President Edgar Lungu has left for Muchinga Province for a three day official working visit.

During his visit to the Province, President Lungu is expected to inspect developmental projects and commission those that have been completed.

The President is expected to visit Nakonde, Mafinga, Chama, Lavushimanda and Kanchibiya districts respectively.

President Lungu was seen off at Lusaka Zambia Airforce(ZAF) Base Airport by Vice President Inonge Wina, Cabinet Ministers, Service Chiefs and Senior Patriotic Pront(PF) party officials.

Speaking to journalists shortly before departure, Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations, Amos Chanda said President Lungu’s visit to Muchinga will enable him to familiarize himself with the pace at which government projects are being implemented in the area.

Mr. Chanda stated that the Head of State wants to ensure that all projects being undertaken by government are in line with the Patriotic Front (PF) manifesto and the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP).

And Mr. Chanda disclosed that President Lungu will use his visit to Muchinga to get first hand information on the distribution exercise of farming inputs in the province.

Mr. Chanda said President Lungu will also inspect areas affected or ravaged by the notorious fall army warms.

He added that after assessment of the destruction caused by the fall army worms, measures will be put in place so as to ensure that the crop yield for the 2017/2018 farming season is not affected.

President Lungu is expected back in Lusaka on Tuesday, January 23, 2018.

Minister of Higher Education, Nkandu Luo says the University of Zambia and the Copperbelt University will remain closed due to poor sanitary conditions until they are certified safe to open by qualified public health officers.

Prof. Luo said government wants to ensure that the two institutions are safe for the students before they can be opened.

She however said government is taking the opening of the two institutions as an urgent matter because further delay in opening is denying the institutions from catching up with their academic calendar.

Speaking after touring sanitation facilities at the Copperbelt University today, Prof. Luo said a lot of work still needs to be done at the institution despite some of the facilities being ready.

And commending on demands by Copperbelt University Students Union leaders that the institution should open immediately, Prof. Luo said COBUSU has no qualification in Public Health to declare CBU safe to open.

She stated that it was important for people to realize that life is important and to stop looking at things at a personal but national level.

“It just takes one student to bring Cholera and the disease would affect the thousands of students at the institution,” she said.

Prof. Luo reiterated that she will allow squatting at the two public universities but the two institutions will instead work on modalities to increase the bed spaces for students.

She pointed out that squatting is illegal and that it was overloading the existing sanitation facilities that that are meant for only a few students.

And Prof Luo disclosed that students will be given the Cholera vaccine as they open so that they will be protected from the disease.

The University of Zambia and the Copperbelt University have not be been allowed to open as schools open on Monday next week due to poor sanitary conditions.

Patriotic Front (PF) Secretary General Davies Mwila has announced that President Edgar Chagwa Lungu is this year scheduled to tour and interact with Zambians in all 110 districts.

Speaking in Chongwe yesterday during the launch of the 2018 PF mobilisation exercise, Mr Mwila, who is the ruling party’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) further revealed that the purpose of President Lungu’s grassroots tour in 2018 will be to accord him the opportunity to directly meet and engage officials at branch and ward levels across the nation.

“On behalf of His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, President of the ruling Party and the entire Central Committee, I am here to launch our Party mobilization for 2018 and this will be rolled out to all our structures… Secretariat will equip structures across the country with basic tools for mobilization. This will be a phased approach in our quest to mobilize the Party for effective membership recruitment and party programming, no structure will be left behind.

“I also want to announce that in 2018, the Party has drawn up a programme for President Lungu and he is going to visit all the districts across the Country and he will find time to meet and listen to you – the structures in his capacity as your party President,” said Mr Mwila.

AND in launching the ruling party’s 2018 mobilisation, the Secretary General handed over up to 120 Bicycles to Chongwe constituency to be used for party mobilisation by the structures.

“We are mindful that areas such as Chongwe have the hard-to-reach areas and mobility of our officials as they mobilize the Party can be a huge challenge. In this spirit, the Patriotic Front is handing over 120 Bicycles to Chongwe Constituency to be used for Party mobilization by the structures. Chongwe is only the starting point and we shall move from constituency to constituency to equip our structures with basic tools critical for mobilization of the Party.

“With these Bicycles, the Secretariat expects the Party in Chongwe to perform even better and recruit more and more people to join the Boat – the Patriotic Front. With these Bicycles, reach the unreached and convert those from other political parties to join the Patriotic Front. While other political parties offer mere promises, the Patriotic Front is delivering on its promises to the Zambian people.

“I have also brought you the Patriotic Front Calendars for 2018 for the district,” stated Mr. Mwila.

He also donated a total number of 37,440 exercise books to be distributed to school-going children in Chongwe.

“As a Party for the poor Zambians, we will continue to share the burden of educating Children by way of contributing to the donation of exercise books. As schools reopen on 22nd January, 2018, we also understand that our people, the Zambian people, will be sending their Children to school. Some of our people may have a challenge to meet all the school requirements and as a pro-poor party that believes in education to be the equalizer, we are donating a total number of 37,440 exercise books to be distributed to school-going children in Chongwe. The Patriotic Front wants to share in the burden of families educating their children.”

Furthermore, the Secretary General directed the ruling party officials to get a copy of the party manifesto in order to seriously monitor how government ministries were implementing the party policies.

He implored the ruling party’s Committee on Agriculture to be more active in order to improve on the efficiency of the E-Voucher in the agriculture sector.

“I am directing all party officials to get a copy of the party manifesto so that we can monitor how ministries are implementing our policies. As an example, our chairperson for Agriculture Hon Given Lubinda’s Committee should become more active so that we improve on the efficiency of interventions such as the e-Voucher in the agriculture sector.

“We must make sure the ministry such as agriculture implements our party policies to the latter,” Mr Mwila said.

Minister of Home Affairs. Hon Stephen Kampyongo has announced that the National registration and citizenship offices whose doors had been closed to the public last week following the Cholera epidemic would be opened effective Monday morning because of the significant reduction in Cholera Cases that where now being recorded.

The Minister however requested Members of the public to comply with the measures that would be put in place by the Management at the National registration and passport offices.

“We shall still continue observing the measures which we are putting in place in public places in terms of Health observation and we have requested the Registrar General to ensure that the sanitary facilities are all functional and in place to catter for all the people that will be coming to access the services and documents, ” he said.

Mr Kampyongo took time to assure the public and the marketeers that the presence of the Men and Women in Uniform on the ground was merely to ensure that there was order at all times.

“We want to be firm also this time around with the foreign nations that are in our country illegally and want to engage in trading as well. We had a few arrested who wanted to access the same trading facilities and stands that our nationals are entitled to. Take note that there are markets where we accept foreign nationals with legitimate stay and status in this country. So those will obviously be considered.” He said.

Meanwhile Hon. Kampyongo has urged the men and women in Uniform to execute their duties in a professional manner stating that the reports of an incident where a Journalist is reported to have been man handled which have reached him are very regrettable.

“We received a regrettable incident of a Journalist who is reported to have been mishandled by some of our officers. This is a matter which is regrettable and we will ensure this matter is probed and seen to its logical conclusion,” he said.

“Our appeal to Men and Women on the ground is that they treat the citizens with dignity and ensure they do their professional work which they have been assigned to do and nothing short of that is expected of them, ” he added

Copperbelt Province Permanent Secretary Bright Nundwe has advised civil servants in Kitwe to embrace unity and develop respect for senior government authorities in the region.

Mr. Nundwe said there can be no development in the district and the province at large if there is no unity between senior government officials and junior officers.

“You cannot have civil servants who love the District Commissioner and hate the Minister and vice versa,” he said when he addressed heads of government departments in Kitwe today.

He added that, “I have come to correct anything that could have rotten or gone wrong in this province and I have not come to play any dirty games but to work”.

He said he was not going to run a disorderly and divided province hence the call for unity and order.

Mr. Nundwe charged that Kitwe should not be known for illegal activities but for good ones.

He stated that President Edgar Lungu has put a great premium on developing Copperbelt province as such civil servants should make his work easy by working hard in implementing the development programmes that government has initiated.

Mr Nundwe also urged civil servants to be exemplary and accountable in their execution of duty to ensure that the district develops.

He said the Copperbelt province is the economic hub of the country which can feed the whole nation if civil servants in the area become committed to their work.

He charged that he will not hesitate to fire any civil servant who will show lack of commitment and indiscipline in their course of duty.

Mr. Nundwe later addressed Kitwe Teaching Hospital staff who he admonished to improve their service delivery to the patients and ensure that they better sanitation at the institution.

Earlier, Mr. Nundwe paid a courtesy call on Kitwe District Commissioner Binwell Mpundu who he commended for working hard and working together with Kitwe Mayor Christopher Kang’ombe.

Mr. Nundwe was recently transferred to Copperbelt from Muchinga Province in the same capacity.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangangwa has concluded his one day working visit to Zambia and has since left for his home country.

President Mnangagwa who arrived in Zambia this morning at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (KKIA), took time to lay wreaths at the Mausoleum opposite Cabinet offices where three late Heads of State have been put to rest.

Mr. Mnangagwa also held private talks with President Edgar Lungu at State House and later paid a courtesy call on the First Republican President Kenneth Kaunda.

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister, Joseph Malanji has described the working visit for the Zimbabwean Head of State as successful.

Mr. Malanji told journalists shortly after Mr. Mnangagwa’s departure that the visiting Head of State had had a successful engagement with the President Edgar Lungu where issues of bilateral trade and security among others were discussed.

Meanwhile, the Minister explained that the Zimbabwean President came for a consultative meeting and by protocol he could not be accorded a 21 gun salute.

Mr. Malanji stated that government is now looking forward to Mr. Mnangagwa state visit to Zambia.

Chief Government Spokesperson Kampamba Mulenga has commended the role the media has played in the fight against cholera. Ms Mulengawho is also Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services said that the media has played a critical role in the dissemination of information to members of the public.

She said this in an interview in Kalulushi yesterday shortly after the launch of the keep Kalulushi clean campaign. Ms Mulenga expressed disappointment with some political players who are encouraging street vendors to get back to the streets.

Ms Mulenga also says government has in the recent past held a number of consultative meetings with vendors before their removal from the street.

And Ms Mulenga urged the residents of Kalulushi to practice good hygiene standards that will prevent the cholera pandemic from reaching Kalulushi.

“A healthy district is a productive district and it is for this reason that I have urged residents to take good care of their surroundings and work areas like the markets and also to practice good hygiene standards like washing of food and hands if we are to make sure the cholera pandemic doesn’t reach Kalulushi.” She said.

Hon. Kampamba has thanked Lunga resources for the cleaning equipment and service rendered towards the exercise.

Meanwhile, Kalulushi District Commissioner Kenny Siachisumo says Lunga resources has contributed 2 tipper trucks and 120 thousand Kwacha towards the collection of garbage in Kalulushi.

Minister of General Education, Dennis Wanchinga says the overall performance in the 2017 grade 12 School Certificate Examination was better than 2016.

Announcing the results in Lusaka, Dr Wachinga said this is taking into consideration the increase in the pass rate and reduction of pupils obtaining GCE Certificates and those failing the examination.

The Minister says Northern province had the highest number of candidates with School certificates at 75.51 percent, followed by Muchinga Province at 73.29 percent.

He says Southern Province was third at 70.06 percent, Eastern was fourth at 68.51 percent.

Dr Wanchinga says an average performance was observed in Central province, Luapula, Lusaka, Copperbelt and North-Western provinces, while Western province was the lowest at 57.67 percent.

He has also attributed the good performance on the upgrading of some schools from primary or Basic to Secondary School.

Dr Wanchinga says in this vein Government will upgrade another 220 schools this year.

He has since directed the education authorities to investigate why the performance of Mathematics and Agricultural Science subjects were the lowest, as these have proved to be a challenge for learners in the revised curriculum.

He said during the 2017 Examination, one hundred and 20 suspected cases of malpractices were recorded.

And Examinations Council of Zambia -ECZ- Board Chairperson, Samuel Banda says employers must be in the habit of verifying the documents to ensure that the scourge of forged academic documents is halted.

Earlier, Education Permanent Secretary, Henry Tukombe says the ECZ and the Ministry has managed to release result in record time to enable the public plan better.

The Lusaka City Council (LCC) has warned Taxi and bus operators against the habit of establishing taxi ranks and bus stations as it is illegal.

LCC Public Relations officer, George Sichimba said the escalating number of taxi ranks and bus stations should stop as they are illegal.

Speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today Mr. Sichimba said Taxis and Buses occupying company space and residential areas should desist as it inconveniences occupants.

Mr. Sichimba said LCC is working with the Zambia Police to ensure that the illegal occupation of designated areas comes to an end.

He said public transport operators are not free to occupy any space they see, and has since advised residents and companies to report any illegal parking of vehicles to the local authorities.

Mr. Sichimba appealed to public transport operators to conduct their business in selected legal areas rather than inconveniencing other businesses.