Socialist Party (SP) Copperbelt Spokesperson Reagan Kashinga says the current cholera outbreak has dented President Hakainde Hichilema’s image as Global Cholera Control Champion conferred on him by the Global Task Force on Cholera Control in May 2022.
President Hichilema officially accepted the prestigious international appointment at the World Health Assembly, in Geneva, Switzerland at the time Zambia had not recorded a single cholera death in several months.
But the current cholera situation has seen Zambia record over 150 deaths since October 2023 with at least 850 people admitted in various centres countrywide.
In a written media statement, Mr. Kashinga said Cholera is spreading fast mainly because the Government has failed to provide safe and clean water to many Zambians.
“We all know the sacredness of human life. Now losing over 150 people in a short period of time is sad and regrettable plus 859 more are admitted countrywide. It is very sad that as a country nearly 60 years after independence we are still grappling with cholera year in year out. We have observed with concern that Cholera is spreading fast mainly due to lack of clean and safe drinking water among our people and the filth environment many Zambians live in,” Mr. Kashinga stated.
“We were also shocked to hear President Hakainde Hichilema declare that people should not drink water from shallow wells. The best thing President Hichilema and the UPND Government could do is provide piped, clean and safe drinking water to our people in various localities. No Zambian desires to drink or use water from shallow wells and streams. Our people are forced to use shallow wells plus streams because they have no access to piped, clean and safe drinking water,” he continued.
Mr. Kashinga charged that the fight against cholera is being negatively affected by poor nutrition among Zambians due to household hunger.
“The provision of clean and safe water is the surest way of preventing cholera. President Hichilema’s tag as global cholera ambassador has been dented by this cholera outbreak in his own country. We fear that the fight against corruption will be tough because of poor nutrition levels in many households compounded by hunger. Hunger in many households’ means people are not managing to meet nutrition needs. Imagine the impact of malnutrition and cholera. The Socialist Party is hereby reminding the UPND Government to fulfill its promise of taking clean and safe water closer to our people in various localities like Kansuswa in Mufulira, Ipusukilo in Kitwe, Chipulukusu in Ndola, Kapisha in Chingola, PPZ in Chililabombwe just to mention a few,” he said.
Mr. Kashinga further reminded the people of Zambia to play a part in fighting cholera.” Please wash your hands regularly, boil your drinking water, make your surroundings clean and use a toilet when answering the call of nature. The Socialist Party mourns with the people who have lost their loved ones due to Cholera.”
Talk of chickens coming home to roost….in 2018 HH blamed Lungu for chorela and is publicly going to blame himself
As a nation we need to take public health seriously by being responsibility at a local level. Covid-19 is supposed to be a turning point towards a lasting and serious strategy on health and sanitation. In fact it should be considered a security issue. We can’t be grouped with failed states like Zimbabwe “ruins”, which could be the source of some of these cases.
@Mwamona.
Zimbabwe is much cleaner than our Zambia.
The problem here in Zambia is the caliber of leadership we have….they start campaigning for the next election just after being sworn in. The people can only be clean if leaders apply the relevant laws. But once people are arrested for public nuisance, the politicians move in to ” protect” the offender
Why will HH blame himself? He is an elitist, entitled political head of Zambia.
He was funded by imported colonizing infestors. He is loyal to them. Rest are by the way, including collateral casualties of commoners
Someone was too much in a hurry to prop up the blue eyed boy by giving him the award.
Look at how useless this man is. I bet you if he didn’t have help around the house, now provided by the poor tax payer, he and Mutinta would be wallowing in muck. One of the rules of preventing cholera is to clean safely…and the man has no protective gear at all! No gloves, gum boots or overalls…We are doomed with such a leader
Is this man seriously saying the president can be blamed for people not washing their hands regularly, not boiling drinking water, not making their surroundings clean and using a toilet when answering the call of nature?
We all know many Zambians are nasty, filthy and unclean people. They were allowed to do this under the past administration and they are continuing doing it.
Cholera is avoidable.
How can you be so despicable? Insulting poor marginalized majority. They are not filthy. They do not have means, no food, no water, no homes, no nothing. HH is a letdown as are all his cronies.
Who else do we blame? PF bad as they were worked out a plan to prevent cholera up to 2025. But your party threw it somewhere. To add to the problem they tried to underplay the reported few cholera cases therefore allowing the disease to spread to uncontrollable levels.
Blackman, you are filthy in your thinking.Are you really a Zambian?
@Banda, you the poor don’t have hands to pick up litter and throw it into the bin, wash hands after using the pit latrine, boil water before drinking?
That picture says it all. You have a digger but you prefer to use a shovel to show people your sweat? Think smarter not work header. If I were him, I would be on the case with LCC officials. First I would improve the salary for the role and then fire those who don’t perform without breaking a sweat. There are no consequences for people responsible for cleaning up our city that’s why cholera has never been addressed properly.
You can’t dent something that is already dented. It’s like spraying perfume on a piece of faeces. No matter how much you spray it, it will remain a piece of s.h.l.t