President Hichilema’s recent stance against gay rights in Zambia has been welcomed by Patriotic Front Presidential Aspirant, Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba, but he is calling for corresponding actions to be taken by the government to stop the promotion of LGBTQ rights in the country.

While appearing on Radio Christian Voice’s “Chatback” Programme, Amb. Mwamba stated that promoting homosexuality in Zambia must be rejected as it offends Christian, traditional, cultural, and Zambian values. He praised President Hichilema’s strong stand against homosexuality, but bemoaned that there were no corresponding activities by the police and other institutions to stop the promotion of LGBTQ rights and activities in Zambia.

Amb. Mwamba called on President Hichilema to match his words with action and uphold meaningful principles and national values in the country. He pointed out that when foreign embassies flew the LGBTQ flag, there was no action or public information against the act by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Similarly, when gay activists hijacked the Lusaka July fashion show event in September 2022, there was no action against the organizers or the perpetrators.

Amb. Mwamba also called for attention to be paid to certain policies and programs for children and adolescents such as Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) where promoters of LGBTQ rights have attempted to infuse awareness and promotion of homosexuality. He urged the Registrar of Societies to deregister organizations that were promoting LGBTQ rights as homosexuality remains illegal in Zambia.

Police in Lusaka recently detained four people in connection with a pro-homosexual march past that took place on 4th March 2023 ahead of International Women’s Day. The four, who all belong to Sistah Sistah Foundation Zambia, were charged with giving false information to a public officer and unlawful assembly.

The flying of the rainbow flag, a symbol of the LGBTQ community, by Swedish and Finnish Embassies in Lusaka brought wide and heated condemnation against the Embassies and Zambia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. President Hakainde Hichilema reiterated his stance against gay rights during a funeral church service held on 30th May 2022.

Amb. Mwamba’s call for action is a timely reminder that words must be followed by actions. The Zambian government must take decisive action to uphold the country’s laws and values and protect its citizens from the promotion of LGBTQ rights.

President Hakainde Hichilema has urged Zambians to embrace the culture of hard work to ensure that the country’s economic status is improved.

President Hichilema said when he met the clergy In Copperbelt Province in Chingola yesterday that the government is committed to fostering development in critical areas that will allow the country to boost the economy from its low level.

Mr Hichilema noted that leadership is critical in developing the country to the highest level as most countries, which are even smaller than Zambia, have managed to develop and improved their citizens’ lives through having prudent management.

The President has further appealed to Zambia to attach a premium on leadership that they put in place to govern them in order to ensure that the country is counted among the best in development.

“Government is committed to provide leadership that will ensure that the country is raised from bottom to the highest level in development,” Mr Hichilema said.

He said his government will do something different and ensure that his team works hard to place the country where it deserves to be economically.

President Hichilema further pointed out that the country can only achieve economic development if all citizens apply themselves to working hard.

“Let us direct the country in the direction of hard work, honesty, and differentiating public property from private so that there is no abuse,” he said.

The President said economic development should be the top priority for the government to meet the social needs of the people.

President Hichilema stated that government will work on the damaged roads in the province to speed up the economic development.

He said it is not gladdening to finds the same challenge of bad roads each time he visits the Copperbelt province.

The roads which he said government will work on are Ndola-Mufulira, Ndola-Lusaka, Kipushi, Izhimbe in Ikelengi district, and the Chadiza-Chipata using the public private partnership (PPP) arrangement.

The President told the gathering that government will also maintain the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation to uphold the moral principles and values of the country.

He also reiterated that government will not support gays and lesbians as it is against the country’s constitution and against Christian values.

And President Hichilema has called for unity among Zambians saying no one should preach about discrimination because the Zambia has many ethnic groups.

Meanwhile, Mr Hichilema assured the people that farming inputs for this year will be delivered on time as government was last year screening some suppliers that were given contracts but failed to supply the commodity.

And Secretary for Chingola Council of Elders, John Lumbwe, has appealed to government to consider recapitalising the Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ) industry in Kafue for it to start the producing urea fertiliser and revitalise the nitric acid plants.

Reverend Lumbwe said recapitalising NCZ will make the company a major player in fertiliser production and distribution.

He said although NCZ will be contracted to supply the 43,292.70 metric tonnes of D-compound fertilizer, this amount is still too low for the capacity of the company.

“NCZ’s capacity was built to feed the Southern African region with fertiliser. We pray for the government in power to revitalise the same vision,” he said.

Rev. Lumbwe has meanwhile observed that although the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) is offloading cheaper maize to millers, the benefit is not trickling down to the consumers at household level.

“There seems to be quite some serious seepage somewhere that disguise that maize is being offloaded to the millers,” he said.

Rev. Lumbwe pointed out that the cost of living is too high as most people are failing to afford mealie meal which is selling at around K200 per 25 kilogram bag in some areas in the Copperbelt province.

And Bishop Joseph Kazhila of The Life Cathedral Church in Chingola thanked government for maintaining the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation.

Bishop Kazhila noted that peace is cardinal for the country to achieve economic development and that the church wants the country to be united.

By Benedict Tembo

Acting Minister of Health Brenda Tambatamba says Government is aware of an outbreak of a strange disease in Kanona and Chitambo wards of Serenje and Chitambo districts respectively. Centre for Environment Justice (CEJ) Executive Director Maggie Mwape has in the recent past consistently called for fair treatment of the affected employees in Serenje and evacuation abroad for specialized treatment.

Addressing Parliament, Ms Tambatamba said on September 20, 2022, the Ministry of Health responded to an alert concerning employees of the Southern Africa Ferro Alloys Limited – (SAFA), who presented loss of balance, tremors, impaired speech, uncomfortable drooling or dropping saliva from the mouth and decreased movements.

She said the Ministry of Health records indicated that 28 people had shown the above symptoms but no mortality had been associated to the disease.
Ms Tambatamba said the Occupational Health and Safety Institute (OHSI) was notified and blood samples taken from 281 employees to determine the cause of the problem.

She said results revealed that 271 employees, which was 96.4 percent of the total workforce, had blood levels of manganese above the normal level.

“The results showed in the ranges of 0.116 to 0.623 parts per million. The average was 0.244 parts per million. The normal range is 0.005 parts per million to 0.02 parts per million,” the minister said.

According to CEJ media which monitored the Parliamentary proceedings, Ms Tambatamba said the strange disease which was observed was manganese poisoning arising from repeated occupational exposure to the metals.

“Manganese poisoning is a toxic condition resulting from chronic exposure to manganese. It is mainly manifested as a neurological disorder with symptoms that include tremors, difficulty in walking and facial muscle spasms,” she said.

Ms Tambatamba revealed that SAFAL changed the type of manganese ore feed from March 9, 2022 to September 5, 2022.
The minister said the ore introduced was a fine manganese concentrate sourced from Sanhi Mining Limited in Kabweand the concentrate was later onverted into pellets bound by five percent cement.

She said the development resulted in high dust films in the process of smelting at the plant which potentially increased the risk of workers over exposure to manganese in the platform, tapping and deking areas.

Ms Tambatamba said urgent measures had been put in place to contain the disease, which entailed the immediate suspension of sourcing and processing fine manganese concentrate from Sanhi Limited of Kabwe until such a time when the investigation by a joint team compromising of the Ministry of Labour’s Department of OSI and the Ministry of Health, Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA), Mine Safety Department and the Occupational Health and Safety Institute are concluded.

The minister said medical surveillance of all workers would be conducted in line with the Occupational Health and Safety Act No. 36 of 2010 and rotational work to avoid long periods of exposure introduced.

She said the employer was guided to report the cases to the Workers Compensation Fund Control Board for compensation purposes while all workers with symptoms were referred to the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka for further management.

“All workers with manganese levels above the recommended concentration limits but without symptoms have been relocated to areas of low risk of exposure. Engineering controls will instituted and assessed regularly to ascertain performance,” she said.

Ms Tambatamba added that prior to the incident, ZEMA conducted an inspection and issued a compliance order to SAFAL to comply with the conditions set out in the decision letter.

She said prior to implementation, SAFAL was required to obtain all necessary authorizations under the Mines and Minerals Development Act, the Local Government Act, the Urban and Regional Planning Act, the National Heritage Conservation and Control Act, the Public Health Act, the Workers Compensation Act and the Energy Regulation Act Conditions 3.2.1 of the decision letter.

SAFAL was required to put in place Occupational Health and Safety Measures. Conditions 3.2.3. of the Decision Letter and provide employees with personal protective equipment and ensure that they undergo medical check ups in Conditions 3.2.5. of the Decision Letter.

Ms Tambatamba said a joint inspection team had been constituted consisting of staff from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development, ZEMA, Mine Safety Department and the Occupational Health and Safety Institute and Mines Safety Department to urgently undertake full investigation of the risk assessment at SAFAL.

“Members of the public will be informed of the outcome of the investigation and appropriate actions to be taken. Further, this Joint Investigations Team will extend the exercise to all manganese processing plants in order to ensure compliance to all relevant laws,” Ms Tambatamba said

She warned all manganese processing plants in the country to put in place measures to ensure that they were fully compliant to all relevant laws before the law enforcement wings visit them.

Ms Tambatamba was responding to Chitambo Member of Parliament Chanda Mutale who was concerned about the manganese victims.

“Madam Speaker, having interacted with the affected people, it brings a lot of sadness because from the way the minister is responding compared with what these people are going through, it is quiet sad. I am aware that up to now there is no cure for the disease that is affecting these people. My question to the Minister is, this team which has been constituted to go and investigate what is obtaining and the measures given to SAFAL, can you tell this House if the disease has stopped spreading because of the measures that you have put in place? I thank you Madam Speaker,” he said.

Pambashe Member of Parliament Ronald Chitotela was concerned that several workers were affected.

“Madam Speaker, sitting here and listening to the minister respond, it sounds that this is an occupational safety hazard as much as it becomes a health issue, she is the right person to answer to this question because they are suffering from neurological disorder. Neurological degenerative condition has to do with the brain because of high exposure to radiation coming from manganese. This draws me to the people of Luapula where the largest part of manganese is being produced. Minister, understanding and bearing in mind that the occupation hazard under OHSI sits under your Ministry. Do you intend to intensify inspections in these factories and employing Labour and OSI Inspectors in districts where you may have not have staff as a preventive measure? I thank you Madam Speaker,” Mr. Chitotela said.

Mkushi North Member of Parliament Christopher Chibuye called for Investigations to be extended to Mkushi.

“Honourable Acting Minister of Health, in your explanation you have actually told the House that the team which has been constituted will be getting back on the ground to ascertain the disease. How soon will this team be on the ground and are they going to extend to areas like Mkushi where manganese mines are mushrooming?” Mr. Chibuye asked.

Bwacha Member of Parliament Sydney Mushanga demanded that government discloses when it detected the problem.

“Minister, this is a very serious health matter looking at the high number of staff that are affected and exposed to manganese particles that are in their bodies. I want to find out when the Government came to know about this problem of the workers having manganese particles in their blood at SAFAL and those interventions that you itemized about 16 of them. Looking at the different Government departments who is doing what when it comes to the 16 measures that Government has put in place. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker,” Mr. Mushanga said.

In response, Ms Tambatamba said Government detected the problem in June 2022.

“There are ongoing inspections that are undertaken by these various units that constitute this Ministerial team. As far back as June 2022, there was an inspection by ZEMA where issues of occupational health and safety were raised for not being complied to or the law was being breached,” she said.

Ms Tambatamba added that at the time, ZEMA suspended operations of SAFAL until they were compliant.

“After a few months, they went back in operation because matters of PPE (personal protective equipment) and most of the occupational safety matters that were raised were attended to. There are issues of protecting our workers of course and growing more jobs so at that time they were allowed to start operating again, ” she said.

The minister said recently when this matter came up, alarm was raised about the affected workers who were then referred to UTH. Mkushi South Member of Parliament Davies Chisopa accused the company of negligence. Shiwan’gandu Member of Parliament Steven Kampyongo wondered why the company had continued operating.

Mr Kampyongo said manganese mining has been there for a long time and what could be new is the new precious mineral, sugilite which may also be posing a danger to those doing illegal mining.

“Honourable minister, it would appear this factory is acting with impunity. You have stated that they were closed for being non compliant with the environmental requirements and when they got back into operation, we have seen their workers get affected by this peculiar disease which appears to be incurable and we need a multi-sectoral response involving your ministry, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Mines. Why is this mine still in operation with such potential danger? Who is being bribed? We smell corruption.

“My question is who is being bribed to ignore the impunity of this manganese processing plant? I thank you Madam Speaker,” Mr. Kampyongo said.

Minister of Youth, Sport and Arts, Elvis Nkandu, says his government is concluding the implementation process of the youth internship programme.

Under this programme, youths with various professions will be attached to work in different government ministries and institutions as a way of empowering them.

Mr Nkandu told the media that the process had to be paused at some point to allow for the completion of the recruitment process for defense service personnel to avoid a situation where some youths are picked for both.

He said government has also engaged some corporate organisations that have also agreed to take up some interns.

He explained that the coming on board of corporate entities will increase the number of interns that can be taken up from the initial 2,000.

And Mr Nkandu has disclosed that government will unlock jobs for youths in the mining sector in the Copperbelt Province, particularly at Mopani and KCM mines once the two companies begin operating at full capacity.

He said the youths will be empowered with resources so that they can also participate in the supply business.

Meanwhile,Ministry of Youth, Sport and Arts Permanent Secretary, Kangwa Chileshe, says government remains committed to supporting all major sports disciplines in the country.

Mr Chileshe said any sports federation that requires funding or support from government is required to write a letter to the National Sports Council which subsequently submits to the ministry.

He was reacting to the failure by the national boxing women’s team to participate at the International Boxing Association world Elite Women’s boxing championship, which started today, 14th March and will end on 26th March 2023.

The national boxing women’s team failed to participate because it failed to raise funds.

Last week, the National Paralympics team also missed the world Para Athletics Grand Prix which took place in Marrakesh, Morocco due to the same reason.

Mr Chileshe was speaking in a telephone interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today.

He said that the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Arts did not receive any letter of request to support the women’s national boxing team and the national paralympics team.

“When we have an entire arrangement, we meet, discuss and agree, then we can sponsor. So if they come through and discuss how we can assist in terms of tickets and any help, we will do,” he explained.

Mr Chileshe said he was only aware of the Zambia youths with intellectual disabilities taking part in a tournament to be held in Berlin, Germany.

He said the youth group reached out to the ministry for support and has since been assisted with air tickets to travel for the competition.

And Mr Chileshe has said government, through the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Arts, will soon begin rehabilitating the Heroes Stadium and Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC) in preparation for hosting the All African Athletes Amateur games to be held in Zambia this year.