Just when you thought that the Patriotic Front government of President Michael Sata couldn’t be worse, his Vice President Guy Scott went out there and proved that yes, it can be worse. Scott’s now infamous interview with the Guardian in which he spewed hate speech toward the South African people will go down as one [...]
From an analysis published in the South African newspaper Mail & Guardian (emphasis added): However, no law exists in Zambia that regulates campaign financing and it is not clear whether this charge would stand up under court scrutiny. Banda’s arrest comes after his lawyers, Robert Amsterdam and Sakwiba Sikota, petitioned the Commonwealth to suspend Zambia’s membership [...]
While most people’s attention has been on the vote in Kenya, another pair of parliamentary elections in Zambia have raised international concerns over the escalation of volatile ethnic violence in Africa. On March 2, Freedom House issued a stern warning regarding “rising inter-party tensions and pre-election violence” following the killing of a man working for [...]
The following is a blog post published by Michael Chishala. (Disclaimer: the author of this post has no known affiliation with Robert Amsterdam or any other parties mentioned.) “I was taken around and shown things as a ‘useful idiot‘… that’s what my role was. I can’t understand why I was so gullible.” – Doris Lessing, British [...]
Below is the video of the press conference held by President of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) Nevers Mumba, President of the United Party for National Development (UPND), Edwin Sakala of the Zambia Direct Democracy Movement (ZDDM), Sakwiba Sikota, United Liberal Party (ULP) and lawyer Robert Amsterdam in Johannesburg on February 12, 2013. The [...]
Below is the full weekly column “Legal Musings” by Robert Amsterdam, originally published in the Lusaka newspaper The Daily Nation. After 16 months under the Patriotic Front (PF) government, it is fair to draw some conclusions regarding its performance. It is time to acknowledge that Zambia’s democracy is in crisis, and the future of the [...]
This opinion column was originally published in the print and online editions of the Daily Nation newspaper. The right to freedom of expression is inalienable. It is the most basic, fundamental human right: your freedom to hold opinions and communicate them. It is a right protected by law for every Zambian citizen, from the Constitution [...]
The following article was originally published in the December 18th edition of the Daily Nation newspaper: Oscar Benavides, a Peruvian president from the 1930s, once famously quipped, “For my friends, anything; for my enemies, the law.” Benavides’ comment is probably the illustrative example of how political leaders of the past sometimes regarded the law not [...]
The following article was originally published in Zambian Watchdog. In every successful democracy, the role of a vibrant, independent media is crucially important, providing checks and balances, ensuring accountability of elected officials, and delivering a service to the public as the fourth estate. Society extends an enormous level of trust toward the owners, editors, and [...]
The following statement was published on Zambian Watchdog: STATEMENT ON THE PRESS BRIEFING ADDRESSED BY MOVEMENT FOR MULTI-PARTY DEMOCRACY (MMD) PRESIDENT DR NEVERS MUMBA AT THE PARTY SECRETARIAT ON MONDAY, JULY 23, 2012. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. We have called this media briefing to address and clarify the recent developments that have taken place [...]