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Anti Aids activists displaying placards during a walk to commemorate the World AIDS Day in Lusaka
Zambia today, joined the rest of the world in commemorating the world AIDS day.
Various activities took place throughout the country. In Kitwe celebrations were held at the Freedom Park to commemorate this years World AIDS day under the theme Leaders Keep the Promise to Stop AIDS. Copperbelt minister Mwansa Mbulakulima took a swipe at some civic organisations abusing financial and material resources from donors meant to address the plight of people living with HIV AIDS. Kitwe Mayor Councillor Divo Katete called on the Local Authority to come up with measures that would compel Councils to punish Bar owners who allow minors to patronises their drinking places.
Councillor Katete said the youths in Kitwe were at a higher risk of contracting HIV AIDS due to non restrictions on the age limit.
An HIV educationist demonstrates how to use a condom during commemoration of the World AIDS Day in Lusaka yesterday
He said most of the drinking places in Kitwe were mostly patronised by the Youths hence the need to come up with a law that would punish all those that allow minors to patronise bars.
In lusaka, people from all walks of life matched from the University of Zambia great East road campus to Mulungushi International Conference Centre where activities to commemorate the day took place.
Addressing the gathering at Mulungushi International Conference Center Health Minister, Kapembwa Simbao, said Zambia has made significant progress in the fight against the pandemic.
Mr. Simbao said currently 2-hundred thousand people are on anti- retroviral treatment.
Children listening to speeches during the commemoration of the World AIDS Day at Lusaka
In Serenje a woman living with HIV/AIDS called on men to encourage their wives to go for voluntary counseling and testing (VCT), to curb the spread of the epidemic in homes.
Speaking to ZANIS in an interview during the worlds Aids Day candle lighting memorial service at the United Church of Zambia (UCZ) in Serenje last evening, Ireen Nakamba said that it was important for husbands to encourage thier spouses to know their HIV status.
Ms. Nawakwi who narrated what she went through before discovering her HIV status, said most married women were at risk because they did not know their HIV status.
She said also encouraged people living with HIV/AIDS to adhere to the advise being given by different care givers to prolong their lives.
(By Olivia Coles) Aggie Mahule (left) carrying out a circumcision at the New Start clinic
In Zambia, an experiment in the battle with HIV/Aids is producing staggering results. If this were a vaccine trial, the medical world would be hailing it as a miracle. But instead of a wonder drug, the secret weapon is circumcision. Jeremy Laurance reports
After weeks of waiting, Michael Phiri decided to take matters into his own hands. The 16-year-old from George Compound, a township outside Lusaka, was so anxious to be rid of his foreskin, and so frustrated after being turned away from the circumcision clinic at local hospital for the third time, that he took a bread knife and did the job himself. The resulting bloody mess had one positive outcome; it sent him straight to the top of the queue for surgery, and he got his operation performed, as an emergency, by the urology specialist Kasonde Bowa.
“He had made a good start, with a dorsal cut as far as the rim of the glans, but things had got difficult from there,” a smiling Dr Bowa says, with admirable understatement.
As Zambia’s leading expert on circumcision, Bowa tells this story (the patient’s name has been changed) to illustrate the soaring demand for the procedure that is sweeping Lusaka and other towns across sub-Saharan Africa, as word spreads of its remarkable preventive power. After 25 years of research and the expenditure of billions of pounds, it turns out that the oldest surgical operation in the world, performed since antiquity, is the best defence we have against HIV/Aids.
In crisp shirt and tie, despite the sweltering heat, Bowa tells me of the benefits of circumcision. We’re standing outside his cluttered office at the University Hospital, where the exotic flamboyant trees that pepper this sprawling city shed their vermilion blooms on to the patients waiting in the shade below.
Bowa started Zambia’s first pilot project offering circumcision as a defence against HIV in 2004. It was soon overwhelmed. “We were operating three afternoons a week but had such high demand that we were unable to cope. We needed more space and more staff.”
(By Olivia Coles) Luka Sakwimba (left) and Steve Gesuale run the New Start circumcision clinic ithe Zambian capital
The simple act of removing a man’s foreskin reduces his risk of contracting HIV by about 60 per cent. The reason is that the moist underside of the foreskin is thickly supplied with Langerhans cells, a key route for entry of the virus into the body. Langerhans cells are also present in the glans (head) of the penis, but after circumcision the skin of the glans becomes drier and thicker, denying the virus an easy point of entry.
The medical evidence, from a series of studies, of the protective effect of circumcision has been growing for two decades, but it is only since publication of three randomised trials in Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa in late 2006 that the global health community started to act. The trials were stopped early and all 10,000 men involved offered circumcision when initial findings showed that the protective effect was so great that it would have been unethical to continue.
In March 2007, the World Health Organisation and UNAids gave their official backing to circumcision and called on countries to offer it to all heterosexual men. Kevin de Cock, head of the WHO’s Aids department, described it as “an extraordinary development”, adding: “Circumcision is the most potent intervention in HIV prevention that has been described.”
Circumcision, if rolled out across the continent, offers the first real prospect of saving lives by preventing infection on a significant scale. Estimates suggest that if universal circumcision were introduced across sub-Saharan Africa, it could prevent 300,000 deaths in the next 10 years and three million deaths over the next 20 years. It is sometimes described as a “surgical vaccine” – with good reason.
Zambia has been among the first to offer the operation and pilot new services, and other countries are following its lead. Yet, globally, only 1 per cent of total Aids funding is earmarked for male circumcision. Progress towards delivering the single most effective preventive measure yet discovered against the pandemic is agonisingly slow.
Across the road from Bowa’s office, what is believed to be the world’s first dedicated circumcision clinic outside a hospital or research programme is doing brisk business. Launched last year by the international charity the Society for Family Health, following Bowa’s lead, the New Start centre is sited in an anonymous, dusty building behind the YWCA. Its appearance gives no hint of the pioneering work carried out within. This is deliberate; the charity fears that the service would be besieged if it were more widely advertised.
As I watch, John Banda, a shopkeeper, aged 29, climbs on to the table in one of the three operating rooms, clutching his green surgical gown and grimacing at the ceiling as Aggie Mahule, one of half a dozen nurses and clinical officers given two weeks’ training to carry out the procedure, injects local anaesthetic into the base of his penis. “Relax and feel at home,” says Aggie kindly as she swabs the surgical area with disinfecting iodine. John, fearful of the pain and, possibly, for his manhood, makes no response.
Next door in the “recovery” room, Richard Chimuka, 31, a computer trainee wearing a black designer shirt and low-slung jeans, sits with his legs apart, looking relaxed and pleased that, for him, the operation is over. The surgery was over in 12 minutes – and no, it wasn’t painful, he says. Does it bother him that the operation was performed by two women? “Actually, I felt excited about it – like putting my painting in a gallery,” came the smooth reply.
It’s not difficult to persuade Zambians of the virtues of circumcision. It is already practised traditionally by the Luvale and certain other tribes in the North-Western Province, where the HIV rate is half that in the rest of the country (6.9 per cent of the population in the region is infected, compared with 14.3 per cent for the country as a whole). In Lusaka, one in five of the adult population is infected (20.8 per cent), one of the highest rates in the world. Surveys have shown wide acceptance of the procedure and increasing interest among parents wanting the operation for their children.
More than 1,500 men have had the operation since the New Start clinic opened in August 2007, and more have been circumcised by mobile surgical teams that visit hospitals in Kafue and Kabulonga, an hour’s drive from the city. This is good for them, but in the context of the country’s epidemic – 100,000 new infections a year – it is like using a water pistol against a forest fire.
“It is the most important defence against the disease that we have,” says Mannasseh Phiri, a GP and Zambia’s best-known Aids activist. “The trials have shown that it really does work, it is relatively easy to do and it is a lot cheaper than putting people on drug treatment.”
Jeffrey Stringer, director of the Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Lusaka, which is piloting a neo-natal circumcision service, tells me: “If we had a vaccine as effective as this, we would be jumping up and down in the streets. A 60 per cent protective effect is fantastic. It is one of the most effective preventive strategies we have.” Yet, as Steve Gesuale, head of the circumcision project at the Society for Family Health, points out, there is “very little funding from donors, very little government support and very little going on”.
Why? Official backing from WHO and UNAids has not been enough to persuade governments and donors to put their money and resources behind circumcision – yet. Richard Harrison, the director of the Society of Family Health, says the reason is fear. “There is always a sense of jeopardy around big decisions, especially when they involve sex. You only have to remember the row over condoms 20 years ago. By endorsing circumcision publicly, the Zambian government would be exposing itself to criticism, especially from religious groups who are incredibly powerful. The government is not going to shout its support from the podium – it prefers to give it tacitly.”
There is also the difficulty that an HIV/Aids prevention strategy is all about the future, because it takes at least a decade for the benefits to be felt, while treatment is about the here and now. “It is very difficult to get people to concentrate on something that is 10 years away,” he says.
In Zambia, despite the lack of public support, the message about the benefits of the operation is reaching all levels of society. In Garden Compound, the densely crowded township close to the centre of Lusaka, the tiny Viro Clinic – “We prolong and save” reads the legend above the door – displays a poster in the window advertising male circumcision. Outside, the faded red and blue plasterwork is crumbling. Inside, the three cramped rooms contain a pot plant reaching almost to the roof, an examination couch doubling as the operating table, and a small fridge. Beside it, on a table, a teddy bear is propped against a broken clock, along with red plastic roses.
Violet, the smiling receptionist, says demand for circumcisions has increased. “There are more in the winter [June and July] and in the evenings and early mornings when it is cooler. The wound heals better,” she says.
Interest in circumcision has spread beyond the capital, to the country’s vast hinterland, according to Karen Sichinga, chief executive of the powerful Churches Health Association of Zambia, which runs one-third of all Zambia’s hospitals, mainly in rural areas. “The demand is increasing in our mission health facilities,” she says.
For Sichinga, the operation does not carry the moral dilemmas involved in handing out condoms or preaching abstinence, an important factor for a faith-based charity. But she, like some others, is cautious of treating it as the silver bullet, the “answer” to Aids that has been so desperately sought for so long.
“Science has proved that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages,” she said. “But you have to work hard to persuade people. Over 90 per cent of Zambia is Christian, not Islamic.”
Critics fear that circumcision will encourage men to think they are immune and to ignore safe-sex advice, so increasing risks. Evidence from the trials in Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa showed no change in sexual behaviour following circumcision – and at the Society for Family Health’s New Start clinic in Lusaka, men are repeatedly warned each time they return for a check-up that they are not completely protected and need to continue practising safe sex.
There are also fears that men will not wait for the wound to heal – six weeks is the recommended period of total abstinence, from intercourse and masturbation. Sex during this period could be dangerous as the wound is an the ideal pathway for HIV transmission. Men are warned of the dangers and there is no sign they are returning to sex too early.
A third objection is that the operation benefits men but not women. This has angered groups concerned about equal rights. But a reduction of HIV prevalence among men will indirectly benefit women. Estimates suggest that male circumcision has the potential to save more women’s lives than any other preventive measure.
At the Society for Family Health’s clinic, men are offered an HIV test before the operation, and more than 80 per cent accept the offer. Calls for the test to be made mandatory have been rejected because of concern that it could deter people from seeking the surgery.
Some experts warn that circumcision must only be offered with counselling and HIV testing. Others say quantity is what counts and services should be established on a factory model.
The INDEPENDENT
ZAMBIA under 20 this afternoon takes on at the on-going Cosafa Youth Championship at De Beers Stadium, Kimberley in a match that may decide who progresses to the last four.Kick off is at 15:00hrs
Starting line ups for the teams:
Zambia: William Chibale, Collins Chipili,Derrick Mwansa, Boyd Chipeta, Jimmy Chisenga, Michael Katongo, Miguel Zulu,Morgan Kaoma, Kasongom Mwepya, Nathan Sinkala, Henry Banda.
South Africa: Boalefa Pule, Thulani Hlatshwayo, Sibusiso Mxoyana, Ramahlwe Mphahalele, Michael Morton, Philane Khwela, Thulane Serero, Masibusane Zongo, Kamohelo Mokotjo, Mandla Masango, Phumelele Bhengu
Referee: Abdoul Ohabee Kanoso (Madagascar)
Substitutes:
Zambia: Kennedy Mumba, Musheke, John Chingandu,Arthur Shiliya, Musonda Munaile, Innocent Mwaba Saint Nkhoma
South Africa: Thato Haraba, Thato Ferland, Collen Zulu, Smart Mapidima, Mpho Mvelase, George maluleka, Nkane Zwane, Masy Mahlangu
Match Updates
2nd Minute South Africa 1-0 Zambia Scorer: Masibusane Zongo 9th Minute: Scores still 1-0. South Africa’s Thulane Serero shown a yellow car ( Correction) 39th minute: Yellow card to Henry Banda. Second card of the tournament. Scores still 1-0 to SA
Half-Time: Sores: South Africa 1 – 0 Zambia
64th Minute:GOAL South Africa 2-0 Zambia Scorer Mandla Masango 69th Minute:Substitution for Zambia Saint Nkhoma comes in for Morgan Kaoma 89th Minute:RED CARD Zambia’s Saint Nkhoma sent off
MARKETEERS at Choma’s main Makalanguzu market have said calls by the Patriotic Front for countrywide non-violent protests over mealie-meal prices are ill-conceived and unjustified.
Market chairperson, Charles Siazilo, told ZANIS in Choma today that marketers are not in favour of PF’s move and will not support any political party agitating for protests over the sky rocketing price of mealie meal.
He said marketers are aware that PF has a hidden motive for calling for protests adding the issue of mealie meal prices is merely being used as a scapegoat to destabilize the MMD government.
Mr Siazilo said it is surprising that the Patriotic Front could think of protests when all avenues of dialogue with government have not been exhausted.
He said PF should realize that Zambians are wise enough to know that what is happening in the country is reflective of the global economic situation as Zambia is not immune to the financial crunch.
Mr Siazilo said politicians should exercise maturity and avoid inciting people to resort to violent means to resolve issues of national concern.
He said the issue of protests is a non starter in Choma as the people in the area do not like violence.
President Rupiah Banda has paid tribute to India for supporting Zambia in spheres of economic, political and social development.
President Banda said India has made rapid but decisive strides towards technological, economic and social development in the last ten years.
He said Zambia has since benefited from these advancements which India has scored in the last decade.
He was speaking at State House today when he received letters of credence from the Indian High Commissioner Designate to Zambia, Ashok Kumar, who is taking over from River Wallang.
Mr. Banda India has been practical in implementing programmes of cooperation aimed at benefiting the two countries and their peoples.
“We also pay tribute to India for her leading role as a model and torch bearer among developing countries in the promotion of democracy and rule of law,” he said.
President Banda said the two countries have been, from time in memorial, enjoying warm and cordial relations which are based on a firm foundation of common values and aspirations.
He pointed out that India provided material and moral support to Zambia during her struggle for independence.
“Many of Zambia’s founding fathers who were trained in India got a lot of encouragement from the teaching of that illustrious son of the soil, Mahatma Gandhi, on peaceful resistance to foreign domination,” he said.
Mr. Banda added that such values which were inculcated into Zambia’s founding fathers have remained the country’s foundation of resolving conflicts in a peaceful manner.
The President has since pledged continued consultation with India in finding solutions to political and economic challenges facing the world at present.
He noted that the two countries would use both bilateral and multilateral for a in seeking the implementation of their common views such as the reform of the United Nations, protection of the environment and respect for human rights.
“Our two countries stand shoulder to shoulder in calling for the new world order with justice and equality for all,” he said.
President Banda has wished Mr. Kumar a successful stay in Zambia but challenged him to apply himself in advancing the existing relations between the countries for a mutual benefit.
And Mr. Kumar said he was happy to have been accredited to Zambia by Indian President.
President Rupiah Banda and First Lady Thandiwe during the interfaith candle-light service in Lusaka
President Rupiah Banda has called for concerted and accelerated efforts towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.
Mr. Banda said it is through prevention, treatment, care and support that the country can reverse the pandemic and reduce its impact.
The President was speaking in Lusaka at the Interfaith Candlelight memorial Service for the World AIDS Day at the Cathedral of the Child Jesus.
He said the HIV and AIDS epidemic posses one of the greatest challenges of the time with an estimated national HIV prevalence rate of 14.3 among adults aged between 15 to 49 years old.
He noted that Zambia still remains one of the countries worst affected by the pandemic in the region.
Mr. Banda however said government and its cooperating partners has recorded huge gains in reversing the tide of the pandemic and in mitigating its adverse.
He explained that the estimated 14.3 percent national prevalence rate represents a 2 percent reduction in HIV and AIDS prevalence between 2001/2002 and 2007.
He revealed that about 200,000 people in need of Anti Retroviral Treatment are now accessing treatment while the levels of stigmatization and discrimination associated with the pandemic has also begun to slow down.
The President however emphasized that the struggle against HIV and AIDS is far from being won saying there is still need to intensify the prevention of further infections.
He assured that his government, the National Aids Council and government’s cooperating partners will utilise all the available resources to halt the spread of HIV and AIDS.
Zambia Interfaith Network Group on HIV/AIDS-ZINGO Board of Trustees, Suzanne Matale said there is need for every one to look at HIV and AIDS as their problem.
Reverend Matale also said there is need to embrace and encourage each other if the fight against the
FATHER Steven Mwewa Kapita (seond from right) welcomes President Rupiah Banda for interfaith candle-light memorial service in Lusaka
pandemic is to be won.
She assured those living with the pandemic that they were not alone but that God loved them.
Earlier National AIDS Council-NAC of Chairperson Bishop Joshua Banda called for clarity on HIV and AIDS prevention messages.
Bishop Banda said there was need to identify correct ways of delivering prevention messages especially to young people who still have problems comprehending prevention messages.
He challenged Faith Based Organizations to work closely with NAC to provide further guidance to young people and to refine preventive messages.
Meanwhile, Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS-NZP+ Vice Chairperson, Alfred Kwenda called upon government to pay attention to children living with the virus.
Mr. Kwenda said the country has so far done well in reducing the spread of HIV and AIDS but that there was need to reduce on distance to accessing treatment and to provide treatment to all children living with the virus.
He said the number of people going for Voluntary Counseling and Testing has increased but that it was important for government to provide the services every where in the country.
Dr Chiluba talking to journalists before he went for medical review in South Africa
SECOND Republican president Frederick Chiluba has advised Zambians against resorting to violence whenever they are aggrieved.
Speaking to Journalists at the Lusaka International Airport before leaving for South Africa for his scheduled medical review yesterday, Dr Chiluba said violence did not pay and that politics was about accommodating divergent views.
He said Zambia, which had been praised by a lot of people, was among the first countries to start the democratisation process and that in a democratic country, peace must prevail.
Dr Chiluba said democracy was about the freedom of speech and the freedom to belong to any political party and that insults or being physical was not part of democracy.
“Violence does not pay and democracy does not require being physical, politics of democracy is politics
Dr Chiluba bows down for a prayer before he left for South Africa for medical review. This was at Lusaka international airport
of disagreements and you cannot be unified in everything,” he said.
Dr Chiluba advised Zambians to understand the global economic recession.
He said the situation did not start with Zambia alone but had affected big economies such as the United States America and Germany.
“If America and Germany have been hit so hard, banks have been subsidised and there are job losses, certainly Zambia whose economy is tiny, shall be affected and people should understand,” said Dr Chiluba
On reported claims by Patriotic Front president Michael Sata that he was to blame for his defeat in the October 30 presidential election, Dr Chiluba said Mr Sata was his brother and had no quarrels with him.
Dr Chiluba praised late president Levy Mwanawasa and President Rupiah Banda for reaffirming the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation.
He said when he declared the country a Christian nation, a lot of people thought it was a political gimmick, but that the declaration was fundamental and that the country was on solid ground.
Dr Chiluba waiting for a boarding call before he went for medical review in South Africa
Dr Chiluba said one did not become a born again Christian by works alone but by declarations.
He explained that when he was first evacuated to South Africa two years ago, the cardiologist had little or no hope of him surviving but that the Lord had been kind to him and was recovering well.
Dr Chiluba said he had struggled between hospital and attending to court proceedings where he is facing charges of theft and that the Lord had not deserted him.
The former president, who thanked Zambians and doctors that had attended to him, urged people to repent and turn away from their sins.
He said love and mercy should always endure among Zambians.
Dr Chiluba is accompanied to South Africa by his wife Regina, his spokesperson Emmanuel Mwamba, Physician Justin Kangwa and security officers.
The Zambia national team this afternoon beat Angola by 1-0 in their quest to qualify for the inaugural CAF African Cup of Nations which will be held in Ivory Coast. Zambia scored the only goal of the match through Given Singuluma in the 26th minute.
The return leg will be played in at Konkola stadium in Chililabombwe on 13th December.
Opposition Patriotic Front (PF) has been advised to identify and understand the root cause of the high mealie-meal prices before thinking of taking to the streets in protest.
The counsel is from Youths and Students for Rupiah Banda National Chairman Emmanuel Tembo who is also former UNZASU president.
Mr. Tembo told ZANIS in an interview that the PF should understand that the escalating mealie meal prices have not been caused by government as the whole world is
undergoing a financial crisis and Zambia, like all other countries, has not been spared.
Mr. Tembo was reacting to a statement in the press where the PF on the Copperbelt has applied to hold non-violent protests simultaneously in all towns against high mealie-meal prices, among other things.
He charged that the opposition political party is trying to gain political mileage out of an issue which government is working tirelessly to address.
He said government has assured the people of Zambia that they will look into the matter with a sense of urgency.
Mr. Tembo also urged the PF to practice within the party by subjecting the party leadership to a convention as the party has never been to a convention since its inception in 2001.
He has since urged Zambians to give full support to President Banda and his government to focus on the developmental issues for the eradication of poverty in the country.
LAZ vice president Steven Lungu with HIVAIDS consultant Nkandu Luo during the launch of the HIV workplace policy in Lusaka
A Lusaka HIV and AIDS activist Nkandu Luo has challenged the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) to embark on legal reforms on HIV and AIDS in an effort to address the issue of alcohol abuse and gender violence among others.
Professor Luo said alcohol abuse was issue that to contracting HIV and AIDS and the sad thing was its abused in bars and taverns by juveniles.
She said this on Friday in Lusaka during the launch of the LAZ HIV and AIDS workplace policy where urged LAZ show Zambians what she called, “art of Implementation” of policies.
“One source of HIV is alcohol and abuse of it by young people who always drinking in bars and taverns everyday. I challenge you LAZ to embark on a legal reform to refrain such people to drinking as know what alcohol can do to people,” she said.
She said the epidemic was a health issue which affected other human developments hence, the need for lawyers to look at laws which deal with alcohol abuse and gender violence how they could link the two to the disease.
She said the country was one of the seven most affected countries in Africa with a 14 per cent HIV prevalence rate following reduction of 1.3 per cent HIV prevalence rate in eight years.
Prof Luo said Zambia could do more to reduce the prevalence rate to single digit figure if learnt the art of implementing many policies it was formulating.
However, she said it was gratifying to see LAZ coming on board to fight the epidemic which had raged communities and professionals from sectors in the past 20 years.
She was optimistic with lawyers on board; the goal of making the country a free HIV incidence could be possible.
She warned LAZ against putting the document after being launched on shelves instead time to implement was now if the fight against the epidemic was to be won.
Earlier, LAZ vice-president Stephen Lungu said the disease in the last 20 years had taught them many lessons of fighting it and was happy the disease could be reduced.
Mr Lungu said the launch of policy would help the Association to create awareness of the epidemic amongst its members and staff and that of immediate families.
“We also provide our members with information and tools to help them make informed decisions regarding the prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS and related sexually transmitted and opportunistic infections,” he said.
He reminded all the members and staff that each one of them had a responsibility to ensure the policy did not become a monumental item for the shelves and drawers in their offices instead it being read and used always.
Just the other day as I passed on Independence Avenue before the fly over bridge headed into town, I saw workers digging a diversion for the huge puddle of water that accumulates yearly on that part of town. The question that always goes in my mind when I see such things is– why does the local government have to wait for the rains to come to take action? Don’t they know that at this time of the year it rains in Lusaka and that Independence Avenue floods around Kamwala?
It is such incompetence, lack of planning and direction of our leaders that perpetually drags our country steps backwards. What is actually shocking is that there is money available for such repairs on major city roads. However, the bureaucracy in local governments and their backward thinking continue to jeopardize the lives of many Zambians who use these roads. Don’t you know that it is costly for us as a nation to continue losing innocent lives as a result of poor roads in Lusaka? It is costly for us as a nation when motorists spend more time on the road than on work. It is costly for us as a nation when motorists have to take their vehicles to the garage before they get to the office.
On the other hand, however, we the Lusakans are to blame for negligence that is continuously exhibited by the local authorities since we all behave the same. I see this phenomenon all over the city. Despite the fact that the rains came very late this year, we waited until it actually started raining to fill the potholes in front of our yards. No wonder it is difficult for us to take the local authorities to task because we actually don’t see anything wrong. We need to inculcate a planning culture in all of us. We need to look at the calendar remember our geography lessons about seasons and plan accordingly. You never know we could teach the local government something when they see us working on our roads and yards in September?
By the way, have the local government ever thought about curbing the increasingly traffic problems that the City of Lusaka is facing? In some of the cities I lived in the United States, I noticed that the local government was always proactive in planning and implementing programs to solve future traffic problems. They had projections on the population growth as a result they also developed more housing and roads. Sometimes they developed projects that deliberately diverted traffic from using certain roads so as to reduce traffic. These projects were ten or fifteen year forecasts. They were always many years ahead. Now that’s what planning is. Can our local government in Lusaka learn from this? Absolutely!
Since our local government is so busy with other things—who knows what? I hereby give my services to them. I will highlight a few suggestions for them that I think they should undertake. This will not only save lives of many Lusakans but also make more money for the city.
1. Rush Hour Tolls on Independence, Church, and Great East Roads: With tolls introduced on these roads during rush hours it will see the reduction of vehicles using them. With a fee of say K20,000 per car ( Install paying booths around the fly over bridges towards town) how much money can the authorities raise in a year do the math?
2. Introduce and Encourage Motorcycles and bicycles: This will significantly reduce traffic, fuel costs, and good for our environment. Who says we can’t go green in Africa?
3. Make the railway line to Chilenje a Pavement: This means people can walk, jog, and cycle to town which will create less congestion on the main roads— no motorized vehicles.
4. Connect the Chilanga to Lusaka International Airport with a Toll Expressway: This will mean you do not have to go through the city to go north, east or west. Plus heavy goods vehicles can use this.
These ideas will definitely put a new face to the city and we are all bound to smile. The question though is whether our authorities are capable of coming up with such ideas or better let alone implement them? What do you think readers? Any other ideas?
“I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close” (Revelation 3:8, NLT).
Today’s Word from Joel and Victoria
God is ready to present you with new opportunities. He wants to open new doors before you. It doesn’t matter what’s happening in the world around you, in the economy, the housing industry, or with job reports; God’s Word still remains true. He rewards the people who seek after Him. He’s not the least bit concerned about how He’s going to supply your needs. There is no recession in heaven. He has His eye on you, and He still opens doors that no one can shut! In an instant, He can bring the right people into your life, the right opportunities, and the right resources to take you to a new level.
But in order to go to a higher level, you have to have a higher way of thinking. You can’t stay focused on what’s happening in the natural nor allow worry and fear to fill your thoughts. Remember, God’s ways are higher than our ways. He is working on your behalf behind the scenes in the supernatural realm. Choose to keep an attitude of faith and expectancy. As you do, you’ll move forward through the open doors of blessing God has prepared for you.
A Prayer for Today
Father in heaven, I bless Your holy name. Thank You for opening doors for me that no one can close. Fill me with Your peace and joy today as I wait on You. In Jesus’ Name Amen.
National Group for Emerging Leaders has challenged government to allow young people to get involved in the running of the country by appointing youths into government.
Organization Secretary General Stembridge Mwangala says young people have for a long time been struggling to get recognition by government.
Briefing the press in Lusaka today, Mr. Mwangala said young people should be given chance to participate in national affairs.
He pointed out that young people need to be incorporate into leadership and groomed to take up leadership.
Mr. Mwangala said it is worrying that young people are being discriminated against in terms of leadership.
He said they are many young people with the capacity to hold influential positions in government.
Mr. Mwangala noted that young people are facing many social challenges that include the ravages of HIV/AIDS and unemployment.
He questioned how long young people should wait before they are given chance to participate in national affairs.
And government says it is committed to supporting young people to become agents of positive change.
Sports, Youth and Child Development Deputy Minister Dr. Christopher Kalila says this is why the ministry of sports, youth and child development has placed the youth at the centre of all its work.
He added that there is need for youths to be proactive participants in shaping their future and that of the country.
Dr. Kalila was speaking when he officiated at the Dance For Life ceremony in Lusaka today.
Speaking earlier, Students Partnership World Zambia Country Director John Kalage said Dance for Life initiative aims at bringing HIV and AIDS education to young people through music and dance, inspiring them to take action to push back the epidemic.
Mr. Kalage said young people account for almost 45 percent of all new HIV infections with an estimated 5.5million young people living with HIV today.
He added that Students Partnership World Zambia recognizes then value of protecting our young people by imparting them with life skills.
And Zain Zambia Public Relations and Corporate Affairs Manager Kennedy Mambwe said Zain was happy to be part of the Dance for Life initiative that brings together youths in 19 countries worldwide via satellite to celebrate the achievements of young people in pushing back HIV and AIDS.
He said youths form part of that group of people with plenty of potential that should be harnessed for the development of our continent.
Eastern Province Deputy Permanent Secretary Euralia Syamujaye says HIV and AIDS has remained an issue of grave concern in communities and at work places.
Mrs. Syamujaye says government departments have not been spared by the HIV/AIDS pandemic hence the need for concerted efforts from all government departments to mitigate the scourge.
She was speaking at the Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) management course for government departments held at Crystal Springs Hotel in Chipata today.
Mrs. Syamujaye said the participants should be serious crusaders against the spread of the pandemic in a bid to lower the prevalence of the disease.
She however, lamented that some people have a tendency of attending workshops without implementing what they have learned.
“When you go back to the offices you must be professionals in dealing with HIV and AIDS issues at your work places and also in communities so that together you disseminate information which will assist the people,” she added.
Mrs. Syamujaye said all the departments that were represented at the workshop had a very important role to play hence the need for them to be committed towards the fight against HIV/AIDS.
And speaking earlier, Provincial AIDS Coordination Advisor Emmanuel Chama said 64 people from government line ministries will be trained on ART from all the eight districts in the region.
Mr. Chama said eight people from each district would be trained and challenged participants to role out the programme for the benefit of communities and workmates.
The departments in attendance were Health, Education, Office of the President and Works and Supply.
Others departments were Police, Prisons, Culture and Zambia News and Information Services.
HIV/AIDS threatens productivity, profitability and the welfare of employees and their families. Workplace HIV/AIDS policies and programmes can play a vital role in raising awareness around HIV, preventing HIV infection and caring for people living with HIV.
The Zambia Institute of Purchasing and Supply has pledged to scale up the fight against corruption among its members in line with government’s policy of zero tolerance to corruption.
Zambia Institute of Purchasing and Supply Kitwe chapter chairman Heggie Kalangwa however notes that the fight against corruption in relation to the purchase and supply of goods and services would only be won if both the public and private sectors employed qualified people accredited to the Zambia Institute of Purchasing and Supply.
Mr. Kalangwa was speaking in Kitwe last evening at a dinner dance hosted by the institute at hotel Edinburgh.
He said the institution would continue making the procurement and supply management profession in Zambia as a vehicle and tool for economic prosperity through prudent procurement and supply.
Mr. Kalangwa told the diners that his institution has also come up with a deliberate programme of sensitizing members on the dangers of HIV and AIDS in all its forums.
Government has assured the nation that remains steadfast to virtues of good governance and combating corruption as the vice has devastating effects on any nation’s development prospects due to the cost to the nation of corrupt practices.
Zambia is on record that it condemns all forms of corruption as it only serves to benefit those with selfish interests at the expense of the many who are wallowing in poverty.
ENDS/PK/AM/ZANIS
