Zambia

Marriage brings happiness to some, but for me it was a nightmare for twenty-five years. I stayed in an abusive marriage, enduring it, always hoping that what did not work out today, would tomorrow. It was my son’s sickness that ended it: a son who had been a breadwinner for my husband and me.

The statement made in the Zambian parliament recently by Vice-President George Kunda – that the government was treading carefully on the Freedom of Information (FoI) bill because it could be used for espionage by irresponsible and unpatriotic media houses – does not make sense.

The newspaper headline signaled the tragedy. The story below gave an elaborate and compassionate account of how 41-year-old Linda Kabengele committed suicide after her community continually stigmatised her due to her HIV-status.

My name is Mubayandi Kwiima.* I am 39-years-old and a mother of five. I’m the second wife in the polygamous marriage of three wives. I work as a clerk at one of the government ministries in Zambia.

The Zambian National Constitutional Conference’s (NCC) proposal to increase seats for members of parliament from 158 to 280 makes for very sad reading.

The government of Zambia’s decision to further delay the tabling of the proposed Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill and its failure to guarantee the introduction of the Bill in the next parliamentary session represents a huge setback in the nation’s fight against corruption.