Zambia’s President Pardons Gay Couple

By Paul Shalala

The two men talk to their lawyer Daniel Libati shortly 

after they were convicted in Kapiri Mposhi in 2018.

-Picture courtesy of The Punch

Six months after they were sent to jail to serve a 15 years sentence, two men who became the first Zambians to be convicted for homosexuality are now back home, thanks to a Presidential pardon.

Steven Sambo and Japhet Chataba found themselves among 2,984 prisoners who were pardoned by President Edgar Lungu on the eve of African Freedom Day (Africa Day) which was observed on Monday.

According to the Government Gazette number 6,874 published on Friday last week, Chataba and Sambo are listed as number 2,561 and 2,562 respectively on the list of pardoned prisoners.

In August 2017, the two men found themselves in a bitter fight at a lodge in Kapiri Mposhi where they allegedly had sex.

Kapiri Mposhi is a transit town in central Zambia which has had three court cases involving homosexuals, two of which ended in acquittals.

In a video which went viral on social media in 2018, Chataba was filmed forcibly dragging Sambo back into a room at a lodge as he allegedly tried to run away from his partner.

As the two men fought each other and ended up back in the room again, lodge workers and onlookers filmed the episode on their mobile phones, footage which later proved to be critical evidence during trial. 

The Government Gazette which carries names of 

those pardoned, including Sambo and Chataba.

A day after the incident, the two men were arrested and charged with practicing what the Penal Code describes as “unnatural acts.”

During trial which took a year, several witnesses were called to the stand.

They included workers at the lodge, a medical doctor and the arresting officer.

It was alleged that the two men had carnal knowledge of each other.

Sambo and Chataba were convicted by the Kapiri Mposhi Magistrate’s Court on 3rd August 2018 but were only sentenced by the High Court in November 2019.

The 15 year sentence sparked a diplomatic row between Zambia and the United States of America.

Then US Ambassador to Zambia Daniel Foote expressed support for the two which led to a sharp reaction from the Zambian government.

Later, the United States government recalled Mr Foote back to Washington, DC.

According to the Penal Code, homosexuality is illegal in Zambia and it carries a 15 year sentence.

Zambia is a largely conservative country which outlaws homosexuality.

Its powerful church mother bodies do not approve of homosexuality.

However, the country has a handful of organizations which champion the rights of homosexuals who are estimated to be in their hundreds. 

Jailing Of Homosexuals Sparks Zambia-US Diplomatic Row

By Paul Shalala

Chataba and Sambo talking to their lawyer Daniel Libati

last year. -Picture courtesy of The Punch newspaper

A diplomatic row has broken out between Zambia and the United States after two Zambian men were recently sentenced to 15 years each for practicing homosexuality.

The two men, 39 year old Japhet Chataba and 31 year old Steven Sambo, are the first Zambians to ever be convicted and subsequently sentenced for practicing homosexuality.

On 25 August 2017, a video of the two men dragging each other at a lodge in the central Zambian town of Kapiri Mposhi went viral on social media, sparking huge debate about homosexuality in this deeply conservative Southern African country.

In the video, Chataba was seen dragging Sambo back into the lodge where they allegedly had more sex.

The video formed part of the prosecution evidence during trial which was handled by Kapiri Mposhi Resident Magistrate Ackson Mumba who later convicted the two on August 3, 2018 and committed them to the Kabwe High Court for sentencing.

And last week, the High Court sent the two men to jail for 15 years, the minimum sentence people charged with “unnatural acts” can receive.  

This sentence resulted in a strongly worded statement by the United States Ambassador to Zambia Daniel Foote who brought in various issues to the debate.

“I was personally horrified to read yesterday about the sentencing of two men, who had a consensual relationship, which hurt absolutely no one, to 15 YEARS imprisonment for “crimes against the order of nature. Meanwhile, government officials can steal millions of public dollars without prosecution, political cadres can beat innocent citizens for expressing their opinions with no consequences, or poachers/traffickers can kill numerous elephants, barbarically chainsaw and sell their tusks, and face a maximum of only five years imprisonment in Zambia,” said Ambassador Foote.

The American envoy added: “Decisions like this oppressive sentencing do untold damage to Zambia’s international reputation by demonstrating that human rights in Zambia is not a universal guarantee. They perpetuate persecution against disenfranchised groups and minorities, such as people from other tribes or political affiliations, albinos, the disabled, our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) brothers and sisters, and anyone who is deemed “different.”

This statement led to a sharp reaction from Zambia’s chief diplomat.

“The Government of the Republic of Zambia takes great exception to the remarks made by the Ambassador on the decision by the High Court as well as his comparison of the homosexuality case to other cases of alleged thefts by government officials, political violence and poaching. The Ambassador may wish to note that all cases that are brought before the courts of law are adjudicated based on the available evidence.  It is extremely unfair and highly misleading to suggest that such cases are never brought before the courts of law,” said Zambia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Malanji.

Malanji added that Zambia is a signatory to major international and regional treaties protecting human rights and has several well-established institutions to promote and protect human rights. 

The sentence made it to the front pages of daily newspapers

At a press briefing in Lusaka, the Foreign Affairs Minister disclosed that he phoned the American envoy to express Zambia’s disappointment with his reaction to a matter he considers domestic.

And in a post sentence interview with foreign media, Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu said the Southern African country will not be bullied into adopting what he termed “foreign practices.”

“We cannot allow homosexuality in Zambia. We cannot be forced to allow men to marry men because even animals do not do so,” said President Lungu in an interview with British news channel Sky News a few days ago.

And one of Zambia’s prominent diplomats Emmanuel Mwamba says Ambassador Foote’s statement is in contrast with US President Donald Trump’s policy push that revises pro-LGBTQ rights and protection aggressively promoted by his predecessor Barack Obama.

Mwamba, a journalist who is currently serving as Zambia’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union, says President Trump promotes pro-family policies.

“The Trump administration has withdrawn special privileges fronted as "rights" granted to the LGBTQ community by the Obama administration in; healthcare, employment, housing, education, commerce, the military, and prisons. President Trump also issued an Executive Order to create obstacles for people seeking to enter the U.S. on the basis of LGBTQ alleged discrimination or harassment from conservative countries that ban or do not recognize these LGBTQ rights. The administration has also cut spending to the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for programs related to abortions and LGBTQ,” wrote Ambassador Mwamba in his opinion piece published by Mwebantu, an online news outlet.

Chataba and Sambo's  case has brought the issue of homosexuality back to the limelight.

Various interest groups, including churches have commented on the matter.

Because of the sensitivity of the matter, a few LGBTQ organisations operating in Zambia have not commented openly on the sentence for fear of the law.

In the past, about two cases involving homosexuality had been dismissed by the courts of law.

Coincidentally, the two cases were both held in Kapiri Mposhi, the same town where the recent case was tried too.

Kapiri Mposhi is a transit town in central Zambia which is located at an intersection of both rail and road junctions heading north to Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and south to Lusaka and other places in the south of the country.

Zambia Pilots Digital Provision Of ART Services

US Ambassador to Zambia Daniel Foote (left) displays
the smart care card in Ndola. -Picture courtesy of the
US Embassy Facebook page

By Paul Shalala in Ndola

With the advancement in technology and the implementation of Smart Zambia, the Ministry of Health has also gone digital.

Gone are the days when clinics and hospitals in Ndola used to keep paper files for people living with HIV and AIDS.

These files had information on the client’s viral load, health condition and how often they are accessing Anti-Retroviral  drugs (ARVs).

Today, the Ministry of Health is piloting smart care, a system which allows people living with HIV to swipe and collect drugs.

In a project spearheaded by Equip Health Zambia, a United States government funded project, this new system is revolutionizing service delivery in the health sector.

Using this pharmacy card, clients can walk to either a private pharmacy or a government clinic to access these life saving drugs.

The whole process is now digital and there is no more paperwork involved.

At Lubuto Clinic, the programme has already been unvieled.

"We have already been connected here. Clients come here and we record all details on this system using the smart card. Then they can collect the drugs anywhere where the cards are accepted," said Sianga Sianga, a Strategic Information Assistant at the clinic.

Smart care has become so efficient that authorities are now thinking of extending it beyond its current reach.

Even the stigma which came with people living with HIV queuing for drugs at clinics has now been done away with.

"We no longer have queues here. People just come with their cards, they are attended to and leave," added Mr Sianga.

United States Ambassador to Zambia Daniel Foote recently visited a Medical Stores warehouse in Ndola where smart care is being implemented.

Here, the envoy was taken through the whole process of the smart care system.

"So if am a patient, i come with this card and present to you, is it very effective?" asked the envoy.

The Ambassador was briefed that the system has been so effective that authorities wish it can be extended to other facilities.

So far, 14 government clinics and hospices as well as six private pharmacies are using smart care to deliver ARVs to their clients.

Private pharmacies at Kansenshi, Rekays, Kafubu, Villa and Jacaranda Malls are now connected to smart care and people living with HIV go there to collect these life saving drugs.

Meanwhile, the United States government will invest US$385 million in the fight against HIV and AIDS in Zambia this year.

United States Ambassador to Zambia Daniel Foote says the American government is investing close to $400 million dollars in the health sector to ensure that access to health is increased.

Speaking at the launch of the 2018 US President's Emmergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Country Operational Plan in Ndola's Kantolomba Compound, Mr Foote said the money being invested will help patients reduce distances they cover to access health services.

Dr Chilufya commissions the Kantolomba Clinic as US Ambassador
to Zambia Daniel Foote looks on -Picture courtesy of
Ministry of Health Facebook page

He said the investment will also help in reducing congestion at health centers when patients go to access medical help.

The American envoy also disclosed that his government has so far invested US$ 3.5 billion dollars in the last 15 years in Zambia to fight HIV and AIDS.

Mr Foote noted that Zambia's leadership in the fight against the disease is very commendable.

And Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya described the United States as Zambia's number one strategic ally in epidemic control.

Dr Chilufya said the American government has been very helpful especially in infrastructure development which has led to the increase in health delivery.

The Health Minister said the US$385 million the United States Government is investing in Zambia will help the country meet its health targets.

Dr Chilufya says the first task under the funded programs will be to escalate HIV interventions among adolescents both male and female.

The Health Minister said the American funding will help increase the number of people on Anti-Retroviral Therapy from the current 890,000 to 1.2 million by 2020.

He further disclosed that no allowances will be paid to health workers as they implement health programs funded by the US government.

Dr Chilufya says health workers have a salary and no allowances will be paid to them in order to ensure the money is used for the intended purpose.