President Edgar Lungu says his government’s vision is to have a Zambia free from gender inequalities. The President says in this regard, Zambia has pursued the gender equality objective since the holding of the first world conference on women in 1975 in Mexico which declared the first decade for women, and the holding of the fourth world conference which came up with the Beijing declaration and platform of action.

He, however, said that realizing this objective of gender equality has not been easy because society is still strongly patriarchal and is governed by male values that fight a woman.

President Lungu said the government is committed to ensuring that women and men, girls and boys are given equal value and opportunities in all areas of socio-economic development.

He has since called on traditional leaders to help the government achieve gender equality in our society.

President Lungu said this year’s theme for international women’s day “ I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights”, draws the government to the importance of driving the gender equality agenda across all generations hence the need to carry everyone along regardless of age.

President Lungu said this year marks 25 years since the adoption of the Beijing declaration and implementation of the platform of action and progress has been made in critical areas of action on the promotion of gender equality.

He added that the review of progress in the implementation of the platform of action in the last 25 years indicates that Zambia is progressively realizing the aspirations of the declaration and platform of action across all areas.

Speaking during the International Women’s Day Celebrations in Lusaka, President Lungu said this has been demonstrated by a positive trend in the gender inequality index which has continued to fall.

He said in addition, Zambia has strengthened its policy and legal frameworks with Gender having been mainstreamed into the long-term development planning process including, the current 7th national development plan.

President Lungu said with regard to the legislative framework, the constitution of Zambia, as amended, alludes to the equal worth of women and men and their rights to freely participate in all spheres of the economy.

He said as a result of the many interventions the government is implementing, there has been an increase in the reported number of cases of gender-based violence, from 15,153 in 2014 to over 22,000 to date.

President Lungu said this is a good indication of the people’s positive response towards this scourge but the increasing numbers are a source of concern to the government, hence, more needs to be done to ensure that this is curtailed.

He said the Government is further putting in place interventions to empower women, especially, those in rural areas to address the critical challenges that they face which include a project called girl’s education and women empowerment and livelihoods, providing agricultural equipment to chiefdoms to support women’s cooperatives to improve agricultural productivity, the program for eliminating child marriages in Zambia and offering scholarships to child marriage survivors and many other programs aimed at fighting gender-based violence and early marriages.

He has since asked leaders, traditional leaders and marriage counselors to ensure that they all help to address the ills of Gender-Based Violence and early marriages.

“I have come across traditional counselors who promote gender inequality such as inculcating wrong messages among young girls. Please stop it. You are embarrassing us. This message is also for the church. The church has a role to play to promote gender equality within the scriptural context”, he added.

UPND Secretary General Stephen Katuka has demanded that the Police clarify the release of Malon Banda and Given Phiri from Police Cells.

Mr Katuka said the UPND is concerned that the gassing suspects who were nabbed in Eastern Province have reportedly been released by the Police in Lusaka.

He said the Party has been reliably informed that Malon Banda Who was in the Ibex Hill Police cell was released unconditionally, with the inmates having been subtly told that he was being taken to Mukobeko prison by the police.

Mr. Katuka said Given Phiri, who claims to be Edgar Lungu’s nephew was also unconditionally released by the Police.

“Malon Banda and Given Phiri were arrested in Eastern Province a few weeks ago and were found with new fraudulently acquired UPND cards which were meant to be used to implicate the UPND in the gassing scheme. We wish to seek clarification from the police command under what terms the duo have been released”, said Mr. Katuka.

“What is amazing is that the police have not taken the duo to court. This is a serious indictment on the rule of law”, he added.

Police are yet to comment on the matter.

UPND Leader Hakainde Hichilema says his party will decisively deal with poverty once they form government.

Mr Hichilema says poverty is multifaceted and the UPND will deal with this problem by going beyond economic diversification, and deal with industry or sector based poverty which faces many working people, both in public and private related zones.

He says the critical area of concern is the transport industry that requires serious government intervention.

Mr Hichilema said a lot of drivers of various categories and types are wallowing in abject poverty and can be best described as the working poor or the underemployed as they have pathetic conditions of service that fall far below Basic Needs Basket.

He said the UPND has identified corruption by government officials as a major cause to this problem and therefore when they form government, UPND will vigorously tackle this scourge, as it has always affected the independence of collective bargaining, in the Transport industry, among many other areas.

Mr Hichilema added that conflict of interest among some government officials who are supposed to protect hard working drivers is rife because of corruption which has subsequently compromised the sector and opened it up for manipulation by unscrupulous individuals.

He said the UPND will therefore create transparency, accountability and an enabling environment that will attract genuine investors in this industry, and ensure it is profitable and remains as an enabler for economic growth.

“We will also endeavor to devise a sustainable beneficiation mechanism for all workers in terms of living wages, without discrimination based on ranks and other barriers”, he added.

“When we revive the economy, with functional policies in Mining, Agriculture, Tourist and a lot of other economic sectors, our Transportation industry will thrive and be sustainable, and our drivers’ livelihoods will subsequently be greatly improved”, said Mr Hichilema.

Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo has said that Constitutional Lawyer John Sangwa will not decide for patriotic Front (PF) who should be its Presidential candidate for 2021 General Election because the party has already resolved that President Edgar Lungu will be its candidate for 2021, after the 2018 Constitutional Court ruling on his eligibility case.

Responding to questions from the media at the PF interactive forum, the Minister explained that the party was aware of dark corner meetings from some opposition political parties on the candidature of its Party President Edgar Lungu, but advised the political parties to prepare themselves for its candidate rather than focusing on his eligibility.

Weighing in on the eligibility issues, The part’s Media Director Sunday Chanda said that PF was aware that the Law Association of Zambia(LAZ) is planning to stop it’s Party PresidentEdgar Lungu from filing his nominations in the 2021 General election’s.

Mr. Chanda said LAZ will not distract the party in any way.

Last Week, LAZ President Eddie Mwitwa said that the Association intends to approach the Constitutional Court to ask it to determine the eligibility of the candidates that will be floated by the various political parties for the 2021 general Elections, while insisting that the Constitutional Court did not declare President Edgar Lungu eligible to stand in the 2021 general election, contrary to assertions that they did, adding that the controversial question relating to President Lungu’s eligibility was not yet over and that Constitutional lawyer John Sangwa, State Counsel, was right to say that the matter could still be appealed in the Constitutional Court.

Mr. Mwitwa said that when the elections are nearing, the parties have nominated their candidates, LAZ will go back to the constitutional court.

“When the elections are nearing and nominations are filed, there will still be an opportunity to ask the Constitutional Court to determine the eligibility of the candidates that will be floated by the various political parties. It is not a dead-end; it is a matter that can still be revived. Remember that the President himself, President Edgar Lungu, was not a party to that particular action. So, there is an opportunity to take that to the Constitutional Court on the question of his eligibility when he files in his nomination to stand for President in 2021.”

Mr. Mwitwa further said that the December 7, 2018, ConCourt ruling did not interpret specifically President Lungu’s eligibility to stand for a third-successive time at next year’s crucial election.