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Zambia is preparing to go to the polls next week and President Edgar Lungu has ordered the deployment of the military to quell electoral violence ahead of the votes. The race is between Lungu and Hakainde Hichilema who has been detained several times since he started contesting the top job. The Electoral Commission has banned rallies as part of measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus but that hasn&#8217;t stopped clashes between opposing political parties. Francois Conradie, Lead Political Economist at NKC African Economics.

As Zambians head to the polls

As Zambians head to the polls, here’s what’s at stake

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In a report of Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy amid COVID-19, it noted that despite a slump in economic activity in the second quarter, there may be a recovery.

Absa’s economic outlook for Zambia

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Global ratings agency S&#038;P has affirmed Zambia’s long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings with a negative outlook. This news was overshadowed by the surprise move by Zambian President Lungu over the weekend, as he fired the reserve bank governor with immediate effect and no reason. Ridle Markus, Africa Strategist, Absa Corporate and Investment Banking joins CNBC Africa for more.

Zambian president fires central bank governor

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Trevor Simumba, Economic and Trade Expert joins CNBC Africa to look at movements shaping the Zambian market space.

Zambian president Edgar Lungu moves to reassure nervous investors

LUSAKA (Reuters) &#8211; Zambia will fine and break ties with mining firms that fail to operate according to the southern African country’s laws, President Edgar Lungu said on Thursday, escalating a dispute with India-listed Vedanta.



Vedanta is fighting Zambia’s decision last month to name a provisional liquidator to run its Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) business and is seeking international arbitration.



Zambia, Africa’s second-largest copper producer, says KCM has breached the terms of its licence.



The dispute between Vedanta and the Zambian government has intensified concerns among international miners about rising resource nationalism in Africa.



Lungu said in a statement at a mining and energy conference in Lusaka that the government expected investors to operate within the confines of the law.



“Failure to do so will result in the government imposing sanctions and disengaging with the unwilling parties,” he said in the statement read out by Mines Minister Richard Musukwa.



Zambia’s Chamber of Mines said last month that 2019 copper output could be as much as 100,000 tonnes lower than last year because of changes to mining taxes.



Zambia plans to introduce a new non-refundable sales tax in place of Value Added Tax, despite criticism from mining companies.



Lungu disagreed with the Chamber of Mines’ predictions, saying the government forecast copper output would reach 890,000 tonnes by the end of the year, more than last year.



He said the government was ready for dialogue with miners, which account for 70 percent of export earnings.



But he added: “The government will not take kindly to any form of arm-twisting on the part of industry with regard to meeting their obligations.”



Reporting by Chris Mfula; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise

Why Zambian president is threatening to fine miners

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Zambia&#8217;s opposition parties plan to report President Edgar Lungu to the International Criminal Court at the Hague for alleged political violence against his rivals but the president has denied the allegations. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Fifi Peters spoke to President Lungu&#8217;s Spokesperson, Amos Chanda for more.

Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu refutes claims of violence against opposition

By Chris Mfula
LUSAKA, March 28 (Reuters) &#8211; Zambia’s parliament has delayed a debate due on Wednesday on a motion seeking to impeach President Edgar Lungu over accusations of breaching the constitution, according to a letter from the parliamentary clerk seen by Reuters.
Zambia’s main opposition party, the United Party for National Development (UPND), filed a motion last week. The notice set Wednesday as the date for the lawmakers’ debate and vote on the motion.
The impeachment motion has rekindled tensions in Africa’s second-largest copper producer and threatens to derail Commonwealth-brokered talks between the government and opposition after disputed 2016 elections.
“In view of the gravity of the motion, the same is being studied and we shall revert to you in due course,” said the letter sent on Monday from the Clerk of the National Assembly to Garry Nkombo, UPND parliamentary Chief Whip who filed the motion.
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<div id="dpslot_native_5189316_AFL8N1RA2GI" class="ad-container_20U2_" data-google-query-id="COCukIyJj9oCFUpmGwod7xQOiQ">UPND spokesman Charles Kakoma said the motion would now not be debated until parliament’s next session begins in June. Signed by a third of the 166-member house, the motion needs the backing of two thirds to succeed.</div>
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The opposition argues Lungu violated the constitution in 2016 when it challenged his election victory in court, alleging electoral fraud, a claim the government denied.
The opposition believes that under the constitution, the president should, when faced with a legal challenge of this kind, hand over power to the speaker of the National Assembly until the court makes a decision.
The UPND’s case against Lungu was dismissed on a technicality after its lawyers failed to provide evidence within the required time limit.
Chishimba Kambwili, a lawmaker of Lungu’s ruling Patriotic Front who seconded Nkombo’s motion, was arrested last Thursday by Zambia’s Anti-Corruption Commission on suspicion of fraud.
Kambwili, a former cabinet minister who has repeatedly accused government officials of corruption, fell ill while in police custody and was taken to a private hospital for treatment, police and his lawyers said.
He was subsequently transferred to a government hospital for continued treatment on Tuesday, they said.
On Wednesday, Kambwili appeared in court and denied all the charges. Magistrate Mwaka Mikalile granted Kambwili bail and said his trial will begin on June 4. (Editing by James Macharia and Raissa Kasolowsky)

Zambia’s parliament delays debate on motion to impeach president

Zambia’s main opposition party filed a motion on Thursday seeking the impeachment of President Edgar Lungu, accusing him of constitutional breaches, the presidency said on Friday.
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The motion by the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) got signatures from a third of the members of parliament in the 166-member house. It would need the backing of two-thirds of the lawmakers to succeed.
“This is just a continuation of the UPND’s failed court challenge of President Edgar Lungu’s election victory,” presidential spokesman Amos Chanda told Reuters. “It is not going anywhere.
“The UPND knows that the charges are defective and the motion cannot succeed but still brought it because they are not interested in the political dialogue,” he said.
The notice says Lungu abrogated the constitution by not handing over power to the speaker of the national assembly when the opposition challenged his victory in court in 2016.
The document filed and circulated by UPND indicates that the motion would be debated next week on March 28.
According to the document, the motion was expected to be moved by UPND parliamentary Chief Whip Garry Nkombo and seconded by the ruling Patriotic Front’s Chishimba Kambwili.
Kambwili was arrested on Thursday by Zambia’s Anti-Corruption Commission on charges of corruption, which included having property suspected to be proceeds of crime [nL8N1R44NW].
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Reporting by Chris Mfula, editing by Larry King
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Zambia’s main opposition party seeks to impeach President Lungu

LUSAKA (Reuters) &#8211; Zambia has shut three of South African retailer Shoprite’s Hungry Lion fast-food restaurants after their food tested positive for the bacterium that causes cholera, a government minister said on Thursday.
Zambia is struggling to contain an outbreak of the disease, which has killed 51 people and made more than 2,000 others sick in the capital Lusaka.
<div class="DPSlot_container_2dHIN DPSlot_inline_1oeo6">The outbreak was initially linked to contaminated water from shallow wells but investigations indicated that contaminated food was the main culprit.</div>
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Local government minister Vincent Mwale said inspectors had found contaminated food at three Hungry Lion branches in Lusaka.
“We have since directed the restaurants to close and have had meetings with the management to see how hygiene conditions can be improved,” Mwale told Reuters. “We suspect that some food handlers in these food outlets may be coming from parts of the city that are the epicentre of the disease.”
Shoprite management in Zambia could not immediately b e reached.
President Edgar Lungu last week directed the military to help fight the spread of the waterborne disease.
The outbreak was initially confined to densely populated parts of Lusaka with poor sanitation, but has now spread to lower-density areas.
Neighbouring Malawi has registered 157 cases and four deaths, its health minister said.
Cholera causes acute watery diarrhoea. It can be treated with oral rehydration solutions and antibiotics, but spreads rapidly and can kill within hours if not treated.
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Reporting by Chris Mfula; Additional reporting by Frank Phiri in Blantyre; Editing by Tiisetso Motsoeneng and Kevin Liffey
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Zambia shuts three of Shoprite’s Hungry Lion restaurants

Zambia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba has resigned, he said on his Facebook page, as a struggle in the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) over President Edgar Lungu’s ambitions to run for another term in office intensifies.
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Kalaba is seen as a potential PF candidate in a 2021 presidential election but analysts say his chances of winning the PF nomination may stall if Lungu wins a court battle allowing him to run for a third term.
“We cannot proceed to manage national affairs with cold indifference when the levels of corruption are swelling and being perpetrated by those who are expected to be the solution,” Kalaba said in a Facebook post late on Tuesday.
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Presidential spokesman Amos Chanda told Reuters State House had not received Kalaba’s resignation letter.
Experts said Kalaba’s resignation was intended to apply pressure on Lungu who is accused by his opponents of chasing an unconstitutional third term.
“People have started realizing that they will not get nominated as long as Lungu insists on standing,” Lee Habasonda, an analyst from the University of Zambia, told Reuters.
Zambia’s constitution limits presidents to two terms but Lungu argues that his first period as leader doesn’t count because he did not serve a full term after he assumed power following the death of predecessor Michael Sata in 2014.
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Lungu was then elected for a five-year term in 2016.
Lungu in November warned constitutional court judges not to stop him running again and his allies have asked the Supreme Court to confirm that he will be eligible to stand.
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Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Joe Brock
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Zambia’s foreign minister resigns as ruling party divide deepens

LUSAKA (Reuters) &#8211; Zambian President Edgar Lungu has sent former president Kenneth Kaunda to Harare to try to convince President Robert Mugabe to step down in a “dignified exit” after the military seized power last week.
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The ruling party removed Mugabe as ZANU-PF president and first secretary on Sunday and lawmakers from the ruling party were due to meet at the party headquarters on Monday to discuss impeaching the 93-year-old leader.
“Dr Kaunda used the presidential jet and has already arrived in Harare,” a senior government source told Reuters. Kaunda is also 93 years old.
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Parliament does not sit on Mondays so any impeachment would have to wait until Tuesday, although a vote may not necessarily take place the same day.
<div class="DPSlot_container_2dHIN DPSlot_inline_1oeo6 in-article-tag">Two senior political sources said Mugabe agreed to resign on Sunday but ZANU-PF did not want him to quit in front of the military, an act that would have made its intervention look like a coup.</div>
“It would have looked extremely bad if he had resigned in front of those generals. It would have created a huge amount of mess,” one senior source within ZANU-PF said.
Another political source said the speech was meant to “sanitise” the military’s action.
There has been speculation that he read the wrong speech in his live television address on Sunday or skipped over passages about standing down.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was dumb-struck.
“I am baffled. It’s not just me, it’s the whole nation. He’s playing a game,” he told Reuters. “He is trying to manipulate everyone. He has let the whole nation down.”
ZANU-PF had given him less than 24 hours to quit as head of state or face impeachment, an attempt to secure a peaceful end to his tenure after the de facto military coup.
ZANU-PF’s central committee had earlier named Emmerson Mnangagwa as its new leader. It was Mugabe’s sacking of Mnangagwa as his vice-president &#8212; paving the way for his wife Grace to succeed him &#8212; that triggered the army to seize control.
On Saturday, hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Harare to celebrate Mugabe’s expected downfall and hail a new era for their country.
The huge crowds in Harare have given a quasi-democratic veneer to the army’s intervention, backing its assertion that it was merely effecting a constitutional transfer of power, rather than an old-style coup, which would risk a diplomatic backlash.
Armoured vehicles manned by soldiers were still stationed on some street corners in the capital on Monday.
The University of Zimbabwe postponed exams on Monday after students started chanting and singing songs against Mugabe.
Meanwhile, the man himself remained under house arrest in his lavish “Blue Roof” compound, watching the support from his party, security services and people evaporate.
<h3>REDUCED POWERS</h3>
ZANU-PF also said it wanted to change the constitution to reduce the power of the president, a possible sign of its desire to move towards a more pluralistic and inclusive political system.
However, Mnangagwa’s history as state security chief during the so-called Gukurahundi crackdown, when an estimated 20,000 people were killed by the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade in Matabeleland in the early 1980s, suggested that quick, sweeping change was unlikely.
“The deep state that engineered this change of leadership will remain, thwarting any real democratic reform,” said Miles Tendi, a Zimbabwean academic at Oxford University.
Reporting by Chris Mfula; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Ed Cropley
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Ex-Zambian leader arrives in Zimbabwe to convince Mugabe to go: source

Author: <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/boniface-dulani-228606">Boniface Dulani</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cape-town-691">University of Cape Town</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-bratton-178849">Michael Bratton</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/michigan-state-university-1349">Michigan State University</a>
After a year of authoritarian backsliding under <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-talk-about-zambia-as-it-falls-from-grace-under-president-lungu-77520">President Edgar Lungu</a> in their once-proud democracy, Zambians face a choice of futures. Ordinary citizens are clearly disposed to stand by their democratic ideals and reject dictatorship.
A recent <a href="http://afrobarometer.org/publications/ad157-democracy-in-zambia-at-a-crossroads">survey</a> by Afrobarometer an independent research network that conducts public attitude surveys across the continent, leaves little doubt that most Zambians are dissatisfied as they see their country going in the “wrong direction” and their democracy beginning to erode.
To defend democracy, citizens require an open political environment, and Zambians see that political space closing. Between 2012 and 2017, the proportion of citizens who say they feel “completely” or “somewhat” free to say what they think has declined sharply, from 81% to 62%. On top of this, 72% of Zambians now say that they must “always” or “often” be “careful of what they say about politics,” a proportion that has risen by 10 percentage points over the past five years.
Since 1999, the proportion of citizens who say they enjoy “somewhat” or “much” more freedom of speech “compared to a few years ago” has dropped from 77% to 41%.
Zambia has gone from a country where most people felt free to engage in open political debate to one where most people have begun to look over their shoulders to see who is listening.
But are citizens prepared to stand up to defend democratic rights at this critical juncture? In Zambia, the answer is mixed.
<h2>Mixed feelings</h2>
On one hand, Zambians are fierce defenders of the right to personal privacy: Two-thirds (67%) reject government monitoring of private communications (on mobile phones, for example), even under the pretext of security.
Almost as many (58%) assert that they “should be able to join any organisation, whether or not the government approves of it”. On the other hand, Zambians fall short in resisting other real or potential excesses of presidential power. A slim majority (54%) says
<blockquote>(the government) should be able to prevent the media from publishing things that it considers harmful to society.</blockquote>
Fully 70% say they are willing to accept that,
<blockquote>when faced with threats to public security, the government should be able to impose curfews and set up special roadblocks.</blockquote>
It must be stressed that the April 2017 survey was conducted before Lungu <a href="https://theconversation.com/lungu-tries-to-have-his-cake-and-eat-it-a-state-of-emergency-in-all-but-name-80628">seized extraordinary powers</a>. At that time, few Zambians may have believed that security conditions actually existed that warranted infringements of rights. So these results should not be read as a direct endorsement of the president’s actions.
As in Burundi, where Afrobarometer traced a rise in support for <a href="http://afrobarometer.org/sites/default/files/press-release/burundi/bdi_r6_pr_Burundians_support_democracy_08012015.pdf">term limits </a> as President Pierre Nkurunziza moved to undermine them, it may well be that there has been movement in public opinion since Lungu cracked down.
Figure 5: Popular resistance to emergency measures | Zambia | April 2017*
<figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/178799/area14mp/file-20170719-13539-pn4y4n.PNG"><img decoding="async" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/178799/width754/file-20170719-13539-pn4y4n.PNG" alt="" /></a><figcaption>Figure 5.</figcaption></figure>
The questions the respondents were asked include: 
1. Which of the following statements is closest to your view? 
Statement 1: Government should be able to monitor private communications, for example on mobile phones, to make sure that people are not plotting violence. 
Statement 2: People should have the right to communicate in private without a government agency reading or listening to what they are saying. 
2. Which of the following statements is closest to your view? 
Statement 1: The government should be able to ban any organisation that goes against its policies. 
Statement 2: We should be able to join any organisation, whether or not the government approves of it.
<h2>Political attitudes</h2>
As Zambia’s own history demonstrates, a mobilised public can be a powerful force for democratisation. But who will lead public opinion in defence of Zambia’s democracy in 2017?
The data show few important differences between urban and rural residents, or between Internet and social-media users and non-users, when it comes to these political attitudes. Instead, educational achievement is the best marker of difference among Zambians in terms of their willingness to support and defend democracy.
Table 1: Political attitudes by level of education | Zambia | 2017 
No formal education
<figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/178801/area14mp/file-20170719-13545-1defwr1.PNG"><img decoding="async" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/178801/width754/file-20170719-13545-1defwr1.PNG" alt="" /></a><figcaption>Table 1.</figcaption></figure>
For some political attitudes, a little education goes a long way. For example, primary schooling seems to sharply step up the likelihood that Zambians will support democracy, reject military and one-man rule, see a need to be careful about what one says about politics, and feel constrained about criticising President Lungu.
In other instances, political attitudes change by increments as respondents gradually attain higher levels of education, with respect to the likelihood that Zambians will, for example, reject one party rule, see the last election as less than free and fair and prefer to limit the president to two terms in office.
Finally, a post-secondary education seems to be required before individuals are able to take on the most demanding understandings of, and commitments to, democracy. For example, majorities of this group tend to recognise recent declines in freedom for the media, NGOs, and opposition parties; oppose efforts by the government to control the mass media and oppose moves by the government to ban independent organisations.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/81277/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />While Zambians strongly endorse democratic principles, less educated citizens may be prone to underestimate the threats inherent in government takeover of the legislature, courts and the mass media, or to acquiesce to specious arguments that law and order requires the sacrifice of individual liberties.
In that case, the defence of democracy in Zambia depends critically on active political engagement by educated citizens. They have essential roles to play in helping other Zambians to understand that the greatest risk to democracy in the country today comes not from the imminent threat of a military coup but from the gradual erosion of hard-won political gains at the hands of an elected civilian leader bent on expanding his own power.
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/boniface-dulani-228606">Boniface Dulani</a>, Senior lecturer in the Department of Political and Administrative Studies at the University of Malawi and Research Associate, Centre for Social Science Research, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cape-town-691">University of Cape Town</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-bratton-178849">Michael Bratton</a>, University Distinguished Professor of Political Science and African Studies, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/michigan-state-university-1349">Michigan State University</a>
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/zambians-firmly-defend-democracy-but-will-they-stand-up-against-lungu-81277">original article</a>.

Zambians are worried about their democracy. But will they stand up?

Zambian President Edgar Lungu may revoke emergency powers before they expire in 90 days if there is an end to the &#8220;acts of sabotage&#8221; they were meant to quell, his spokesman said on Wednesday.
Africa&#8217;s second-largest copper producer, one of the continent&#8217;s more stable democracies, has been unusually tense since the arrest in April of opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema on treason charges, ostensibly for impeding Lungu&#8217;s motorcade.
On Tuesday, parliament extended Lungu&#8217;s emergency powers by three months in an attempt to quash a spate of arson attacks on market places and court-houses.
Lungu spokesman Amos Chanda said police were making progress in their investigations and had observed no new incidents since emergency rule was imposed a week ago.
&#8220;If these acts of sabotage do not continue this should be lifted within three months. It could be revoked even earlier than three months. The president at any point can revoke it,&#8221; Chanda said.
Critics say the emergency powers will be used to harass political opponents after last year&#8217;s bitter and violent election, which Hichilema&#8217;s United Party for National Development (UPND) says was rigged.
(Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by Ed Cropley)

Zambia says emergency rule may end early if sabotage stops

For 24 hours rumours swirled through Zambia that President Edgar Lungu <a href="https://www.zambiawatchdog.com/lungu-likely-to-sign-state-of-emergency-tonight/">planned to initiate a state of emergency</a>. When he finally took to the airwaves to <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2017-07-05-zambia">make a special announcement</a> he did something different. Invoking <a href="https://www.lusakatimes.com/2017/07/05/article-31-declaration-relating-threatened-emergency/">Article 31</a> of the <a href="https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/26620/90492/F735047973/ZMB26620.pdf">constitution</a> – Declaration Relating to Threatened Emergency – rather than Article 30 – Declaration of Public Emergency – the president requested extra powers to prevent a state of emergency rather than actually declaring one.
In practice, the difference between the two is slim. If, as expected, parliament approves his request he will have been given considerably more powers. He will be able to restrict movement of assembly, implement a curfew, curtail parliament, ban publications, order detention without trial, and search any property without a search warrant. As respected Zambian commentator Sishuwa Sishuwa has put it, this is effectively a “State of Threatened Emergency”.
The president’s decision to go with Article 31 is significant for a number of reasons. The first is that it allows the Zambian government to ward off criticism by being able to argue that it has not <a href="https://www.lusakatimes.com/2017/07/06/president-lungu-not-declared-state-emergency/">declared a state of emergency</a>. This is important because the Patriotic Front regime is in the process of negotiating a much needed <a href="https://www.lusakatimes.com/2017/05/02/imf-bail-will-not-bring-untold-misery-zambia-mutati/">economic bail out with the International Monetary Fund</a>.
Presenting its authoritarian backsliding in a more palatable way is therefore extremely valuable. By opting for Article 31, Lungu hopes to have his cake and eat it. He will have secured powers to consolidate his political control while generating “plausible deniability” to whether or not he has fatally undermined Zambian democracy.
To some extent this strategy has been successful. Initial Facebook and twitter <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nic.cheeseman/posts/1301668219959781?pnref=story">conversations</a> about how the measure could be reversed quickly gave way to confusion and arguments about what the president had actually declared, and what it meant.
<h2>Why did Lungu do it?</h2>
The official reason behind the president’s request for extra powers is a spate of civil disobedience and arson that has seen a number of markets burnt down. The immediate trigger was a fire that destroyed the country’s largest, the <a href="http://allafrica.com/view/group/main/main/id/00053416.html">City Market in Lusaka</a>.
But the president’s claim to simply be acting in the interests of law and order has been fiercely contested by critics. Instead, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-zambia-politics-idUSKBN17Q0W8">opposition leaders allege</a> that the government has been either taking advantage of natural fires or deliberately starting them to justify the extension of authoritarian control.
This claim is lent credibility by the fact that the investigation of the City Market fire had only just begun when the decision to expand the president’s powers was taken. Rumours circulating in Zambia suggest that in fact it resulted from an <a href="http://zambia24.com/news/2017/07/04/city-market-fire-resulted-from-an-electrical-fault-onlookers/">electrical fault rather than sabotage</a>.
If this is true, it raises the question of what lies behind Lungu’s increasingly aggressive strategy. Three overlapping explanations are circulating, all of which have a degree of plausibility.
The first is that it’s simply another way of intimidating the opposition. In addition to <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-talk-about-zambia-as-it-falls-from-grace-under-president-lungu-77520">arresting United Party for National Development leader Hakainde Hichilema</a>, popularly known as HH, the government has tried various ways to clamp down on opposition to its rule. This has included the <a href="https://theconversation.com/zambia-slides-towards-authoritarianism-as-imf-props-up-government-79533">suspension of 48 opposition MPs</a>. And fears that Hichilema might be acquitted by the High Court, and subsequently released, are said to explain the timing of the president’s statement.
The second is that the president faces serious challenges within the Patriotic Front, where some question his suitability to lead. In addition to rumours that he is in <a href="http://www.zambianobserver.com/edgar-lungu-gets-more-sick-stops-talking/">bad health</a>, this makes him potentially more <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2017-07-05-zambia">vulnerable to internal opposition</a> than to the challenge of the main opposition party. On this interpretation, Lungu’s appropriation of extra powers is designed as a warning to his rivals within the party to back off.
Finally, some see his decision as being motivated by his desire to secure a <a href="http://democracyinafrica.org/zambia-president-lungu-third-term/">third term in office</a> when his current term ends in 2021. The legality of this is questionable, and the move is fiercely opposed by opposition parties.
On their own, none of these claims fully explains why Lungu has opted for such a controversial move when IMF negotiations are at a delicate stage. In reality it may be that the president’s actions are explained by some combination of all three – or indeed, an alternative explanation that has not yet come to light.
<h2>What happens next?</h2>
There’s <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2017-07-05-zambia%20%22%22">confusion</a> about exactly where Lungu intends to go from here. In a presidential address in the last hour his stance appeared to harden, rejecting international criticism and <a href="https://www.themastonline.com/2017/07/06/imf-can-go-lungu/">stating that:</a> “If they [IMF] think I am going astray, let them go.”
According to <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2017-07-05-zambia">Nicole Beardsworth</a>, a senior researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand’s Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, Lungu’s declaration will give him <a href="http://www.parliament.gov.zm/sites/default/files/documents/acts/Preservation%20of%20Public%20Security%20Act.pdf">additional powers</a>. Moreover, if his statutory instrument is approved by Parliament, it can be extended for a period of months.
This would seem to give the president all the time and powers he would need to further cow internal and external opposition, although it’s still possible that he will seek to apply a full state of emergency.
What may prevent this from happening is concern within the cabinet that such a move would be unnecessary and counterproductive. Not all leaders of the Patriotic Front agree with the direction that Lungu is taking his country in. Push back in a cabinet meeting is said to have prevented an even more forceful declaration.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/80628/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />Given the president’s new found capacity to control the media and intimidate the opposition, these internal constraints may prove to be Zambia’s best hope of avoiding dictatorship.
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nic-cheeseman-180800">Nic Cheeseman</a>, Professor of Democracy, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-birmingham-1138">University of Birmingham</a>
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/lungu-tries-to-have-his-cake-and-eat-it-a-state-of-emergency-in-all-but-name-80628">original article</a>.

Zambia: A democracy thrown over the edge

LUSAKA (Reuters) &#8211; Zambia&#8217;s parliament suspended 48 opposition lawmakers on Tuesday for boycotting a speech by the president, widening a political rift that has alarmed rights groups.
Parliament&#8217;s speaker barred the United Party for National Development (UPND) politicians from taking their seats for 30 days, a move that banned them from the building and stopped their pay.
Their party, which was defeated in August elections that it said were rigged, called the suspensions unconstitutional.
The lawmakers boycotted President Edgar Lungu&#8217;s address at the official opening of the assembly in March, saying they did not recognise him as leader.
A month later, the UPND&#8217;s leader, Hakainde Hichilema, and five others were arrested and charged with treason after a column of opposition vehicles failed to make way for Lungu&#8217;s motorcade.
Amnesty International has said the treason charges are &#8220;trumped up&#8221; and called for the politicians&#8217; release.
On Tuesday, parliament&#8217;s speaker Patrick Matibini told the opposition lawmakers: &#8220;I challenge you to resign on moral grounds if you do not recognise that there is a legitimately elected government.&#8221;
The suspensions affected 48 of the party&#8217;s 58 MPs. The remaining 10 had officially excused themselves from attending parliament on the day of Lungu&#8217;s speech and were not included in the suspension.
Hichilema was moved from a prison in Lusaka to a maximum security facility outside the capital on June 9.
(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Zambia suspends 48 opposition MPs for snubbing president’s speech

(DURBAN) When the first of more than 1000 delegates, expected at this World Economic Forum Africa gathering in Durban, began arriving on the eve of this conference the temperature was 25 degrees and the locals said it was chilly. Most who live this close to the Indian Ocean are use to 30 degrees plus for most of the year.
For the next three days, in Durban, the interest in the economies of Africa is likely to be running hot.
Organisers say more than 100 countries from around the world will be represented at this year&#8217;s WEF Africa compared to 70 at last year&#8217;s WEF in Rwanda. Some of the surprise attendees this year is the German Finance Minister &#8211; who is bringing a plane load of CEOs with him- and the deputy leader of Singapore.
There will also be a strong contingent of African leaders in Durban. Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe will attend his first WEF since Tanzania in 2010. Yoweri Museveni, the leader of Uganda, has also confirmed along with Edgar Lungu of Zambia and King Mswati of Swaziland.
For more read: 
<a href="http://cnbc.africa/insights/world-economic-forum/2017/05/02/world-economic-forum-preview-africa-hub-opportunities-waiting-unlocked/"> 
World Economic Forum Preview: Africa – a hub of opportunities, waiting to be unlocked!</a>
<div class="simple-thumb"><a href="http://cnbc.africa/insights/world-economic-forum/wef-africa-2017/2017/05/02/wef-africa-preview/">The World Economic Forum roadshow lands in Africa</a></div>

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to attend first WEF since Tanzania 2010

Zambian police detained opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema on Tuesday after raiding his home, his spokesman said, but authorities could not immediately say why he was being questioned.
Hichilema, a wealthy economist known as &#8220;HH&#8221;, was defeated by President Edgar Lungu in an election last August, which he described as fraudulent. His attempts to mount a legal challenge have so far been unsuccessful.
<blockquote>&#8220;HH is now at Woodlands police station awaiting processes there. They are questioning him now,&#8221; Hichilema&#8217;s media aide Clayson Hamasaka said in a statement.</blockquote>
Hichilema&#8217;s lawyer Jack Mwiimbu said the opposition leader had been moved to Lilayi Police Training School in the capital for questioning.
&#8220;We have no idea what they want &#8230; we are on our way to Lilayi. This is something strange. It has never happened before. He is not well because of the tear gas. His wife fainted three times last night because of the tear gas,&#8221; Mwiimbu told Reuters.
A spokesman for Hichilema&#8217;s United Party for National Development (UPND), Charles Kakoma, said police broke doors to the opposition leader&#8217;s house in an exclusive suburb of Lusaka and fired tear gas canisters into the mansion. He said police had blocked the access road to the residence but did not say what they were looking for.
&#8220;They broke the doors and teargassed the house,&#8221; Kakoma said. &#8220;They left the home after picking him.&#8221;
Neither police nor Hichilema were available to comment.
On Sunday, presidential spokesman Amos Chanda said Hichilema had obstructed Lungu&#8217;s motorcade, saying Hichilema&#8217;s motorcade maintained its lane instead of getting off the road.
Hichilema was granted bail in October after being charged with sedition, a move his team said was an attempt by the ruling party to silence dissent.
The opposition leader had been accused of assembly without a permit after he gave an impromptu address in the rural town of Mpongwe, police said.
(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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Edgar Lungu

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