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Western Province Minister Kapelwa Mbangweta has disclosed that government has paid all farmers in the province for their produce. Mr. Mbangweta explained that government had initially planned to purchase 500,000 metric tonnes of produce from farmers, but increased production following its call for farmers to grow more food resulted in government purchasing about 1.7 million metric tonnes. He said the significant increase in the volume of produce meant government had to mobilise additional resources to settle outstanding payments to farmers. Mr. Mbangweta said once the funds were secured and made available in Kaoma, government worked with Access Bank, the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) and the Ministry of Agriculture to ease the payment process. He explained that Kaoma, Nkeyema, Luampa and surrounding areas have traditionally relied on a single bank to facilitate payments to farmers, but the more-than-threefold increase in the number of farmers requiring payment created additional pr...

The Higher Education Authority (HEA) has disclosed that, as a measure to curb the proliferation of fake professors and safeguard the quality of higher education, the Authority intends to propose amendments to the Higher Education Act to introduce a mandatory recognition system for professors. HEA Director General, Professor Kazhila Chinsembu , says the idea is to establish a national register of HEA-accredited professors. Speaking at the official opening of the first Summer School on Media Training, Prof. Chins said the presence of a number of bogus and fake professors in Zambia, saying these individuals have neither conducted credible research nor published a single peer-reviewed journal article. “We have also observed the proliferation of fake professors whose publications are limited to predatory journals,” he said. Prof. Chinsembu explained that predatory journals are deceptive academic publications that masquerade as legitimate scholarly outlets but exist primarily to extract mone...

The Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has defended the K700 salary increment agreed between government and public sector unions, describing the outcome of negotiations as a good deal considering the economic challenges faced by the country. ZCTU Secretary General Joy Beene says the 27 public sector unions commenced negotiations with government last year, ahead of the expiry of their collective agreement in December. Mr. Beene said the negotiations were difficult and at one point reached a deadlock, prompting government to request a recess to allow it to undertake consultations and seek a further mandate. He said the recess also gave the unions an opportunity to consult their members and economic advisers before resuming negotiations. Mr. Beene explained that the unions employ qualified researchers from the University of Zambia to provide economic advice during collective bargaining. He said union leaders do not simply arrive at salary demands based on figures proposed by...

The Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR) has called for greater predictability in the management of agricultural markets, citing delays in farmer payments during the 2025 crop marketing season. ZIPAR Executive Director Zali Chikuli says the delays exposed deeper structural challenges in Zambia's agricultural marketing system beyond the issue of financial transactions. Mr. Chikuli said Zambia has policies that strongly support agricultural production, as demonstrated by the positive response from farmers and the bumper harvest recorded during the 2025 farming season. However, he said challenges emerge at the marketing stage, where existing mechanisms are not adequately designed to handle large-scale crop purchases. Mr. Chikuli explained that the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) was originally established to purchase limited quantities of maize, estimated at about 500,000 metric tonnes, for strategic national reserves rather than to purchase the entire crop prod...

Some stakeholders in the transport sector have expressed reservations over Transport and Logistics Minister Frank Tayali's indication that the long-standing night travel ban for public service vehicles (PSVs) will be lifted once construction works on the Lusaka-Ndola dual carriageway are completed. BELSAM Driving School Chief Executive Officer Anthony Samuhandu says although the dual carriageway has already helped reduce travel time between Lusaka and Ndola, government should not rush to lift the night travel restriction. Mr. Samuhandu said the ban was introduced at a time when the country was experiencing an increase in road traffic accidents and was intended as a road safety measure. He said while improved road infrastructure has enabled vehicles to travel more efficiently, lifting the night travel ban for PSVs requires consideration of factors beyond the completion of the road project. Speaking in an interview with Prime TV News, Mr. Samuhandu said authorities should fir...

United Party for National Development Katombola Member of Parliament   Clement Andeleki  has expressed gratitude to the Zambian people and their representatives in the National Assembly for the historic passage of National Assembly Bill Number 7 of 2025 . T he bill passed unanimously, with all 1 35 members who were in attendance voting in favor during the third reading . "I represent Katombola constituents, but yesterday, I represented the entire country,” he stated, pointing out that the bill achieved the required two-thirds majority as stipulated by Article 79 of the Constitution . Dr. Andeleki has congratulated the Zambian people, stating, "This is a victory for the people of Zambia. This is a historical amendment." The Lawmaker said the amendments addressed two previously controversial clauses, including one concerning by-elections . Responding to public concerns about the costs associated with by-elections, the government initially proposed their removal. However, ...

A member of the Law Association of Zambia says the association’s presid ent acted improperly by engaging with the OASIS forum and making public statements on Bill 7 without first securing direction from the membership. Clement Andeleki said President Lungisani Zulu  had no mandate to represent the association in that way  and has call ed  the conduct unethical and professionally improper. Dr. Andeleki who is also UPND Katombola Member of Parliament has described the Law Association as a body of distinguished legal practitioners, including judges and lawyers, and said the president’s pronouncements urging people to take to the streets in pursuit of regime change were unacceptable. He said the correct procedure was for the president to seek a formal mandate from the general membership before taking such positions or pursuing costly litigation. Dr. Andeleki has noted that doing otherwise risks condemnation in court and endangers the association’s financial resources, wh...