Jack Zimba

  Simon and Zukas pictured three years ago. Simon and Cynthia when they just got married. SIMON Zukas, who has died aged 96, was a well-known figure with an enduring presence on the Zambian political scene, and is also recognised as a freedom fighter who fought for its independence from the British. His last political stunt was a meeting with President Hakainde Hichilema two weeks ago at State House, probably to congratulate the new President on his election in August. About three years ago, Simon and his wife, Cynthia, gave an interview to the Daily Mail’s JACK ZIMBA in which they talked about their political lives and their love story.   “YOU two are still together!” is a remark that Cynthia and Simon Zukas hear so often when they venture into the public together. Not typically unusual for the couple that will be celebrating 65 years together on January 30. Cynthia and Simon met in London in the early 1950s. They were both politically radicle, strongly ...

  Voters during the August 12 general elections. JACK ZIMBA Lusaka THE elections are over, but the election process is not. After every vote has been counted and announced, then come the petitions, as aggrieved candidates who did not deem the process free and fair, take their cases to the courts of law. Post-election disputes have become a common feature in Zambian politics, with the first parliamentary election petition dating as far back as 1968. The first presidential election petition, however, was filed in the Supreme Court in 1996 by Akashambatwa Mbikusita Lewanika, Hicuunga Kambaila, Dean Mung’omba, Sebastian Zulu and Jennifer Mwaba against Frederick Chiluba. The petitioners’ contention was that President Chiluba, who had just been elected to serve another five years as President, was not eligible to stand for president because neither he nor his parents were citizens of Zambia by birth or by descent as required by the Republican Constitution. Since then, the coun...

  Dr Freda Mwamba-Brazle is  AGA-Africa country coordinator. It is estimated that 98 percent of darknet transactions are carried out in bitcoins. JACK ZIMBA AS MORE and more of the global population moves into the virtual world, cashless or digital transactions are becoming the norm. This phenomenon has now given rise to cryptocurrency – virtual money or virtual assets (VAs), whose use is now spreading across the globe. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are hotter than ever and taking hold even in unlikely places. In Kenya, for instance, a rural farming community is already using a form of cryptocurrency called Sarafu to sell their produce. But the virtual world is not devoid of criminals. And so while bitcoin users tout it as the future of money, regulators are urging caution. Many African countries, for instance, have already issued warning on the use cryptocurrency, while a number of other countries have not made any policy statement on cryptocurrency. In 2018, t...