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Airtel Zambia Managing Director, Charity Chanda Lumpa, says the communication service provider has contributed K2.3 billion in taxes in the last three years.
Ms Lumpa disclosed at a media briefing breakfast in Lusaka that Airtel is the top tax payer in the sector.
She said Airtel Zambia paid corporate tax at 40 per cent rate and five per cent levy on revenue.
“Airtel is a tax compliant company that has paid out a total of K2.3billion in taxes in the last three years. In addition we have this year embarked on an US $80 million nationwide expansion programme that will see improved coverage and quality by the end of 2014,” she said.
Ms Lumpa said Airtel will spend an additional US $62 million in operational expenditure to set up and run the expanded network.
“To serve our customers better, we are investing US $3 million in the refurbishment of the shops including 75 express shops across the country that will improve contact experience using our distributor network”, Ms Lumpa said.
She said the company has also added an effective business model that ensures focus on its core business and rationalises operating costs.
Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) president Edith Nawakwi has taken a swipe at politicians trying to make political capital out of the debate on President Michael Sata’s health.
Ms Nawakwi said that it was strange and “unAfrican” for any politician to try to politicize the President’s health.
Ms. Nawakwi has told Qfm News in a telephone interview that she that she found the debate on the president’s health as the most disturbing.
She stated that it was normal for anybody to take leave when one has had a strenuous work schedule such as the one the President has.
Ms Nawakwi added that it is a statutory entitlement for the head of State to take leave in any way he is comfortable with.
She said that it was becoming a matter of concern to see some politicians using the debate on the President’s wellbeing to gain political mileage.
The FDD leader has since cautioned fellow politicians to avoid digging holes for each other or risk falling in the same hole they are digging.
Ms. Nawakwi said that the political club is very small hence the need for politicians to wish each other well and good health.
She has further encouraged Zambians to continue praying for the good health of President Sata and for the almighty God to give him strength.
Paul Da Prince released the video for his latest single “Your Name”. Song Produced by Maj Beatz. Video directed by Eddy Nicolay for Nicolay Creatives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tin2Nhu5OTI BY KAPA187
Southern Province won the 2014 Airtel Rising Stars Under-17 National Football Championship after thumping Luapula Province 3-1 in the final played at Edwin Imboela Stadium in Lusaka on Tuesday.
A brace from Evans Silukomela and a goal by Maybin Kalengo sealed the win for Southern while Bradford Mwansa scored Luapula’s face saver on the day.
Chipolopolo coach Patrice Beaumelle and his Under-17 colleague Chris Kaunda were in the stands as Southern walked to the champions podium.
And Copperbelt won the girls 2014 Airtel Rising Stars National Championship after silencing Lusaka 4-3 on postmatch penalties following a goalless draw in the lunch-time final at Edwin Imboela Stadium.
Meanwhile, Kaunda has selected 40 players to be in the provisional squad as Zambia prepares for the 2014 Airtel Rising Stars Africa Championship to be hosted by Gabon later this year.
The players were picked from the ended national championship in Lusaka.
Opposition All People’s Congress (APC) President Nason Msoni has charged that the released still-pictures of President Michael Sata chairing a Cabinet meeting on Monday do not put to rest the speculations over his state of health.
Mr. Msoni has told Qfm news that President Sata should have instead addressed the nation as opposed to releasing still pictures of him.
Mr. Msoni says this is especially that the nation has also been stressed and desperate for information about President Sata’s wellbeing in the face of widespread speculations that he is unwell.
He says this is why he thinks that the released pictures of the President addressing Cabinet are far from the truth.
Mr. Msoni has suggested that government should at this end tell the nation what the President’s health status is as people still have doubts even with release of the pictures.
But Chief Government Spokesperson Joseph Katema has maintained that the released pictures of the President addressing Cabinet yesterday are the official position of government.
Dr. Katema, who is also Information and Broadcasting Minister, has told Qfm News that he was personally in attendance of the Cabinet meeting at State House which President Sata chaired.
He says anyone still not convinced about the President’s well being can continue politicking as there is no big issue as far as he is concerned.
Northern Province Commissioner of Police Charity Katanga
POLICE in Kasama have arrested a 19-year-old prisoner of Milima State Prison (MSP) for allegedly sodomising a fellow inmate.
Northern Province Commissioner of police Charity Katanga said on Monday that the incident happened around 20:00 hours on Friday in the juvenile cell when there was a power outage.
“The victim aged 17 years, a capital remandee for murder was sodomised by Chris Sinkamba, aged 19 who was charged for burglary and theft.
At the time of his arrest he was 17 years and was to be sent to Katombora Reformatory School,” she said.
Ms Katanga said the victim complained of pain in the anus and that a medical report was issued.
UPND vice president for administration Canicius Banda during the rally in Mandevu
Public Health Expert Dr. Canisius Banda has advised the Zambian Government not to quickly dismiss remarks infectious disease expert Francis Kasolo that Zambia is not ready to handle a possible Ebola outbreak.
Dr. Canisius Banda wondered whether Zambia has the administrative, structural and commodity capacity level to handle the Ebola virus despite government assurances.
He said Dr. Kasolo is an expert who the Zambian government should engage instead of threatening to revoke his secondment at WHO Africa Office for disclosing that Zambia has no capacity to contain an Ebola outbreak.
“We should listen to him. Dr Kasolo is a skilled and qualified Zambian, we should not be too quick to rubbish his statement. The truth is that we are Ebola preparedly naïve as a nation Dr Banda said.
Transport, Works, Supply and Communications Minister Yamfwa Mukanga
By Hjoe Moono
‘Kuyamba vintu timayamba bwino manje Poor Finishing [PF]!’ goes Bob Mabege’s song of old. Indeed, Poor Finishing has been the characteristic of most, if not all of our past governments.
On Thursday [10th July 2013], the Post Newspaper carried a poignant article in praise of Uruguayan president, Jose Mujica who lives a humble and simple none-expensive life. Indeed, the Uruguay president has in some circles been called the Poorest President on Earth who lives at his farm house, and the only state security he has is a three legged dog running round his basic farm. Such humility. Such humane leadership. Such empathetic leadership surely deserves admiration, and I would echo the Post’s article’s message.
Listening to the Zambian parliament debate of Thursday, 10th July 2014 however, I got the shock of my life when I heard that K6.5Million (US$1.1 Million) was being spent on ‘renovating’ a ‘Presidential Lodge’ somewhere in Kitwe. The Minister of Works, Yamfwa Mukanga, who the President affectionately called a ‘fool’[Chipuba] over the delay in the renovation of the lodge, heavily defended government’s decision to allocate such an enormous amount of money, more than what has been allocated to the Ministry of Community Development, Mother & Child Health for health promotion for the year.
I have found it hard to fathom the government’s priorities here. Surely, we have mothers dying in child birth due to lack of funding for health care infrastructure. Our mothers and sisters are subjected to the lowest of health services in our hospitals, sleeping on floors in congested hospital wards with poor water and sanitary conditions, and yet, we have a government that justifies spending huge amounts of money, borrowed money for that matter, on prestige presidential lodges? Really? How does a sane person justify such a wasteful expenditure?
Mr. Sata is known not to spend nights out of his official residence at Nkwazi. For all I know, the only time he spends a night out of State House is when he is on Holiday in India, England, and Israel. At all state functions outside Lusaka, the presidential helicopter or the Challenger Jet is on hand to take him back to state house. So why does he need another presidential lodge in Kitwe to be renovated at such a huge cost? Has he run out of rooms at State House? What about the State Lodge in New Kasama in Lusaka, has it become too small for him too? What about the presidential lodge in Ndola? Or has his family grown over the last two years that he needs more rooms built for them using borrowed funds from the Euro bond, which we, the ordinary citizens have to pay through our nose when he has left government?
One of the PF’s early acts in government was to discredit and humiliate Rupiah Banda’s government which was purported to have planned to renovate state house. Mr. Sata was shown on national TV showing images of what would have been the new state house that Rupiah Banda was purportedly planning on building/renovating. But today, the same Mr. Sata and his government are justifying colossal expenditure on a similar venture, not in Lusaka, no, but in Kitwe, at an exorbitant cost. What a shame! What a waste!
FILE: Catherine Namugala
Hon. Catherine Namugala correctly and contextually pointed the poor prioritisation of the PF government: How do you set aside K6.5 million to renovate a presidential lodge YET only disburse K4 million for Child Health programmes under the Ministry of Community Development, Mother & Child Health? Is a luxury additional presidential lodge more important than the health and lives of women and children nationwide?
Clearly this is insanity at its peak! Or has Mr. Sata and his government been motivated by South Africa’s Jacob Zuma’s excessiveness on his Inkandla residence that they now wish to compete with him in excessiveness in lifestyle at the expense of national development? Perhaps they would do well to read the Post Newspaper’s editorial, and hopefully appreciate one or two things about humility and empathy in leadership as shown by the life of Uruguayan President Jose Mujica.
The excessiveness and gluttony of the PF is sentencing many of the Zambian citizenry to permanent ill health and death with its poor prioritisation. Just a stone throw away from the presidential lodge, you will see many orphaned children roaming the streets and sleeping under bridges and trenches, without any hope for the future, their livelihoods ignored, and cut off, by the gluttony and prestige lodges prioritisation of our leaders. Just stone throw away from the multi-million PF presidential lodge, many are living in small poorly constructed houses without water and sanitation facilities, yet, through their labour on the streets they have to fund, through heavy taxes, the ‘High Life’ that the PF leadership is living. Vanity!
At the University Teaching Hospital, it’s a poor and sorry sight: Congested Wards. Women and Children sleeping on the floor. People turned away due to lack of adequate bed spaces and medicines. Poor water and sanitary conditions in the wards. I see only misery. I see only sadness when I walk through our hospitals, where our leaders are too healthy & wealthy to get sick in [would rather embark on medical tourism adventures] YET, they are spending K6.5million on renovating a prestige lodge for the president, which he clearly does not even need, owing to the many that are already functional. All Vanity. Such Gluttony is repugnant and disappointing.
Just a few months ago, the Zambia Daily Mail carried a sarcastic attack on former defence Minister, GBM, through an emotionally driven editorial arguing that his purchasing of a car for his wife, using his private funds from his business, is wasteful and that the money would be better spent contributing to the health sector. I found this absurd, silly, and stupid, coming from a public newspaper in a government where K6.5million is being spent on a lodge, when the health sector would improve greatly even with just 10% of what is being wastefully spent on that lodge.
What is clear is that our leaders lack humility. Our leaders are not empathetic. Rather, they have now acquired higher levels of gluttony, new and sophisticated levels of excessiveness at the expense of nation building and development. There is no empathy nor regard for the lives of the many people that had high hopes and expectations in the PF leadership. Indeed, they started well, but now, they are Poor Finishers [PF].
The Post Newspaper’s editorial rightly observes: “What do we see among most of our leaders today? Entitlement. Arrogance. Pretension. Selfishness. Boastfulness. Vanity. Corruption. All these are found in abundance among our politicians today. And all these have contributed to bad policymaking, abuse of taxpayers’ money and all sorts of corrupt behaviour.”
Isn’t it strange that the government gets grants from Britain, Sweden, USA etc to help fund the health sector, YET the Zambian government has enough money, to the tune of K6.5million to renovate a presidential lodge?
Community Development, Mother and Child Health minister , Emerine Kabanshi,
GOVERNMENT has warned officers looking after elderly people in the country to be transparent and accountable.
Community Development, Mother and Child Health Minister Emerine Kabanshi said there was need for officers looking after elderly people in Zambia to be transparent and accountable.
Ms Kabanshi said her office would not tolerate a situation where officers in charge of Old People’s Homes mismanage donations and other resources donated by the Government and other well-wishers.
She was speaking in Livingstone yesterday when Child Helpline International (CHI) donated detergents, disinfectants, cooking oil and mealie mealie valued at K1, 000 to Maramba Old people’s Home.
CHI is a network of 178 child help lines operating in 143 countries around the world.
“We have been talking about transparency and accountability and whatever is being donated to elderly people should be used for the intended use.
We want Old People’s Homes to be very accountable with their officers by making sure that elderly people benefit from what the Government and other stakeholders give them,” Ms Kabanshi said.
She noted that the private sector in Zambia would not supplement Government efforts in taking care of elderly people if supervisors for such homes were mishandling the donated facilities.
“We want the private sector to come on board and renovate this building at Maramba Old People’s Home.
The infrastructure is cracking and very soon these things will fall but if we are not accountable and transparent, the private sector won’t come on board to supplement Government efforts,” Ms Kabanshi said.
She was however happy that the garden at Maramba Old People’s Home was being managed by Sun International Zambia.
“We want more members of the private sector to come on board and supplement our efforts,” she said.
Speaking earlier at the same meeting, Maramba Old People’s Village officer in charge Humphrey Chileshe said the Home was established in early 1960s to carter for the elderly who were rejected by society mainly because of witchcraft and other reasons.
Mr Chileshe said the elderly people had challenges because of their different mental and physical situations in which they were.
Meanwhile, Ms Kabanshi said the Patriotic Front (PF) Government was committed to supporting elderly people in the country.
She said elderly people contributed a lot to the struggle for independence and that they were custodians of the country’s culture.
Ms Kabanshi said this yesterday when she paid a courtesy call on Livingstone District Commissioner Omar Munsanje.
In response, Mr Munsanje said the District was committed to supporting vulnerable children and elderly people.
“We are trying to offer good services to vulnerable children and elderly people.
Yes we have challenges here and there but we have to face these challenges head on,” Mr Munsanje said.
The Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection says the continued increase in the cost of living is a major source of concern among households in the country.
In press statement released to the media by the social and economic department of JCTR, the organization says though there has been a decrease in some of the commodities the country has continued to record steady increase in the cost of living due to increases on other necessities such as the pending increase in electricity.
The organisation calls on government to put in more long-term and sustainable measures so as to stabilize the overall cost of basic needs for the purposes of guaranteeing social protection of citizens.
Below is the full statement released by JCTR.
INCREASE IN THE COST OF LIVING A MAJOR CONCERN AMONG HOUSEHOLDS
Our government recently released K1.6bn for implementation of poverty reduction and employment creation activities. The government further encouraged various government agencies to maintain the positive growth in the economy and ensure that the disbursed resources are applied in a timely and sustainable manner. This announcement is timely and we as JCTR commend our government on this score. We are alive to the negative effects of funding gaps on accelerated national development on account of disbursement delays which correspondingly lead to implementation delays of development programmes. In this regard we wish to express our serious concerns regarding the implementation of various government projects particularly delays in building earmarked health posts across the vast span of the country. We appeal to government to intervene and address this issue as provision of quality health services through investments in rural health infrastructure is essential in improving rural livelihoods.
Be that as it may, the cost of living for the month of June 2014 measured by JCTR’s Basic Needs Basket (BNB) for an average family of five living in Lusaka was K3, 681.14. This shows an increase of K44.68 from May’s BNB which stood at K3, 636.46. The increase is attributed to the hike in prices of the following food items; Kapenta by K6.00 per Kg, Beans by K6.88 per Kg and Cooking Oil by K1.14 per Kg from the previous month of April. There has also been a significant increase in the price of charcoal from K127.50 in May to K135.00 in June, showing an increase of K7.50. In contrast, other commodities showed marginal decreases in pricing namely, Dry fish which decreased by K14.54 per Kg and Beef which decreased by K0.57 per Kg.
However, despite decreases in the cost of some food items measured by the Basic Needs Basket, JCTR is concerned that the overall cost of the basket indicates a steady aggregate increase in the cost of living. On a general scale prices of essential commodities are under pressure towards an upward thrust. For example, this month ZESCO is poised to effect the revised electricity tariffs. This increase in electricity tariffs will invariably affect the manufacturers’ cost of production and ultimately cause an increase to consumers. The JCTR acknowledges some measures taken by government to cushion some households against the high cost of living and ensure that vulnerable families’ access basic needs, among them the social cash transfer scheme. However, there is need for more long-term and sustainable measures to stabilize the overall cost of basic needs for purposes of guaranteeing social protection of citizens.
As a Centre we recommend to Government to ensure that development efforts are aimed at increasing the long term coping capabilities of majority of households to access basic needs such as food, clean water, health and shelter. It is rather a misnomer to note that there are families that are still surviving on one meal a day and yet the national economy is acclaimed to be positing a steady growth. As an emerging nation we need to rise to the challenge of channeling the positive economic growth into improved living conditions of the majority of Zambians. We are aware that government is committed to addressing the general welfare of Zambians and will stop at nothing to ensure that the mass or our people move from poverty entrapment to a dignified life. We urge government to transcend policy pronouncements and statements of intent and show equal resolve in accelerated implementation of poverty reduction strategies and programmes through timely release of development oriented resources.
For more information, contact the Social and Economic Development Programme of The Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection.
Kabwata Member of Parliament Given Lubinda is hopeful that the release of the new constitution will address information gaps which exist between elected leaders and electorate.
Speaking when he officiated at the official launch of the state of democratic accountability in Zambia project held at Pamodzi hotel in Lusaka today, Mr. Lubinda said there is need to refine mechanisms and platforms to help electorates reach out to their elected leaders and that the new constitution provides an opportunity for such improvements.
Mr. Lubinda also expressed delight at the project which has targeted improving accountability and increasing interactions between the electorate and their elected leaders as well as building capacity for the electorate to hold elected leaders accountable.
” There are no mechanisms or platforms to help them reach out to their elected leaders to either share information or air their grievances. It is hoped as we refine our constitution through this constitution making process, such gaps will be addressed.
“Accountability is one key elements of any democratic society. I am delighted to be informed that one of the aims of this project is to increase community interactions and dialogue between the elected and electorate and build capacities of electorate to hold us, elected leaders, accountable to our promises and actions when in power.
This is a right step in the right direction but requires serious capacity building of citizens to be able to do so. As politicians, we sometimes need to be reminded and checked on what we do and an enlightened citizenry is key,” Mr. Lubinda said.
And the law maker has advised fellow law makers and those aspiring to be either MPs or Councillors not to make outrageous promises during campaigns which they would not fulfill once elected to the respected positions.
Mr. Lubinda said the role of an MP or Councillor is to speak on behalf and facilitate development in his/her constituency or ward and not make promises which are at times unrealistic and prove problematic once one is elected.
The law maker noted that the tendency by competing candidates to promise things they cannot deliver has contributed to the disappearance of MPs from their constituencies leading to electorates feeling betrayed and disowned.
“You all know that the role of an MP or councillor is to facilitate development in his/her constituency or ward enact laws/by-laws and speak for the people. However, am aware that during campaigns, many aspiring candidates make electoral promises aimed at outwitting other contestants, promises which sometimes prove problematic to fulfill once elected.
“This has created problems in some constituencies leading to some of the elected leaders disappearing from their constituencies. When electorates come to constituency offices, they rarely find these MPs but only their assistants. This scenario has created anxieties among the electorate who sometimes feel betrayed and disowned by their elected leaders,” Mr. Lubinda said.
Mr. Lubinda also bemoaned the lack of clear cut mechanisms for holding elected leaders which leaves electorates with limited options for acting against such leaders.
“Since there are no clear cut mechanisms to hold elected leaders accountable, electorates remain with only one option, complaints against the elected leaders or indeed government for the failure to deliver on the promises. They also only wait for the right time to use their votes to vote the under-performing leaders out.
Indeed, the culture of democratic accountability among political leaders needs to be harnessed in Zambia. Political players should be reminded to make moderate and achievable promises rather than astronomical ones,” explained the parliamentarian.
Mr. Lubinda has since commended FODEP for the initiative which said would go a long way in promoting dialogue and interaction between elected leaders and electorates.
He also advised to listen to citizens when ever they demand for the fulfillment of the promises.
“This project will be a reminder to all elected leaders and government that their loyalty is to the people and not themselves hence the need to be accountable as power lies in the people.
“In this regard, when citizens demand for fulfillment of promises that we politicians make, they should not be accosted but listened to. I am aware that during election campaigns both those in government and outside make outrageous promises which electorate use to make decisions on,”
And speaking earlier FODEP Programs Chairperson Adrian Muunga emphasized the need for democratic accountability.
“Democratic Accountability requires that leaders, citizens and institutions of governance like political parties are responsive and answerable to the needs of the people, the electorates. They should also serve the role of holding government accountable in line with the interests of their constituencies and being accountable themselves to the citizens they serve.”
GOVERNOR’S STATEMENT ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FINANCIAL SECTOR
The Bank of Zambia wishes to update the general public on recent developments in the financial sector, following the measures we announced at the end of May to address the instability in the foreign exchange market. Over the past six weeks, we have seen some stability return to the financial sector as a direct result of the measures we took to ensure that we are able to contain inflation and stabilize the foreign exchange market. In this regard, over the past six weeks we have seen the Kwacha appreciate to its current levels of around K6.1 per US Dollar, from over K7 per US Dollar at the most extreme point of its depreciation.
In our statement of June 10, 2014, we had also indicated that in our view the economy was fundamentally sound and this remains true today. In this regard, it was our view that the measures we have taken to restore stability in the financial sector are temporary and will be scaled back when it gets more evident that the threats to higher inflation have receded. This will be done in a measured way to ensure that we do not see a return to instability in the financial markets that we witnessed earlier in the year.
In this regard, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will be meeting in early August, and we will be assessing the threats to inflation, as well as reviewing a wider set of factors not only including developments in the money and foreign exchange markets, but also developments in the broader economy. The decisions of the MPC will be communicated to the public as is now customary under the new monetary policy framework.
Notwithstanding the positive response in the foreign exchange market and the beneficial impact we anticipate this will have on inflationary pressures over the medium term, one of the consequences of the tightening of monetary policy has been a sharp rise in the interbank interest rates. The interbank interest rate is the rate at which the commercial banks lend money to each other. In this regard, with the stability we are now seeing the Bank of Zambia has begun to ease liquidity conditions by providing liquidity to the banking system through Open Market Operations (OMO).
The Bank of Zambia is mindful of the importance of ensuring that the macroeconomic stability that has been achieved of high growth, single digit inflation, strengthening external sector and financial system stability is maintained. In the area of growth, we continue to support the efforts of the financial sector to extend the provision of financial services to the private sector, particularly the small scale enterprises, so that they are able to make a meaningful contribution to growth.
We note that, in the short term, interest rates have risen reflecting not only the recent tightening in monetary policy, but more fundamentally the higher Government borrowing necessitated by strong infrastructure investment. This investment is critical in order to ensure that our economic growth is sustained and that it leads to greater employment, the reduction of poverty and inequality. We are confident that as we anchor stability in terms of low inflation and stability in the foreign exchange market, we will see lending conditions return to less stressful levels – which support growth and macroeconomic stability.
Issued by:
Assistant Director – Communications Bank of Zambia Box 30080 LUSAKA Email: [email protected]
The opposition National Restoration Party (NAREP) has backed government not to legalise the cultivation of marijuana in the country.
NAREP Lusaka District Executive Vice Chairman, Frank Sichone, says marijuana is harmful and dangerous and legalising it would harm the people in society.
Mr Sichone says the country should look at other ways and means of increasing revenue in Zambia and not at the expense of the health of the people.
In a statement released to ZANIS in Lusaka today, Mr Sichone condemned the calls championed by Green Party president, Peter Sinkamba and his People’s Party counterpart, Mike Mulongoti, who have urged government to legalise the production and export of marijuana which has brought revenue in other countries that have legalised it.
“Our position as NAREP is that we condemn the legalisation of marijuana in this country.
Marijuana is harmful and dangerous and legalising it would harm the people in society very much,” he said.
Recently, Home Affairs Minister, Ngosa Simbyakula, reiterated during the commemorations of the World Anti-Drug Day in Lusaka that government will not legalise the use of cannabis in Zambia.
Dr Simbyakula said it would not be in the interest of the country to legalise recreational use of cannabis.
He said the debate on the legalisation of cannabis reflected the widespread misunderstanding of the adverse effects of drugs on an individual and the entire nation.
The minister said damages caused by cannabis were not just limited to users but also increased vulnerability, risk of traffic accidents and injuries including mental disorders.
He commended the Drug Enforcement Commission for its efforts in ridding Zambia of marijuana and other psychotropic substances by arresting the perpetrators of the vice.
The Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) arrested 1,600 persons for drug trafficking countrywide in the second quarter of 2014.
DEC Public Relations Officer, Theresa Katongo, disclosed that 1,400 persons were arrested in the first quarter of 2014 and attributed the reduction to a joint operation that was conducted in Lusaka’s Chibolya area recently.
Ms Katongo said 59 of those arrested were male juveniles while 50 were foreign nationals.
She added that 416 persons have been convicted for various drug related offences while 1,000 cases are still pending in court.
She said the highest seizure recorded of cannabis was in Eastern Province and efforts have been scaled-up by the Commission.
FILE: A heap of garbbage along Lumumba road in Lusaka.
Lusaka City Council has this year procured equipment for garbage collection worth six million kwacha.
Council Director of Public Health Greenford Sikazwe says among the equipment procured is a front loader and two tipper trucks.
He however said that the rate at which the local authority is purchasing equipment is not equal to the rate at which the equipment is depleting.
ZANIS reports that the Council Director of Public Health said this during the District Development Coordinating Committee Meeting held at the council chamber recently.
Mr. Sikazwe also said that there is need for more funding to local authorities due to the huge task it has towards service provision to the public.
He cited the ten million kwacha that was budgeted for in the 2014 national budget to councils when LCC alone has spent six million kwacha.
And Mr. Sikazwe says there is need for people to change their mind set towards waste management if garbage is to be controlled in the city.
Mr. Sikazwe said that people should not carelessly litter the city with the mind that the council will clean up.
He said garbage control needs concerted efforts by all stakeholders as well as at personal level.
Citibank Zambia Limited has injected a total of K179, 000 in the provision of entrepreneurship and work readiness training for school going young people in 22 secondary schools in Zambia.
Junior Achievement (JA) will implement the Junior Achievement Company Program and Job Shadowing activities which will benefit over 500 young people in the selected secondary schools in Lusaka and Ndola districts.
JA Zambia Executive Director, Teddy Nyasulu, said the grant will help the nation to continue impacting in school youth with the JA Company Program and Job Shadow activities.
Mr Nyasulu said in a statement released in Lusaka today that with these programs, the nation will be able to increase the number of young people that are well prepared to face life outside the school system with hope and pride that they have skills to create their own independent livelihoods.
And Citibank Zambia Limited Acting Managing Director, Mate Munalula, said his bank values the work of creating dreams into reality for the future of the youth.
He said the noble calling of the bank is to make an impact in the life of the communities through partnerships with like-minded organisations such as Junior Achievement Zambia.
Mr Munalula noted that school is the base where all the citizenry are built into good citizens to contribute positively to society.
He said this is the reason the Bank decided to get to pupils and give them not just entrepreneurship training but also work readiness.
He said Citibank remains committed to continue investing in improving the livelihoods of young people in schools.
The JA Company program is targeted at young people aged between 16 and 19 and helps young people appreciate and better understand the role of business in society.
