By BENEDICT TEMBO

The Zambezi Water Commission (ZAMCOM) executive secretary Felix Ngamlagosi says river basin organisations still require both financial and technical support from development partners to implement various interventions that address some of the challenges that they face.

Mr Ngamlagosi said while support is still needed, the African continent has also accumulated valuable experiences and capacity, which may be useful in accelerating the pace of developments in the river basins.

“The key question here is, therefore, how do we harness these experiences and lessons from institutions within our continent Africa,” he said at the start of the high level inter-regional experience sharing visit to ZAMCOM secretariat in Harare on Monday by a delegation from the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI).
Mr Nyamlagosi said the study tour was one of ways in which ZAMCOM and NBI can enhance their institutional knowledge, capacity and skills and also in addressing their challenges.

“This high-level experience sharing tour by the NBI, therefore, comes at the right time and has positive impact on both sides as we are able to bridge the gap of knowledge, skills and expertise in our organisations.

We believe that, with a strong cooperation and collaboration between the NBI and ZAMCOM, we all stand to achieve the aspirations of the countries and communities in the two major river basins of Africa,” Mr Ngamlagosi said.

He said the future is in the strength in cooperation and partnership.

“We need to work together for “A future which is characterised by equitable and sustainable utilisation of water resources, regional integration and economic benefit for present and future generations” in our continent Africa,” Mr Ngamlagosi said.

Established in 2004, ZAMCOM is an intergovernmental organisation which brings together eight riparian states – Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe – which share the Zambezi River Basin.

And NBI executive secretary Sylvester Matemu said water quality is one of the major challenges that societies face today since it has an impact on human health, food production, ecosystem functions, and economic growth.

“Water quality deterioration translates directly into environment, social and economic problems,” Mr Matemu said
He said the purpose of this study tour is to increase awareness, knowledge and capacity in transboundary water quality management, pollution control, and conservation activities at both national and regional levels.

“A significant number of Basin citizens depend on the services provided by rivers, lakes, wetlands and water-related ecosystems. However, environmental pollution is negatively impacting millions of livelihoods and economic growth in the basin,” he said

Mr Mutemu said the NCCR project supports the Nile riparian countries to cooperatively address the ever-increasing water quality and pollution control challenges in the basin.

The Nile Basin ecosystems sustains the well-being of its 272 million inhabitants.

He expressed his appreciation to ZAMCOM, the ministers’ in-charge of Water Affairs, the government of Zimbabwe as well as the World Bank for supporting and enabling the study tour to come to fruition.

“We look forward to continued engagements with ZAMCOM for the mutual benefit of our respective Basin citizens.

The study tour is organised under a World Bank Nile Cooperation for Climate Resilience (NCCR) project being implemented by NBI in partnership with Nile Basin Discourse (NBD) and the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC).

The NBI is an intergovernmental organisation of the 10 Nile basin riparian countries with a shared vision objective to promote sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable utilisation of and the benefit from the common Nile Basin water resources.

The NCCR project is divided into five thematic areas, namely) platform for cooperation, flood and drought risk mitigation, dam safety capacity building, innovative information services for climate resilience investment planning and water quality investment planning and prioritisation.

The Patriotic Front (PF) Vice President, Hon Given Lubinda, has expressed concern over the increasing number of abductions and murders in Zambia, especially among school-going children. In a statement issued on Monday, April 4th, 2023, Hon Lubinda called for a quick and effective response from the government, parents, and the community at large.

“The rising cases of abductions and murders, particularly among school-going children, is becoming a serious national security issue that calls for a quick and effective response from Government, parents, and the community at large,” said Hon Lubinda in his statement.

He further added that “Over the last couple of months, a number of school-going children have been reported missing or murdered. The latest being the case of Nathaniel Chanda, a 7-year-old boy who went missing and was later found dead with some of his body parts missing.”

The Vice President of Patriotic Front went on to express his concern about the pattern of abductions and murders, suggesting that these heinous acts are well-coordinated and elaborately planned. He cited the infamous abduction of mobile booth operator, Pamela Chisumpa, and the subsequent discovery of 12 other young ladies who had been abducted, as evidence of this.

“The police and other law enforcement agencies must step up patrols and surveillance operations, especially in public places such as shopping malls, schools, churches, and hospitals among others,” said Hon Lubinda.

He also called on parents, guardians, and the community to supplement the efforts of law enforcement agencies by being more vigilant and security conscious of the safety of their children and the general membership.

“It is our collective responsibility to ensure the safety and security of all people at every given time. We call upon Government to seriously interrogate the causes and manner of the abductions and murders. Government must do everything that it takes to bring the perpetrators to justice and ensure that appropriate measures are taken to completely eliminate the threat of such heinous crimes,” said Hon Lubinda.

Furthermore, Hon Lubinda called on the government to come up with practical solutions to address the rising cost of living, rampant youth unemployment, and the general economic malaise that many of the people are grappling with.

“A failing economy is a recipe for high crime rates, a breakdown of the rule of law, the moral fabric of society, and many other social ills including serious crimes such as murder and abductions,” added Hon Lubinda.

Hon Lubinda’s statement issued by Patriotic Front (PF) Vice President highlights the gravity of the current situation and emphasizes the need for immediate and effective action to address the rising cases of abductions and murders in Zambia. It is now up to the government, law enforcement agencies, parents, and the community at large to work together to eliminate this threat and restore safety and security to the country.

The Basic Education Teachers Union of Zambia (BETUZ) has praised the government’ for plans to introduce smartphones and Tablets in schools for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) lessons.

Speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka BETUZ General Secretary Henry Sinkala said the move is in line with the digital era which the country is currently undergoing.

“We have welcomed the plans that government has to introduce smartphones and gadgets which will allow pupils to learn ICT because we are in the era of change to digital and change must be made and accepted in order to digitalize the country”, said Mr Sinkala.

Mr Sinkala added that government is looking into how to secure the gadgets safely at schools to void issues of theft.

“With such gadgets it is prudent that schools improve the school premises security and guard them jealously because they come with huge amounts and therefore we expect that measures of magnitude are put in place to ensure that they are safeguarded,” said Mr Sinkala.

Meanwhile, Mr Sinkala applauded teachers for their commitment as the term is coming to an end on April 7th 2023 and encouraged the teachers to continue with the same spirit of commitment for the remaining academic terms.

Education Minister Douglas Siakalima recently announced in Parliament that government is considering the introduction of smart phones and Tablets in schools for Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

The Internews Network Zambia commenced a three days Media Market Forum aimed at training media institutions on exploring other ways of generating revenue apart from advertisements.

Speaking during the opening of the Media Market Forum in Lusaka today, United States Agency International for Development (USAID)- Open Spaces Project and Internews Network Zambia Chief of Party, Teldah Mawarire, said the forum will impact the journalists with knowledge on how to do business while running a media institution.

ZANIS reports that Ms Mawarire stated that her organization realized that running a media outlet is very expensive and needs funds in order to sustain themselves hence the training that her organisation has devised.

She said that the training will impact journalists with skills and knowledge on how to formulate a business plan and upscale the media institution as a business.

Ms Mawarire pointed out that her organization has so far donated various media equipment to various media houses based on their needs and finances in order to help improve media sustainability of the business aspect.

“We partnered with the Geo Poll to do this media research and I am glad that the results of the Geo Poll will be presented to you today. It is my hope that you will take the results of the research and be able to build your business ideas around what your target market is able to look at,” said Ms Mawarire.

And Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) Standards and Consumer Affairs Officer, Katendi Wandi commended the organizers of the Forum for committing to look at sustainability issues of media institutions.

Ms Wandi said the training is important as it is looking at the business aspect of radio and television stations and not only at content.

“In our work as the regulator, we have seen that stations are always coming up but the problem is the sustainability issues, resources and so on. That is why we encourage community radio stations to venture out and find other alternative means of raising income for their stations,” said Ms Wandi.

She added that the training is important as it will give media houses especially the licensees the added knowledge and skills to help them sustain their operations in seeking additional funding and sources of income to continue operating.

Ms Wandi said it is the authority’s hope that other media institutions will be reached as the programme grows so that they can access enriched information.

The Media Market Forum which is the first one in the country has attracted 19 community radio stations and public media houses and is being held under the theme “Build business partnerships for increased revenue generation”.

Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti has told political leaders to take a leading role in uniting the country if future generations are to inherit a better Zambia.

When paying a courtesy call on Copperbelt Minister Elisha Matambo in Ndola on Sunday, Ms. Mutti said political leaders have a duty to bring citizens together in harmony.

She said the people of Zambia are not interested in seeing divisions as politicians govern the country.

Ms. Mutti said Zambians need to preserve and protect the country so that children can grow in peace and harmony with one another.

“We are glad Honourable Minister (Elisha Matambo) for your assurance that you have reunited the country especially Copperbelt Province. I think the role of politicians is to unite, we don’t want to see divisions as you govern the country. Our role as legislature is to ensure that people are represented and also the oversight function that we provide and this can only be done if people live in peace and in harmony with each other. We should know that we are all one people regardless of what our beliefs are whether politically or tribal. We are just one people and we are all working for the good and betterment of this country we call Zambia. We only have one Zambia which we all need to preserve and protect so that our children can grow in peace and harmony with one another,” Ms. Mutti said.

Meanwhile, Ms Mutti has launched her tour of Constituencies on the Copperbelt with an emphasis that the developmental agenda must meet people’s expectations.

Ms Mutti and her two deputies have started a familiarization tour of all the 156 constituencies in the country.

Ms. Mutti said the National Assembly wants to check on the operations of Parliamentary Offices in Constituencies and to interact with the people.

Ms. Mutti added that the developmental agenda must be tailored according to people’s wishes and needs.

“Honourable Minister we are here to visit our constituencies’ offices as you are aware we have 156 constituency offices all over the country. In some constituencies we have built our own offices. I don’t know how many of our own offices we have from the Copperbelt. So we are going to check and see where our Honourable Members of Parliament are operating from. As you have said with the increased constituency development funds there is so much activity at constituency level by our decentralisation. We want to see how the CDF is being applied, how the people are reacting and also to check the interaction between our offices and members of the public. As you know the Constituency Office is the face of the Members of Parliament because most of the time the Member of Parliament is not at the constituency, he is maybe in Lusaka attending parliament,” she said.

Ms. Mutti continued:”So in his absence, the constituency office is there to provide guidance and collect information from members of the public in terms of what is required of them. If they have any issues to raise with Members of Parliament, they can do it through officers on the ground. We also want to know if our officers are interacting with the people, manpower, what are the challenges of any, how we can improve the function of the constituency office and the interaction so it is a fact finding trip. In future we want to have such meetings at our Constituency Office because when we come, we come for the people of each constituency so we need to have an interaction with the people. They need to see the Speaker, if they have any views or concerns we pick them and follow them up.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Matambo said it was important that the Speaker of the National Assembly is abreast with the operation of Parliamentary Offices in all constituencies.

Mr. Matambo assured the Speaker that the New Dawn Government has restored people and harmony in the Copperbelt Province.

Meanwhile, Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti later on Sunday visited Chifubu Constituency where she planted a tree, inspected the new police post being constructed using CDF.

The Speaker also held a closed door meeting with Chifubu Member of Parliament Lloyd Lubozha.