Quick action by police in Kitwe, Monday evening prevented Copperbelt University students from taking to the streets in protest against non payment of meal allowances.

The students who were led by Copperbelt University Students Union president, Kasonde Mwenda around 19 hours were forced back into campus by police.

Reports say some students fled into the nearby bush when police fired tear gas canisters.[quote]

A ZNBC news crew which rushed to the campus found police officers screening vehicles entering and leaving the university campus.

Union president, Kasonde Mwenda said the students had planned to walk to ZNBC Kitwe studios to air their displeasure at the bursaries committee’s failure to pay them meal allowances.

Mr. Kasonde said the students also want the university management to address the shortage of accommodation at the campus.

And Kitwe District Police Commanding Officer, Nelson Phiri said one vehicle had its rear window screen damaged by the enraged students.

Mr. Phiri said police will keep vigil at the campus.

[ZNBC]

Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) and Concern Worldwide have partnered to intensify the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic through a concept called Total Control of the Epidemic (TCE).

TCE is a project aimed at mobilising people to take total control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in their lives by employing field officers, who go from house-to-house, person-to-person doing voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) using finger prick testing in the Mazabuka district.

Speaking during the visit to Mazabuka District yesterday, Concern Worldwide Country Director Rakesh Katal said people should not be careless with their sexual behaviour because of Anti Retro Viral drugs that were being administered by health institutions.

Mr. Katal also called upon counsellors to be careful when dealing with the technical aspect of HIV/AIDS testing.
He added that a good educational background for HIV counsellors was imperative in the fight against the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Mazabuka District Health Management Team (MDHMT) Manager, Martha Musweu has commended the two NGOs for their efforts in the district.

Mrs. Musweu said the partnership between DAPP/TCE and Mazabuka District Health Management Team will go a long way in reducing the high prevalence rate of the pandemic.

”Mazabuka is privileged to have the first TCE programme initiated in the country as this has assisted in counselling and testing people,” she said.

She added that TCE field officers play a key role in helping suffice for the shortfall of health workers in all the district’s 46 health centers.

The visit by the two country directors to Mazabuka was aimed at learning about the effectiveness of TCE concept and at seeing the possibility of replicating the concept in Western Province.

ZANIS/TS/KSH/ENDS.

Striking casual workers at Green Belt Fertiliser (GBF) Zambia Limited in Mazabuka have finally resumed work after management increased their off loading and loading fees from K 110 to K 140 per bag.

GBF Mazabuka operations manager, Peter Barker confirmed the development to ZANIS in Mazabuka today.

Mr Barker said management decided to increase the loading fees per bag to K 140 in order to motivate workers, who have been protesting and demanding improved conditions of service for a long time now.

He said the increment represents a 30 per cent hike from the previous fees.

He said industrial harmony was necessary to foster production, adding that his company would do everything possible to improve conditions of services for his staff.

Over 160 casual workers last Thursday staged a protest demanding an increment in the loading and off loading fees at the company.

The workers also complained of poor working environment noting that their management has not even provided them with protective clothing.

The casual workers said they were forced to handle chemicals used in the production of fertiliser without any gloves, gumboots and other protective clothing.

They have since called on the District Commissioner, Tyson Hamaamba to intervene.

ZANIS/HC/KSHJ/ENDS

Copperbelt provincial Minister Mwansa Mbulakulima has appealed to people to refrain from associating Museums with witchcraft.

The Minister said Museums were simply sites where valuable natural pieces of heritage were preserved for reference and admiration.

Mr. Mbulakulima made the appeal this morning during the commemoration of the International Museums Day under the theme “Museums and Tourism” held at the Civic Center grounds in Ndola.

He said this year’s theme explained the aim of ensuring that tourism interacted with cultures around the world adding that attitudes and approaches needed to take into consideration both tangible and intangible heritage.

Mr. Mbulakulima has however said the tourism industry’s incredible growth over the past five decades is stagnating due to the global financial crisis.

And speaking earlier, Northern Regional Tourism Co-coordinator Veronica Milimo said Museums were social institutions that reflected and conveyed what was happening in society.

Mrs Milimo said there was need to increase the value of the heritage of people as it defined a base of cultural knowledge of a particular people.

She further appealed to government to increase the quality and value of museums country wide.

Zambia today joined the rest of the world in commemorating the international Museums Day which falls on 18th May every year.

ZANIS/PC/CMM/MKM/ENDS.

The Zambia Institute of Business Studies and Industrial Practice (ZIBSIP) students today carried out a peaceful demonstration over the delay in the release of the December examination results.

ZIBSIP Students’ Union president elect Innocent Mulenga told ZANIS that students were protesting against management’s failure to release results for students pursuing Diploma in Business Administration (DBA), which were due in February.

Mr Mulenga said the normal duration of release of results was two months after the last day of completion of the examinations.
He disclosed that students had not been given their results five months after completing their examinations.

He said it was difficult for students to prepare for the end of June examination as they did not know how they performed in the previous examination.

“Students are psychologically defeated, there is no morale to study for the next examinations in June as they do not know where they stand and what they are studying for as the results for last semester’s examinations have not been published,” he said.

And Students Union outgoing Secretary General, Arthur Matefeya said management has not been very open in addressing the concerns of the affected students .

He said there was poor communication from management to the students on the release of the results despite constant follow ups by the Students’ Union representatives.

Meanwhile ZIBSIP Training Manager, Francis Bwalya attributed the delay in the release of results to administrative problems at the Copperbelt University (CBU) who are the examining body of the DBA programme.

Mr Bwalya told ZANIS that the Institute was only involved in the training part of the programme while CBU prepares the examinations and publishes the results.

He confirmed that the results of DBA for the institution were supposed to have been released at the end of February but were not yet made available.

Mr Bwalya also disclosed that CBU management had indicated that they would release the results on the 15th of May as they were finalising the process but had not yet availed them to the institution.

He was hopeful that the matter would be resolved as soon as possible so that normal learning could resume at the institution.

ZANIS/SZ/MKM/ENDS