President Lungu said Zambia has not moved fast enough in line with the Beijing conference which requires 50% women participation in the affairs of the nation.
The President disclosed that the Patriotic Front tried to give women at least 40% of the seats contested in the just ended general elections but not all of them pulled through.
ZANIS reports that President Lungu said he wants to see more women to actively participate in matters of governance, economy and in many other areas where men are involved.
He said government is sincere in its quest to achieve gender parity as demonstrated by the number of women he has appointed to various positions in his government.
The Head of State was speaking during the swearing in ceremony of the new Minister of Gender Victoria Kalima, Luapula Province Permanent Secretary Buleti Nsemukila and Local Government Service Commission Chairperson Amos Musonda.
The president has since urged the new Minister of Gender to work towards gender equality saying while other countries are boasting of attaining 50% women representation in decision making positions, Zambia is still lagging behind.
The President also urged the newly sworn in Permanent Secretary for Luapula province and the Chairperson for the Local Government Service Commission to ensure civil servants do not participate in partisan politics.
The President advised Mr. Nsemukila and Mr. Musonda not to hesitate to discipline public service officers engaged in politics.
Mr. Lungu said government’s desire to decentralize governance can only be achieved if the local government commission gives jobs to the right people and urged the commission chairperson to help government realise its decentralisation vision.
The President also tasked the new chairperson to ensure the commission and the Local Government Association of Zambia to sit down and synchronize the role of the mayors, council chairpersons and Town clerks so that they are clearly understood.
He observed that most people do not understand whether the Mayors or Town Clerk have executive powers or not because their roles are not clear stated.
And speaking shortly after the swearing in ceremony, Gender Minister Victoria Kalima said her priority in the Ministry of Gender will be to ensure that girls are educated in order to prepare them to take up positions.
Ms. Kalima noted that Zambia can only achieve 50% women representation if women are educated enough to be in positions of influence.
She said gender equality comes with a huge cost because it will take the nation to commit resources to the education of girls and women especially in rural areas for them to be prepared for positions of authority.
You are the one in power chimbwi iwe. You always talking about women empowerment. So you have failed. All you are good as is f!cking those chawama women.
I have done some consultancy jobs with these two individuals, Buleti and Amos, just had no idea they were undercover PF!
Actually Buleti will miss the ‘beer court’ at Lusaka Squash Club for now at least …
WOMEN ARE MORE CORRUPT AND THERE IS EVIDENCE IN THE WAY THEY HANDLED THE CONCOURT. THEY ARE AN EMBARRASSMENT TO THE NATION TO SAY THE LEAST.