Government’s ban on smoking in public places has been received with mixed feelings by residents in the border town of Mufulira.
And unscrupulous people have taken advantage of the ban to charge unsuspecting people found smoking in the town centre a fee of K10,000 for the offence.
A smoker Joseph Mwanang’ombe who has been smoking for the past 15 years, told ZANIS that government’s ban on smoking is will infringe on the rights of smokers as they will be denied access to public places.
Mwanang’ombe said the ban will yield less if suppliers of cigarettes are not included in the penalty like the situation is with psychotropic substances such as marijuana.
But a senior citizen in the district Alufonso Bowa praised government for effecting the ban saying it is good and healthy for the nation.
Mr Bowa however suggested that the penalty fee should be increased to K2 million as a deterrent measure.
Local government minister yesterday issued a statutory instrument prohibiting smoking in public places.
The piece of legislation that came into effect yesterday, attracts a penalty of K400,000 or in default imprisonment not exceeding two years.
And a Ndola resident has commended government for banning smoking in public in the spirit of keeping Zambia clean and healthy.
Mrs. Annie Mwanza told ZANIS in Ndola that the announcement by Local Government Minister Siylvia Masebo was a welcome policy measure which needed serious enforcement by the relevant wings of government.
She said government has done its part by effecting the ban on smoking and it was now up to the enforcers to ensure the ban is observed by members of the public.
She said good pieces of legislation were one thing and enforcement for the realization of the results was another.
Mrs Mwanza called on law enforcers and the media to effectively play their role in publicizing the policy measure and ensuring that culprits were dealt with firmly to deter others from engaging in the vice.
She said government was doing a commendable job in taking measures to promote public health as some people did not care about other people’s rights and were smoking carelessly which posed a public health hazard.
She said smoking in public should be treated like urinating in public so that the culture of displaying public behaviour which was injurious to other people should be stemmed.
The Ndola resident also appealed to local authorities countrywide to ensure that they enforce by-laws that have been enacted in line with the promotion of the keep Zambia clean and healthy campaign.
its high time our govt. started to take things seriously. this is a well come move. what needs to happen now is that clubs and eating places must have two sections: one for smokers and another for non-smokers.
govt should not ban but educate the people. Increae tax on Tobacco so that people cant afford smoking especially the youths. Go Masebo!!
Thanks lovely Govt, next time please let it be applicable to drinking also. Too much alcohol in the street. You deserve our praise Govt.
#2 the ban is on smoking in PUBLIC PLACES not a total ban on smoking! Gov has just followed what other developed countries have done. Come to UK and try to smoke in your office, bar or any public place!
I really dislike having to smoke passively.So thank you GRZ for this wise and timely decision.
Let us be responsible Citizens and avoid causing innocent people to smoke against their wish.
Please GRZ, define the public places so that we help you to take offenders to task.
GRZ:you just did the right thing at the right time. Others who still need schooling on the dangers of smoking, please read the quote….Smoking causes a list of dangerous effects, including heart disease, strokes and lung cancer — and it takes the body a long time to heal after someone quits for good….end of quote. Sata must read this as well.
Bloggers, if you have been a mobile chimney, take heed of the govt directive & stop smoking altogether. Infact, i think the govt shld just ban smoking and tobbaco growing altogether. Tobacco growers can grow maize, wheat, cotton, rice, chimwari, g/nuts, hey so many aternatives.
#1, you have simply misunderstood the whole issue. What is the point of dividing the building if you mean a smoke-free environment? The ban of smoking in public places has been in force and well enforced in most developed countries. What it means is that you cant smoke in an enclosed public place. These are bars/pubs, clubs, offices, stations,etc. If you want to smoke and you work, eg, in an office you have to completely go outside (and not by the door as your smoke will be rushing in with wind) the building. Almost all street dustbins are made with an ashtray provision. So, you can go and smoke by the dustbin where you can correctly dispose off your leftover (or butt-to speak your language)
cntd. Mind you throwing a butt (or any other piece of rubbish) anywhere can land you in jail, if you can’t afford a heavy penaulty. Any onlooker can secretly call their efficient police who come in no time to arrest you. Most pipo will misunderstand this law. There4, it the grz’s responsibility in conjunction with the media to educate the citizens. At the same time grz’s responsibility to provide dumps 4 butts and any other rubbish in order to effectively achieve their well meant goal. WELL DONE GRZ FOR THIS HEALTH APPROACH. MOST COUNTRIES I VE VISITED IN THE 1st WORLD ARE PUBLIC PLACES SMOKE-FREE.
#7.its not wrong to do things that way. we have seen it happen in other countries. I dont smoke and surely will never in future. most pipo who drink like to smoke at the same time.now, if i am going to a club to drink than i surely would like to smoke as well. so, there should be separate places for pipo who want to smoke and whose of us that do not want to.
Thank you madam minister. Please extend the penalty to all those smoking second hand Japanese vehicles.
#2, am not sure if increasing the price would not necessarily reduce the number of smokers, it might just increase crime in the country, because u see again, smokers would end up doing whatever it takes to smoke at the end of the day,especially street kids.
It might also result into a black market being formed.Anyway,thats from an economics points of view.
The best thing is to ban smoking in public.
I wonder why the govt even toke a long time to realise this.
“THUMBS UP TO GOVERNMENT”
ZAMBIA IS THE CHRISTIAN NATION,AND HEAVEN IS HAPPY WITH THIS NEW LAW BECAUSE SMOKERS WILL NOT INHERITY THE NEW JERUSALEM.THANX LET US CLEAN A BELOVED COUNTRY.
#9, thanks for your follow up comment. Banning pipo from smoking in public is mainly due to health reasons. However, there are also some secondary reasons such as safety. Smoking has mainly been the single most cause for fires that have claimed human life and loss of property amounting to millions of $. I am pretty sure even the minister had other reasons on the list but deliberately emphasized on health for its importance. In short you cannot achieve other reasons if you only had to devide the rooms or buildings. If the building is set on fire, even those who dont smoke can equally be affect. Just as properties for non-smokers.
I am a non smoker in the Diaspora, the problem is whnever I go out to the pub with some of my friends who smoke and we are drinking outside in the pub garden, I end up having to go INSIDE for some fresh air because there are too many smokers outside! Dammit!!!
Smoking is cancerous, smoking is a danger to the somker and passive-smoker, smoking is an Air-Polluter, smoking harms the indoor environment, smokers can live without smoking, is a BAD HABIT which needs DISCOURAGING.
Smoking mothers risk damaging the baby in the womb and outside the womb. Smoking blackens teeth and generally gives FOUL ODOURS. Smoking is a RISK KILLER!
Tobacco harms the land by polluting the water ecosystems (herbicides, fungicides, pesticides, fertilizers), which are applied on the nursery and main field. Tobacco harms the environment through deforestation due to kilning, then the sorting out in barns and the field work promotes CHILD LABOUR, SLAVE WAGES.
#7, I tend to differ with you. A public place is defined as a place where the public has access. So, even when you go lock yourself in a public toilet, you still deemed as smoking in a public. I feel to understand this whole thing, we should first understand the motive behind this move. Therefore, by employing the literal rule, in the interpretation of the law, we shall construe this law wrongly.
Personally, i feel the Minister means to descourage people from smoking. In other words she means to say, if you want to smoke, go to a private place. But what is a private place?
Only brainless people need to be told to stop smoking as smoking is bad for them.
Ladies and gentlemen,Sweety Sylvia masebo hasn’t banned smoking.But what she has done is o restrict smoking in public places.There is no need to demarcate like one blogger wrote areas for smokers and non-smokers in pubs,this can bring confusion.smokers must smoke outside the pub period.I reside in Europe and this law has worked so well such that its rare to find a person smoking in a public place.Here where am the offence carries a maximum fine of 4000 euros.This is equivalent to 21million kwacha.Thats Sylvia i only hope the law will be enforced.
How many people in Zambia die due to passive and active smoking? How many children die because of lack of safe drinking water, inadequate medical facilities? Here we are, getting worked up about gesture politics – something that has little to no benefit on the majority of zambians. We seem to worry so much about being seen as a progressive country when there are bigger,more serious issues than smoking in public. Is it because it was done in UK,USA?? or is there are genuine need for it? Let us set our priorities right. Smoking in public indeed.
19. shuriken, I don’t know whether you are a depressed smoker or something but I presume you lack common sense. This negative indomitable bulldog tenacity of most Zambia seems to be mutating against common sense. The hazardousness of smoking is an evident hardcore fact. Don’t just criticize for the sake, yeah the gvt has failed us but don’t let your overzealous ignorance and overexploitation of freedom of speech override and deprive you of consciousness.