Feb. 5, 1996 — President Chiluba bans the February 5 edition of The Post, an independent daily, as it contains articles exposing the Chiluba-led government's plan to hold a referendum to publicize a controversial draft constitution. The draft proposes an amendment that requires presidential candidates to be at least second generation Zambians. Any individual found in possession of the issue can be charged with committing a criminal offense under section 53 of the Penal Code.
Fred M'membe, editor in chief, Bright Mwape, managing director, and Msautso Phiri, special projects editor of The Post, are arrested on February 6 for possession of the banned publication. The three journalists are released on bail the next day yet, Chiluba orders the removal of the February 5 issue from The Post's world wide website, marking the first act of censorship on the internet in Africa.
May 21, 1996 — Frederick Chiluba, head of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD)-led government, changes constitution making amendments that prevent former president Kenneth Kaunda, leader of the United National Independence Party (UNIP), from running for president in future elections. The amendments require presidential candidates to be at least second generation Zambians. Kaunda is the son of Malawian immigrants and therefore ineligible to run in the future.
According to Human Rights Watch, the ancestry provision was created to prevent Kaunda and his colleague Chief Inyabo Yeta from contesting in the next elections.
Dec. 31, 1997 — Former President Kaunda is released from prison and placed under house arrest. He was arrested and placed in prison for 28 days on charges of being associated with a coup attempt that had taken place earlier in October.
July 2000 — Ben Mwila, environment minister of MMD, is expelled from the cabinet after he announces his intentions of running for president in 2001.
May 2, 2001 —Vice President Christon Tembo, eight cabinet members and 11 other senior officials, who oppose Chiluba running for president for the third term, split from the MMD and form the Forum for Democracy and Development party (FDD). The MMD altered its constitution the previous month to allow President Chiluba to run for a third term in elections later on this year.
July 2001 — A former foreign campaign manager for Chiluba, Paul Tembo, is murdered before he is to testify against ministers in a high level corruption case. Opposition party leaders claim it is a state-sponsored assassination.
January 2002 —Civil society groups, opposition parties and members of the ruling party mount intense objections to a third term by President Chiluba. Facing a lack of support within his own party, Chiluba declines to run for a third term.
January 2002 — Levy Mwanawasa of the ruling party MMD wins by narrow margin and is sworn in as president of Zambia. Violent protests take place on the streets against alleged electoral fraud and voter intimidation, which led to Mwanawasa's victory. High Court Judge Peter Chitengi rejects a petition filed by seven opposition parties seeking to delay the inauguration. The judge says the petition is premature and that the high court has no jurisdiction to bar the government from declaring a winner.
June 2002 — Reuters news agency suspends Buchizya Mseteka, its Johannesburg correspondent, after finding out about his alliance with the Zambian intelligence services. The news reports assert that Mseteka has been acting as an agent for former Zambian government officials. He allegedly used Reuters' facilities to run public relations campaigns for prominent African leaders and was bribed to write positive stories about them in the press.
July 2002 — Parliament votes to remove former President Chiluba's immunity from prosecution.
August 2002 — The opposition in Zambia criticizes President Mwanawasa of using state funds for luxurious foreign trips while the country is experiencing a famine. Mwanawasa has made 14 trips since he came to office seven months ago, worth US$1.5 million. Nearly US$200,000 was spent on a trip to France.
November 2002 — The government rejects three bills drafted by the Zambia Independent Media Association: the Freedom of Information Bill, the Independent Broadcasting Authority Bill, and the Broadcasting Bill. MMD promotes its own draft legislation instead, which exempts Zambian security forces from providing any information and enables the president to dominate all broadcasters during a state of emergency.
February 2003 — Chiluba is arrested and charged with corruption. He is accused of stealing from the government when he was in office serving as President of Zambia. He is alleged to have stolen over US$40 million during his presidency. Investigators believe millions more have been laundered and transferred to private accounts and property that haven't been found yet.
Dec. 9, 2003 — Former President Chiluba is accused of the theft of more than US$40 million dollars during his presidency. According to Global Policy, it is alleged that funds from the Ministry of Finance were diverted to a branch of the Zambia National Commercial Bank in London. Chiluba denies these allegations and claims the money was used for intelligence purposes for operations abroad. Investigators believe otherwise, claiming the funds were used for Chiluba and his former intelligence chief, Xavier Chunghu's, private expenses.
March 31, 2004 — Attan Shansonga, a close aid of Chiluba who is also on trial for corruption charges, flees Zambia. Sources at the department of immigration think he escaped Zambia through Zimbabwe.
September 2004 — 80 charges of corruption against former President Chiluba are dropped, but just a few hours later he is re-arrested on six new charges over the alleged theft of US$500,000. Chiluba's long running trials have been inconsistent, have suffered from procedural problems and have been adjourned on several occasions on the basis of his poor health.
June 15, 2005 — MMD attack the premises of The Post and harass employees of the paper. The attackers also managed to seize several copies of the paper.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) the attacks are in reaction to a series of article written in The Post criticizing President Mwanawasa and accusing him of shielding one of his political allies, former official in the Ministry of Health Kashiwa Bulaya. Bulaya is due to be tried in court for charges of corruption.
Soon after the publication of the articles, MMD officials appear on state owned broadcast to publicly call for a ban on The Post.
September 2006 — President Mwanawasa wins elections to a second presidential term. International observers call the elections largely smooth and transparent.
March 2007 — President Mwanawasa fires Reverend Gladys Nyirongo, former minister of Lands, for illegally obtaining and allocating eight pieces of land to herself and her family members.
She was recently arrested by the Anti-Corruption Commission. It is alleged that during her time in public service as minister of Lands, she abused her position by directing a junior official to sub-divide a former Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) farm, going against the land alienation procedures, and transfer them in her name.
May 2007 — Frederick Chiluba is to stand trial on corruption charges. He is to be prosecuted for stealing US$488,000 during his time in office. Chiluba's corruption trials have been irregular because of this alleged poor health, but now Magistrate Jones Chinyama rejects arguments that Mr. Chiluba's is too ill to be prosecuted.
On May 5, a British court finds Chiluba guilty of stealing US$46 million in government funds and orders him to pay back the entire sum. The civil action was brought in Britain because the theft of the money passed through bank accounts in London. Chiluba's hand- picked successor Mwanawasa has been pursuing an anti-graft drive against Chiluba's former government. The current president offers to pardon Chiluba on the condition that he admits the allegations and returns 75 percent of the cash he allegedly stole.
June 2007 — A corruption report released by Transparency International shows that almost 25 percent of business managers and 40 percent of households admit to paying bribes to speed up legal proceedings in the judicial system.
Aug. 9, 2007 — President Mwanawasa suspends the head of Zambia’s Anti-Drug Unit, Ryan Chitoba, for alleged abuse of office. He is the latest senior official in Zambia to face corruption charges. Chitoba is accused of employing people from his area, and is accused of transfering and demoting ten Drug Enforcement Commission officers suspected to be whistleblowers in recent corruption cases.
Global Integrity uses a