Zambia is to intensify its corruption fight which is aimed at prosecuting all those who plundered and mismanaged public funds. Vice president George Kunda who is also justice minister said Zambia is governed by tenets of laws and that no person whether in the private or public sector is above the law.

Zambia expects foreign direct investment to reach $2.7 billion in 2009 despite the global economic downturn as investors rush to take up tax breaks, the government's trade minister said. Zambia has in the last five years liberalised its investment policies, awarding tax incentives to foreign companies in a bid to grow the economy and create wealth and employment.

Despite its failure to host the 2011 All-Africa Games, Zambia has been assured by the Chinese government that its 50 000-seater Ndola Stadium will still be constructed. Chinese President Hu Jintao last week said his country is committed to improving sports infrastructure in Africa and will soon commence construction of a modern stadium in Zambia.

The recent two-percent drop in HIV prevalence in Zambia may not be a true reflection of the state of the pandemic in the country, health officials have warned. UNAIDS Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor Dr Michael Gboun told IRIN/PlusNews that while there has been a marked decline of HIV in the general population, some geographical areas and groups were showing an alarming increase.

Ninety per cent of some 25,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in two camps in northern Zambia want to return home, the United Nations refugee agency said today after a survey was conducted in advance of voluntary returns planned for May. The verification exercise was conducted late last month by the government of Zambia and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to learn the exact number of refugees, identify those with special needs, update biographical data and collect information on their desire to return to the DRC.

In February 2006, a thirteen year old schoolgirl, R.M., was raped by her teacher, Edson Hakasenke when she went to his house to collect her school papers upon his request. Mr. Hakasenke told her not to report the incident as she would be thrown out of school and he would lose his job. R.M. did not report the rape until several weeks later after she was treated for a sexually transmitted infection that she had contracted as a result of the rape. Her aunt/guardian filed a complaint with the headmaster. When confronted, Mr. Hakasenke claimed R.M. was his “girlfriend.”

Two years into its work, the Zambia's National Constitutional Conference (NCC) is finding it difficult to get wide public acceptance. Evans Kaputo is involved in corruption advocacy with the Civic Education Network, a grouping of civic organisations in Lusaka. He is not impressed that $80 million has been set aside for the constitutional conference. "All this NCC is a waste of money. What we need to change is the way our money is spent and stiffen laws regarding theft by public servants, corruption, abuse of office and so forth.

On 28 January 2009, Ndola High Court Deputy Registrar Jones Chinyama banned "The Post" newspaper from covering former president Fredrick Chiluba's case currently before the Magistrate's court. The ban came on the heels of a story published in "The Post" on 28 January, which sought to interpret the meaning of Chiluba's intention to give an unsworn statement in court.

The roulette tables at the Great Wall casino have suddenly fallen silent. A few miles away, Lusaka’s most popular Chinese restaurant is virtually empty, the only guests a handful of wealthy Africans. The ripples from the global economic meltdown have finally washed up on African shores. Nowhere is that more noticeable than in Zambia,

Zambia's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) received more than 2,000 corruption complaints from the public for 2008, the ACC yearly report states. "The commission investigated a number of cases last year. Arrests were effected and cases brought before the courts of law where sufficient evidence was established," ACC acting director Rosewin Wandi told IPS. "Between 60 and 70 percent of reported complaints were against government officials, while about 20 percent were against officials in the private sector."

Zambia plans to invite bids to explore for oil within six months in the hope of capitalising on what it says is “huge potential” to strike black gold beneath the soil of one of the world’s poorest countries.Already Africa’s biggest copper producer, Zambia’s parliament has approved a legal framework for exploration and the government has held preliminary talks with oil companies ”mainly in Europe and some in Africa”, Kalombo Mwansa told the Financial Times late last year in his last interview as mining minister before switching to home affairs in a new government.

Plummeting copper prices have caused investors to shy away from the $1.5 billion Kafue Lower Gorge Dam, which is designed exclusively for use by foreign mining companies. According to Reuters, the World Bank’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), reports that the proposed $1.5 billion Kafue Lower Gorge Dam in Zambia has been put on hold, as many investors shy away from major commitments in light of the financial crisis.

This report has been produced within the capacity building programme on participatory research and action (PRA) for people centred health systems in EQUINET. It is part of a growing mentored network of PRA work and experience in east and southern Africa, aimed at strengthening people centred health systems and people’s empowerment in health. The report presents the work and outcomes from the follow up action research building on a pilot in 2006 that aimed to strengthen community-health centre partnership and accountability in two districts in Zambia.

China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group Co (CNMC) said it is raising 1 billion yuan ($145 million) through bonds to finance its Chambishi copper project in Zambia and Tagaung Taung nickel project in Burma.

This is a story about a house with a history and about the people who lived or worked there. It captures something of the spirit of the times in worlds of politics and development, and it discusses the links which were established between Oxfam GB in Zambia and the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa. Edited by Robin Palmer, Bookworld Publishers, Lusaka 2008: ISBN 9789982240512. Also available from

Zambians are gradually turning to greener energy technologies to save trees after suffering years of extensive flooding and droughts, which could slow the impact of climate change. Charcoal-fed braziers are being replaced by those burning briquettes made of treated coal waste, which are smokeless and emit low levels of sulphur dioxide gas.

Zambia has not been spared by HIV and AIDS. 17 percent of the 12 million Zambians are HIV/AIDS. The government and other stakeholders put concerted efforts to fight this deadly disease. "They were there, when I needed them."Care International is one of the NGOs that have embarked on HIV/AIDS. Care International regional office in the boarder town of Livingstone, is running a Home Based Care (HBC) programme for HIV/AIDS patients. The boarder towns are the most affected areas.

UNESCO’s culture and HIV and AIDS programme is developing and testing a toolkit on the use of arts to address HIV and AIDS-related stigma and discrimination in Zambia. The objective of the toolkit is to generate discussions and exercises facilitating learning and enhancing knowledge of key issues concerning HIV and AIDS related stigma and discrimination through arts.

Zambian President, Rupiah Banda, has requested Nigeria's assistance to tackle the effect of the global financial crisis on his country. He said the global crisis has hit Zambia's economy to the extent that the price of its main commodity which is copper had come down to $3,300 from $8000 per tonne.

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia expresses concern over the sharp rise in the number of media freedom violations recorded during the just ended presidential by-election of 30 October, 2008. During the pre and immediate post election period, between September and November 2008, MISA-Zambia recorded and reported 16 media freedom violations compared to six (6) between January and August 2008.