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.

The Minister of Transport and Logistics, Frank Tayali, has been dragged to court for his alleged involvement in the destruction of a newly built house situated on a disputed plot in Ndola’s Dola Hill area. The complainant, identified as George Kampamba, is embroiled in a legal battle with Mr. Tayali over the ownership of the plot in Ndola, Central Province.

Mr. Kampamba has accused Minister Tayali of orchestrating the demolition of his house on the evening of 28th July 2023. He claims that individuals acting on Mr. Tayali’s behalf were responsible for the destruction of his property.

Speaking to journalists during a visit to the damaged house, Ndola Mayor Jones Kalyati and Ndola District Commissioner Joseph Phiri were petitioned by Mr. Kampamba, who expressed his grievances against the Minister of Transport. According to Mr. Kampamba, Minister Tayali has been bullying him and disregarding proper legal procedures in the dispute over the plot.

“Mr. Tayali should have followed the right procedure over the disputed plot instead of taking the law into his own hands,” said Mr. Kampamba, who also appealed to President Hakainde Hichilema to remove Mr. Tayali from his ministerial position so that he can face court proceedings as an ordinary citizen.

The complainant presented documentation to support his claim of ownership, including a survey diagram, site plan, offer letter from the Ministry of Lands, title deed, and building permit from the council. Mr. Kampamba emphasized that the damaging of his house was a distressing event, but he refrained from commenting further on the ongoing court case, expressing his hope that justice would prevail.

“This is thuggery behavior by the Honourable Minister. President Hichilema, look at the behavior of Mr. Tayali. This is uncalled for. Mr. Tayali is a bully here in Ndola, and it is as if he is untouchable,” added Mr. Kampamba.

As of now, Minister Frank Tayali has not issued any public statement regarding the allegations and the legal proceedings.

Commuters Rights Association of Zambia (CRAZ) is in support of the Government’s plans to legalize motorcycles for public transportation.

In an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today, CRAZ Chairperson Aaron Kamuti observes that there are a lot of unanswered questions emerging about legalizing motorcycles such as the safety of the passengers.

Mr Kamuti however, advised there need to consider doing research on the safety of passengers before legalizing the use of motorcycles as a mode of transportation.

He explained in some cases there is a lot of conflict of interest where riders would want to beat traffic and use the side of the road which endangers the lives of the passengers on the motorcycles.

“We do not anticipate these motorcycles to be used on the Central Business District (CBD) and we have a population of vehicles that is passing the number of motorcycles,we have minimal roads, this is a danger to the passengers unless we put all measures in place in terms of the safety of the passengers that will be using the motorcycles,”he added.

Mr Kamuti emphasized the need to acknowledge the competence of the riders and to ensure that the riders are credible.

He further suggested that the motorcycles should be used in remote areas or in provinces where there is less traffic, adding that they should not be used in the CBD areas like Lusaka and Copperbelt where it is busy as it can pose a danger to passengers.

ZANIS/ENDS/EA/MML…………..……………DRY

President Hakainde Hichilema has expressed commitment to ensuring the maintenance of peace, security and stability in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) as a remedy for development.

President Hichilema noted that as in-coming Chair of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, he takes up the role at a time when Africa is challenged with issues of peace, security and stability.

President Hichilema observed that SADC continues to be fragile in the areas of peace, security and stability, thus diverting attention from the core mandate of governments, which is developing nations.

The President said that taking up a new role, he answers to the call of protecting the people in the region and to better the operating environment.

He said this when he met a team from SADC Secretariat led by the Director of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Affairs Kula Theletsane at Statehouse.

President Hichilema charged that those who continue to contravene against the peoples constitution are not eligible to serve as they do not understand what it means to dislocate economic activities.

The Head of State noted the need to maintain peace, security and stability in the region to allow individual countries to focus on the development agenda.

He said that resources ought to be channeled towards improving the livelihoods of citizens, which every leader in the region owes to the people they serve.

He explained that as sitting Chairperson, he will priorities on ensuring maintenance of peace, security and stability prevails so as to advance the welfare of people.

And the Head of State paid tribute to his predecessors for providing leadership to the Organ, while hoping to pick up from where they left off but with guidance from the SADC framework

The President added that if need be to do things outside the framework, it will be raised while following the due process for consideration.

“All this is to better what the Organ contributes to individual countries, we want to keep our societies  civilised and developing,” President Hichilema stated.

He reiterated the importance of the SADC Organisation, among other regional bodies, towards enhancing the welfare of people.

And Director of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Affairs Kula Theletsane noted that despite the challenges, the Secretariat will help President Hichilema with required expertise to do his job successfully as Chair of the Organ.

Mr Theletsane implored the President to lead the Organ strategically in dealing with the prevailing challenges of security and diplomacy in regard to the many challenges the region is facing.

He alleged that countries have been scared to hold each other accountable and is hopeful that with President Hichilema’s leadership, that it will be different.

Police in Chifunabuli District in Luapula Province have arrested and charged a 40 year old man for allegedly defiling a 12 years old girl who is also a grade one pupil at Nambale Primary School.

 Chifunabuli District Commissioner, Stanley Mukosa said the incident occurred on August 2, 2023 at around 21:00hrs.

“I can confirm the arrest of a 40 year old man identified as James Chola Kasata of Mashitolo Village in Chief Chitembo’s Chiefdom, for allegedly defiling a 12 years old girl of Kangombe Village in Chief Mwansakombe’s Chiefdom. The incident happened on August 2, 2023 at around 21:00hrs,” he said.

Mr. Mukosa explained that on the material day around 20:00hrs, the juvenile went to play with friends and later decided to go back home but met the accused on the way who took advantage of her.

“Brief facts are that on August 2, 2023 around 20:00hrs, the victim went to play with friends and later decided to go back home to sleep but unfortunately, she met the accused on the way who took her to a house nearby were the owner is away in Lunga and had carnal knowledge of her at the veranda,” he explained.

Mr Mukosa said to prevent the minor from shouting for help, the accused used a head sock he was wearing to cover the minor’s mouth and prevent her from screaming for help.

“To prevent the minor from shouting for help, the accused put a head sock in her mouth and when he was done having carnal knowledge of her, he used the same head sock to clean her private part and told her that young girls grow by sleeping with elderly men,” he narrated.

He said the minor went home and decided to report the matter to her mother who took her to Nambale Clinic and reported it to Police.

Mr. Mukosa said a medical report was issued, which confirmed that the girl sustained a painful vagina.

The accused will appear in court soon.