Riots erupt in Zambian capital Lusaka
<http://m.news24.com/news24/Pages/Comments/CommentList.aspx?aid=efcde7ba-6b5 e-4ae5-b1fa-22015778813d&sid=5&cid=965> View 28 comments <http://m.news24.com/news24/Pages/Comments/CommentPost.aspx?aid=efcde7ba-6b5 e-4ae5-b1fa-22015778813d&sid=5&cid=965> Comment 2014-11-04 12:00 Lusaka - Police and demonstrators clashed early on Tuesday in protests against the acting president, a white Zambian who fired the ruling party's chief following the death last week of president Michael Sata. The riots started on Monday night in several places in the Zambian capital of Lusaka, including the University of Zambia and a government building designated as a place for Sata's mourners to gather, according to witnesses. Protesters had descended on the building, Belvedere Lodge, with stones, machetes and other weapons, and police fired tear gas into the venue to clear demonstrators from the area. The protesters were angry over the decision by acting president, Guy Scott, to dismiss Edgar Lungu, the ruling party's secretary general. Lungu, who remains defence and justice minister, said his dismissal was illegal and accused Scott, who is of Scottish descent, of "insulting our culture". Possible presidential candidate Under the constitution, Zambia must hold a presidential election within 90 days of a president's death. Former Vice President Scott has said he is not interested in running for president and is in any case barred from the office because his parents were not Zambian by birth or descent. Lungu, who was acting president just before Sata died on 28 October in a London hospital, has been considered a possible presidential candidate from the ruling Patriotic Front party. Some commentators speculated that his dismissal reflected political manoeuvring among factions ahead of the presidential election. Sata, 77, died after a long illness. His body arrived in Lusaka on Saturday and was taken to a conference centre for public viewing until the burial on 11 November. The conference centre has not been affected by the rioting, which ended early Tuesday, though protesters warned they could return to the streets. Zambian lawmaker Davies Mwila was initially picked by Scott to replace Lungu as secretary general of the ruling party. But Mwila turned down the appointment, saying: "It is a taboo in our tradition to start politicking before burying the deceased." Another lawmaker, Nixon Chilangwa, has since accepted the appointment. Moses Siwali, spokesperson for the home affairs ministry, urged political groups to meet peacefully to resolve the situation. "We don't want Zambia to go into turmoil," he said. Protester Mary Tembo said Scott, the acting president, was causing confusion. She urged him to "go to Scotland", saying Zambians want to mourn their president in peace. AP Zambia defense minister challenges dismissal from top post in ruling party LUSAKA Tue Nov 4, 2014 5:10am EST 0 Comments <http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/04/us-zambia-politics-idUSKBN0IO0EB2 0141104?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews#comments> <http://s3.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20141104&t=2&i=988692339&w=5 80&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=LYNXMPEAA306N> Zambia's Vice President Guy Scott (L) listens as U.S. President Barack Obama (not pictured) speaks, at the first Leaders' Session of the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, at the State Department in Washington, in this August 6, 2014 file picture. Credit: Reuters/Larry Downing/Files Related News * Zambia's interim leader moves against presidential contender <http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/03/us-zambia-politics-idUSKBN0IN1YL2 0141103> (Reuters) - Zambia's defense minister and presidential front-runner Edgar Lungu said on Tuesday the decision by interim president Guy Scott to dismiss him as the ruling party's secretary-general was illegal. State radio in the southern African nation gave no reasons for Scott's surprise removal of Lungu from his top post in Sata's Patriotic Front (PF) party, which came to power after elections in 2011. Scott became Africa's first white leader in 20 years after the death last week of President Michael Sata. Scott is constitutionally barred from running for president because his parents were born in Scotland. "The is illegal and highly provocative under the current environment in which we are mourning our late president," Lungu said in a statement read out on state ZNBC Radio on Tuesday. Scott late on Monday named his replacement as Davies Mwila, although he turned down the appointment. "In our tradition it is taboo for us to do anything like that before you bury," Mwila said separately on ZNBC Radio. Lungu said he has called for an emergency meeting of the PF central committee on Tuesday to discuss his dismissal. Police in Lusaka on Monday night fired tear gas to stop protests by students and PF members who took to the streets over Lungu's dismissal. Lungu, who is also justice minister, had often stepped into Sata's shoes as 'acting president' in the last year. Many Zambians had considered him the person most likely to win the presidential elections that are due by the end of January. Other possible contenders include former justice minister Wynter Kabimba, finance <http://www.reuters.com/finance?lc=int_mb_1001> minister Alexander Chikwanda and Sata's son Mulenga, who is currently mayor of Lusaka, a position his father occupied in the 1980s. The decision by Scott, a Cambridge-educated economist, to dismiss Lungu from the helm of the PF is also likely to fuel speculation he may seek to run for the presidency, regardless of the constitutional restrictions. (Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Jeremy Laurence <http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=jeremy.laurence &> ) http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/04/us-zambia-politics-idUSKBN0IO0EB20 141104?feedType=RSS <http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/04/us-zambia-politics-idUSKBN0IO0EB2 0141104?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews> &feedName=worldNews Thé Mulindwas Communication Group "With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy" Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi "Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika machafuko"
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