Checkin Media

AI IS WRITING ARTICLES?

A friend and I were having a rather lengthy conversation about AI content on the internet and there was rather a lot of negative commentary, if I'm honest. It got me thinking: is it ethical to use AI to write a Facebook article? So, to answer my question I decided to have a go at it myself and see what people made of it. I would use just one AI tool to create a 500 word Facebook article. Here's how I went about it.

1. Firstly, I had to pick a topic the one tool I would use to. I had a loot to pick from ChatGPT, Gemini, Meta AI, Perplexity but I settled for Claude by Anthropic (Why Claude, story for another day).
2. Secondly, I had to find a topic, so considering we are in the campaign season here in Zambia I asked Claude to write an article distinguishing the roles of four public offices in Zambia: the Mayor, the Town Clerk, the Ward Councillor, and the Member of Parliament.
3. I then asked Claude to fact check its own work by searching the web and it turned up a few things worth correcting, including the new number of parliamentary constituencies which changed this May 2026.
4. I copied and pasted it into Microsoft word and did some light edits like removing those hephens AI loves using.

The article below is what resulted: an AI written, AI fact checked, and lightly edited for facebook article . Do have a read and tell me what you think? (The image is also AI generated).

Four Roles, One System: Understanding Local and National Government in Zambia

Zambia's governance operates at two levels national and local, and citizens regularly encounter four key offices across both: the Mayor, the Town Clerk, the Ward Councillor, and the Member of Parliament. Each has a distinct mandate. Confusing them is common; understanding them matters.

The mayor: Political Head of the Council
The mayor’s office is established under Article 154(1) of the Constitution of Zambia. The mayor is the political head of the council, responsible for policy direction, the annual budget, strategic planning, economic development programmes, and presiding over council meetings.
An important clarification: the mayor does not control council staff. The 2016 Constitutional Amendment made the position directly elected by the district's entire voting population — previously, Mayors were elected by fellow councillors — and made it full-time. The role is one of policy leadership, not operational management.

The Town Clerk: Chief Executive of the Council
The Town Clerk's office is established under Article 152(4) of the Constitution. Where the Mayor leads politically, the Town Clerk runs the institution. They are the principal officer and Chief Executive Officer of the council, responsible for day-to-day administration, staff management, finances, and implementation of council decisions.
Unlike the Mayor, the Town Clerk is not elected. The position is a professional appointment made by the Local Government Service Commission. In cities like Lusaka, the council is divided into two clear wings: the political wing headed by the mayor, and the administrative wing led by the Town Clerk.

The Ward Councillor: Voice of the Community
Zambia is divided into 1,858 wards the smallest electoral units of local government and each ward elects one councillor to sit on the full district, municipal, or city council.
The councillor represents their ward's interests at council level, debating and voting on budgets, development plans, and by-laws on behalf of residents. They also anchor the Ward Development Committee, the structure through which community needs are identified and escalated to the council. Councillors are typically part-time and are collective decision-makers no single councillor acts alone.

The Member of Parliament: National Legislator
The MP operates in an entirely different sphere. While the other three roles belong to local government, the MP is a national figure seated in the National Assembly in Lusaka, with four core functions: legislation, representing their constituency, oversight of the executive, and approving the national budget. MPs are elected for five-year terms.
MPs represent constituencies, not wards. Following the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act No. 13 of 2025 and the ECZ's delimitation exercise, Zambia now has 226 constituencies up from 156 with the new number taking legal effect on 15 May 2026. A constituency spans multiple wards, meaning an MP and several ward councillors may serve overlapping areas but at completely different levels of government.

Why It Matters
Citizens sometimes take road complaints to an MP when roads are a council responsibility, or expect a mayor to change a policy that only Parliament can touch. The mayor sets direction. The Town Clerk delivers services. The Councillor carries the community's voice into the council chamber. The MP makes the laws and holds the national government to account. Each role is essential and each has constitutional limits that officeholders are required to respect.

WORLD CUP BOUND ZIM MAKE IT 2-0 OVER ZAMBIA

The second Rugby Test match between Zambia and World cup bound Zimbabwe has ended with a 17 - 7 win for the Sables in Bulawayo. The traditional annual Test game popularly known as the Battle of the Zambezi always produces fireworks. And after a tight win for the Sables in Harare last week, this was poised to be a bone crashing encounter. This was Bulawayo's first international Rugby match for 7 years and you could tell the crowd was clearly hungry for test rugby. Despite dominance from Zambia there was nothing to seperate the teams at half time as they went to get their respective pep talks with the score line at 0 - 0. The second half started with both teams exchanging tries and Zambia heading out to a 5 - 7 lead only to concede two late tries to see the game ending in favour of the hosts. Congrats Sables and tough luck Eagles.

Zimbabwe return to the Rugby world cup for the first time since 1991 and we are excited here across the Zambezi to see ba neighbour at the showcase,

The first test in a series of 3 "Battle of the Zambezi" matches ends with a win for Zimbabwe. Next match is on 2nd May 2026 in Bulawayo. Third test in Lusaka on a date to be confirmed.

Major Copper Mines in Zambia like Lumwana and Kalumbila are 100% owned by Canadian Companies. The on it, two companies, Kanshanshi and Kalumbila have also given tenders to their foreign friends like BHL to transport their copper out of Zambia. Zambians have no involvement in the process; The Copper Mines are Canadian owned, the trucks which transport the copper are owned by Boers; Buks Van Rensburg and his family in Stellenbosch in the Western Cape. BHL transports copper for Kalumbila Mine and Kanshanshi in Solwezi.

The only involvement Zambians get to have in this chain is to be Truck Drivers of the trucks. Mathematically, 70% of Zambian Copper at Kalumbila and Kanshanshi mines is not transported by Zambian Truck owners. Its transported by these guys at BHL since 2012. BHL is owned by boers from Cape Town. BHL has deports in Ndola which focuses on Copperbelt mines. They have another deport in Solwezi which focuses on transporting Copper of the two major mines of Kanshanshi and Kalumbila. Unlike Lumwana and Kalumbila, Zambia owns 20% shares in Kanshanshi through ZCCM - IH . The BHL trucks move copper worth $400 000 per day into Namibia destroying Zambian roads like the Sesheke road, Kasempa- Kaoma Road through to Mongu in their path everyday. After destroying that Sesheke road, they switched and now use the Mongu - Kaoma road from Solwezi and the Copperbelt.

Keep in mind; the Solwezi - Kasempa - Kaoma road only has about 1 to 2 toll gates. They don't pass through Lusaka which has many toll gates on its way. On the Kasempa road, Each truck pays K500 on a toll gate. On two toll gates, they pay 1000 Kwacha which is about $40. Meaning from each truck load carrying Copper worth $400 000, they only pay $40 to the state in form of toll gate fees. If we ask mining companies and their trucking companies for each truck that leaves Zambia to pay a fee of $5000 per truck, they will not lose much. Infact, $5000 out of $400 000 of each load means we are only requesting 1.2%. If we collect $5000 from 20 Trucks, its $100 000 per day to the Zambian state. In one month, our country would collect 3 Million USD alone. We can then use that money to rebuild broken down Zambian roads and fix a new wave of Zambian highways. Thats how nations became successful, by utilizing the resources at their disposal. We can't lose both revenue and our roads at the same time.

The Sesheke Road is dead, its been dead for almost a decade now. I know those places, i was born there back in 1993 in Sesheke. On the Sesheke Road, its Zambians who struggle on it everyday, trying to navigate between Kazungula and Sesheke . The Copper Trasporting companies moved on and went to the Mongu Road. Our country will suffer in that it will then need more money to rebuild our roads. If as a country, we fix the Livingstone - Sesheke road, they will again instruct their drivers to shift to the Sesheke road and destroy it again. We must be charging the mining companies $5000 per truck that transports Copper on our Zambian roads.

Asking for $5000 , which is 1.2% , of $400 000 will not disadvantage them. The 5000 USD is not coming from the trucking company but from the Mining Companies whose copper they transport. Its common reality that BHL transports copper from Kanshanshi, Kalumbila and Lumwana. We have 25% shares in Kanshanshi through IDC and zero percent shares in Kalumbila and Lumwana Mines since 2010. Now if we have little shares in those major mines, atleast we can request that their movement of copper do not damage roads. In 2006, I was in Grade 8 at Northrise Primary in Ndola when we used to go Trade Fair to watch and learn Copper processing mechanism, but the value chains of that was never told at the fair and in our schools.

This has been the issue for over 15 years. Once roads are damaged as is the Sesheke road, with the Kaoma - Kabombo Road in North Western equally damaged. When it comes to fixing them, its Zambia as a nation which will incur costs of things we never destroyed. We will as a nation have to seek loans and rebuild our roads which were damaged by people who came to mine our minerals !!!