The Zambia Police Service says road carnage throughout the country over the just ended New Year holiday has decreased compared from last year’s 237 to 212 cases this year.

Police Public Relations Officer Esther Katongo told ZANIS in a statement issued in Lusaka today that the road traffic accidents have decreased by 25 % while deaths have increased by three.

Ms. Katongo explained that between December 29, 2017 from 18 hours to January 2, 2018 at 06 hours, 16 fatal accidents were recorded in which 20 people died while 68 were seriously injured, compared to last year’s 17 fatal accidents in which 17 persons died indicating a decrease.

She described 50 other road traffic accidents as slight in which 96 persons sustained minor injuries while the remaining 113 were damages in which no person was injured.

Ms. Katongo said Lusaka province recorded the highest number of accidents which stood at 83 with two deaths followed by Copperbelt Province with 31 accidents and two deaths.

Ms. Katongo said Central Province recorded 18 accidents with two deaths while Northern Province and Kenneth Kaunda International Airports recorded the least road traffic accidents with six and three respectively.

Meanwhile, Ms. Katongo said the country was generally peaceful during the New Year holiday despite arresting 163 people from 237 reported crimes.

She said significant cases recorded were 123 Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm in which 89 arrests were made.

34 cases of theft were recorded with 19 arrests while 16 arrests were made from 18 reports of burglary and theft.

Ms Katongo said six people were arrested for eight motor vehicle thefts and that no arrests were made in seven reported murder cases.

She further said that four people were arrested in six cases of malicious damage to property while one person was arrested in four reports of aggravated robbery.

THE Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has called on its affiliates to reject the proposal by Higher Education Minister Nkandu Luo to remove unions from university councils at the three public universities.

ZCTU deputy general secretary Elaston Njovu said the decision to remove the three union representatives at the public universities was wicked and should not be allowed to happen.

Mr Njovu was speaking at the official opening of the Zambia United Local Authorities Workers Union (ZULAWU) quadrennial conference in Kabwe at the weekend.

He said speaking about the injustices, including delayed payment of salaries, should not be perceived as being an enemy of the State and urged the union leaders to be united on issues affecting their employees.

“It’s sad that employers are working hard to destroy the union. At CBU (Copperbelt University) and the other two public universities, Professor Nkandu Luo has pushed a document to Cabinet which is proposing the removal of the union from the councils, meaning the three unions at CBU and UNZA will have no representation,” Mr Njovu said.

“Please, if the media are here, capture this: We want to call that kind of move as wickedness and we want to condemn it as evil, as unions. They are testing waters and next it will be you and at the end we will not have the union.”

Mr Njovu said he was at pains to understand that the unions were quiet when some employees had gone for months without pay.

He said that many ZULAWU members in various councils across the country were suffering and urged the union leaders to help them in order to help the efforts of the Government in providing services to the citizens.

Earlier, All Municipal and Public Services Workers, the union of Turkey’s Ali Riza Yilmaz, urged the union preventatives to be strong in advocating the workers’ rights.

Mr Yilmaz said the union in Turkey was strong and had continued to recruit members and that it would like to strengthen its relationship with its Zambian counterpart.

Government will spend thirty million Kwacha to rehabilitate school infrastructure in all ten provinces across the country.

Ministry of General Education Director of Infrastructure Joseph Ntele says the project which will start this year is expected to enhance school infrastructure.

And Mr. Ntele says government has released eight hundred thousand Kwacha to rehabilitate two schools whose roofs were blown off due to heavy downpour in Kasama and Mpulungu districts respectively.

Mr. Ntele says the two districts recently experienced a heavy down pour and a whirlwind blew off the roofs of the two schools.

He said this in an interview with ZNBC News after touring Ituna Secondary school in Kasama and Kalizya Primary school in Mpulungu district which had their roofs blown off due to heavy rains.

And Mr. Ntele says it is government’s agenda to ensure that education is taken in to all corners of the country as can be seen from the keeping the girl child in school initiative project by the government.

Opposition People’s Alliance for Change (PAC) President Andyford Banda has urged the PF government to come up with an alternative trading place for street venders it has removed from the streets.

In a statement, Mr Banda said his party commends President Edgar Lungu for taking the lead in cleaning the city of Lusaka to avert further escalation of the cholera outbreak.

“We have always said that the Mayor has not done enough to come up with sustainable initiatives and partnerships to clean up the city of Lusaka. Most of these initiatives do not necessarily need to have money as the mayor can solicit the support of various stake holders especially with the number of companies operating in Lusaka’s CBD,” Mr Banda said.

“We hope the mayor of Lusaka wakes up and smells the coffee. He needs to engage various stakeholders in order to ensure that the initiatives succeed.”

“However, when it come to the traders who have been chased and have had their structures demolished, we would like to urge the PF government to come up with a plan B as this situation was caused by them. The erection of illegal trading posts started immediately after the PF won the 2011 elections. We all remember the Donchi Kubeba market in Kamwala that spread to Lumumba, Freedom Way and Chachacha Roads.”

He added,”Because of their misplaced methods of wanting to remain popular, the PF government turned a blind eye to the spiraling negative consequences and the traders became entrenched in this as their source of livelihood.”

Mr Banda said, “In as much as we commend the initiatives to clean the city, we also urge the government to think about a sustainable plan for the people who were trading there. This problem did not start yesterday, it has been with us for years. Therefore, the PF Government can’t just unceremoniously chase citizens who have been trading there without thinking of how the displaced traders will feed their families and will send their children to school.”

“On our part as PAC, we have consistently urged the PF government to come up sustainable empowerment programs that can benefit all Zambians regardless of their political affiliation. What our nation needs are long term plans and a system that empowers all Zambians, not just short term plans convenient for elections.”

He said believes that Zambia needs more statesmen and fewer politicians adding that Politicians prepare for the next general elections; whereas statesmen prepare for the next generation.

President Edgar Lungu has called for prioritizing the involvement of school going children in cholera sensitization campaigns in order to contain the pandemic that has ravaged Lusaka and has since spread to Lundazi District in Eastern Province.

President Lungu said that pupils are an important resource in sensitizing families and the general public on the need to maintain high standards of hygiene in communities and schools across the country.

ZANIS reports that the Head of State said this yestarday when he toured Bauleni Primary School in Lusaka where he was accompanied by Ministers of Commerce and Health Margaret Mwanakatwe and Chitalu Chilufya.

President Lungu was given a thunderous welcome by hundreds of pupils who had left their New Year celebrations at home to catch a glimpse of the head of state.

The pupils got a New Year treat as they interacted with President Lungu and impressed him with their general knowledge of cholera and prevention tips.

“You pupils can help sensitize families to contain cholera by telling them to wash hands, maintain hygiene. As learners, you can influence us to change,” said President Lungu.

The President also pledged to upgrade and improve Bauleni Primary School into a state of the art ultra-modern secondary school equipped with necessary equipment.

President Lungu said his government is committed to providing secondary education to Bauleni residents in line with the vision of late President Michael Sata who built and opened the school in 1982 when he was area councilor.

The president implored teachers to ensure that pupils learn and appreciate the meaning and value of the national anthem.

He said the national anthem identifies with the country’s history, background and identity which must be passed on to all pupils.

President Lungu later distributed hampers to the excited pupils whom he challenged to work hard in school so that they can contribute to national development.

And speaking earlier Bauleni Primary School Headmaster Sikubele Wambinji said the school has 2,039 pupils and are serviced by 45 teachers of which 43 are females.

Area Member of Parliament Margaret Mwanakatwe told the pupils that they were blessed as the Head of State had chosen to visit them on New Year’s Day.

Mrs Mwanakatwe said government is committed to arresting the cholera situation in Lusaka and that is why it had closed Bauleni’s Katambalala market and other markets including Soweto and the central business district in order to clean up the areas and put in place long lasting remedial measures to arrest the spread of cholera in Lusaka.

And earlier at Bauleni Clinic, President Lungu presented hampers to five New Year babies born at the health facility between midnight and 10 hrs today.

The five are two boys namely Mwila Katumwende and Misheck Kasonde and the girls being Blessing Mutale, Vainess Mumba and Favour Phiri.

President Lungu advised the mothers of the New Year babies to look after the children well and ensure that they are in good health.