Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, Jack Mwiimbu, has reiterated that no police officer should mount road blocks anywhere else apart from the designated security checkpoints.

Mr Mwiimbu says it is unfortunate that some traffic police officers have continued to inconvenience members of the public and motorists with unnecessary roadblocks.

He says the government has however not given any instruction that traffic regulations should not be followed but that officers can enforce the regulations without effecting unnecessary roadblocks.

Mr Mwiimbu has regretted that the illegal roadblocks have become an embarrassment to the country.

He was speaking when he visited Pemba Police Station to appreciate challenges it is facing.

Mr Mwiimbu is touring Southern Province to appreciate challenges which institutions under his ministry are facing.

The Republican President Hakainde Hichilema says discussions are underway to re-introduce voluntary national training under the Zambia National Service (ZNS) for the young people.

President Hichilema who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Force disclosed that he has laid down a proposal to the Ministry of Defence and Service Chiefs to devise a plan on how to re-introduce the program which was mandatory during the United National Independence Party (UNIP) days.

“This policy initiated by Dr. Kenneth David Kaunda shaped us and the youth of those days in appreciating a culture of hard work, the purpose of strong discipline, the need for patience, and the importance of patriotism to our nation,” Mr Hichilema said

Speaking when he officiated at the Golden Jubilee celebrations for the ZNS at Chongwe Unit held under the theme “Celebrating 50 Years of Rendering Unbroken Service and Fostering Development to Our Motherland Zambia” President Hichilema observed that there has been disparities in the levels of patriotism, dedication and commitment to duty between the current crop of youths and those that underwent voluntary training.

“Thank you ZNS Commander and other Service Chiefs for continuing to provide skills training to our young people. If I had my way I would re- introduce national service. I can see the difference between those of us who underwent training and those that have not,” President Hichilema said

The Head of State said youths who go through national service rarely engage in vices because they are well-trained and behaved.

Mr Hichilema has since urged young people who will be recruited in the Defence and other security wings to remain committed if they are to succeed in their bid to serve the nation with pride.

He added that officers in the Zambia Defence Force must defend the nation’s sovereignty and independence by being professional and committed.

The Head of State mentioned that his Government will continue extending the much-needed support to the men and women in uniform because they are defenders of the nation’s security.

“To this day, ZNS continues to play a pivotal role in skills development of our youth, and in that regard we urge them to create a pool of talented engineers, agriculturalists and agricultural economists that will help the country in optimising the production and distribution of food and fibre products for local consumption, as well as for the export market. We also support their endeavour to commercialise some service production ventures as a way to increase our country’s economic activities,” President Hichilema mentioned

Speaking during the same event, the Honorable Minister of Defence Mr Ambrose Lufuma said that he will work closely with ZNS to ensure that it continues to play a crucial role in ensuring national food security in the country.

Mr Lufuma noted that the Service, through its farms and agribusiness, has been contributing to the country’s food basket by growing enough food to feed the nation.

Meanwhile, ZNS Commander Lieutenant General Maliti Solochi said that the Service was humbled to be associated with the country’s history of fighting for liberation of part of the Southern African region.

Lt Gen Solochi added that in the past 50 years, the Service has been of help to the nation through its military and industry roles.

“We are committed to the promotion of an atmosphere of unity and effective collaboration with our sister services in order to give comfort to the Government and the people of Zambia that the Defence Force is ready to respond to any security threat be it at short notice,” Lt Solochi said

The ZNS Golden Jubilee was attended by some Cabinet Ministers, Chief Bunda Bunda of the Soli people, Defence Attaches from embassies accredited to Zambia and former defence chiefs.

The Jubilee celebration coincided with the remembrance of the youth who died at Chongwe bridge in pursuit of Zambia’s freedom and the neighbouring countries.

Kitwe’s Patriotic Front (PF) Chimwemwe Member of Parliament Allen Banda has reiterated his resolve and commitment to developing Chimwemwe through collective efforts and unity.

Kitwe City Council on Tuesday handed over cheques amounting to K 705,000 to various cooperatives under the Chimwemwe Constituency for the 2nd, 3rd, and part of 4th quarter of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) empowerment grant for the year 2022.

Speaking at the handover ceremony held at the Kitwe Civic Centre, the Chimwemwe Constituency Member of Parliament asked the empowerment grant recipients to grow their businesses by pumping the profits raised from the grants back into the business.

The Chimwemwe lawmaker said the essence of the Constituency Development Grant is to change the livelihoods of people in the country.

Mr. Banda added that the issuance of the grants will be on a first come basis and that all applicants will be considered as long as they follow the guidelines and meet the criteria.

He further urged his constituents to speed up their applications so that they may stand a chance to benefit from the grants in the 2023 CDF allocation.

According to Kitwe City Council Public Relations Manager Mwaka Nakweti, as of 15th December 2022, council has disbursed empowerment grants to 748 cooperatives across the constituencies amounting to K6, 880,807.

With the additional 82 cooperatives from Chimwemwe Constituency, the cumulative number of cooperatives that have benefited from the grant stands at 830 which represent a total of K7, 594,807 of the CDF allocation for grants for the year 2022.

“We dedicated the past two weeks to facilitating the formation and registration of Cooperatives and clubs by the Eighteen (18) women groups in Chimwemwe Constituency. We ended our two-week tour of duty by financially assisting the seven women groups form and register cooperatives and clubs in Kamatipa Ward to enable them access funds from the Constituency Development Funds (CDF).This was in addition to the other eleven women groups we recently helped with funds to facilitate the formation and registration of their Cooperatives and Clubs in Kawama and Chimwemwe wards. We were accompanied by the Kamatipa Ward Development Committee (WDC) officials to witness the event. It is said that when you empower a woman, you have empowered the nation. It is against this background, that we will remain committed to supporting women groups in Chimwemwe and uplift the welfare of our residents. We further wish to reiterate our resolve and commitment to developing Chimwemwe through our collective efforts and unity in our Constituency. We will continue to assist the underprivileged in society to improve their lives. God Bless Chimwemwe and God Bless us all,” Mr. Banda said.

Speaking at the same handover ceremony, Kitwe City Council Town Clerk Mr. Patrick Kambita said as of 20th December 2022 the council has disbursed 80% of grants for Chimwemwe Constituency, 97% for Wusakile Constituency, Kwacha stands at 62%, while Kamfinsa Constituency grant disbursement stands at 60 and Nkana Stands at 74%.

Mr. Kambita said during the week the council will issue more cheques to cooperatives from other constituencies and that by the end of the month the disbursement of empowerment grants for the year 2022 is expected to reach 100% provided the cooperatives that have not satisfied the requirements for accessing grants do so.

He urged the recipients to spread the word as a means to encourage other community members to form cooperatives and share in the Government’s efforts to better the lives of its citizens.

The Town Clerk further added that come next year, the bottlenecks impeding the smooth release of CDF funds will be alleviated.

Meanwhile, Mr. Banda is engaging the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development over some families that wish to buy council houses they could not manage to acquire at the time they were being sold in Chimwemwe Constituency.

“It has come to our attention that there are some families in Chimwemwe who could not manage to buy Council houses they are currently occupying due to circumstances beyond their control. We have also learnt that these people failed to raise the funds before the deadline date as most of them were unemployed while others were young at the time these houses were being sold and their parents could not find the money to buy them. It is, however, gratifying that some of the affected families have approached my office with the view of helping them by convincing the council or ministry to consider selling them the same houses which they are currently renting from the council,” Mr. Banda said.

“I therefore, wish to assure these families and others who may be in the similar situation that as your servant I will surely engage all the relevant authorities charged with such matters and ensure that your requests are well attended to. We further encourage all those who are in the similar situation to visit our Constituency Office situated at Kamunga building and submit their matter to have it resolved collectively. We remain committed to resolving matters affecting our people in Chimwemwe Constituency as promised during our campaigns,” Mr. Banda said.

Zambia forward Barbra Banda is eligible to play at next year’s Women’s World Cup, says a leading Fifa women’s football official.

The 22-year-old was excluded from this year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations by the Zambia FA (Faz) after the latter body said she failed a gender eligibility test.

“We are looking forward to welcoming her to Australia and New Zealand next year to participate,” Sarai Bareman, Fifa’s chief women’s football officer, told BBC Sport Africa.

Faz has previously said it excluded its best player from the finals given its understanding of a medical form the Confederation of African Football (Caf) adopted from Fifa.

However, these rules – which prompted Faz, rather than Caf, to exclude Banda from the Wafcon – are now being revised.

“Fifa is currently reviewing our gender eligibility regulations – we’re in a consultation process right now,” Bareman explained.

“My team is obviously a big part of that consultation process and in the coming months, you’ll see a new set of regulations come out of Fifa as many sports are also looking at their own regulations.”

Banda shot to global prominence at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo when she became the first female player to score consecutive hat-tricks in the Games’ long history.

After sitting out Wafcon, she returned to the national team in September and helped Zambia win a regional southern African title for the first time, emerging as both the top scorer and best player of the tournament.

Football’s world governing body estimates the new guidelines for gender eligibility will be released before the 2023 Women’s World Cup but it remains non-committal on whether gender testing will be a mainstay of the women’s game going forward.

“It’s a very complex topic and there are many, many people who have their views on it,” Bareman explained.

“As Fifa, our role is to take all those views into consideration, because we really have to understand every view – the research, evidence, individual situations, the human rights side of things – and we have to factor all of that in before we can take any decisions.

“It’s a big decision, and it’s going to have a big impact for many people.”

During July’s Wafcon in Morocco, Faz said three other potential squad members were also affected by gender eligibility criteria and were thus not chosen to compete at the tournament.

Alongside Morocco, Zambia is one of five countries which will make their Women’s World Cup debut in the 2023 tournament, which is being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

After expanding next year’s finals from 24 to 32 teams, Fifa’s Bareman believes the tournament’s growth will boost the development of women’s football in Africa.

“It’s only positive from here,” Bareman rallied.

“Look at Zambia – when a country like that qualifies for the first time ever, the flow-on effect for the game in the country is massive. They did so well at the Olympics as well – other countries see that and you can’t underestimate the competitive value in Africa.

“The expansion has really helped and will continue to drive other countries.”
Led by champions South Africa alongside perennial qualifiers Nigeria, debutants Zambia and Morocco make up Africa’s four representatives at the finals.

Senegal and Cameroon have a chance to make it six teams for the continent when they compete in next year’s inter-continental play-off to determine the last three teams to qualify for the June-August finals.

The Zambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry – ZACCI notes that Zambia has potential in Solar Energy resource, Wind, Hydro run off the river especially in the Northern circuit that is not so much prone to reduced precipitation, Geothermal & Biomass, thus the need for utilization as an alternative energy source especially now with the re-introduction of loadshedding.

ZACCI President Chabuka Kawesha said that some of the Potential developers of these energy projects have already advanced in conducting the feasibility studies and almost reaching financial close as monitored by the Ministry of Energy through the Office for Promoting Private Power Investment (OPPPI).

Mr Kawesha however stated that regardless of the well-intended announcements to have these on board, without a clear pathway for electricity Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to enter into bankable power purchase agreement and sell their power to a buyer or off taker at a Cost-reflective tariff, the country is likely to see long unwinding load shedding seasons, year-on-year given the negative effective because of climate change and poor rainy seasons resulting in the reported low water levels from the current hydro-power generation spots.

He mentioned that the Minister’s statement mentions the scaling up of the power generation mix by accelerating the development of alternative green and renewable energy sources, including the projects such as 6 Solar PV procured under GET FiT Zambia and the recently ZESCO-advertised 3 X 50MW solar power plant initiatives, adding that given the successful procurement of projects under GET FiTand Scaling Solar, the Government before year-end 2022 or latest Quarter 1 of 2023 must open a framework that will allow for the procurement of more power projects from private sector Independent Power Producers (IPPs) using a similar grant-aided approach that will allow for competition and low-cost procurement windows.

He added that ZESCO including other Stakeholders who have expressed interest to invest in the electricity sub-sector like Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) trading Zambia Power Corporation (ZPC) and ZCCM-IH should mirror this approach, as this will help to provide the electricity private sector IPPs with certainty on how their projects could be implemented over the next 3 to 24 months. This will also help to reduce the development costs and encourage investment as IPPs will have certainty on how their respective projects will unfold.

“The roll-out of an intermediary or transitional high capacity transmission line investment programme through Public Private Partnership (PPP) approved by Cabinet with a bias towards Engineering Procurement Construction Plus Finance (EPC+F) model; given the transmission and power line developers will be guaranteed of anchor-tenants from the numerous power generation Independent Power Producers (IPP) located countrywide that will come out of the electricity procurement roadmap. Parts of the current national network of transmission lines are tired or need enhancement. They need new investment,” he explained

Mr Kawesha mentioned that as policymakers and private sector contributors, they ought to be mindful that the current commissioned power station at Kafue Gorge Lower with the name plate value of 750MW was designed to operate at an average capacity of 380 – 400MW, however with the current scenario of reduced inflows and overutilization in the Kariba, ZESCO may be forced if not already done, to over generate at Kafue gorge and Kafue Gorge Lower.

“The over-generation will ultimately cause a drastic reduction in water levels at Kafue Gorge dam and Itezhi-TezhiDam. Further, the national utility, ZESCO, we understand that as the private sector we need to revise the water release program and quantity from Itezhi-Tezhi Dam after a serious review to avoid over flooding of the Kafue flats and other surrounding areas. Kariba dam is strained, let’s not introduce a crisis on the Kafue river,” he mentioned

Mr Kawesha stated that ZACCI will continue with consultations on the impact of current load shedding but over and above on short, medium and long-term solutions to increase electricity power generation and improvement of the nationwide transmission network.

Mambwe District has so far paid over K2 million towards skills development and secondary school bursaries.

Mambwe Town Council Public Relations Officer Grace Lungu indicates that out of the amount, a total of K1,356,674 was paid towards skills development for the 188 eligible candidates who were awarded sponsorship.

Ms Lungu in a statement on Tuesday that K2, 425,714 under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) has been spent towards skills development and secondary school bursary components

“A total of K2, 425,714 under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) has been spent towards skills development and secondary school bursary components to various skills training institutes and secondary schools.

“The funds paid covered tuition fees, accommodation and personal protective equipment covering the entire 2022 academic year,” she said.

K 1,069,040 has equally been paid to schools to sponsor over 100 pupils under the secondary school bursary component of the CDF.

Meanwhile, Mambwe Town Council Secretary John Mwanza has advised beneficiaries of the skills development and secondary school bursaries to focus on their education.

Mr, Mwanza said beneficiaries should not let the government down because the huge investment is meant to ensure vulnerable children are also given an opportunity to pursue their dreams by getting educated and acquiring skills.

“Some of the beneficiaries are not taking school seriously. They think once they get the bursaries it’s a chance for them to go out there and explore the world to their satisfaction while neglecting the reason they are in those places.

“ This should stop, let all those being sponsored concentrate and better their lives,” he said.