BELONGING to a beer drinking committee has left a Kitwe woman’s marriage on the verge of breaking after she was accused of having an affair with one of her neighbours.

The Kitwe local court has learnt that there is a new trend in Buchi Township where residents are forming beer-drinking committees pegging membership the fee at K20 for men and K17 women.

However, Getrude Chileshe, a member of one of the committees has been accused of having an affair with Alick Simutanda who also belongs to the committee.

Getrude dragged Josephine Namfukwe Simutanda’s wife to court, seeking compensation for accusing her of having an affair with Simutanda.

It all started on September 13 when Josephine found Getrude drinking from the same cup as Simutanda.

This infiltrated Josephine who allegedly started insulting Getrude.

Getrude complained that since Josephine’s accusations, she has not known peace in her home.

In her testimony Josephine told the court that she saw her husband drinking beer with Getrude as she walked to the market.

“As I was going to the market to buy sugar and when I reached the bar I saw my husband drinking beer with Getrude. I confronted my husband and warned him about his behaviour,” said Josephine.

However, the court admonished Getrude for her habit of drinking beer with married men.

The court said Getrude cannot see peace in her house because no husband would tolerate a wife who takes to the bottle with other men.

In passing judgment the court dismissed the case and told Getrude that she had caused problems in her marriage because of her love for beer.

“You have destroyed your marriage with your own hands. You know you are married but you still drink with other men. Do you know the outcome of drinking with men,” said the court.

The court said that Getrude’s behaviour had equally caused problems in Josephine’s home.

The court also said that Simutanda was to blame for all the confusion saying he should desist from buying beer for married women.

(Mwebantu, Sunday, 1st October, 2023)

AFTER being promised weekly profits from their savings, 271 members of an investment scheme have allegedly been left on ‘seen’ by administrators of two companies by disappearing with their savings worth over K1million.

Luke Mwanza and 270 other plaintiffs have now rushed to the Lusaka High Court for intervention by directing Sanyuka Investment Limited and Tusanyuka Investment and property agents limited to give them back their money.

The Lusaka based plaintiffs also want an order for payment of the profits due to all of them in accordance with their respective investments plus damages for breach of the oral contracts made between them and the defendants.

They also want an order that the veil of incorporation for the first and second defendants be lifted and that the shareholders of the companies personally pay all the money due to them.

The plaintiff’s state that they invested in the defendant’s company which is incorporated and was conducting business of investment schemes and that sometime in 2022, the defendants were inviting members of the general public to invest into their companies.

They submit that the two companies stated in their advert that upon investing, members of the general public would be entitled to receive weekly profits from their investment and also receive a refund of initial sum of money invested in the company.

“Between 2022 and June 2023, the plaintiffs made oral contracts with the defendants and invested various amounts totalling K1, 607, 500.00.

“However, in breach of the various oral agreements entered with the plaintiffs, the defendants failed to pay each of them the profits as a return on their investment and in addition, the defendant also failed to refund the plaintiffs their respective sum of money which they invested in the companies,” the plaintiffs submit.

Despite making several follow ups to demand payments of their money invested in the scheme, plus the promised profits, the defendants failed to pay them the money due to them.

The worst part is that the plaintiffs later discovered that the defendants shut down their operations and closed down their offices situated at Two Sister shopping Complex, nationalist road.

(Mwebantu, Thursday, 28th September, 2023)

THE ATTORNEY General has urged the Constitutional Court not to entertain a petition in which Sean Tembo is challenging the President’s foreign trips, which he feels are a waste of public resources.

Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha has instead asked the court to dismiss the petition because it is frivolously without merit and the petitioner is not entitled to the reliefs he is seeking.

Mr Kabesha said the lawsuit should be thrown out of court because contrary to Mr Tembo’s assertions that the trips are wasteful expenditure, President Hakainde Hichilema’s foreign trips have yielded positive investment results as seen by commitment pledges from different investors.

He submits that President’s trip and interactions in the United State of America, December 2022, which resulted in the signing of grand financing amounting to US$8 million from the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

This is in a case the Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) president seeks an order that President Hichilema be cited for abuse of authority of office and waste of public resources through the undertaking of numerous unnecessary foreign trips.

Mr Tembo alleges that the 49 trips so far undertaken by Mr Hichilema, have not brought any visible benefit to the nation but personal gain and were a major drain on public coffers.

He also seeks a declaration that the continued insistence by the President to undertake foreign trips at an extremely high rate amounts contravenes Articles (198) (b) (iii) and 198 (d) of the Constitution.

But in an answer to the petition, Mr Kabesha says the petition is frivolous and vexatious.

“The respondent avers at the onset that the petition is frivolous and vexatious as the functions of the President are conferred by the constitution itself under article 92.

“The Constitution, under article 274, clearly stipulates that a function conferred in the Constitution may be performed as occasion requires, and the same is true for the trips the President has understatement thus far,” he says.

Mr Kabesha further argues that there is no number of prescribed foreign trips a President must undertake in any given calendar year because the trips are determined by the number of factors such as diplomatic relationships and ties, attendance to international and regional meetings and summits to which Zambia is a party such as Southern African Development Community.

He says the President also has to travel and attract foreign investment in key sectors of the economy, promote bilateral and multilateral relationships amongst member states.

“The function of the President under article 92(1) (c) include negotiating and signing of international agreements and treaties, a function which is planned budgeted for and adequately founded as per article 265 of the Constitution,” he submits.

Mr Kabesha dismissed allegations of waste expenditure arguing that each function and a portfolio of government is budgeted for and approved by the National Assembly.

“The President’s visit to Congo renewed Zambia’s commitment to export maize and maize products, as well as other agricultural commodities to the DRC, the actualisation of this agreement will help commercialise different value chains, and provide an alternative market for Zambian producers,” he submits.

“The investment realised from the president’s foreign trips forms part of the treasury and promotes the equitable development of the country”.

(Mwebantu, Thursday, 28th September, 2023)