy Chan-
the current NEC office-bearers had the mandate to execute their duties until the next party gwe, whom the police last week refused
convention was held (Times 9). to prosecute for a bounced cheque, is
Magande said he would not re-contest his Chilanga seat (Daily Mail 8), whereas Mpombo already involved in one court case. On
most definitely will – although Patrick Mwanawasa, the son of the late president, said he is 9 August 2010, Lusaka senior resident
interested in contesting the Kafulafuta seat as an MMD candidate (Sunday Mail). magistrate David Simusamba ordered
Changwe to pay Carnival Furnishers
about 8 million kwacha owed plus interest
plus court charges. Carnival Furnishers
PF is the most tribal party had sued Changwe after she failed to pay
the outstanding amount for furniture she
According to a new survey, the Patriotic Front (PF) is the most tribal political party of the got on hire purchase (Post 7). Last week,
three largest parties in Zambia. The survey was undertaken by the Leadership in Develop- the police stated it would not prosecute
ment (LID) in conjunction with the Integrated Management Consultants. LID executive Changwe, despite issuing a cheque that
director Moses Kalonde explained that the study evaluated the tribal backgrounds of the later bounced, as there had been sufficient
general membership of the political parties and their leaderships along with the parties’ can- funds in her bank account at the time of
didates for the last two general elections. According to the survey, the PF had the highest rep- issuing.
resentation of one tribe at committees at central, provincial, district and constituency levels.
Over 60 percent of PF councillors in Lusaka are of Bemba-speaking origin. The PF shadow
cabinet for the 2006 general elections would also have consisted mostly of ministers from the
Northern Province. The PF gets most of its support from northern, some parts of Luapula the Advertise in Zambia Weekly
Copperbelt and Lusaka provinces. The United Party for National Development, which came
a close second, derives most of its support from the southern province, some parts of north- One full page in full colour for extra impact.
western, western and a section of central provinces. The governing Movement for Multiparty Only one advertiser per week.
Democracy, on the other hand, said Kalonde, “has a more national appeal and has its presence
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everywhere in the country” (Daily Mail 6).
Zambia Weekly

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 Zambia Weekly News
The murderer of Kaunda’s son confesses
One of the men convicted of the murder of first president Kenneth
Kaunda’s son, Wezi, has confessed to having committed the crime.
Moses Mulenga told the Supreme Court sitting in Ndola that he
robbed and murdered Major Kaunda and that he was not hired to do
so but did it out of banditry.
This is in a case in which Mulenga and his co-convict, Amon Banda,
appeared in court for their appeal against their conviction for ag-
gravated robbery and murder. But Mulenga told the court that he
deeply regretted the matter over which he was in court and to clear his
conscience, he was abandoning the appeal.
“My conscience cannot allow me to go ahead with this appeal because
everything that the judge in the lower court found I had done, I did,”
he said.
On 3 November 1999, Mulenga and Banda, armed with an AK47
assault rifle, robbed Major Kaunda of a Toyota GX Land Cruiser, and
during the act used violence to retain the said property. Major Kaunda
died on 4 November 1999.
The duo was sentenced to death on 25 July 2003, but appealed against
both the conviction and the sentence. When the matter came up in
the Supreme Court, senior Legal Aid counsel Kelvin Muzenga, who
represented Banda, said the trial judge misdirected himself when he
convicted his client based on uncorroborated evidence. He said Mrs
Kaunda was traumatised at the time she was identifying Mulenga and
Banda and therefore gave weak evidence while the other two witnesses
were accomplice witnesses who had interests to serve.
The judgment was reserved for a later date (Times/Daily Mail 8).
Vuvuzela language
The noisy vuvuzela horns were a big talking point of the 2010 World
Cup is South Africa. Now the European football’s governing body,
Uefa, has banned the vuvuzela from European matches as “the vu-
vuzelas would completely change the atmosphere” – although Uefa
emphasised that “in the specific context of South Africa, the vuvuzela
adds a touch of local flavour and folklore” (bbc.co.uk 1). Regardless,
the vuvuzelas are here to stay – in our language! This week, MMD
spokesperson, Dora Siliya, said about the two expelled MMD rebel
MPs (see page 5) that “the duo are not our members and anything
they say, we will consider it as vuvuzela” (Daily Mail 7). The Post
has called chief government spokesperson, Ronnie Shikapwasha,
the “vuvuzela of this corrupt government” and local business-guru
Chibamba Kanyama, has said that true allies “are the individuals who
will still blow the vuvuzela even when we are ten goals down!” Even
in England, the term has been used about Margaret Thatcher and her
so-called vuvuzela nationalism (telegraph.co.uk).
Zambia Weekly
Week 36, Volume 1, Issue 22, 10 September 2010
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Medicine in brief
A new malaria drug?
An experimental drug can clear malaria infection in mice with
a single dose and scientists say it shows promise as a possible
future treatment for one of the world’s major killer diseases. In
a study published in the journal Science, an international team
of scientists said the drug, NITD609, is effective against the
two most common parasites responsible for malaria, Plasmo-
dium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax – along with a range of
drug-resistant strains. The current best treatments for malaria are
artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) drugs, but a series of
studies have shown that artemisinin is losing its potency in west-
ern Cambodia, which is known as the breeding ground for drug-
resistant malaria. This is also where chloroquine first failed before
becoming ineffective elsewhere. The World Health Organisation
is trying to coordinate efforts to prevent artemisinin-resistant
malaria from spreading to Africa, which has 90 percent of the
world’s cases of the disease. NITD609 was identified by the No-
vartis Institute for Tropical Diseases working in an international
collaboration supported by the Wellcome Trust, the international
Medicines for Malaria Venture, the US National Institutes of
Health and several other bodies. More safety tests are needed
before the drug can be given in clinical trials in humans (Reuters
in Post 4).
The new pharmaceutical frontier
It has been a challenging decade for the pharmaceutical in-
dustry - with patents expiring in high numbers, new-product
pipelines drying up and intensifying competition from generics,
writes Sumi Dhanarajan (Post 7). At the same time, traditional
markets in industrialised countries are becoming saturated
as governments adopt regulatory regimes that demand more
economical, value-based and transparent drug pricing. Under
these circumstances, emerging markets present a new frontier.
Originally attractive for offering low-cost production, develop-
ing countries now present a viable market for multinational
corporations. At the end of 2008, one company attempted to
beat a new path: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) unveiled a four-
point plan that included a commitment to cap prices for pat-
ented medicines in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) at 25
percent of the price in the developed world. In middle-income
countries, prices would more closely reflect a country’s ability
to pay. For example, GSK cut the price of its cervical cancer
vaccine by 60 per cent in the Philippines and gained a 14-fold
increase in volume sales. Further, it proposed the establishment
of a patent pool for neglected tropical diseases and donated to
it 13,500 compounds for malaria vaccines. Slowly, other com-
panies are following suit. Sanofi-Aventis recently announced
that it would halve the price of its diabetes drug and cancer
treatment in Indonesia and the Philippines. Other companies
are experimenting with base-of-pyramid models that seek to
boost sales. Novartis’s Arogya Parivar model sells medicines in
smaller, more affordable package sizes. The jury is still out on
whether or not these new approaches deliver systemic change,
but at least the issue of access to medicines is no longer being
viewed at arm’s length. Sumi Dhanarajan is a consultant to the
Public Roles of the Private Sector programme at the Centre on
Asia and Globalisation in Singapore.
The best of the Zambian media 7