The Anti-Smuggling Taskforce from Ndola District has intercepted a Scania truck carrying 700 × 25 kilograms of mealie meal enroute to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

 Copperbelt Police Commanding Officer Peacewell Mweemba said  in a statement that the Scania truck registration number BAL 2687 was found loaded with  700 different brands of 25 Kg bags of mealie meal along Kambowa road in Masaiti District.

Mr. Mweemba stated that brief facts before the Police are that on Sunday August 6, 2023, the Anti-Smuggling Team whilst conducting their patrols received a tip off that there were people intending to smuggle mealie to the neighboring DRC using Kambowa road in Masaiti District.

Around 21: 30 hours, the Officers intensified on their patrols and whilst in the Tug-Argan area along Kambowa Road, noticed a Scania Truck carrying mealie meal.

Mr. Mweemba disclosed that when the smugglers noticed the presence of police, they ran away abandoning the said truck and the contraband.

The Anti-smuggling team managed to intercept the abandoned truck and drove it to Ndola Central Police station where it has since been parked.

The Copperbelt Police Commanding Officer said formalities will be done to have the mealie meal disposed of through the courts of law.

Mr. Mweemba disclosed that the team will establish the owner of the truck through the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RATSA).

A Malawian national of unknown age is reported to have allegedly died suddenly in unnatural circumstances.

Eastern Province Police Commanding Officer, Limpo Liywaalii, says Asogo Banda of Mtenje village in Chief Kapondo’s area in Mchinji District, was discovered dead in the house where he was sleeping which is owned by his employer.

Mr Liywaalii said according to the report recorded by Police from Moffat Tembo, 51, a resident of Chiziro area in Chipata, the alleged unnatural death of Banda, is believed to have occurred between 20:00 hours on Sunday and 05:00 hours Monday.

The Eastern Province Police  Commanding Officer  said brief  facts are that the deceased knocked off from where he moulded bricks on Sunday around 16:30 hours in good health.

“He even had a chat with Moffat Tembo, one of the family members of his employer, before going to sleep at 20:00hrs. He was found dead the following morning, “he said.

Mr Liywaalii said Banda was discovered dead by his employer’s son, Saulosi Tembo, aged 24, after he knocked off from where he worked as a guard.

He said Police visited the scene and found the deceased body lying facing the right hand side.

Mr Liywaalii said the body was inspected and it had no physical injuries.

“The body has been deposited at Chipata Central Hospital awaiting relatives, postmortem and burial, “he said.

The Drug Enforcement Commission says the drug problem in the country is huge and needs concerted sensitisation to address.

Speaking at the 95th Agriculture and Commercial Show in Lusaka, DEC Director General Nason Banda said the drug problem is big and that the show is one of the big catchment activities to use and interact with the people.

 Mr Banda said the DEC will be using available platforms such as the Agriculture and Commercial Show to educate people on the dangers of drugs.

He explained that the show has given the commission access to a number of people who have been sensitized on drug related vices.

“As DEC we have decided to be part of the show so that we can take advantage of the large cloud and sensitize people on the dangers of drug trafficking. And I must say that it has been successful and our prayer and hope is that people have learnt one or two things from that,” said Mr Banda.

Mr Banda shared that the general public have been sensitized on different topics such as how they should prevent themselves from this vice and also what they should expect of them during and after counselling.

“We have a number of activities lined up at the show and I must mention that different topics have been lined up while entertaining the people with different entertaining activities such as dancing and poetry among others.” Mr Banda noted.

Mr Banda explained that people who visited the DEC stand at the show grounds were also being enlightened on how they should prevent themselves from being hoodwinked by criminals or drug traffickers.

The North-Western Province Development Council of Elders has bemoaned the alleged rampant theft of public funds at Solwezi Municipal Council.

It has been purported that over K100 million in locally generated resources was allegedly embezzled between January 2022 and June 2023 at the Solwezi Municipal Council.

 North-Western Province Council of Elders Chairperson Kenneth Kapata has recommended all council workers at Solwezi Municipal Council be transferred saying the officers involved in the misappropriation of funds must be fired.

Mr. Kapata said the region was struggling with service delivery and noted that the pilfered public funds would have helped to develop Solwezi District.

He, however, wondered where Solwezi management was when the over K100 millions of public funds was being embezzled.

It is alleged that authorities at the municipal council refuted allegations labeled against the municipality that it had misappropriated funds in 2023.

And the North-Western Province Council of Elders Chairperson has since advised all the twelve ward councilors to be vigilant, affirming that the monies were pilfered under their watch.

“We have no confidence in the current workers at Solwezi municipal council, they must all go, we need new people to work, not the current crop, they are a bad seed” said Mr. kapata.

Meanwhile, North-Western Investments and Development Foundation (NWIDEF) President, Gilly Kakunta urged the Auditor General’s Office to randomly conduct audits of all councils in North-Western Province.

He said it was disappointing that Solwezi Municipal Council which was supposed to be spearheading development in the district was engaged in fraudulent activities

“All councils in the province must be audited to ascertain if they have all stolen public funds” said Mr. Kakunta.

Village Headman Dyuuka of Chief Sipatunyana’s area in Zimba district has expressed concern over the high number of early marriages and teenager pregnancies in his area.

Headman Dyuuka said incidence rates of teen pregnancies and early marriages are allegedly very high and denying girls their fundamental basic human rights.

Speaking in an interview in Zimba , the traditional leader said unless efforts to end the scourge of child early and forced marriages are accelerated, girls are at risk of being married off before they attain their 18th birthday.

He is, however, optimistic that Zambia would end the practice of child forced marriages by the year 2030 owing to the positive strides the country has made so far in order to achieve the target set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Early marriages and teen pregnancies denies the girl child basic fundamental rights such as a chance to be a child, live a life free of violence and sexual abuse.

The scourge also robs girls their opportunity for career, vocational advancement and ultimately denies them the chance to make meaningful contributions to the economic development of their communities,” he said.

Headman Dyuuka acknowledges that early marriages and teenage pregnancies are driven by social and economic factors which include negative social norms, lack of access to information, education and poverty.

The traditional leader appealed to Government and experts dealing in child protection to explore possibilities of criminalising child early and forced marriages so that the vice can be eradicated.

He urged members of the general public to report perpetrators of child sexual abuses to traditional leaders, law enforcement agencies, local authority and or government officials

Police in Lusangazi District of Eastern Province have recovered the remains of a three year old boy, Borniface Lungu who was murdered for rituals in May this year.

Zambia Police Spokesperson, Rae Hamoonga, confirmed that a broken skull, three ribs and a pair of brown trousers were recovered yesterday and have been secured as exhibits.

Mr Hamoonga said a team of police officers were yesterday, around 16:45 hours led to the scene of the crime by the two Murder suspects, Rabson Sakala and Benson Sakala.

He said the scene of the crime was at the edge of Kasangazi Stream in Lusangazi District near Rabson Sakala’s farm, who is also one of the suspects.

The police Spokesperson said that was where the body of the deceased was dumped.

“The team of Police officers yesterday managed to recover a broken skull, three ribs and a pair of brown trousers which have since been secured as exhibits,” he said.

Mr Hamoonga said the remains of the boy would be taken to Lusaka for pathological examination at the University Teaching Hospital UTH).

Boniface Lungu aged three, went missing on May 21, 2023 in Lusangazi District, a situation which led to the arrest of two suspects, Rabson Sakala and Benson Sakala last week.

The suspects later confessed to having murdered the boy for rituals by cutting off his private parts but the sacrifice was rejected by a witch doctor named Samson, who told them that they needed to kill and present to him private parts of either of their Biological sons for the ritual to work since they wanted to get rich.

Meanwhile, scores of visibly angry Lusangazi residents yesterday rushed to Village 87 to witness the search for the murdered boy’s remains when they saw a police vehicle with two handcuffed suspects heading into the hills near Kasangazi stream.

Police officers however, managed to calm the situation by not allowing other people to escort them up to the  scene of the crime, which they obliged and only a group of police officers went ahead in search for the boys remains, with the  exercise lasting close to four hours , as the search begun from around 13:00 hours to 16:45 hours.