Friday, March 29, 2024

70% Zambian urban dwellers live in slums

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Safe and adequate clean water and sanitation have remained at large in most townships of Lusaka. Here, some township women doing their laundry beside an uncovered well in Misisi township
File:Safe and adequate clean water and sanitation have remained at large in most townships of Lusaka. Here, some township women doing their laundry beside an uncovered well in Misisi township

Government has revealed that the shortage of housing units in Zambia has led to the development of slums that accommodate approximately 70 percent of urban dwellers.
The shortage of housing units is said to have been caused by rapid urban population growth.

Ministry of Local Government and Housing Permanent Secretary Stanford Musichili disclosed that the country was facing a critical shortage of housing units totalling to about three million.
Mr. Musichili noted that the growth of the construction sector has not been in tandem with the population growth thereby creating a backlog of housing units that have led to the development of slums.

He further revealed that currently, Zambia has about 70 percent of its population living in slums out of which 40 percent was made up of women and children.

Mr. Musichili was speaking in Lusaka today during the consultative meeting to validate the national habitat III report which was attended by stakeholders from National Housing Authority, Lusaka City Council, water utility companies and civil society organisations among others.

He said it was estimated that 60 percent of Zambia’s population will live in urban areas by 2050. This is expected to further push the housing shortage if not addressed urgently.
Mr. Musichili has since urged participants of the meeting to adopt a comprehensive approach that will not only envisage better future but also focus on ensuring adequate legislative frameworks, housing finance and decent housing.The consultative meeting, which opened today, is expected to close tomorrow, March 17th.

22 COMMENTS

  1. WHAT ELSE DO YOU EXPECT FROM THESE CROOKED BEMBA AND NYANJA PRESIDENTS WHO HAVE RULING YOUR COUNTRY OVER THE YEARS, AND YET HAVE FAILED TO DELIVER MEANINGFUL DEVELOPMENT TO THE PEOPLE? COME TO THIS REALITY, THAT ONLY A TONGA PRESIDENT CAN BRING REAL DEVELOPMENT IN OUR COUNTRY AND MAKE ZAMBIA A BETTER COUNTRY TO LIVE IN. TONGA CULTURE IS BEHIND PRODUCING A PRUDENT TONGA PRESIDENT.

    • TRUTH

      Thats generalisation! Don’t put all Bembas (no such tribe as Njanjas!) in the same ‘boat’! That just tells me sooooooooooo much about you…not that I care!

    • Are you sure of what you are saying? Let us look at the 6 Zambian presidents so far:

      1.Kaunda – Malawian Tumbuka
      2.Chiluba – Chishinga
      3.Mwanawasa – Lenje/Lamba
      4.Rupiya – Chewa
      5.Sata – Bisa/Bemba
      6.Lungu – Nsenga

      So my friend stop accusing innocent people.

  2. Then on voting day ati PF, zambians why can’t we work up and make a difference.Lusaka water right now can’t do any more boreholes there, due to a number of issues. Let us cast our votes wisely and we should use our heads

    • Ifintu ni lungu; even if i sleep outside as a watchman while my bosses are snoring, i will always shout on top of my voice; ‘ifintu ni Lungu”.

    • @Cycle Mata you will continue shouting like that and yet people of chawama live in real poverty. i stay in Jack compound Lungu has done alot of nothing during his tenure as MP, this kind of thinking will never help us.i preach to all my fellow chawama residents to vote for a UPND candidate maybe he will change things as he will be scared of loosing a seat in 2016.Look at the age of PF aspiring candidate then you will know which party is serious with the welfare of the community.Mr P.Tembo thanks for accepting working with us

    • So you think HH, a rich dirty man who can’t afford decent clothes for himself, can sort out all our problems, God forbid! Shanties are our way of life. Consider the villages we all came from, are the not small shanties in themselves? Even HH or EL’s village is a small shanty. The best is for the government start selling off these shanties to investors period.

  3. These are the issues that politicians should be focusing on other than personality politics.

    Putting resources in a national housing development project will not only help the reduction of the critical housing shortage but also uplift the standards of living and employment creation of various skills.

  4. There is need for people to mobilise self help community teams to cover up wells or pick up,paper etc from the areas they and their children live in.

    You can’t expect the gov’t to do everything. Basics are provided. But citizens should be house and community proud too.

    • Patriot Abroad, thank you. That’s what most Zambians don’t understand, they do not understand their role, responsibility in improving their lot. They want the Govt to come and clean their surroundings, their roads even their toilets. If this kind of attitude does not change yu will continue to wallow in dirt and poverty.

      Start learning that its yu and only u who will clean yo environment. The Govt may help but unless yu clean it and maintain it forget about a sanitary environment.
      Same goes for development, investors won’t bring devt, they will make all the mone and send/take to their countries. So each one in your own small way come up/ develop, innitiate something and develop it , sell it. it the only way n that’s how the others have done it in developed countries

    • @Bob

      I hear what you’re saying, but there’s a whole lot of factors that pertain to this situation and what is lacking at every level (household to statehouse) is leadership. As we clearly identify our problems in our communities and proactively organize around them, we find that our leaders do not keep their commitments to us and they do inspire us. There’s nothing ennobling to the human spirit than this kind of attitude from politicians.

    • Patriot abroad. You have hit the nail on the head. Most Zanbians have no sense of community. Given our country is poor and there is really no one who can keep it clean apart from ourselves. We even fail to keep our immediate surroundings clean. You have people throwing rubbish out of moving vehicles. I don’t know who they think will go round and pick the litter. Government cannot do everything. People need to be trained not to litter and this is the job of parents.

  5. Even Lusaka is just a big slum. Most of it has no sewage system, no running water , no tar-roads , no street lights. Pit latrines are the in thing. A typical slum indeed..

  6. The what can the govt do for me rather than what can I contribute to country syndrome is the one killing zambians. We moved away from the what can govt do for my living a long time ago. This time one is not limited as to how much he os can do to improve the living standards. You don’t expect govt to build houses and accommodate anyone at tax payers expense. Zambia is not usa or Australia or uk.

  7. Unplanned Lusaka is a sorry site, look at the sewage system its all septik tunks and soaker ways which is destroying and polluting the all the ground water system. get loans to fix real problems of water and sanitation in Lusaka please.

  8. You abandoned your decent home in the village for a ramshackle in John Laing. You are a shame! Yes I am talking to you. In the village you grew vegetables in the back yard, collected free firewood from the bountiful reserve, drew free water from the water hole. This harvesting season food is plenty! And yet you abandoned the village for that poor life you now lead in the city. You are a shame. You have even brainwashed your young preschool children to speak scattered English… ‘look at’ in order to blend in. You are a shame and a disgrace to the society!

  9. We Zambians must change our mentality if we want development. We would rather spend K700 every month like someone pointed out the other day subscribing to DSTV that does not add any value to our lives, and live in a ram shackle because our neighbor also has DSTV. Take steps to improve your lives on your on and whatever the government of the day does is a bonus. Last time I was in the village my uncle only spent 3 days on the farm and was in the Boma for 4 days drinking Gangata and still expect someone else to take care of his life. Ni mabvuto pa Zed!

  10. Decentralization will also help. Local authorities need to have enough “authority” & budgets to sort out issues in their communities. It is laughable for an MP to promise to fix drainage in his constituency when the national budget has not provided for that.
    Growing up we used to have “ma sewage” but post 90s these ponds are being buried & areas turned into plots. Each household now keeps its own sh*t. This is a disaster waiting to happen. Digging of these sewers & soakways are not regulated.
    Local authorities are toothless without real decentralization.

  11. What can be the future for the vast majority of the poor when land is sold at commercial rates by local authorities. the only choice they have is to live in unplanned settlements (compounds) or as squatters on someone else’s land. what is GRZ doing to ensure that even the poor have access to land. Otherwise the poor face a future where they will be foreigners in their own country. If only government can compel local authorities to reserve a certain portion of land to be sold to poor Zambians at highly concessional rates (say K100 for a low cost plot).

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