Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said Tuesday the M23 rebel group had not fully withdrawn from areas it seized in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, accusing the militia of faking an agreed pullback of its forces. 

Regional leaders brokered an agreement in November under which the Tutsi-led group was meant to withdraw from recently seized positions by January 15 as part of efforts to end a conflict that has displaced at least 450,000 people and sparked a diplomatic crisis between Congo and neighboring Rwanda. 

“Despite the international pressure, the group is still there,” Tshisekedi said during a panel session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 

“They pretend to move, they act like they are moving, but they’re not. They’re simply moving around, redeploying elsewhere, and they stay in the towns that they have captured,” he said. His comments were the most outspoken from the Congolese authorities so far on how they view the implementation of the peace deal. 

“President Tshisekedi has only this to say. It is the government that does not respect the cease-fire, it also continues to arm armed groups,” said Lawrence Kanyaka, a spokesman for the M23. 

Earlier in January, an internal United Nations intelligence report said it was not possible to confirm the M23’s purported withdrawal from some areas due to continued signs of troop movement, and its analysis indicated the group had seized new territory elsewhere. 

Tshisekedi again accused Rwanda of fueling the conflict by supporting the rebels — an accusation also leveled by Western powers and U.N. experts. Rwanda firmly denies this. 

Several civil society organizations have called for a demonstration on Wednesday in the provincial capital, Goma, to protest delays implementing the M23 withdrawal, although the city authorities have not authorized the march. 

 
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Activists in Cameroon are urging more women candidates to enter races for Senate seats before a January 28 deadline. Only 26 members of Cameroon’s 100-member senate are women, a number advocates want to see doubled. But patriarchal beliefs and a lack of political support are preventing more women from contesting the March election. 

Female activists have been visiting political party leaders in northern Cameroon to push for greater representation for women in Cameroon’s upper house of parliament, the Senate.

Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, announced last week that senate elections will be held March 12 with a registration deadline of January 28.

The announcement prompted activists to push for more women candidates.

Aissa Doumara Ngatansou is with the Association for the Fight Against Violence on Women and Girls.

She says only 2 of the 10 former senate members from Cameroon’s Far North region, where Maroua is located, are women. Ngatansou says she is visiting political parties that will contest the elections to tell them activists want gender parity among their candidates – half women and half men. She says it’s delightful that many women who were quiet in the past now want to take part in politics.

Cameroonian women have long raised complaints of low participation in politics ahead of elections.

Activists say patriarchal attitudes still prevail in many parts of Cameroon, where women are expected to get their husband’s permission before running for office.

Funding campaigns is also a challenge, as many women candidates cannot afford the $1,650 deposit required to run for the Senate.

Justine Diffo is coordinator of the group More Women in Politics.

She says women’s associations, wealthy donors, and political parties should assist women candidates with such campaign fees.

Diffo says it is the wish of Cameroonian women to see political leaders including President Paul Biya respect promises they made on several occasions to give equal chances (in politics) to men and women. She says the March 12 Senate elections provide an opportunity for Cameroon to prove to the world that parity is not just a slogan.

Political leaders have not responded to calls by rights groups for political parties to pay the deposit for women candidates.

The ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) party said in a press release it is examining issues raised by women activists and will do all it takes to have more women run for the Senate.

The CPDM says four out of every ten candidates for the elections are expected to be women.

Marie Theres Abena Ondoua is Cameroon’s minister of women’s empowerment and the family.

Speaking on Cameroon’s state broadcaster CRTV Tuesday, she says government training for women who register as candidates has made progress in gender parity.

Ondoua says from just one female lawmaker 30 years ago, Cameroon today counts 61 in the National Assembly out of 180 members. She says 30 years ago, Cameroon had fewer than three female mayors but today there are 39 out of 360 in the country. Ondoua says Cameroon is determined to assist women who are hard working to gain political positions.

About 15,000 councilors in 60 divisions across Cameroon make up the electoral college that will vote for 70 of the senator seats.

The remaining 30 are directly appointed by President Biya.
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At least 50 women were abducted by Islamic extremists in Burkina Faso’s northern Sahel region last week, a local official said Monday.

The kidnappings occurred January 12 and 13, approximately 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the town of Arbinda in Soum province, Lt. Col. P.F. Rodolphe Sorgho, the governor of Sahel, said in a statement.

The women were kidnapped while in the countryside gathering wild fruit, he said.

Jihadi violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group has overrun Burkina Faso, killing thousands and displacing nearly 2 million people in the West African nation. The failure of successive governments to stop the fighting has caused widespread discontent and triggered two military coups in 2022, the second against the first military regime to seize power.

The military junta that seized power in September, vowing to restore security, is still struggling to stem the violence.

During the second week of this month, 116 security incidents were recorded, according to an internal report for aid groups seen by The Associated Press. The number represents more than 60% increase compared to the last week of December.

Extremists have besieged towns around the country, preventing people and goods from moving freely. The town of Arbinda has been under jihadi blockade for years, making women more vulnerable to attacks if they try to leave, rights groups say.

Former Arbinda Mayor Boureima Werem said the large-scale abductions were a new strategy and could point to a shift in extremists’ tactics.

Ousmane Diallo, a researcher at Amnesty International’s regional office for West and Central Africa, called the kidnappings “a very concerning and serious development in Burkina Faso that exposes the vulnerability of women in areas under blockade.”

“The rights of civilians and their rights to their livelihoods must be protected by all parties to the conflict,” Diallo said. “There needs to be more attention and more protection of civilians by the government in these besieged towns, but also [a] tailored approach to the protection of women and girls.”

Laith Alkhouri, CEO of Intelonyx Intelligence Advisory, which provides intelligence analysis, said the jihadis are trying to add pressure to the Burkinabe government.

“Abductions are an easy way to score points and a bargaining card,” Alkhouri said. “These tactics are meant to add pressure on the government to provide concessions, such [as] ransom money, as well as highlight the ruling body as unable to protect its citizens, in the process creating fear among the locals and distrust between the public and the government.”
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Twenty-five members of Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, Citizens Coalition for Change, appeared at the Harare Magistrates Court on Monday on charges of holding an illegal meeting Saturday that police broke up with tear gas.

Among those arrested is Amos Chibaya, a member of parliament, who talked briefly to journalists before going into the court. He called the action harassment, and said it will come to an end. The dictator will go, he added, and the people of Zimbabwe will free themselves.

Fadzayi Mahere, spokesperson for Citizens’ Coalition for Change, or triple C, said party members were treated badly by police during the arrests.

She said a girl, younger than 18, was among those arrested, and there also were complaints that some women were molested by police. She added there were rumors that the arresting police were drunk and threw alcohol at people. Police actions were not about arresting people who were committing a crime, Mahere said, but about inflicting pain on people because the ruling ZANU-PF party is afraid of losing the upcoming elections.

Zimbabwe is supposed to hold general elections this year, though the exact date has yet to be announced.

The ZANU-PF party and police refused to comment on the accusations when VOA reached out, saying the matter was now before the courts.

Magistrate Yeukai Dzuda has ordered prosecutors Pardon Dziva and Zebediah Bofu to investigate the complaints which triple C members raised against the police.

Meanwhile, the 25 opposition members will be back in court Tuesday to apply for bail, which the state is opposed to granting.
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Many more violent incidents linked to extremist groups occurred in Benin’s north last year than the government has officially acknowledged, a recent report found, as the country has become the new front line in the Sahel conflict. In Natitingou, in northern Benin, reporter Henry Wilkins meets witnesses to attacks.
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Enough was enough. For 13 years, extremists with al-Qaida’s East Africa affiliate had controlled Mohamud Adow’s village in central Somalia, imposing harsh ideology and arresting local teachers and traditional leaders.

Then, word came that Somali forces in a surprising national offensive had expelled the fighters from nearby villages.

A small group of residents sneaked out one night in August to meet with Somali troop commanders and invited them into their village of Rage-El. The 80-year-old Adow was among those taking up arms, joining a local militia fighting alongside Somali forces in rural battles with battered guns.

“The people were living in agony,” said Adow, one of several witnesses interviewed by The Associated Press.

In what is being called a “total war” by the government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who was elected in May, Adow and others across the Horn of Africa nation are being encouraged to stand up to the al-Shabab extremists who have long embedded in Somali society, exploiting clan divisions and extorting millions of dollars a year from businesses and farmers in their quest to impose an Islamic caliphate.

On Thursday, Somalia’s government announced a “people’s uprising” as it seeks to pressure al-Shabab from all angles, including financial ones.

It’s being described as the most significant offensive against the al-Shabab extremist group in more than a decade. And this time, Somali fighters are in the lead, backed by U.S. and African Union forces.

Al-Shabab’s fighters have held back the nation’s recovery from decades of conflict by carrying out brazen attacks in the capital, Mogadishu, and elsewhere. Over the years, countries from Turkey to China to those in the European Union have invested in military training and other counterterrorism support.

Last weekend, the U.S. made a small but symbolic donation of $9 million in heavy weapons and equipment to the Somali National Army, whose abilities have long been questioned as it prepares to take over the country’s security from an African Union multinational force by the end of next year.

“We cheer the success achieved by Somali security forces in their historic fight to liberate Somali communities suffering under al-Shabab,” U.S. Ambassador Larry Andre said.

Somalia’s government has claimed more than 1,200 militants have been killed since August, according to a database kept by International Crisis Group analyst Omar Mahmood. Such claims can’t be verified.

One key to the offensive’s progress is a population pushed to the brink by a historic drought. As animals and crops wither and die and millions of people go hungry, Somalis who flee al-Shabab-held communities have described the extremists’ harsh taxation demands.

“They are being rented out like houses; they are telling you that their animals are being taken away without permission,” said Gen. Abdirahman Mohamed Tuuryare, a former director of Somalia’s national intelligence agency who leads the offensive against al-Shabab in the Middle Shabelle region. “Even the child born tonight will be required to pay.”

Residents have also described al-Shabab forcing sons to become suicide bombers and killing people at will.

Tuuryare described a bloody battle last year over the Masjid Ali-Gadud community in which he estimated 200 al-Shabab fighters and “many” soldiers were killed. It took time to persuade wary residents to return to a community so tightly controlled that even Quranic schools were closed. Only centers for training bombers and fighters functioned.

After 15 years under al-Shabab indoctrination, Tuuryare said, residents found it hard to grasp that fellow Somalis had come to help them.

One resident, Ibrahim Hussein, was still adjusting. Al-Shabab fighters forcibly recruited teenage boys and forced women into marriage, he told The Associated Press, and people found guilty of adultery would be stoned to death or publicly flogged.

Still, security was good: “For instance, when a prayer is called, everyone goes toward the mosque without closing their properties. Nobody can touch them. If anyone is found stealing, he or she will face amputation of a limb or limbs,” Hussein said.

Winning over such communities, and holding them with effective administration, are major challenges to the Somali government’s goal of eliminating al-Shabab this year. Another is preventing the local militias working with Somali forces from amassing power in a country awash with weapons and turning into a new threat.

“Local forces shouldn’t fight among themselves, shouldn’t turn into thugs,” Tuuryare, the general, said, adding that the government supports training and local security positions for militia members.

“If all this goes wrong and happens to come back, it won’t be easy to reorganize,” Tuuryare said. He expressed his wish for more U.S. military support, including further drone strikes against al-Shabab, and a U.S. campaign at the U.N. Security Council to lift an arms embargo on Somalia for easier access to heavy weapons.

In an analysis for the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, former Somali government security adviser Samira Gaid warned the offensive’s success could be fleeting if Somalia’s still-fragile government doesn’t focus on winning hearts and minds and address the clan rivalries al-Shabab has long used to its advantage.

“This is still a remarkable offensive as, for the first time, we see a citizen awakening that is supported by the federal government,” she told the AP. For years, Somalis have seen the fight against al-Shabab as led by outsiders like the African Union force or troops from neighboring Ethiopia and Kenya.

Now Kenya is increasing security along the border to find extremists on the run, and the United States this month announced million-dollar rewards for al-Shabab leaders accused of major attacks.

Under pressure, al-Shabab has lashed out, killing at least 120 people at a busy intersection in Mogadishu in October.

But for Somalis long separated from loved ones by the extremists, there is hope.

Hassan Ulux is a 60-year-old traditional elder who left his community of War-isse a decade ago and feared returning until it was recently freed from al-Shabab.

“Praise be to Allah,” he said, finally home. “Now they are on the run. Now we can talk about education and normalcy.”
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It began as a form of music chanted at wakes to comfort mourners — now it is part of Cameroon’s cultural mainstream, and a powerful form of expression for its frustrated youth.

Mbole (pronounced “em-bo-lay”) developed around a quarter of a century ago in poor districts of Yaounde, the central African nation’s capital.

It began as a sort of back-and-forth at funeral vigils between a chanter, who would devise lyrics and sing them, and “responders,” who sang the lyrics back and provided rhythm using buckets, saucepans or other implements.

“You would invite people around, you formed a circle, and you started to play to keep people entertained,” said Etienne Koumato, a 24-year-old biology student who performs in a mbole group called League des Premiers and is signed to a specialist record label.

“At the start, mbole was stigmatized — people looked on it as gutter music, like rap,” he said.

“But beneath the image, it was adaptable and it won people over.”

Mbole spread to weddings and baptisms and other ceremonies, progressively becoming more sophisticated as instruments such as keyboards and the big West African drum, the djembe, were brought in.

Around six years ago, mbole started to go mainstream, and it is now feted as a national music genre.

“There’s no TV or radio station which doesn’t have mbole,” said Yannick Mindja, who has made a documentary on the music’s rise.

“We had Afro-beat, which came from Nigeria, but when you listen to mbole, you hear all the sounds of Cameroon,” he said, pointing to traditional music forms called bend skin, makossa and bikutsi.

“Mbole is the grandson of bikutsi and the nephew of makossa, but when you hear it, you feel immediately Cameroonian,” said Lionel Malongo Belinga, who performs under the name of Petit Malo.

Neighborhood roots

Beneath the media success, mbole remains a versatile form of expression and is still very much rooted in poor neighborhoods.

Poverty, drugs and insecurity are recurrent themes among its young performers, some of whom have almost iconic status in their neighborhoods.

In 2016, Petit Malo recorded his first mbole hit, “Dans mon kwatta” (‘In My Neighborhood’), which depicted life in Nkoldongo, a rundown area of Yaounde.

The district is a warren where wastewater runs in rivulets down the narrow unpaved streets.

Many homes have no door but just a cloth to cover their entrance, hanging above some shoes, showing that people live there.

The sound of voices and the djembe bring neighborhood youngsters running.

“Petit Malo is a good singer,” said Herman Sone, a 15-year-old fan. “He sings about peace and hope, and lots of good things.”

Female singers are also shouldering their way into a genre that “is still very male-oriented,” said Jeanne Manga, 29, who, as performer Jay-Ni, has set up a girls-only mbole group.

Mbole is a fine vehicle for denouncing sexism, she said.

“In my lyrics, I talk for instance about men who invite women out and then expect sexual favors in return,” she said. “We are not targets, and mbole gives us the chance to say so.”
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Authorities in Somalia say they have seized a weapons cache allegedly buried by al-Shabab militants at a house in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, during a joint operation.  

 

A statement from the country’s National Intelligence and Security Agency, or NISA, said Saturday that a “joint elite team from Somalia’s Intelligence Agency and Mogadishu regional police carried out an operation in the capital, Mogadishu, on Friday that led to the seizure of weapons allegedly buried by al-Shabab militants.”  

 

The brief statement did not give further details of the seized weapons but did say that “during the operation, security forces arrested a suspected al-Shabab member from the raided house in the Dharkenley district and that an investigation is underway.”  

 

An official with NISA, however, told VOA on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak about the operation, that the seized content included improvised firearms, bombs, rounds of ammunition, and other explosives.  

 

The security forces raid Friday night on a house in Mogadishu is part of an ongoing government campaign to defeat al-Shabab and prevent terrorist attacks they carry out across the country.  

 

On Friday, the deputy mayor of Mogadishu for security and politics, Mohamed Ahmed Diriye Yabooh, said the city will see relentless operations by security forces, including a house-to-house search for al-Shabab members hiding among civilians.

 

“The people of Mogadishu should know that the security forces will begin operations in which they would search every house in the city so that the Khawariij, [renegades] who are attempting to live among us will no longer be able to do so,” said Mohamed Ahmed Diriye.

 

The deputy mayor’s statement comes just days after President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud appealed to Somali citizens to help his government flush out members of the al-Shabab extremist group he described as “bedbugs.”  

 

For the past several months, security experts and community leaders in Mogadishu have been calling on government security agencies to step up their operations in the capital to avert what they called “pending al-Shabab terror attacks.”   

 

The Somali president declared a “total war” against the al-Qaida-linked militants shortly after being elected last year.  

 

Working with local clan fighters, the government has claimed multiple military victories against al-Shabab in the past six months, retaking towns and villages in Hirshabelle state that had been controlled for years by the militants.

 

In those military operations supported by its international partners, the government claimed about 2,000 al-Shabab fighters were killed.  

 

VOA could not independently verify the government’s claimed death toll.  

 

Meanwhile, al-Shabab has continued its attacks since Mohamud was elected president. It carried out two attacks a week ago on government forces in Somalia’s central region of Hiran over two days, killing more than 43 people, including senior military officers.  

 

A twin car bombing in Mogadishu last October killed at least 120 people. 
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Opposition parties and others angry at Tunisia’s economic crisis and the president’s increasingly authoritarian drift are planning to march through the capital on Saturday to mark 12 years since Tunisian protesters unleashed Arab Spring uprisings around the region.

The protest move comes after disastrous parliamentary elections last month in which just 11% of voters cast ballots. The elections are meant to replace and reshape a legislature that President Kais Saied dissolved in 2021. The second round has been set for Jan. 29.

It also comes as the country is going through a major economic crisis, with inflation and joblessness on the rise. Tunisians have been hit with soaring food prices and shortages of fuel and basic staples like sugar, vegetable oil and rice in recent months.

The head of the National Salvation Front, a coalition of five opposition parties including the popular Islamist opposition party Ennahdha, Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, said tens of thousands of Tunisians are expected to take part in the protest march on the Habib Bourguiba avenue, the main artery of the capital and a key site for the revolution.

The Interior ministry called on all groups authorized to organize demonstrations to respect the preset itinerary and timing and ensure that there’s no violence.

The ministry also urged protesters to respect restrictions and not to provoke clashes with security forces.

On Jan. 14, 2011, then President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was forced out of power, transforming the country into a budding democracy that inspired the Arab Spring. Ben Ali died in 2019.

Saied, who was elected in 2019, has curbed the independence of the judiciary and weakened parliament’s powers.

In a referendum in July last year, Tunisians voters approved a constitution that hands broad executive powers to the president. Saied, who spearheaded the project and wrote the text himself, made full use of the mandate in September, changing the electoral law to diminish the role of political parties.

In an apparent response to criticism, Saied on Friday paid a surprise visit to the Bourguiba avenue and went through the capital’s historic district, the medina. He called for caution against “intruders and renegades” who could mix with protesters to provoke clashes.

The Jan. 14 anniversary has been abolished as official commemoration date by Saied, who instead declared Dec. 17 as the “revolution day.”

Tunisia’s uprising began on Dec. 17, 2010, when a desperate fruit vendor set himself on fire, unleashing pent-up anger and frustration among his compatriots, who staged protests that spread nationwide and led to the revolution. 
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After three years of closed borders under its strict “zero-COVID” policy, China reopened its doors to allow international travelers in — and Chinese with cabin fever out — a move with economic implications around the world, including in Africa.

On the continent, which counts China as its largest trade partner, African importers who sell cheap Chinese-made goods said they were itching to return to China to stock up while many African countries are also hoping to attract Chinese tourists.

While fears about the spread of COVID-19 caused some countries in Asia, Europe and North America to implement negative testing requirements for Chinese travelers, drawing the ire of Beijing, countries like Kenya and South Africa said they would not be implementing any travel restrictions for travelers from China.

African businesses eye China’s reopening

Markets and stocks around the world shot up with China’s reopening, and African businesses are also hoping to cash in on the world’s second largest economy.

“We are open to going there now and we are looking forward to do that to make sure that we get our businesses back on track,” Samuel Karanja, the CEO of the Importers and Small Traders Association of Kenya, told VOA, adding that the pandemic years have been a “roller coaster” for traders.

“For the past three years, it has been a very difficult moment for those traders because they lost touch with their suppliers. Ideally, the traders could go to China, meet their suppliers or manufacturers, go with samples of the goods that they need to be produced for them, some of them could wait for even weeks to be able to see that the production is completed, and the goods are loaded in containers and they’re coming back to Kenya,” he said.

Karanja said that was how business was done before the pandemic where Kenyan small and medium enterprise owners would travel to Chinese cities including Guangzhou, where they bulk purchased everything from electronics and motorbike spare parts to kitchenware and school stationery. After China implemented its zero-COVID policy however, the Kenyan businesses had to make purchases remotely, often with the help of unscrupulous middlemen who ripped them off.

Denis Juru, president of the International Cross-Border Traders Association in South Africa, echoed this, telling VOA that China’s reopening has lots of advantages for his organization’s members.

“The opening of Chinese borders will boost the African economy as Chinese products are cheap. African traders new to the business will be able to go and make their choices physically. New companies in China will take this opportunity to convince traders from Africa by reducing prices,” he said.

He noted that traveling to China is expensive but said while staying in-country and shopping online is easier and more economical “some companies in China sell the wrong products online. Therefore, the process of exchange inconveniences African businesses.”

Optimism with caution

As for large corporations that do business with China, Christo van der Rheede, CEO of Agri SA, South Africa’s biggest agricultural organization, was more circumspect about the pros and cons of China’s reopening.

“It remains to be seen how this is going to impact on South Africa. Remember, South Africa’s a big exporter of particular commodities, for example coal, iron ore, as well as other agricultural commodities to China. Hopefully this will increase the demand for South African commodities,” he said.

He also noted South Africa needs to weigh the economic benefits with caution around the spread of COVID-19.

“I think economically wise, we’ve seen how the clampdown, the zero(-COVID) policy, has impacted on the logistics, especially import and export logistics, and how that has driven up the cost of shipping throughout the world,” he said. “So hopefully we’ll be able to manage it in a way that will boost our economy and our exports to China, but at the same time we need to manage any outbreak in South Africa very carefully.”

Attracting Chinese visitors

So, what about travel from the other direction: Chinese coming to the continent either for business, to work on Belt and Road infrastructure projects or for tourism?

As soon as the country opened, Beijing was quick to send new Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on his first official visit to the continent on a five-country tour.

In a speech on his first stop in Ethiopia, Qin reassured Africa that China plans to strengthen trade ties and accelerate in-person exchanges.

“First, let us intensify our in-person interactions and connectivity of ideas. The pandemic will be over, and we can see [the] light of hope ahead. … We will expand exchange and cooperation with Africa in various fields and at all levels, including between the governments, legislatures, political parties, militaries and localities,” Qin said. “African political leaders, AU Commission officials at various levels and Africans in the political, business and academic circles are most welcome to visit in due course.”

“We will encourage Chinese companies and people to come to Africa for investment and tourism. We will provide more facilitation to restore two-way personnel exchanges at a faster pace,” he added.

In terms of Chinese visitors to South Africa, however, Rosemary Anderson, national chairperson of the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa, told VOA the current system leaves much to be desired.

“The Chinese traveler to South Africa has to present themselves in person at an embassy or visa office in China and wait up to months for a visa to be supplied,” she said, noting South Africa only attracted about 93,000 visitors before the pandemic in 2019, out of some 155 million Chinese who traveled abroad.

However, she noted that it was encouraging that Air China has recently started a direct flight between Beijing and Johannesburg.

Anderson said South Africa should do more to attract Chinese travelers, including public and private sector marketing initiatives aimed specifically at the Chinese market, ensuring destination and product information is available on Chinese search engines, and marketing on Chinese social media channels like Weibo and WeChat.

As China reopens to the world, “showing that you are Chinese friendly by, for example, offering payment platforms like WeChat Pay and Alipay, keeping in mind Chinese holiday dates, learning a few key phrases in Mandarin and training tourist guides to speak Mandarin,” would all be useful, she said.
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Zambia’s former ruling Patriotic Front party has rejected a report by the International Monetary Fund saying corruption flourished under its government.

The IMF said this week the political elite under former president Edgar Lungu bent rules to access lucrative government contracts. Current President Hakainde Hichilema pledged to tackle corruption and secured $1.3 billion in IMF debt support after Zambia defaulted to creditors.

An IMF mission conducted a study last year focusing on governance weaknesses and corruption vulnerabilities in Zambia at the request of local authorities.

The assessment revealed serious weaknesses across all state functions, especially public financial management and the granting and managing of contracts of large infrastructure projects. It said the cost of high-profile projects were inflated by as much as 200 percent under Lungu, with the extra money going into the pockets of well-connected Lungu supporters.

Several former government officials were arrested on corruption charges. However, the arrests ended in bail, with defendants denying the accusations. No convictions have been secured.

Patriotic Front spokesperson Raphael Nakachinda denied the IMF allegations of large-scale corruption under Lungu. 

Nakachinda told VOA that while in government, the Patriotic Front had put in place measures to ensure transparency and accountability in public procurement. He challenged the current government to take legal action against any of its former leaders found wanting.

“We ensured at the time that we were in office that all government contracts go through a rigorous public bidding process to ensure transparency and accountability and there are sufficient laws in Zambia to allow citizens to object, appeal or challenge any government contract process they deem is shrouded in corruption. The tender process is a public process and therefore those allegations are malicious,” Nakachinda said.

Presidential spokesperson Anthony Bwalya told VOA that the IMF report is a confirmation of what the government of Hichilema has always known — that corruption in Zambia had worsened under the Lungu administration. 

“This is why the president has made it a fundamental priority to win the fight against corruption as part of the process towards rebuilding the economy,” Bwalya said. “We have set up the financial crimes fast track courts to expedite the process of holding accountable perpetrators of grand scale corruption, we have also reformed the public financial management systems for better transparency as well as reforming the public procurement process.”

For Boyd Muleya, an economist at the research organization the Centre for Policy, Trade and Development, the IMF report is an important step toward enhancing the fight against corruption in Zambia.

“We are happy that there’s a drum up towards ensuring that the rule of law is brought back, that transparency is enhanced, we are still yet to hear the progress on access to information in this country,” Muleya said.

The Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection — a faith-based non-governmental organization that champions social justice — told VOA the alleged corruption affected the poor the most in the past 8 years, because they were left without access to basic social services like water, food, sanitation and health.

According to the World Bank, about two-thirds of Zambia’s population lives on less than two dollars a day. 

 
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