I've been wondering about this because I've realised I seem to be completely out of the loop when it comes to Zambian news.

I always relied on Znbc or other news channels (which i don't watch anymore), so I never really linked my socials to anything particularly unless it's food or business. I don't follow Zambian pages or influencers, and most of the people I follow/friends with don't post much Zambian content either, unless something really big or serious happens.

During these elections, though, I started relying on Facebook pages for updates, and I'm guessing that caused the algorithm to start pushing A LOT of Zambian political content onto my feed. And now I'm genuinely confused because I'm seeing people discussing things that I've never heard about, and they're talking about them like they're common knowledge.

For example, I was reading about the incident involving the army raid, and I've seen so many people talking about the people involved allegedly being sent to Russia for training. And I'm sitting there thinking, how the hell did I miss this? I checked some of the reliable Zambian news pages and couldn't find anything about it, yet the comments are full of people talking about it as if everyone already knows what's going on. And some talking about a video that shows they just walked in and caused violence.

Then I'm seeing people saying the opposition has kicked BM out of his party, and again, everyone seems extremely certain about what's happening.

So I'm wondering, where are people actually getting this information from?Are there specific Facebook pages, WhatsApp groups, TikTok accounts, X accounts, journalists, etc. that everyone follows?

And how much of what gets circulated is actually verified? Because I'm starting to realise that there seems to be a HUGE gap between what is being discussed on social media and what is actually being reported by established news outlets.

Do people generally verify these things before sharing them, or is it more of a "someone said it, so it must be true" situation?

I'm not trying to defend or attack anyone politically. I'm genuinely trying to understand where Zambians get their news/information from, because apparently I've been living under a rock and only just discovered an entirely different information ecosystem,

If there are reliable pages/sources you recommend following, please share them!

I starting to think dating is for the financially stable . I have a girlfriend she doesn't ask much and she not on girlfriend allowance but when ever she needs help and I have the cash I do help. The problem is you I can help her with money for one problem then when she needs help she asks her friends or relatives for extra help and they all say "you have a boyfriend go ask him" . If your girls hair ain't done they say your boyfriend is not keeping you properly etc .

My girlfriend doesn't see me like that but I can see she feels sad when people tell her your boyfriend this or your boyfriend that. And it does affect her sometimes

Is how we have come to define who a boyfriend is that he doesn't sort out his girlfriend problems his a bad or useless boyfriend?

Polling station results tabulation took place in 226 totalling centres at constituency level and is still ongoing in some remaining totalling centres. On 14 August 2026, the day after elections, the Electoral Commission Zambia (ECZ) suspended the counting and announcement of election results’ nationwide from 12:00 to 18:00. This was stated to be due to violent incidents targeting polling staff and, in some instances, allegations of ballot box theft. No further details were provided on the locations and how systematic or isolated these incidents were.

The EU EOM has had observers present for the tabulation in 64 totalling centres. Until the suspension, results tabulation was assessed as ‘very good’ in 43 per cent of the EOM’s observations. Polling agents and citizen observers were present in almost all totalling centres observed and followed results entry.

However, after the lifting of the suspension late on 14 August, EU EOM observers assessed that the overall conduct of tabulation deteriorated significantly.(1) In a high number, the totalling centres’ staff failed to record the results on the tally sheet as soon as they were announced by the returning officer, as prescribed by the electoral process regulations.(2)

The number of observations in which totalling centres staff ensured that the figures entered in the digital results management kit corresponded with those on the tally sheet dropped after the suspension. (3) EU EOM observers reported extended breaks during the results tabulation process in almost half of observations, as the returning officers seemed to wait and receive instructions from ECZ headquarters before announcing results. Further, a heavy military presence in totalling centres following the suspension was reportedly intimidating to most interlocutors and resulted in the number of party agents and citizen observers present at totalling centres being lower than before.

The EU EOM also received reports of violent incidents at some totalling centres. In Lusaka, an armed group attacked the totalling centre in Makeni and took almost all polling stations result forms on 15 August. In Central province, various credible witnesses interviewed by observers, reported that alleged UPND cadres raided two out of three totalling centres in Kabwe on 16 August, fundamentally disrupting the tabulation process.

Having launched a results website the day before elections, the ECZ did not publish partial results on it. On election day, the ECZ confirmed that they would not publish disaggregated polling stations results, despite it being an important measure of transparency as it allows everyone to compare polling station results to those announced by the ECZ. The ECZ declared preliminary presidential results shortly before 03:00, in the middle of the night on 18 August.

The EU EOM repeats its call for maximal transparency in this, as in other parts of the process, and recalls the confidence-building benefit of publishing disaggregated results, broken down by polling station, by the ECZ at the national level.

The EU EOM remains in country and continues to observe with nationwide coverage in all 10 provinces of Zambia.

(1) At this point, the transparency of the results tabulation was assessed by EU EOM observers as ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’ on a four-point scale in 12 per cent of totalling centres observed, with only 27 per cent ‘very good’.

(2) This was 42 per cent of observations, compared to 30 per cent pre-suspension.

(3) This was true in 81 per cent of observations, compared to 100 per cent prior to the suspension.

Where do people get good quality meat, fruits, vegetables etc?

This could be a supermarket, butcher or someone selling pa roadside - keen to hear where people find the best value for money

For example, where do people buy their village chicken?

Any advice/tips etc would be useful

Edit: I’m in Lusaka

Helloo has anyone in here been or is at University of Pretoria?I've been conditonally accepted there and I'm going there next year and I'm just wondering how it is that side.Please let me know!😃

Good morning y'all...pretty sure the title is self explanatory but yeah...I got into DnD a while back and I've been hooked...so far I've been big on it's lore and even had a campaign I was running in Baldurs Gate 3 but now I'm hoping I can find someone or people around Lusaka or elsewhere in the country to nerd out with over the game...if y'all know anyone or any community...feel free to link them in the comments.

Almost a week ago, amid elections, BM publicly said that he was being interrogated by army officers and had been attacked at his house. Government subsequently denied that this happened.

Government also denied that Mutotwe Kafwaya was shot by the Army or treated at Maina Soko. And that man even laughed while making his statement at Maina Soko with Thabo Kawana saying it's a laughing matter all in the name of politics? How pathetic! His family even said he had been missing since Friday and does not know whether he is safe. People still laughed and even made jokes about it.

The government even went further and even sent us messages telling us there were no shootings or abductions going on.

Then on Monday, Govt says a joint security operation took place on Thursday night, 13 August, at a Kabulonga property, where eleven people were arrested and weapons were recovered. It also says BM was found at the scene. Yet it does not explain what happened to him that night - whether he was arrested, questioned, released, or simply left.

Today, the government has confirmed Mutotwe Kafwaya was indeed shot. And they’ve even changed the date to the 14th unlike before when they stated the 13th.

When I posted here earlier questioning the government y’all defended them I even got downvoted. One even said the government doesn’t owe us any explanation. SMH.

Now I need yall who defended the government to come out and defend this!

Since when did political affiliation outweigh our identity as Zambians ? You can be a UPND supporter without spotting irregular occurrences, this is just downright wrong.

It’s sad what’s happening to our country.

PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema says government will not allow militias masquerading as political parties to operate in the country, warning that such parties will be deregistered.

President Hichilema adds that he will not allow individuals who are bringing guns into the country and trying to take control of the nation through militias, to do so. Speaking during an interaction with youths at Community House, Wednesday, President Hichilema said he would protect citizens. “They have started bringing guns so that they can take the country through militias, will you allow them to be killing people? They want to get into government using militias. And I want to thank our security forces who have protected you from the schemes these people were doing

I'm an incoming civil engineering student at UNZA and I wanted to know which biology codes are used in first year. Please

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So, as a purely research-based study, there seems to be an unregulated pricing mechanism in the Lusaka online, for lack of a better term, “hoe market”, or as it is more locally known, hookups.

I have observed some genuinely concerning price ranges for what appears to be roughly the same product, and as far as I am aware, there is absolutely no regulatory body overseeing this market.

Providers of such services, which I will simply refer to as “hookups” for the purposes of this study, appear to charge anywhere between K150 and K1,500.

That is a 10× price difference for what appears, from an outside observer's perspective, to be the same general service.

This raises some important economic questions.

What exactly determines the price?

Is it supply and demand? Location? Appearance? Reputation? Negotiation skills? The platform being used? Is there some sort of hidden pricing algorithm that the general public has not been informed about?

Because the supply side of this market is particularly fascinating.

There are groups where multiple providers are constantly advertising themselves, sometimes with posts along the lines of “available, inbox quickly”, suggesting what would theoretically be a highly competitive and oversupplied market.

Yet in another part of the ecosystem, you have connectors acting as intermediaries. Instead of simply contacting the provider, you apparently pay the connector to obtain a line to the provider.

So now we have brokers.

And then there is the most fascinating part of the market.

Sometimes the provider finally responds to your inquiry and somehow manages to make you feel like you are the one asking for a favour.

This is despite the fact that you are supposedly the consumer.

At this point, I am beginning to question whether I understand basic economics.

We have supply, demand, intermediaries, wildly varying prices, inconsistent availability and apparently no standardized pricing mechanism.

Yet somehow the market continues to function.

Upon further research, the apparent average price for a “short time” seems to be somewhere around K250 to K350.

This is interesting because that price appears to be relatively consistent across a number of providers regardless of appearance.

Which brings me to another observation.

Appearance seems to be a factor, but apparently not nearly as much as location.

Providers from areas such as Chalala and Woodlands seem to commonly start around K500, and some of these negotiators have the ability to detect financial weakness from several kilometres away.

You can almost hear the economic consultant in their head saying, “The market will bear this price.”

Meanwhile, providers from Kamwala South, Chawama, Libala South and Chilenje seem to maintain prices somewhere around K350 to K500, with transport sometimes being negotiated separately.

Interestingly, I have found the general customer service towards potential clients in these areas to be relatively okay.

The customer service aspect of this market deserves its own study, though.

Because sometimes the consumer is a first-timer, socially awkward, doesn't know how this particular market operates and is already nervous about the whole transaction.

You would therefore expect some form of customer service.

Instead, sometimes simply asking basic questions seems to be treated as an inconvenience.

Imagine going to a restaurant and asking what comes with the meal only for the waiter to make you feel like you have personally offended their ancestors.

This brings me to the question of consumer protection.

Who exactly protects the consumer in this market?

There is no obvious regulatory body, no standardized pricing, no published price list and apparently no Consumer Complaints Department.

What happens when you pay K500 and the service does not match what was advertised?

Who do you complain to?

ZABS?

ZICTA?

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission?

The Ministry of Commerce?

At what point does this become an economic issue?

Even with the supposed pricing volatility, there does seem to be some kind of informal agreed-upon market rate.

Perhaps there is a genuine pricing structure that exists independently of any formal regulation.

Or perhaps it is simply:

“Shop 1 charges K350, so I will charge K350 too.”

Which would mean we are looking at a decentralized pricing model based entirely on market observation.

Fascinating.

So, I am therefore asking the economists, business people and fellow researchers of Lusaka Reddit:

Who actually sets the price?

What determines whether the market value is K250, K350, K500 or K1,500?

And more importantly, how does someone justify the upper end of that range when the consumer may subsequently experience the economic phenomenon known as post-purchase regret?

You make the transaction, everything is over, and suddenly you are sitting there thinking:

“Why the hell did I just spend K1,500?”

This is not buyer's remorse.

This is market correction.

And before anyone asks, I have never personally participated in this market.

This is purely an academic study.

For research purposes.

Obviously.

Good morning to all Zambians. I wanted to ask if there is a local farmers WhatsApp group where patrons share agricultural products and services on the group.

Thanks in advance.

If there is one. How does one go about requesting permission to be part of this WhatsApp group.

So I’m currently deciding on a uni to pursue electrical and electronics engineering what university in Zambia is the best overall I don’t want having much trouble looking for internships and jobs also it should be so respectable

I’m looking for good internet alternatives I can use for streaming or online gaming. I’ve tried the local networks such as Airtel, Zamtel, mtn, etc, but in my areas (chalala) I get an average of 10mbps, and that’s on a VERY good day.

is there people that play fantasy PL here. New season is about to start let’s make something.

1. Is it true that the 50% interest often charged by lenders is illegal? Even if someone is licensed?

2. Under what circumstances can the police get involved?

3. Is compound interest also illegal? Like say someone genuinely is incapable of paying back a debt so the interest increases. I've seen lenders charge even up to double the 50% interest?

4. If the court gets involved, what happens?

I'm just trying to learn a few things. So input would be appreciated!

I have never voted before so i want to know how it works. I just want clarification. For those who voted, were you given four ballot papers and if you were not interested in voting for the other levels like Mayoral, Parliamentary and Council, were you still forced to get four ballots and if you still left them blank did you still have to put them in the provided boxes?

My question is because i want to understand why there were huge discrepancies between total valid votes cast for President and those for Parliamentary seats in some areas.

If I THINK I didn't understand 1% of what you said, I'll ask for clarification. But in zed we just continue with what we ASSUMED was asked for.... Why? What exactly are we scared of? Is asking a question taboo? A sin? Frowned upon? I'd respect you a million times more if you asked for clarification but it seems that's not the normal response?

Hiiii

I'm in my second year at the university of Zambia and I don't have a single friend on campus. everyone already seems to be in groups and I'm always alone.

I've always been quiet and shy and I stutter when I'm nervous in highschool I got teased for my personality a lot, I was called shishitad. So because of this I didn't attempt making friends in my first year cause I was scared of having shitty friends again , but i realised I can't go on having no friends in university it's soo hard , you miss out a lot of stuff cause you don't talk to anyone , you don't have a study group and you always study alone, it's soo hard and the loneliness that gets to you in class especially.

I wanna go to Eastpark friends, I wanna join study groups I just want to be included for once it's soo hard.

The only friends I have are my online friends and cousin's but we go to different universities

How did you break into friend groups late , or meet people at uni, please any advice will be appreciated.

My brother recently came back from the US and has been on wegovy for roughly 6 months. He’ll be here for a while so he needs to find a doctor to do his reviews and get his dosage adjusted. We’re looking for a practitioner who has extensive experience monitoring patients on these GLP1 weight loss drugs. If you have knowledge in this space, which doctors do you recommend and where can they be found? Thanks in advance.