Sun Oct. 18, 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — Maiko Zulu has used conscious reggae music, public demonstrations, institutional leadership, and independent political campaigns to challenge political authority and demand structural justice in Zambia. Continue reading
From Munali to the UK Diaspora: The Evolution of Lillian Mutambo’s Transnational Advocacy
Sat Oct. 16, 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — Lillian Mutambo’s political career began with direct community-level organizing in Zambia ahead of the 2021 General Election. After returning from the UK, she sought the UPND nomination for the Munali Constituency under the campaign slogan “Shape You Munali,” engaging in local economic empowerment initiatives such as distributing eggs to help youth and women start small businesses. Following intra-party selection disputes and friction within the UPND, Mutambo broke away to contest the seat as an Independent candidate in 2021, marking her formal entry into parliamentary politics. Continue reading
Navigating Proclamation 10998: What the 2026 U.S. Travel Restrictions Mean for Zambian Passport Holders
Sat Oct. 16, 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — Effective January 1, 2026, Presidential Proclamation 10998 placed Zambia into a partial suspension tier that restricts entry and visa issuance for its passport holders. Under this executive directive, Zambian nationals who were outside the United States without a valid visa on the effective date are barred from obtaining immigrant visas as well as B-1/B-2 visitor visas, F academic student visas, M vocational student visas, and J exchange visitor visas. The United States government justified Zambia’s inclusion by citing Department of Homeland Security metrics showing a 10.73 percent overstay rate for B-1/B-2 visitor visas and a 21.02 percent overstay rate for student and exchange visitor categories. For nonimmigrant visa classifications that remain open, such as employment-based H-1B, L-1, and O-1 visas, consular officers are instructed to shorten validity periods, typically limiting approved visas to three months with single-entry authorization. The proclamation explicitly preserves existing valid visas issued prior to January 1, 2026, and provides categorical exemptions for U.S. lawful permanent residents, dual nationals traveling on an unrestricted passport, qualifying diplomatic personnel, and athletes participating in major international sporting events. Continue reading
Events bring together diaspora members, community associations, and diplomatic partners under the national motto “One Zambia, One Nation”.
Sun 04 Oct 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — Zambians living in the UK celebrate Independence Day through vibrant community galas, cultural showcases, live musical performances, and shared traditional meals held across major cities like London.
Decoding the 10-10-5-3-3-1-1-1 Formula: Zambia’s Quantifiable Economic Transformation
Sun 27 Sept 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — The GROW ZAMBIA Agenda represents President Hakainde Hichilema’s strategic economic framework designed to transition the country from post-debt-restructuring macroeconomic stabilization toward rapid, production-led growth. Designed to translate national fiscal gains into visible, household-level economic improvements, the strategy sets out to double national GDP and triple the overall size of the Zambian economy over his second term. This shift moves public sector operations away from routine administration toward an output-oriented delivery model anchored in wealth creation, expanded formal employment, and export expansion across SADC, COMESA, and continental markets. Continue reading
In October 1964, Kenneth Kaunda ascended to the presidency of the newly independent Republic of Zambia, executing a transition of immense strategic complexity. Navigating the metamorphosis of the former British protectorate of Northern Rhodesia into a sovereign Republic required not merely administrative acumen, but the navigation of a post-colonial state inheriting a dualistic economy characterized by enclave mineral extraction and structural dependency. Kaunda emerged as a primary architect of the region’s decolonial architecture, a role that earned him the reverential titles of “Pan-Africanist” and the “Baobab of African politics”—symbolizing a towering, resilient figure whose influence provided the essential canopy for regional liberation. His core mission, as distilled from the regional collective memory, was the reclamation of an African destiny where the continent’s inhabitants could chart their own socio-economic trajectory, finally ending the era where natural resources were plundered while the populace remained in structural poverty. This mission was predicated on a governance model that sought to harmonize indigenous values with the requirements of a modern state. Continue reading
The Ethno-Historical Trajectory of the Tumbuka People”, “Iron, Ivory, and Lineage: Kinship and State Formation in Tumbukaland”
The Tumbuka people trace their ethno-historical ethnogenesis to early Bantu expansion waves from the Luba Empire in the modern Democratic Republic of the Congo under ruler Mwaa Yamvo. Resisting forced menial labor and state subjugation, the ancestral group migrated eastward during the early fifteenth century under the overall leadership of a patriarch named Mudala. Following Mudala’s death around 1415, a succession dispute led the Tumbuka branch—guided by Mulonga Mbulalubilo—to cross the Songwe River and establish an initial settlement at Kalonga in present-day Karonga District, Malawi. Subsequent population expansion and the search for fertile agricultural land after 1430 triggered widespread dispersals across a geographic corridor bounded by the Luangwa River, Lake Malawi, the Dwangwa River, and the North Rukuru River. During this early period, Tumbuka society was decentralized, consisting of autonomous, low-density homesteads organized around localized agrarian clans. Continue reading
Thu Sep 10 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — Brigadier General Laston Chabinga served as a flag officer in the Zambia Army, holding executive command of the 3 Infantry Brigade headquartered in Ndola, the administrative and industrial hub of the Copperbelt Province. As active Brigade Commander around March 2017, he directed the military’s strategic and operational envelope across critical regional defense and economic corridors. Continue reading
Inside Chakolwa Wa Nzeru: How Vinchenzo M’bale Built a Modern Cultural Movement
Thu Sep 10 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — Vincent Daka, professionally known as Vinchenzo M’bale, is a prominent Zambian recording artist born on October 11, 1996. Raised across the Eastern Province and the industrial hub of Kitwe on the Copperbelt, he built a dual-regional perspective that deeply connects to his Chewa heritage. Despite being the son of a Reverend in the Reformed Church in Zambia, Daka adapted his early ecclesiastical choral arrangement training into secular music, using traditional call-and-response structures to address contemporary social conditions. Continue reading
Tue Sep 08 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — For a student entering the world of fintech, the African payment landscape can initially seem overwhelming. Unlike Western markets where credit cards are the standard, the African ecosystem is built on a “Hybrid Imperative.” In markets like Zambia, global tools like Stripe are often used for international billing, but they lack localized settlement and struggle with poor conversion rates due to bank-side fraud rules. To reach the actual local consumer, businesses must tap into the infrastructure that people already use: mobile money.The ecosystem is supported by three primary players: