Opposition UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has charged that the deaths at the Olympic Youth Development Center in Lusaka were avoidable.
Official figures say that eight people died in the early hours of Monday at OYDC during a stampede over free food although the number is believed to be higher.
Mr Hichilema said in a statement conveying condolences to the families of the deceased and the nation over the tragedy that what happened at OYDC is a clear indication of what is happening throughout the country.
“It is with a heavy heart that we wish to convey a message of condolences to the 8 families whose brothers and sisters died in a stampede this morning at Olympic Youth Development Center in Lusaka. Our sincere condolences go to them and we call on the nation to put the families in prayer,” Mr Hichilema said.
“However, these deaths were avoidable in the sense that our people died as they were looking for food, which has become a luxury under the current Government. Our people are dying needlessly because of hunger. This is totally unacceptable and we should bow our heads in shame,” he said.
Mr Hichilema said the UPND has always stated that the country’s economy has been mismanaged by those claiming to be in leadership, and true to their word people are now dying in stampedes as they jostle for food.
“Food which will not even last them a month but a meal. This is how desperate the citizens have become. How can a country so rich as ours be failing to feed its own people and yet some people when globetrotting pretend that there is no hunger among ourselves?”
He added, “What happened at OYDC, in Lusaka, the capital city of our country this morning is a clear indication of what is happening throughout the country. Our people need food relief and politicians such as those claiming leadership must begin providing food and not death.”
Mr Hichilema said people should not die like this but PF and Mr Edgar Lungu have allowed such situations because they are not affected.
“They can have 6 meals per day, paid for by Zambians.Once more, sincere condolences to the families and as a country let us mourn with them because this demise is not by choice but basically inflicted by PF and Mr Edgar Lungu on the innocent souls,” he said.
Meanwhile, Government has with immediate effect suspended the operations of the Church of Christ following the stampede in which eight people died at Lusaka’s Olympic Youth development Center (OYDC).
Minister of Religious Affairs Reverend Godfridah Sumaili told a news conference that the suspension will stay until all investigations are concluded.
Reverend Sumaili said that preliminary investigations have shown that the church leaders did not comply with the provisions of the law as they failed to produce necessarily documentation for such a gathering after the tragedy.
She explained that all public gatherings are guided by the Public Order Act and that churches are not exempted from complying with this law.
And Chief Government Spokesperson Kampamba Mulenga has said that the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (UNIT) will provide the necessary support to the bereaved families.
Ms Mulenga said that other proceedings will be communicated to the nation in due course.
It’s actually a sign of worse things to come!
For sure, Zambians are living in distress.
HH speaks sense more often than thought
This is what should constitute national mourning. Not the mp s who are accorded after stealing from the public beforehand.
HH kukonda. Kudwa. Chi.kala
There he goes again. Always coming out when something bad happens. You will still never be president!
@Olivia Pope: being President is overrated when you cannot stop your citizens from starving and dying in food stampedes.
Lives lost over a 10kg bag of mealie meal.
The DMMU should have known about the hunger disaster instead of reaction after people have died. This I window dressing actions. Shame upon you DMMU you take pride in showing off like you care. You have reports that clearly show the situation on the ground but you sit on them.
Pathetic Failures~PF bandits have brought hunger, poverty, load shedding,lies, alcoholism, plummeted economy, uhule, & death among many more calamities of doom.
Half the cabinet bandits of visionless Lungu were busy planting trees & admiring vegetables in Israel, we are yet to witness their repentances~after visiting Jesus’s Tomb.
Njala yanyokola mu capital city Lusaka, what more in villages & shanties? President HH said that “Our people are dying needlessly because of hunger. This is totally unacceptable and we should bow our heads in shame” esp PF bandits of visionless Lungu.
The Skeleton Key
~206~
Ever head of buy one get one free promotions? Marketers come up with such to drive sales and people end up buying things they never intended to buy, not that they lacked…………the same might have triggered what happened yesterday, not that people are starving to the extent that HH is exaggerating. Look at the pictures of people who died in the stampede, do they appear like people who where really starving like pictures we’ve seen before from Somalia of ‘skinny’ people? Condolences to the grieving families.
People voted safely, waking up same time at 04:00am, lined themselves up.
But over FOOD,….. Seriously Inonge Wins should step down, she can’t be part of the careless heartless PF team.
HH IS SO PREDICTABLE INCLUDING THE RESIDENT RABID TONGA TRIBALISTS ON THIS BLOG. YOU NEVER SAY ANYTHING GOOD ABOUT GOVERNMENT. YOU POLITICISE EVEN TRAGEDY AND NEVER MENTION THE PROJECTS THAT HAVE BENEFITED YOUR PEOPLE.
ECL IS PRESIDENT LUNGU NOT MR LUNGU AND hh WILL NEVER BE PRESIDENT
Anytime you attach FREE to anything, doesn’t matter where or what, huge numbers of people will show up. And if there are no measures put in place for PROPER CROWED CONTROL, mayhem is the likely outcome. Hungry or not, this was a poorly organized event and the people/church responsible should be made to account. The possibility of LARGE UNCONTROLLED crowds of people degenerating into such mayhem (Stampede) should have been anticipated by the organizers and sought Police assistance well in advance.
I have seen mayhem ensue even here in America every time FREE STUFF (doesn’t matter what it is) is being given away. Yes hunger abound among certain sections of our population, but still this would have happened if it was blankets or clothes being given for free instead of food. It is the…
continue:
… way this Church went about with the event which led to the deaths of people.
@ Yambaymba
You are always objective and that’s what I like about your posts! But then this moron OVAL HEAD comes up with rubbish such as ”but basically inflicted by PF and Mr Edgar Lungu on the innocent souls,” he said.”
…
Bitter cretin!
Always taking advantage of the dead and hopeless. People have money but they don’t give out a coin to the needy for free. We all know that HH had a privilege of getting Rich (Privatization) and he became rich. ECL is the president and he has all the rights to his salary which big definitely. So just as much as HH can not give these poor people his money, ECL can not dish out his hard earned money whether from globetrotting or gifts. People need to start working hard for their lives. People need to plan for the future. Most of the people who died at OYDC had maize from last season and they sold everything. Even if God became our president at statehouse we will still die like this if we continue to be lazy and fail to plan for our lives and the economy will never grow.
UPND is a curse to Zambia, it must be exterminated, if possible crucify HH.
This HH fake church elder has true traits of a F.r.e.e.M.a.s.o.n. He lacks compassion.
The honorable thing he could have said is ” the Church should be held accountable”.
HH is Poleple-church elder.
We do not forget how he rejoiced over Sata’s illness.
Zambians are just known to be greedy! The FISP thing had some errors were some farmers were able to swipe twice! After getting their fertilizers the first time,to this day even after being told that they cannot swipe twice, Farmers are still trooping to the banks asking for round two!…We are just too greedy! All able bodied people should try to etch a living of some sort, save for the elderly differently-abled folk!
Zambians will continue to suffer under this visionless alcoholic. This man travels to israel and talks nonsense. Netanhayu gives him only 30 minutes now he wants to build Jewish synagogue in Zambia. Zambians will suffer under PF, thanks to the political stooge Priscilla and the incompetent judges. Until Zambians elect an intelligent, visionary and literate person as president they will continue to die for food and load shedding. Keep sending your grain to the bastard father of Lungu in Zimbabwe and stop your whining. We all know Zambians are passive and loves to be led by stupid men.
HH is the Grim Reaper. Only death and darkness brings joy to him.
He should have been Zambia’s president. Continue to fight until the people of Zambia’s case is heard. We want to know who won the August 11 polls. Lungu might be president on paper but not in truth and in many honest people’s minds and heart. God bless HH and God bless my beloved country and people.
This disaster was beamed on BBC, CNN, Al-Jazeera, Canal-France, Reuters, etc, yet some brainwashed 1diots are still in denial. All networks stated:
“Majority of Zambians live in poverty, SURVIVING ON LESS THAN A DOLLAR A DAY”.
8 deaths is one too many. Will PF only admit failure after 100,000 people die of poverty related causes?
HH IS AN OPPORTUNIST. HE SURVIVES ON BAD THINGS SUCH DFEATH OR AND BAD NEWS OF ANY SORT. HE HAS NEVER COMMENTED ON ANYTHING GOOD LOCAL BUT HE ALWAYS JUMPS TO BAD NEWS IN ORDER TO MAKE POLITICAL CAPITAL. IT’S THECHURCH THAT MUST BE CONDEMNED FOR BEING INSENSITIVE. NOT PF AND ECL. EVEN IN THE FIRST WORLD SUCH THINGS AS FREE FOOD STAMPEDE AND PEOPLE GETTING INJURED DURING THE PROCESS IS THERE. NOBODY BLAMES THE PRIME MINISTER OR PRESIDENT. THEY GO FOR WHOEVER DIRECTLY CAUSED IT. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF A SAD SITUATION SUCH AS THIS ONLY TO GAIN POLITICAL MILAGE UTTER STUP!D ON THE PART OF HH.
The UNDECLARED president of the whole Zambia HH has spoken fundamental issues affecting Zambians across party lines. Lets wait for Lungu, president of half Zambia to this disaster under his watch.
“How can a country so rich as ours be failing to feed its own people and yet some people when globetrotting pretend that there is no hunger among ourselves?”
There is a struggle for food. Prices have risen sharply while there are no jobs. This is not laziness. There are no jobs.
If ever there was doubt that Zambia was the third hungriest country in the world, that fact is now confirmed. There is no point having a so-called bumper harvest or maize surplus, with even enough to sell to Malawi at fraudulent prices, when Zambians are starving and dying in food stampedes.
Stampede
running as an act of mass impulse among herd animals or a crowd of people in which they run away for fear ….
I wonder why this term is misused often times.
HH is Poleple-church elder.
We do not forget how he rejoiced over Sata’s illness
KIKI KIKI KIKI…..THE STAMPEDE CONTINUES. ONLY THAT THIS TIME IT IS A “POLITICAL STAMPEDE” WITH POLITICIANS FALLING OVER EACH OTHER, FIGHTING TO MAKE A COMMENT OVER THE MATTER. NO WONDER THE MOST EXCITED OF THEM ALL CANNOT BE NON OTHER THAN HH. HIS QUEST IS TO MAKE POLITICAL MILEAGE OVER THE MATTER.
1MBECILE!!!
Who has been in charge for past 6 years? Shame on you and other Christian hypocrites like you and your idols
Problem with hh is, he thinks we all think like him! Pitiful soul, he is now waiting for the next tragedy!!
THESE ARE ALL EFFECTS OF GOVERNMENT DYSFUNCTION. THIS IS EVIDENCE OF DESPERATE AND HUNGRY POPULATION. NOW WE ALL KNOW THE TRUE MEANING OF “DUNUNA REGRET”!!!!
HH is Polepole-church elder.
We do not forget how he rejoiced over Sata’s illness
Even after 8 were confirmed dead and dozens injured, people blatantly refused to have food handout programme not to be postponed, kanganja’s appeals fail on deaf ears, they were shouting awe, awe, awe, awe, tifuna vakudya.
HH Polepole-church elder easily smells blood.
It’s unfortunate that this happened. Organisers should have put measures in place so that the distribution was orderly. It’s unfortunate others want to gain mileage over this. It’s time to mourne now let’s wait until the departed are put to rest. I lost my nice 24 yrs. Yes we have challenges and these challenges needs conserted effort from all all, we need to put our heads together in order overcome them over time as a country not over night as a people not an individuals as the case is in some circles.
Mr katema you pf cadres are always claiming that things are OK in the country, you telling you failed to buy a 10kg bag of mealie meal for your niece, then you are the bigger devil, you putting on flash slim fit blue suits with bow ties yet your niece has turned into a refugee in her own country.
Katema the *****
HH is Polepole-church elder.
We do not forget how he rejoiced over Sata’s illness
As a herder, he should know a bit about stampedes.
Do cattle stampede for food alone.
When it happens at a football match in Europe, is it because of the queen?
Tell me if a stampede would not happen if MacDonald was handing out free burgers in the USA.
Now that is reasoning from testicles instead of brain
You are quite right president H.H.. Under president Edgar lungu we have so many thugs in this country look at his ascendancy to it was the thugs that intimidated true leaders not to run for presidency. Days are numbered for this drunkard president!
HH Ninfwiti yakantu he is Polepole-church elder.
We do not forget how he rejoiced over Sata’s illness
The govt falicilated maize export to Malawi recently to earn a Facilitation Fee leaving Zambians to die of hunger in this manner. Lungu’s illegitimate govt is showing how irresponsible it is. Lungu and 8 Ministers were recently on a joy ride to Israel on holiday spending millions of money instead of feeding starving Zambians. The illegitimate, lawless,visionless and uncaring Lungu govt should be made accountable for the deaths of innocent Zambians.
Since I was born I have witnessed several food stampedes. People just don’t want to wait for their turn. I remember one when Zambia had a lot of wealth, a Lever Brothers cinema was distributing tablets of Stork Magerine near Chiwempala market. The process was originally peaceful until someone shouted that the items were about to finish. All hell broke loose and a baby strapped on its mother’s back fell and was stepped on by the crowd. From that time had vowed to stay away from such activities. So ba HH may say whatever he wants but these things do happen even in affluent south Africa.
@ Ndanje khakis
Who cares about “affluent SA”? It is your fellow ZAMBIANS, Citizens of “Christian Nation” which are dead due to 1mbecility of brain-washed hypocrites like you.
@ECL so your HH is an omnipresent god who could have ordered those zambians to stay in doors. For your information one of the women who attended the event is married to a man who works at Mansa Hill shopping mall. So ask yourself why she’d leave her working husband in bed and rush for those hampers? Don’t always see opportunities in people ‘s misfortune. I am sure if HH were president you’re still going to blame PF.
True! In Zambia, there is a general behavior problem we have not seriously addressed. Zambians are known to scramble for anything. We see it when queuing for anything. Few have the curtesy to join and await their turn. We would be wrong to end at blaming the government or the organizers. Our people need to learn some manners to be orderly. Hunger should never be the excuse. I have worked in poor communities in other countries but the orderliness you see is quite humbling. Being poor does not mean you throw good manners through the window. Sorry to say this but Zambians are generally uncultured! A nation without a good national culture is like a tree without roots, never grounded but always being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine!
@ Ndanje
Kekekekekekekeke pwaaaaaaaaaaa…you have really taken the steam from this 1mbecile blogging as ECL!
These 3astards truly would still blame Edgar Changwa Lungu and PF if HH OVAL HEAD became President! Yaba, you have hit him hard where the sun don’t shine!
This ka HH stole privatization money which he can pay back to the hungry instead of yapping for political mileage. Those pipo who went as early as 03 to get free food are just lazy. We have a lot of land for farming but pipo choose to stay in shanty compounds doing nothing but want to have free food. Go farming and you will have plenty of food. Hyne pay back the money
You are right, HH also stole 9 Billion US$ in last six years? You are 5TUPID scum
Quit the endless crying please. GRZ was responsible for privatization.
Ati go farming , will your father give them land to farm ???
@Spaka, that’s a lame excuse ….ask most of these people have ever tried to get land. In Kitwe people whose homes were flooded were allocated land but after the rains, they sold that land and returned to their old homes by the Kafue River.
Did you hear about the worms that destroyed crops? what about the fact that your incompetent Government delivered fertiliser as late as the end of February? This Government has contributed to the high level of poverty. May I remind you that in 2011 when PF came to power mealie meal was fetching K35
@Kaluwa to start with you can not eat what we’ve planted. The effects of the worms and late input delivery will be felt in October. I personally I am sure I will have a bumper harvest unless something unforeseen affects my crop. Reason is that the rains were just as late as the inputs. Or have you visited the countryside to see how good the crop is doing or you’re just politicking?
As a Zambian leaving abroad, all i can say is am ashamed. Vasco Da Gama Njala chabe.
Yes you should be ashamed that people who are healthy and not lame can queue up for free food! Shame indeed!
Pathetic Failures~PF bandits have brought hunger, poverty, load shedding,lies, alcoholism, plummeted economy, uhule, & death among many more calamities of doom.
Half the cabinet bandits of visionless Lungu were busy planting trees & admiring vegetables in Israel, we are yet to witness their repentances~after visiting Jesus’s Tomb.
Njala yanyokola mu capital city Lusaka, what more in villages & shanties? President HH said that “Our people are dying needlessly because of hunger. This is totally unacceptable and we should bow our heads in shame” esp PF bandits of visionless Lungu.
The Skeleton Key
~206~
Stupid *****!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The church should be held accountable , and seriously so. A big gathering should be planned and properly controlled. When ever people hear that that free things are given out somewhere regardless of their needs wil want to go and be part of the recipients. I see it in south Africa every day.people stop by wits university while on their way to work to get food and does the same while on the way home pretending they are also poor . Its not about poverty its human selfishness church must be punished. Thousand where surrounding jesus during food hand outs but no death were recorded , even sick ones got out of crowds bruiseless. Possibility of pre meditated bloodshed cannot be ruled out
Blaming pf for the food stampid is uttar nosense…! Its only in Zambia where people expect govt to do everything for them..! Y should someone stay in town when they don’t have any source of income to feed themselves? Iam a graduate with a good paying job but iam settled in my home village in sesheke busy making Zambia green. If people listened to kk’s go back to the land call, overcrowding, hunger and dirty were going to be a thing of the past in our towns. Bwana hh, plz think before you talk if you are to remain relevant in modern politics. People are not easily cheated by cheap slogans nowadays..! Lets go back to the land and grow more food. Leave those towns for the working class and business men.
HH name just one country in the world that literary provides food for all the people in its territory as you’re implying? Let’s not rejoice over other people’s misfortunes and try to make political capital of every dark cloud please! What kind of human being are you?
Vatican
There was a BUMPER HARVEST the previous farming season, yet the people are hungry. Famine in Zambia is like 1980’s Ethiopia or Somalia. The stampede for a food parcel makes me ashamed to be Zambian.
Price of food is one of the highest, only second to Angola. Coupled with high unemployment, it’s a perfect recipe for a stampede for food.
The CHIPANTE-PANTE PF-Regime is either in denial or just don’t care about the poverty levels in Zambia. How many people need to die before LAZY admits that we are in a crisis?
We need to provide real jobs NOT these Chinese funded projects. PF is being praised as being successful becoz of construction roads projects yet we know that every African country is getting these useless loans from China. That money never comes into the country as the…
CONT’D…
That money never comes into the country as the loan conditions are that 90% of the project should be given to a Chinese company, 75% of semi-skilled labour-force, raw materials & equipment should be procured from China. Yet 100% of the loan should be paid by Zambians!!
The question we’ve been asking LAZY is “will people eat roads?”
HH don’t make political mileage out of this tragedy. You know for some people it is just excitement. They have enough food at home but when they just hear that free food is available somewhere they rush there in numbers. But I do acknowledge the fact that there are some people who do not have enough food in their homes. What happened at OYDC is really sad. No one should politicize anything
HH is right on. This is not political mileage. Are you saying the stampede never happened? Be rational in your thinking. We know that you PF cadres are embarrassed because you cannot hide what happened; it is in the public domain. Its a shame for the PF to allow pangs of hunger to kill innocent people while Lungu spends huge sums of tax payers money visiting tourism sites in Israel. Its a shame. It is disgraceful for the PF to allow people to dies over a 10kg bag of mealie meal that can’t even last a family a week. Shame.
Suppose it is the PF who went to give out free food there at OYDC and the same tragedy happened! Who could have been blamed? The same PF, not so? By the way am not even a supporter of either PF or HH.Am just an independent observer. I did not even vote in last year’s elections
PF induced poverty,joblessness and hunger.
When is Zambia going to be like the USA where vast amounts of food is thrown out because they have bumper supplies brought about by good policies and proper support for farmers?
Wisdom from my president iwe
@NEZ BITTER BLOGGER FOREVER
YOU ARE A HATER
YOU WILL NEVER APPRECIATE ANYTHING NOT DONE BY YOUR FELLOW VICIOUS TRIBALISTS
WHAT HAVE YOU TO SAY ABOUT THE PROJECTS IN SOUTHERN AND WESTERN PROVINCES INITIATED BY THE PF YOU HATE SO MUCH?
NOTHING: YOU LOOK THE OTHER WAY!!!!
HH Polepole-church elder easily smells blood.
I am more now convinced that HH has lost it. This whole event was organized by the Church of Christ who were trying to woo people join their church by offering free food hampers. I personally witnessed Inspector of Police, Kakoma Kanganja, on ZNBC appealing to the large crowd at OYDC to be orderly and to give the police a chance to get everything better organized. But the people there were rowdy and didn’t pay attention to Kanganja until all hell broke loose. And it wasn’t poverty that attracted people there but just plain human greed. I personally know two fairly well -to-do guys people – one even drove there – who went to scramble for hampers! So, does the PF get the blame for this?
I personally know two fairly well -to-do guys – one even drove there – who went to scramble for hampers! So, does the PF get the blame for this?
If the 500, 000 jobs promised by PF materialised maybe that guy would not have the time to drive there.
There is no hunger in the country as suggested by this president that never will be. Look at the people who were injured, no one of them appeared vulnerable like this failed politician is suggesting. Most of those went there to get food hand outs not for consumption but for resale and don’t tell me if there is hunger in people’s homes then it has started with Lungu’s govt unless you were an imbecile during kaunda’s govt when mealie meal was costing K15.00 but still some people because of laziness went hungry. Change your ancient methods of trying to win sympathy mr hyena or else come 2021 you will still kiss your anasi.
You PF looters who think there is no hunger go and ask why parents are selling theirv15 yr old girls into prostitution in compounds.
There is hunger and unemployment in zambia at a high level.
now it is above k100,000.00
This is a tragedy and has nothing to do with provision of food in the country. The leaders of this gathering did not put in place proper mechanisms of to distribute food hampers to their members. Mr tribal leader HH do not make political mileage out of this tragedy. We know that you are a political failure and you will never govern this nation because when there is a problem you celebrate. when Late SATA was you celebrated with the hope that when he dies you will take over and unfortunately it never came to pass because God does not work like that. You have to repent boss and ask God for forgiveness. No strattegy sir Mr Tribal Leader HH.
PF looters not acknowledging the fact that unemployment runs at 80%.
you cant build a peaceful world on empty stomachs and human misery.Am Looking forward to a day when we can download food, this technology aint working for us.
Hunger is not caused by a scarcity of food but a scarcity of democracy let the hunger games begin
There is hunger in this country. No matter how much PF cadres want to sugar-coat the stampede, the fact is people are starving and signs are there. HH was spot on and PF cadres want to justify everything and blame others for their failures. This is a failed government. Its a shame for people to dies over a 10kg bag of mealie meal. The PF are ashamed and the fact that everything is in the public domain, makes them very sick. Otherwise they would have loved to sweep everything under the carpet. But all the citizens saw what poverty can do. Meanwhile, their president was in Israel touring as usual using huge sums of tax payers money. Ati he went to woo investors! What a shame! Failed leadership. Zambia has no proper policies to direct this country to prosperity. Edgar has no clue of what…
To borrow from @ The Truth, Questionnaire what do you have to say to this?
…
”Suppose it is the PF who went to give out free food there at OYDC and the same tragedy happened! Who could have been blamed? The same PF, not so? By the way am not even a supporter of either PF or HH.Am just an independent observer. I did not even vote in last year’s elections”
…
HH OVAL HEAD just likes getting Political mileage out death!…that damn red-eyed Satanist!
In Zambia, there is a general behavior problem we have not seriously addressed. Zambians are known to scramble for anything. We see it when queuing for anything. Few have the curtesy to join and await their turn. We would be wrong to end at blaming the government or the organizers. Our people need to learn some manners to be orderly. Hunger should never be the excuse. I have worked in poor communities in other countries but the orderliness you see is quite humbling. Being poor does not mean you throw good manners through the window. Sorry to say this but Zambians are generally uncultured! A nation without a good national culture is like a tree without roots, never grounded but always being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine!
Even when voting people would want to go either too early or too late and queue when they have the whole day to vote.
You… yes you…deep down your heart even know that you would have been at OYDC had it happened that you where in the proximity. Dont assume that who ever went there had no food at home. It is just our nature to go where there are crowds especially if entrance is free.
PF cadres on this blog will defend PF & Changwa to the death. No free food is distributed in a nation with no hungry people. We were told last year that Zambians were the 3rd hungriest nation on earth and you cadres were disputing the world report. Admit that PF under Changwa has reduced Zambians to be beggers.
Nonsense, Trying to gain political mileage when others have died. The Church is irresponsible take that food in rural areas not near an urban compound were call boys came in masses to collect and resale. Best still donate to orphanages and old peoples homes churches paddling cheap religious campaign to increase membership no doubt…. take the food in rufunsa or mumbwa rural they need it and there will be no stampede
Unemployment and depravity is in compounds. Why take food to rural areas when that is where land to farm is ??
Unemployment runs at 80 % in those compounds. Show them the 500,000 jobs promised by lungu…..
Imagine if there was free Chibuku or other alcohol being given out free.
This is sad indeed, why didn’t the church management first go and seek help from the Police , so that they could keep ORDER, you cannot carry out such a huge excise which involves free food without proper SECURITY. And this is one of the comments i found on Yahoo News today.”Mass sterilisation is the only thing for 3rd world nations. The civilised nations can not save the world. We keep feeding and they keep breeding like rats. This cannot be sustained forever”.What a terrible image this has brought for us Zambians and the government.
THE RESIDENT HATERS ON THIS BLOG ARE DISGUSTING WHO TOGETHER WITH THEIR VICIOUS HH ARE STAMPEDING TOWARDS THE TRAGEDY.
SHAME
And you parasitic 1mbeciles are stampeding towards airport to welcome IMF as the guest of honor for the celebration of “unprecedented development” under Permanent Failures?
HH is a prophet of doom.A Devils child who thrives and rejoices in death and loadsheding.
MY GOD HOW DESPERATE. DID HE JUST POLITICIZE THAT?
Just Like That.. poor felo…
So when upnd blind followers say “there is hunger in the country”,can you also confirm if this hunger has only started under PF or has been for many years back?is the way many Zambians used to live in 1964 the same today?HH is an economist who knows that economically many educated Zambians have graduated to middle class.look,even in western countries those who are not learned or not hard working suffer.what of here in a poor country?Kainde must stop this kind of politics because it wont win him the presidency.SO IF ZAMBIA WAS BEING RUN BY HH,HE COULD HAVE BEEN PROVIDING ALL NONE WORKING ZAMBIANS FOOD?IF YES THEN HOW?MOREOVER,WHO DOESNT KNOW HOW GREEDY HH IS?LOL HH WONT GAIN ANYTHING FROM THIS SAD NEWS.about any good thing,Kainde remains mute.today load shedding has almost stopped and HH…
What is it with you looters ? Did HH say him will give food to the unemployed ? No he is saying he will provide jobs , not free food .
Yabaaa. Being a looters is a problem.
@ Spaka what do you have to say about the post from The Truth below:
…
Suppose it is the PF who went to give out free food there at OYDC and the same tragedy happened! Who could have been blamed? The same PF, not so? By the way am not even a supporter of either PF or HH.Am just an independent observer. I did not even vote in last year’s elections’
…
And suppose it was the defunct UPeND who gave out free food and the same happened, what would you say, you HH OVAL HEAD zealot?
Ba choma.
Provide jobs and stop looting and corruption….
Bringing Politics in every situation HH you should growup and have some sense of direction
@Lelo, if LAZY had created the 500,000 jobs he promised, this would NOT have happened. Unemployment & hunger are a reality in Kombonis, villages & even posh surburbs.
Who has time to queue up at 03.00am for a 10kg of mealie-meal when s/he has to report for work at 7.00am?
Just admit PF is a failed project, worse than UNIP & MMD. The sooner you people admit failure, the better we can prevent such embarrassing calamities. We are also embarrassed to watch the entire world say Zambians are dying over a plate of food. We are being embarrassed on Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN, etc. bcoz of your failures.
Today load shedding has almost stopped but HH is quiet because he is very embarrassed after cheating Zambians that load shedding is due to PF’s failed leadership under ECL.look,only bantustans take Kainde serious.HH is an empty tin who is miles away from state house!!if the church leadership organized that event properly,those deaths were going to be avoided and PF is not to blame here!Grow up Kainde and stop this evil politics!!!
PF have been in power for 6 years. There was no need of making the country go through lead shedding in the first place.
Why should a country with so many water bodies experience load shedding?,??.
With all jokes and insults aside constructive criticism is what is required! Points he made worth taking note of is a sense of detachment and entitlement which appears to be prevalent amongst senior govt officers. This is the same attitude that leads to the purchase of ridiculously expensive brand new Luxury SUVs that serve absolutely no purpose but to feed egos and a sense of “boma ni boma” which is wrong and only isolates govt from the people. The day the Late Great MCS took office he promised to serve as a servant to the people and not as a King! I recall that day as it was yesterday in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross! Now what is sadly happening is these people many of whom were detested by Sata that are surrounding our President ECL who is truelly trying his personal best are…
Ctn..President ECL who is truelly trying his personal best are failing! Be what it may on the rights and wrongs of dishing out food aid when there is no serious emergency requirement for such an exercise (these people were not dying of hunger as is the case for example in South Sudan) the State should’ve put in place measures to either control this exercise or outrightly prevent the exercise. However, HH true to his deceptive form is making outlandish statements merely to gain political mileage. HH has a clear record of displacing villagers, having a dubious role in the illegal privatisation of the mines in the Copperbelt resulting in economic devastation of whole communities that led to depression and deaths of entire families and further to that HH is on record of underpaying his…
Ctn…and further to that HH is on record of underpaying his workers, not setting up medical facilities on his estates for his workers and their families forcing these workers to rely on Govt health posts located in some cases hundreds of Kms away from some of his farms and cattle ranches. As the saying goes “charity begins at home” so HH only a Dunderhead would fail to see that this Human Hyena is not being genuine in his criticism.
We kindly ask where are the 500,000 jobs promised by lungu are ? Maybe you kaponya bloggers have seen them ?
Ok lets agree for a minute that indeed its PF leaders who caused that Stampede.so now HOW COULD WE HAVE AVOIDED IT UNDER HH OR UPND?LET HH EXPLAIN BECAUSE HH HAS BEEN DOING THIS KIND OF POLITICS SINCE 2006 WHICH HAS RESULTED INTO NOTHING!!!meaning many people do not agree with his politics of merely criticising minus offering solutions or explaining how he can do it better than those in power the way Michael Sata used to do politics before he won in 2011.UPND ADVISORS MUST SIT KAINDE DOWN AND TELL HIM TO CHANGE THE WAY HE DOES HIS POLITICS BECAUSE IF HE CONTINUES THIS WAY,THEN HE MUST AS WELL FORGET ABOUT STATE HOUSE BECAUSE 2021,HE WILL STILL 100% LOSE!!!laughing at Zambians in problems is inviting curses from God bo Kainde!!
HH could have avoided this by providing real jobs , opening factories and manufacturing not opening shopping malls as specialised by lungu.
@Spaka so within six months HH could have created 8million jobs and reversed poverty? Even as private citizen he can explain how these jobs can come up in only six months. That’s what we call Utopia.
Who mentioned 8 million jobs in 6 months ?
100, 000 jobs per year is realistic not the 500,000 lungu only had dreams of..
Zambia imports 80 to 90% of materials and food that can be produced locally.
Nk
Do you know that all police uniforms and industrial work cloths and most school uniforms are imported ?
There is no political will to stop this because the people who hold those contracts fund PF campains. So they help keep you in power but enslave you by not providing the jobs that could be.
@ Njimbu
You ask: “HOW COULD WE HAVE AVOIDED IT UNDER HH OR UPND?”
The fact that thousands of people got up at 3am to go and queue for food handouts shows the country is seriously impoverished. If food were more readily available and affordable fewer people would be compelled to rush for a handout at that hour. It shows there’s starvation in the land. It indicates there are no jobs being created and people are very desperate. It shows PF govt’s mediocrity and uselessness. The sad fact is that this situation will only get worse until Zambians begin an exodus out of that death trap country like Zimbabweans did.
@Spaka, do you want each person employed to report to you ati nabengila incito? A new mine in chambishi has employed 250 people and one of those is my nephew so I will tell him to report to you with his ID.
@4.6 NK.
That is the fundamental problem…..relying on mining jobs.
I told you all police and work cloths uniforms are imported and all zambia army and most school uniforms.
Contracts held by PF financial backers. Until lungu grows some kohunas you will remain a rich country on paper but poverty stricken in flesh……
So for us who work in the mines our numbers don’t add up to the statistics te? Muli chipuba ba Spaka! Inchito ni nchito nangu yakupyanga mumisebo milimo nayo mmmtssss!
@ 4.8 kweshoni
It seems some of you already have licences to grow dagga , where have I said mining jobs don’t count? I say PF should be moving to create more factory and manufacturing jobs.
Relaying on mining jobs and mining is what PF are blaming for the poor economy when mineral prices crash.
Just BORE OFF you mr hakainde. your are so boring
I can’t believe that all those people (35,000) cannot manage to survive and had to queue up as early as 04:00 hrs to get free food hampers. I think to some extent its also GREED on the part of man. Some people wanted to take advantage and re-sell the food packs and find money for Chibuku. It also remind me about the so called Farmers Input Support Programme (FISP) which is meant for the vulnerable in society but even Honourable Ministers end up receiving. May the Soul of the departed brothers and sisters rest in eternal peace.
@John Phiri
Kaunda’s crackpot scheme to give free mealie meal to the poverty stricken masses ended up benefiting the well to do. Lacking food in a country boasting fertile soils and plentiful water is another testament to the moronic govt Zambia is cursed with. 54 years of independence these punks haven’t yet grasped the formula to make food abundant and affordable, and for goodness sakes Zambians are not a demanding lot. They only ask for a simple bag of meali meal, that’s all. Not rice, potatoes, cassava, spaghetti, or bread. But even supplying this single commodity is problematic for the PF govt.
Free things destroy people’s creativity and self-reliance. It’s time politicians stopped baby-sitting citizens. This confirms the high rates of dependency in this country. Sad!
Provide jobs.
If you don’t believe the world’s media that paint Zambia the hungriest nation on the planet, you don’t believe our own CSO for their inability to come up with accurate numbers that Zambia has more than 80% (it’s nearer 96%) of the population as starving masses of people, the stampede and the accompanying deaths presents a larger than life indicator that indeed Zambia is a destitute nation. But then this is to be expected. You have what Sata described as useless people holding power. The president and his cabinet spend more time plotting and scheming how to get the most money out of govt for their pockets. I have never heard the drinking president proclaiming major policy on how the economy could be resuscitated and launched on course to prosperity.
It is not about Zambia being the hungriest nation or whatever baba, people everywhere in the world scamper for free things.
@One Zambia
Do those you talk about in the world wake up at 3 am to queue for food? Admit there’s seriously something stup!d about leadership in Zambia.
GOVERNMENT SHOULD STOP SANCTIONING THE BUILDING OF SHOPPING MALLS BUT INVITE INVESTORS TO BUILD FACTORIES WHICH ADD VALUE.
AND STOP LUXURY VEHICLES FOR GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL
I still like this post from The Truth..
”Suppose it is the PF who went to give out free food there at OYDC and the same tragedy happened! Who could have been blamed? The same PF, not so? By the way am not even a supporter of either PF or HH.Am just an independent observer. I did not even vote in last year’s elections”
If you didn’t vote better shishu your face hole.
Just answer you jackass.!
The advert read: Gate opens at 6 a.m. and closes at 7.30 a.m. Why should it be so? Where in this world has a church belittled humans in such a manner knowing fully well that free manna is unsparingly craved for and then to squeeze 35,000 black beings in an aperture of 90 minutes?This is utter nosense! Given Lubinda should start proceedings against this church and the scrap off the rubbish ministry of churches with immediate effect it has no value in this era.
Only HH can support this because he’s one of the freemasonry under world.He must be very happy to see people dieing in this manner because he has benefited to the dieing of the poor Zambians.
Zambians please let’s walk up to these stupid people and churches for these guys the freemasonry satanic ritual dieing.
HH being a freemasonry satanic he’s Very happy to see people dieing.
People are busy condemning the gorvenment, why don’t you blame your freemasonry satanic so call HH
Partly yes but the major problem was poor organisation. Anyway its an opportunity for political capital
The intention was of the church was okay.The only problem was that instead of the needy to go there,street vendors,marketeers,sme retailers etc found an opportunity to increase their stocks in other words getting for free and later reselling them at an exorbitant prices,e.g afcon tickets.For the sake of argument:
FREE……..VS………..Reselling
10kg mealie-meal – K55.60
soya pieces – K20.00
cooking oil 2.5lts – K43.50.
Note that the above are market prices.
PF GOVT can do better by reducing the above common domestic products but the question is are they willing,capable,or do they have the heart to save the marginalized people?
If there were a”greedy award”some Zambians can be hot favorites Politicians included.
The Govt should not be encouraged to introduce price controls. However, Zambian businessmen, local and foreign are extremely greedy people. Look at the room rates for our “top” hotels. There is need to moderate prices in this country.
@52meant to say the intention of the church was okay
Yes but poorly organized!
Among the 35000 people who gathered for free food were upnd supporter. What is HH doing to his starving supporters? Why can’t he offer free food to his supporters?
If he was in goverment he’d be offering jobs……don’t give a jobless man fish…teach him how to fish.
@Spaka tell that to Lesedi the guys who caused the stampede!
@ choma mano
If there was employment there would be no stampede caused by leidi or who ever they are.
@ Spaka
My comment stems from that idiom you have quoted about fish! The same goes with the Church, the same Lesedi chaps, it should not encourage handouts but instead teach about the talents in the Bible! See?
By the way how come the 35,000 haven’t died of hunger? How have they managed all this time?
They’ve been begging at street corners and traffic lights. I thought i saw your mother doing the same the other day. It’s the whole Zambian Christian Nation! Ku DUNUNA FYE!
@Mbanje Kaki:
You mother fuc.king arse.whore! So will only believe that people are starving under PF if all the 35,000 people die! How about the 8 that have lost their lives – is that not enough to you and your drunkard PF president? What a sadist piece of sh.it you really are!!
How can my mother beg when she’s got enough children to look after her? Maybe you mistook yours for someone else ‘s
@ Chilyata
Either you are a deranged 3astard or you were abandoned at some point by your parents! That man who impregnated the woman who gave birth you, surely must be disappointed with you that IF you knew him. ! Otherwise any sane child raised from a humble home wouldn’t behave the way you do! Are you from an abusive household I wonder? Or were your parents drunks so much that they never paid attention to the way you were growing up?You are so callous! Sad.
@Choma manio:
Why don’t you just put that SH.IT of yours back into your Mother’s smelly unwashed pu.ssey and lick it! You behave like a piece of SH.IT that never goes no matter how many times you flash it!! ID.IOT!
Dununa reverse
The government itself has come out saying the economy is Seriously challenged, so what is wrong with what HH is saying. I have never liked HH but the Man is on firm ground. No matter what you may say against the Man, there is serious hunger in the country and we have some people who are supposed to be sorting out these issues than just globe trotting and tourism
PF should put the country before the people who provided financial backing to fight UPND…….ban the importation of army, police, work cloths uniforms and school uniforms. Zambia can grow enough cotton and we have enough your loafing who can train as machinists.
Your greed to remain in power is seriouly harming the country. Cancell all those importation contracts and start production in zambia.
EVEN IN USA WE HAVE SEEN ON TELEVISION CHRISTIAN CHURCHES GIVING FOOD TO HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE. DOES THAT MEAN USA IS DYSFUNCTIONAL. IN FACT JESUS SAID THE POOR WILL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU. SO DO NOT BE THE FIRST TO OPEN YOUR MOUTH WIDEST FOR POLITICAL REASONS. THIS IS A PROBLEM WHICH WE MUST ALL ADDRESS. WE MOURN WITH THE BEREAVED. NOT POINTING FINGERS AT ECL.
Iwe, have already got a licence to grow weed ? You seem high. Does the US have unemployment running at 80% ??
HH privatized all the companies. So why do wonder why people have no jobs?
Its very simplistic to merely state that laziness is the cause. While government must not spoon feed the able bodied, it has the role of creating a social/economic environment that people can thrive in. Opportunities to work, get into business or agriculture. And if the economy is not healthy due to bad policies, even if people try a hand at business, no one will buy due to a lack of ‘spending power’. The cycle of poverty is then re-created. The economy is only ‘doing well’ for the few that have connections or have used their political positions for self-aggrandizement. There are a lot of ill-gotten resources in a few hands without an enabling environment for the rest. Has there been a clear economic policy direction in Zambia in the past few years?
@Chisenga above – In denial as usual. If you have the potential as a country, harness it. Don’t feed us the patronizing phrase that “the poor will always be with us”. That is justifying exploitation and perpetual subjugation. The USA IS dysfunctional to an extent as well. Very rich but ready to let people die under the old guise of survival of the fittest. You should be making comparisons with countries like Singapore that have come a long way in a short time.
When HH comments on an issue such as this, PF government apologists rush to say he is politicising the matter. If he remains quiet, ati he is not concerned. He is an opposition leader for goodness sake! He is free to argue that action ‘A’ or inaction ‘B’ leads to result ‘C’. How is the issue of hunger in a nation not political? How do you separate issues of health, education and food from politics? Have they no connection with the prevailing government policies?
Who is talking? Oval Head Donkey of course, also known as hh of the UPNDonkey petition fame. Ngati bana kukana bantu kumavoti, nkala chabe zii. I want to repeat what I said before the elections, Zambians may suffer hunger or tragedy name it but they don’t and will never lookat hh donjey as an alternative president of Zambia. Hh knows this which is why he has decided to spend his energy issuing gibberish donkish statements and comments.
.
Give us more information on yourself on what you’ve done for your workers,your village and the country at large apart from crying for presidency. Mr Know it all HH.
The poor will always be there = there will always be a close relationship between poverty and God
Hakainde Hichilema mwana,
You have become an extremely cheap politician.
Take time off from the public and reflect on your deposition. Don’t allow people to crowd you on your retreat.
if HH is behind this at oydc God is going to punish you Before this year ends mark my words
Would People Not have died if it were GOVT giving out food? Or indeed if it were some political party, or NGO? I think they sure would have. This was a poorly organised event and there were no crowd control measures and Alas we lost precious lives. However these are some lessons we should learn in future years, as far as giving out free stuff is concerned. For those blaming government, I bet you to try and become president and see if you would have control over who tries to have access to free food and who does not. As long as the tag is FREE history shows that for Zambians disaster always happens. and to suggest that what happened in Lusaka is a reflection of what is happening in Zambian is not only malicious but should be treated with the contempt it deserves.
Handouts,handouts,handouts is what some people in Zed are now used to … another stamped is awaiting at Heroes stadium where Bowman has pledged some free tickets to the Zambia Match .
Watch this space..
WE ZAMBIANS ALMOST EVERYONE IS A FOOL, I REMEMBER THE LATE PRESIDENT SATA. MOST OF US INLUDING KAUNDA WAS SAYING HE CANNOT BE A GOOD LEADER BUT HE PROVED THEM WRONG. SO TO ME HH IS MY PRESIDENT I WILL KEEP ON VOTING HIM UNTIL AKATEKEPO
It’s time to work hard so