CHILUBA ARRESTED AND CHARGED AGAIN: Former president Frederick Chiluba was charged on 5 August with stealing more than $40m from the public purse. The money was allegedly stolen from the ministry of finance, using the presidential account held at the National Commercial Bank in London and known as the Zamtrop account. Also charged were four others, including former ambassador to the United States Atan Shansonga, and Chiluba�s erstwhile spy chief, Xaviar Chungu. In February this year the ex-president was charged with of theft by public servant and released on bail, since when he has repeatedly challenged the legality of his indictment. He has denied all charges and will now appear in court on 27 August. The Daily Telegraph comments that Chiluba�s legal travails suggest he miscalculated hugely when handing over control of the MMD to his old colleague and hand-picked successor Levy Mwanawasa. �Mr. Mwanawasa proved anything but a puppet,� writes the Telegraph�s Africa correspondent, Tim Butcher. The case, he says, has a positive message for Africa: that corrupt leaders can be held to account. ( Telegraph, Times of Zambia, 6 August)

CHAMBISHI TAKES OFF: Chambishi Copper Mines, which the Chinese government bought for $20m in 1998 and into which it has since poured more than $60m, last month began full production and is expected to yield 45,000 tonnes a year. Closed from 1987 to 2000, Chambishi is now a joint venture between China�s Non-Ferrous Metals Mining and Construction Company (NFC), which holds 85% of shares, and the Zambian government. At the official launch by President Mwanawasa, the Chinese ambassador Peng Keyu said that NFC was currently exploring new non-ferrous metal resources and aimed to expand annual production to 100,000 tonnes. Chambishi�s advanced technology at its COSAC project (cobalt as a by-product from slag and copper) enables it to treat slag from the Nkana dump. (Times, 28 July; archives)

ROAN ANTELOPE FIGHTS BACK: Luanshya�s Roan Antelope Mining Corporation of Zambia, currently in receivership and being courted by the J and W Investment Group of Switzerland, has sued RAMCZ Trading of Ireland and RAMCZ Trading of UK, claiming $34.088 million for breach of contract.� According to High Court records, Ramcz of Zambia alleges that on 14 October 1997, in a written agreement, the two overseas companies agreed to sell copper and cobalt worth a total of $145.939 million, which was duly despatched to UK. Times, Mail and Post archives allege that between 1997 and 2000 the Luanshya mine was beggared and asset-stripped by the then owners, the Binani brothers, who allegedly have their administrative headquarters in a villa in St. John�s Wood, London, and their financial operation in the Republic of Ireland. The case will by heard before Mr. Justic Imasiku, at a date to be decided. (Times 30 July; archives)

DEATH FOR KILLERS OF DR. KAUNDA�S SON: Lusaka High Court Judge Gregory Phiri sentenced Moses Mulenga and Amos Banda to be hanged for the fatal shooting with an AK47 assault rifle of Major Wezi Kaunda, son of Zambia�s first president, outside the major�s Kabulonga Road home on the evening of 3 November, 1999. The pair were captured soon afterwards, when his stolen Land Cruiser overturned in Katima Mulilo Road, the court was told. (Post, 27 July)

GRACA MACHEL IN TOWN: Nelson Mandela�s wife Graca Machel was in Zambia for four days from 4 August to talk about AIDS, at high-level government meetings and at a Mulungushi Conference Centre workshop on discrimination against victims of AIDS. A former special reporter to the UN on the effect of armed conflict on children, she was accompanied by the UN�s special AIDS envoy, Stephen Lewis. Ms. Machel is Chancellor of the University of Cape Town. (Times, 5 Aug)

OPPOSITION WALK OUT ON VICE-PRESIDENT�S APPOINTMENT: Several members of the opposition walked out in protest at the appointment of Vice-President Nevers Mumba when on 29 July the tele-evangelist took his oath of allegiance. Among them was Munali MP Edith Nawakwi who is challenging the appointment in the courts. Meanwhile the executive director of Women for Change, Emily Sikazwe, has been fiercely outspoken in her opposition to the Constitutional Review Commission that starts to sit in mid-August, moving from town to town to elicit the views of voters on changes planned by the government. Her passport, due for renewal, is being held by the authorities. President Mwanawasa has now instructed the police to arrest anyone who disrupts sittings of the CRC. (Post, Mail, 29,30 July)

ZIMBABWE GAME DESTROYS SIAVONGA CROPS: Elephant from one of the Zimbabwe game parks and hippo from Kariba are �wreaking havoc� on the Zambian side during the farming season says Siavonga agricultural coordinator Dr. Mark Chombwe. The crops in Lusitu, Simamba and Chalokwa areas were the most affected; Lusitu had 118 hectares destroyed and 17 hectares at Bakasa Agriculture Camp were trampled by elephant, said Dr. Chombwe. (Times, 24July)

SUCCESS FOR SMALLHOLDERS: Since its inception in 1999, the first phase of the Agriflora smallholders� cooperative scheme has grown from 300 farmers to more than 1,000, reports scheme director Jacob Mwale. Working the year round as opposed to only seasonally, successful smallholders� gross earnings have increased to $5,000 per two hectares: more than three times the national average. For phase two, from 2003-6, the scheme has introduced semi-perishable crops like coffee and paprika to stabilise incomes and reduce risk, says Mr. Mwale in his report. (1 August)

ZAMBEEF WINS TOP AGRICULTURAL AWARD: �Zambeef Products Plc, the home-grown and hugely successful beef operation, took the dairy awards and the best overall award at the 77^th Zambian Agricultural and Commercial Show which ran from 30 July until the Farmers� Day holiday on 4 August. The national productivity award went to Copperbelt Province, the efficiency award to Lusaka province and the best international commercial stand trophy to Kenya. Guest of honour Madagascar�s President Marc Ravelomanana said he would take many agricultural ideas from Zambia. ZACS president David Goody said that Zambia�s annual per capita income of $350 a head and growth rate of 3% must improve; it should emulate Botswana and Tanzania, which now had growth rates of more than 10%. After the show, Mr. Goody announced that ZACS had almost certainly exceeded its K1.1 billion gate-takings target. (Times, Post, 30 July, 4, 5 August)

COPPER UP: Copper prices rose to a 28-month high in late London trading on 1 August, closing above the psychologically important US$1800 a tonne mark, thanks to better-than-expected US economic data. (miningnews.net)

FRANCE TO PROMOTE TOURISM: Speaking on Bastille Day, 14 July, French Ambassador Jean-Paul Monchau said his government was keen to help Zambia develop its major tourism assets, and experts were being summoned to help. �We have invited people from Paris � one of the largest tourism attractions in the world � to come and share their ideas with us,� said the ambassador. France would also help to promote Zambia�s cultural diversity and would continue to support its economic and social development, said Msr.Monchau. (Times, 16 July)

ZAMBIA TO HOST FIRST OFF-ROAD RALLY: Zambia is to host the K3.5 million first-ever off-road Desert Express Rally championships from 7 to 16 November. At a Hotel Intercontinental reception Patrick Brignoli, CEO of the Group Event Company, said 80 to 100 drivers with 50 cars would cover between 3,700 and 4,200 kilometres across Zambia during the weeklong event. �Zambia was chosen from a host of countries. It has the rivers, the hills, the gravel and sand, the challenging terrain to make the event we want. It is the most beautiful rally driving playground in the world,� said Mr. Brignoli. The rally would be broadcast via nine television channels across six continents, he added. (Mail, 21 July)

JOURNALIST OUT TO RECLAIM VICTORIA FALLS: Victoria Falls isn�t in Zambia any more � it�s been hijacked, and appears in reference after reference as �Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe,� says Lusaka journalist David Simpson. In an Internet search he found nearly 2,000 references to the latter and only 299 to �Victoria Falls in Zambia.� He concedes that Zimbabweans have a better view of the Falls from a distance, but argues that just because you can see State House from Independence Avenue doesn�t mean you own it. �When did Zimbabwe steal the falls and what is the Zambia National Tourist Board going to do about it?�� he demands. The ZNTB is working on it, we hear. (Lusaka Lowdown, August 2003)

EXCHANGE RATE, 6 August: �1= ZMK 7, 196.77

Ansford Community School headmaster Rob Benzie paid tribute to the support of the Zambia Society Trust at a gathering held on 24 July and hosted by the High Commissioner at Zambia House, Palace Gate, to celebrate the visit by children from Mufulira Secondary School to the Somerset school with which it has been linked for 10 years. The formation of the Cary-Mufulira Community Partnership Trust had developed from links between the Anglican church in Zambia and the diocese of Bath and Wells, ZST chairman James Cairns told the gathering, and the trust had supported� the partnership from its inception. The Zambian and the Ansford pupils were warmly welcomed by the High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr. Anderson Chibwa, who described them as ambassadors for Zambia. All the young people then sang the Zambian National Anthem, and the Bemba hymn �Takwaba nwaba nga Yesu.� For further information about the Cary-Mufulira Partnership Trust, telephone: 01962 352112; email: CMCPT@ic24.net

Would you be prepared to talk about your life and times in Zambia, before and after Independence? Dr. Gareth Griffiths, director of the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum in Bristol, asks Zambians and expatriates who feel they have something to contribute to the museum archives to get in touch with Mary Ingoldby, head of the aural history department. Apart from recording a myriad memories, the BECM is going to link many histories to their website. Call the museum on 0117 925 4980; www.empiremuseum.co.uk And if you haven�t done so already, make time for a holiday visit to this stunning custodian of our history, next door to Bristol�s Temple Meads station. Special rates until 30 August.