Mansa Acting District Commissioner Charles Makwaya has bemoaned the excessive alcohol consumption in the district especially by youths.
Mr. Makwaya said alcohol consumption was retarding development in the district because people were continuously drinking beer instead of engaging themselves in productive activities.

He said beer drinking was also rife amongst the adolescents, posing a great danger to their lives and future as they could not go to school.
Mr. Makwaya was speaking when he officiated at an HIV/AIDS Alcohol Research Findings Dissemination Workshop by Health Communication Partnership (HCP) in Mansa.

The DC said there was need for people especially the youths to make positive life choices that would contribute to their improved livelihoods in the district instead of constantly engaging themselves in beer drinking.

Mr. Makwaya noted that the excessive beer consumption had resulted in increased HIV/AIDS prevalence levels in the district , which has increased from from 11 percent last year to 14 percent this year.
He said excessive alcohol intake in the district had exposed people to risky sexual encounters resulting in the further spread of HIV/AIDS.
“It is sad that we are spending more time drinking when we can shift that time to fighting poverty and HIV/AIDS which are our main enemies today,” Mr. Makwaya said.

Luapula Province HCP Programs Officer, Steven Filumba said there was need for strengthened partnership amongst all stakeholders to mitigate excessive beer drinking and thus reduce HIV/AIDS risky behaviors in the community.
Mr. Filumba called for enhanced enforcement of the law to regulate alcohol abuses among youths.
“We need the law to be enforced starting from the issuance of liquor licenses to routine monitoring of these beer outlets to ensure that they adhere to the law in terms of age limit and operational time,” Mr. Filumba said.
He noted that the local leadership needed to be involved in community mobilization for action on health and other social issues that come with excessive alcohol consumption.

HCP recently conducted a research in Chongwe district to learn about the factors that influenced alcohol consumption and the effects alcohol had on sexual risk-taking which resulted in spreading and contracting of HIV/AIDS.

The research recommended interventions to reduce Zambians’ vulnerability to excessive alcohol consumption and its consequences in health, social and economic spheres.
The report which was disseminated to stakeholders in Mansa over the weekend recommended that government needed to strengthen the capacity of the law officials to enforce the laws and regulations on liquor.
ZANIS/CB/MKM/ENDS

A seven year old boy in Choma district has lost his sight after his angry step mother allegedly flung at him .

The named boy had his left eye brutally severed as a result.

His grandfather, Workson Sifutata, confirmed in an interview with ZANIS in Choma yesterday.

Mr. Sifutata said his grandson of Mwapona compound was allegedly brutally assaulted by his step mother while he was asleep in the house during the day.

He said the the boy was born in a polygamous marriage.

Sifutata explained that the boy’s biological mother was selling at the market at the time of the incident.

He said the assailant allegedly used a stone to injure her step child.

Mr. Sifutata said his grandson, Maurice, was admitted to Choma general hospital where authorities discovered that the left eye had been completely damaged in the assault.

He said the matter had been reported to police and the suspect had been arrested but released on police bond.

Mr. Sifutata said police had since referred the matter to the Victim
Support Unit but expressed worry at the pace at which the matter was being handled given that the boy had permanently lost his sight in the left eye.

He said he wants justice done because nobody was above the law especially that violence was perpetrated against an innocent minor.

The victim’s mother, Theresa Nafutata, 30, told ZANIS she believed
the first wife allegedly assaulted his son to avenge over their
differences in the polygamous marriage.

But police officer in charge, Victor Mateyo, told ZANIS in Choma that he was not aware of the report and promised to investigate.”I am not aware of this matter. I will get back to you,” he said.

However, a police medical report signed by doctors at Choma general
hospital availed to ZANIS indicated that Maurice had permanently lost his left eye in the assault.

“The eye is completely damaged. No sight,” reads the report in part.

ZANIS/CM/Ends/MM.

A former MMD councillor in Choma, says President
Rupiah Banda should be given ample time to manage government and the ruling party’s
affairs.

Ms Tunia Mpamba told ZANIS today that it is unfair for some sections of society
to criticize President Banda when he has been in office only for a short time.

She said the period that Mr Banda has been in office is too short
to attract criticisms she said are based on political rivalry.

She said President Banda needs the support from all Zambians in order for his
government to continue with late President Mwanawasa’s legacy of new deal governance.

She noted with concern at the ongoing mudslinging in which President Banda
was being unfairly criticized especially over what is going on in the
country’s economy resulting from the global economic meltdown.

Ms Mpamba said what is even worrying is that this criticism is coming from
the old folk who are supposed to support president Banda as he leads the
nation.

He has urged Choma residents to give President Banda’s government the
needed support.

The President has undergone scathing attacks by his political foes within
the MMD party and the opposition with the latest being some prominent figures
in the ruling Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) who have since been suspended.
ZANIS/CM/Ends/MM