The Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE) in Western Province has described the death of Senior Chief Inyambo Yeta III of Mwandi, Mulobezi and Sesheke Chiefdom as a great loss to the establishment BRE and the people of Barotseland.

Speaking at a press briefing at Limulunga Royal Palace, Kuta today, BRE Prime Minister and Spokesperson, Mukela Manyando said Senior Chief Inyambo Yeta was a great man with distinguished traditional leadership which he exhibited for 46 years.

“Senior Chief Inyambo Yeta ascended to the throne in 1977 and showed distinguished leadership,” Mr Manyando said.

He said the late senior chief will be remembered for his commitment towards the establishment of the Simahala Wildlife conservancy in Mwandi and Kazungula districts.

Mr Manyando said Senior Chief Inyambo Yeta will also be remembered for the role he played in initiating investment projects aimed at preserving the cultural heritage and the environmental conservation in the chiefdom.

“He was an ardent advocate for the promotion of culture and tradition,” he stated.

The BRE Prime Minister also paid tribute to the late senior chief for his constructive views in the traditional council and the house of chiefs.

Senior Chief Inyambo Yeta III died in Maina Soko hospital in Lusaka yesterday July 20^th, 2023 after an illness.

The Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) in Lusaka has arrested 21 people for various drug offences contrary to the laws of Zambia.

DEC Deputy Public Relations Officer, Delight Haangala, says the commission has arrested Jacob Mzinga, a Tanzanian national aged 49, for trafficking in cocaine which he had concealed in his body through swallowing.

Mzinga was apprehended at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport on arrival from Brazil.

He discharged 104 pellets of cocaine weighing 2.312 kilograms and the process is still ongoing.

And in a separate incident, the commission has arrested Evans Mbulo 32, for trafficking in 36 sachets of Cocaine weighing 2.7 grams.

Mbulo was arrested in Lusaka where the commission is getting a lot of  drug related activities reports.

In another occurrence, the commission has jointly charged and arrested Sharon Kamangila a Zimbabwean national aged 38, Jackeline Lungu aged 39 and Alice Nyoni aged 41 for trafficking in 432 bottles of Benylin with Codeine.

Meanwhile the commission in Eastern Province has jointly charged and arrested Patrick Banda aged 37 and Christopher Banda aged 38 for trafficking in 830 kilograms of loose cannabis.

The contraband was intercepted in   Nyimba  enroute to Lusaka from Lundazi which was  loaded on a truck together with bags of maize

Ms Haangala stated that the seizure is a clear demonstration that the commission has heightened its surveillance measures in a bid to curb the transportation of cannabis from Malawi and Mozambique to Lusaka and Copperbelt.

Further the Commission in Eastern Province has found three abandoned motor bikes in Renamo area in Nyimba District near Mozambique border that had three bags of compressed cannabis weighing 305.5 Kilograms.

Ms. Hangala said the riders of the motor bikes attempted to transport the contraband from Mozambique to the Great East Road in Nyimba for onward transportation to Lusaka adding that the Commission has since seized the three motor bikes.

Ms Haangala told the media at a press briefing that after receiving reports of drug related activities in Chapata’s Navutika Compound, the Drug Enforcement Commission in collaboration with the Zambia Police Service conducted a clean-up activity in the area and 25 persons were arrested of which 14 had committed various drug related offences.

The joint operation was necessitated by reports from members of the public who were allegedly claiming that Navutika Compound was a no-go area for Law Enforcement Agencies.

Ms. Hangaala also disclosed that a Toyota Land cruiser used in the last General Elections has been forfeited to the state following investigations that revealed that the said motor vehicle was actually government property but was fraudulently registered as belonging to a non-existent company and no one has claimed it up to date.

Ms Hangaaala stated that DEC remains resolute in its mission to root out drug trafficking and abuse, irrespective of location or terrain.

The suspects are detained in the lawful custody and will appear in court soon.

Police in Luanshya has arrested five people in Mpatamato Township in Luanshya District for using raw sewer for gardening purposes.

The five who are all residents of Mpatamato were nabbed in a joint operation conducted by officers from the Zambia police service, Luanshya Municipal Council and Kafubu Water and Sanitation Company.

Kafubu Water and Sanitation Company, Marketing and Public Relations Manager Misheck Moyo has confirmed the development to ZANIS in Luanshya today.

“Following a tip off from the public and increased vandalism to sewer pipes in the area, we engaged the local authority and Zambia Police to confirm the reported cases of diverting and tempering with sewer lines,” he said.

Mr Moyo disclosed that the five are said to have been diverting raw sewer from the Kafubu Water and Sanitation Company Limited (KWSC), main sewer infrastructure in Mpatamatu.

He has since urged members of the public to desist from diverting sewer from its infrastructure for any purposes.

Mr Moya further appealed to members of the public to report such activities to the relevant authorities.

He added that the suspects are in police custody and will appear in court soon.

Mwinilunga Town Council senior Health inspector Agape Mashinyi has appealed to residents in the district to embrace the continuous Keep Zambia Clean, Green, and health program.

Mr. Mashinyi says the program is important as it ensures that people live in clean environments and are protected from preventable diseases such as Cholera.

He said the program is equally important because it does not only protect the environment but also adds to the beauty of the town.

Mr. Mashinyi said this in an interview during the weekly Keep Zambia Clean Green and Health exercise conducted in the district today.

Mr. Mashinyi said communicable diseases such as cholera can easily be avoided simply by ensuring that the environments in which people are living and trading are always kept clean.

“Let us own this program, this is our environment, no one is going to clean this environment for us, if we want a beautiful Mwinilunga let us all participate” said Mr. Mashinyi.

He called on residents in the district to actively participate in the program and own it because no one else can clean their environment apart from themselves.

Mr. Mashinyi acknowledged efforts by the district leadership in ensuring that people turn up for the program and appealed to them to actively participate in the program as it acts as an encouragement to members of the general public to equally participate.

And people in the district have welcomed the program saying it is well intended.

Adrian Lumingu said having a clean environment will protect them from catching diseases such as cholera and called on other residents to fully participate in the program as it was for their own good.

“It is not a government program alone, it is ours, it is us to clean and not the council alone” she said.

Another resident Felix Kang’elu who conducts his business around the chikabu area said a clean environment is important to the business because customers are attracted to go to clean areas.

Government has called on millers countrywide to exercise patriotism and avoid exploiting Zambians through inflated costs of mealie meal.

Vice President Mutale Nalumango says the government is keen to work with the private sector, however, private millers should be reasonable in setting mealie meal prices.

The Vice President said this in parliament today, in response to Kantanshi Member of Parliament, Anthony Mumba, who wanted to know what the government was doing to arrest the escalating cost of mealie meal.

The Vice President attributed the rising prices of mealie meal to the new floor price of maize which the government set at K280 to support small scale farmers.

Mrs. Nalumango said in an effort to make a profit, millers were adding an extra cost to the mealie meal which is being passed on to consumers.

However, the Vice President said it was unjustified for millers to take the cost of mealie to as high as K300 per bag.

The Vice President has since called on traders engaged in the production of mealie meal to be mindful and remember that the ultimate customers are the ordinary Zambians who should not be exploited.

Currently, mealie meal retail prices are averaging around K150 and K300 per 25 kilogram bag, countrywide.

Over 25 girls drop out of school every year at Lukomba Secondary School in Kapiri Mposhi district due to pregnancy and early marriages.

School Guidance and Counseling Teacher Esther Nkazi disclosed that most children come from far flung areas and are forced to rent accommodation from surrounding villages because of the lack of dormitories at the learning facility.

Ms Nkazi explained that the practice of renting accommodation from surrounding villages has proven unsafe as many girls are taken advantage of and are becoming victims of pregnancy  and early marriages.

Ms Nkazi revealed this when Women’s Lobby Chapter Board Member, Dorothy Mambwe and Education Standards Officer Special Education, Mary Masumba visited the School.

 Kapiri Mposhi District Education Board (DEB), has appealed to government to construct dormitories at Lukomba Secondary School to provide accommodation for girl pupils.

Ms Masumba explained that the school with over 1800 pupil enrollment is the only senior secondary school in Nkole Chiefdom catchment forcing children who qualify to grade 10 from surrounding schools to engage in weekly boarding to access secondary education.

“The statistics of pregnancy and early marriages are not good at Lukomba. We need government to come in to secure lives for our girl learners who are being abused and impregnated,” Ms Masumba said.

And Kapiri Women’s Lobby Chapter Board Member, Dorothy Mambwe has called on enhanced collaboration to ensure progression of girls in education as the country strives to actualise parity in gender representation in key decision making structures.

Mr Mambwe stressed that educated girls narrow the gender gap and boost participation of women in development.

Copperbelt Permanent Secretary Augustine Kasongo has directed the Department of Social Welfare in Kitwe to trace the families of the remaining street kids in Kitwe and ensure that they are taken to school in view of the introduced free education policy.

Mr Kasongo said there should be no excuse for any child to stay out of school when government is providing free education.

In a speech read on his behalf by his deputy Daniel Kamenga, during the launch of the District and Community Mobilization on the roll out of the Children’s Code Act No. 2 of 2022, Mr. Kasongo also challenged parents to provide peaceful and conducive environments in homes for kids to grow up from.

He noted that some children are pushed into the streets because of parents and guardians who are abusive and ignorant about the rights of children.

“I am confident that at the end of the meeting today we will have shared the information pertaining to the legal and policy frameworks in Zambia on Children’s rights so that we strengthen service delivery, we need to brainstorm what we can do differently in ensuring that the rights of children are protected and promoted,” he said.

He stated that the country is currently domesticating the United Nations convention on the rights of child (UNCRC) and the African Charter on the rights and Welfare of the Child.

He said the free education policy introduced by the government is a great milestone in the protection and promotion of children’s rights.

And Kitwe District Administrative Officer Mwamba Mulenga said the launch of the children’s rights is timely as it will provide the legal framework on the protection and promotion of children’s rights.

He said a lot needs to be done in sensitizing people on the rights of children.