Government says it priorities the management of water resources in the country.

Ministry of Energy and Water Development Permanent Secretary Ed Chomba said government has placed water management top on its development agenda.

Bishop Chomba said the inclusion of water development in the Seventh National Development Plan (SNDP) is a clear demonstration of government’s commitment in managing the waters the country is endowed with.

Bishop Chomba said this at the NWASCO media breakfast held in Lusaka yesterday.

He said government will ensure that the available water is conserved and properly utilised for the benefit of the citizenry.

The PS said government will not allow a situation where water is miss applied or polluted.

Bishop Chomba noted that the ministry will endeavour to ensure that water is equitably distributed to people who need it.

He revealed that government together with its cooperating partners are working closely in a bid to improve water and sanitation in the country.

Bishop Chomba observed that the provision of clean, safe drinking water will avert water borne disease such as cholera.

And speaking earlier at the same function, Zambia Water Forum and Exhibition Chairperson, Professor Imasiku Nyambe announced that this year’s 7th Zambia Water Forum and Exhibition will be held from the 11th to 13th of June 2018.

Prof Nyambe said the three days event will be used to raise awareness on the inseparable linkages between water, energy and food security.

He revealed that the programme will encompass keynote speeches, plenary sessions, parallel breakaway sessions and exhibitions.

Prof Nyambe said the forum will attract international delegates, institutions, companies in the water, energy, food sector and local stakeholders.

Eastern Province Permanent Secretary Chanda Kasolo has described the attitude of Zambia Police officers at the last 2018 Nc’wala traditional ceremony of the Ngoni people at Mtenguleni village in Chipata as worrying.

Mr. Kasolo said Journalists had a right to apply their work freely in order to collect accurate data and information at the event without harassment.

The permanent secretary was reacting to the letter issued to him by ZANIS Provincial Information Officer Euphrasia Banda who complained against the manhandling of the media by some security officers at the 2018 Nc’wala ceremony in Chipata district.

This follows a Lusaka based ZANIS Cameraperson Fedelis Mulenga was manhandled and ejected out of the main Nc’wala arena by some security officers at the event.

Mr. Mulenga met his fate when he (Mulenga) attempted to reason with a police officer who wanted to remove a ZANIS technician manning the Public address System from thebmain arena and was slapped in the process.

The PS has described the action by police officers as worrying adding that, instead of them exhibiting professionalism and ensuring peace and tranquility in the execution of duties they went wild harassing the media.

Mr. Kasolo said the police are supposed to be in front line carrying out duties and ensuring that there is peace as opposed to being trouble makers during important events.

Mr. Kasolo said Journalists should work hand in hand with Police officers and vise vesa in supplying information to the public, hence the collaboration between the two remains vital.

And Eastern Province Police Chief Luckson Sakala has condemned and described the attitude of the police officers as unfortunate.

Mr. Sakala said the objective of the media and of the police at the end of point was one and the same hence the need for them to work in harmony.

He has since assured the media in the province that he will not tolerate a re-occurrence of what happened at the ceremony among his officers.

Journalists who covered Nc’wala ceremony have expressed concern with the manner in which police harassed the journalist.

This comes hardly in a space of two months when a Daily Mail Journalist was again harassed by the men and women in uniform during the cleaning up exercise which is a source of concern to the media fraternity in the province.

First Lady Esther Lungu says it is gratifying that women are making positive gains towards achieving gender parity across the globe and Zambia in particular.

Mrs. Lungu said the gains women have achieved towards gender parity has been made possible by the very strong civil society movement of advocacy, activism and support in the country.

The first lady urged women not to be complacent but continue pressing forward and remain united.

The First Lady was speaking at the Women’s Day Reception event last evening organised by the Chinese Ladies Union in Zambia at the Lusaka Museum.

She hailed the efforts of government for the strides it has made to ensure gender equality in the country and further commended the legislature for putting in place policies and laws that protect women and girls from any forms of violence.

The Chinese Ladies Union in Zambia (CLUZ) also applauded Zambia for achieving gender equity and for implementing various women empowerment programs in the country.

Union Patron and Wife of the Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Geng Hailing said Zambia has made strides to ensure gender equity and has managed to improve representation in decision making positions in the country.

She said China like Zambia has also ensured that women representation in government increases so that they participate in the decision making process.

She further hailed the relationship between the two countries noting that the ties have continued to deepen resulting in the people of the two countries to work together in various sectors.

She said China will endeavor to expand the cooperation between the two countries for the benefit of the citizens.

The Women’s Day reception which was held ahead of the international women’s day which falls on the 8th of March was characterised by Chinese music performances by pupils and Chinese instrumentalists.

The Kitwe City Council has refuted allegations by Chimwemwe Member of Parliament Mwila Mutale that over K500, 000 Constituency Development Funds (CDF) for the year 2013 has gone unaccounted for.

Mr. Mwila alleged that the money that was meant for drilling five boreholes and putting up street lights in three roads in Chimwemwe constituency has been spent but none of the works was done.

Speaking in an interview in ZANIS in Kitwe today, Kitwe City Council Manager for the above CDF projects Kelvin Navinda explained that the localauthority paid for all the three road lighting projects and two were done.

Mr. Navinda said the contractor for the third road lighting project did not do the works forcing the local authority to terminate the contract after consulting its the legal department.

He named the two roads where street lights were put as Chishimba and Garnetone –Zambia Compound roads while Twatasha road was abandoned by the contractor who later was ordered to provide poles equivalent to the amount of money he was given to carry out the project.

He clarified that the local authority paid K107, 000 for Twatasha road, K59, 000 for Chishimba road and another K59, 000 for Garnetone-Zambia compound road.

The contractors engaged were G.A Automation, Josmark Enterprise and Majety contractors, all of Kitwe district.

And on the boreholes, Mr. Navinda said the three boreholes were drilled but in the process, two got vandalised while one was producing muddy water which the residents could not use.

He explained that the contractor was then told to flush out the muddy water but did not do so despite having being paid all the money until the legal department took the case to court.

Mr. Navinda further stated that on the three solar boreholes, Billium contractor was engage to do the work which he did not fully execute.

He added that the defaulting contractors will soon be taken to court for failing to carry out the works after receiving the money for the respective projects.

Mr. Navinda said it was wrong for Mr. Mutale to say the money went unaccounted for when the works were actually carried out despite some not having been completed as specified.

He said it was also important to note that the council was not sitting idle over the uncompleted projects but was pursuing the defaulting contractors.

Constituency Development Funds is money allocated to constituencies for development projects that are suggested by residents.

Women in Chinsali District of Muchinga Province have welcomed the amendment of the Statutory Instrument number 10 of 2018 by the Ministry of Local Government of enforcing the hand washing and hygiene.

This is in line with the 2018 women week activities which were flagged off by Muchinga Province Permanent Secretary Dr. Jobbicks Kalumba on Friday during the day of payers which were held at St John’s Catholic Church under the theme “all God’s creation is very good”.

Dr Kalumba encouraged women to be united as they have the potential to serve the country from cholera outbreak by ensuring they support government’s calls.

The PS also appealed to all Zambians to love one another as the theme for the day of prayer states it clearly.

Yesterday, a team of women led by Chinsali District Commissioner Maximo Chitambi donated assorted disinfectants, and later cleaned Chinsali General Hospital.

The women also sensitized to other women in the area on the importance of hygiene and hand washing with its revised penalties under SI 10 of 2018.

Later, women donated pampers to newly born babies and other children in the hospital.

This year’s International Women’s Day will be commemorated under the theme “Time is now: Rural and Urban Activists, Transforming Women’s Lives”.