The United Kingdom Minister for Africa Vicky Ford has applauded the Zambian government for fully implementing the free education policy to enhance access to education for vulnerable children in country.

Ms. Ford says access to education has accorded children an opportunity to fulfill their potential and develop their abilities.

She says her government will for this reason support Zambia’s implementation of her free education policy to enhance access to quality education for children especially the girl-child.

Ms. Ford , who is on a familiarization tour of schools in the country, stated that United Kingdom is also working with government to construct secondary schools in areas which are underserved.

She said this when she addressed pupils and various stakeholders at Mulola primary school in Chongwe district which she visited to assess the challenges being experienced by girls at the school.

Mulola primary school becomes the 100th school supported by the British council’s climate connection program aimed enabling school going children to take action against climate change issues.

And Education Minister Douglas Siakalima who accompanied Ms. Ford and her delegation implored parents in the Chongwe to stop marrying off their female children at an early age as adding that the practice is detrimental to the lives of girls.

Mr. Siakalima said the girl child should be encouraged to get educated to allow them to access equal opportunities to develop their livelihood as their male counterparts.

He said government is cognisant of the challenges that hinder girls attaining education adding that it is currently implementing various programs to address these challenges.

“Government and various stakeholders are have ensured that the girl child has equal access to education and other opportunities as the boys.

This has been made possible through the implantation of the re-entry policy, equal opportunities during enrollment, financial support through .

“ The keep girls in school’ program, provision of sanitary kits and inclusion of comprehensive sexuality education in the school curriculum among others,” Mr Siakalima said.

He also said the free education policy is expected to reduce drop outs and also improve attendance as well as performance levels for the girl child.

Mr Siakalima called on communities to take advantage of the decentralisation policy which government has actualized by ensuring that they prioritise support for school activities which can improve access to education for the girl child through their ward development committees.

Vice President, Mutale Nalumango, has commissioned the K4.6 million Sinyawagora rural health centre in Luangwa district and reaffirmed government’s determination to eliminate the inequalities existing between rural and urban areas in accessing healthcare services.

Mrs. Nalumango said it is important that citizens have equal access to quality healthcare services so that they can enjoy healthy and quality lives.

Speaking when commissioning the facility in senior chief Mburuma’s area, Mrs. Nalumango said government remains committed to attaining its developmental aspirations as outlined in the United Party for National Development (UPND) manifesto.

She said this can only be done with developmental partners such as Luangwa Child Development Agency which built the facility with financial support from ChildFund- New Zealand.

“We will continue promoting such partnerships that are aimed at improving the quality of life of our citizens because we want to truly work in unity to serve our people. It is through the spirit of unity that we are commissioning this facility here,” she said.

The Vice President has since commended Luangwa Child Development Agency and ChildFund for supplementing government efforts in improving the delivery of healthcare services.

Mrs. Nalumango stated that government is committed to providing relevant manpower and medicines to achieve universal health coverage.

She said the commissioning of the health facility is timely as it has come at a time when the government is recruiting over 11,000 health workers.

She advised people who are eligible to apply for the jobs.

“Though we have emphasised that people should be employed within their districts of residence, those who are eligible must take the first step by applying. You cannot be employed if you do not apply,” she said.

And Minister of Health, Sylvia Masebo, directed those involved in the recruitment of health workers to give priority to the qualified local people.

Mrs. Masebo advised those that have not yet applied for employment to take advantage of the three days extension to do so.

“We don’t want people from other districts to take up positions to disadvantage the local people as was in the past. We have seen such people get transfers shortly after being employed, a situation which denies the local people the required services,” she said.

She further announced that Luangwa district has achieved 62 percent vaccination of the eligible citizens in the Covid-19 vaccination campaign.

And Lusaka Province Minister, Sheal Mulyata, appealed to the Ministry of Health to ensure that the new facility is equipped with qualified health workers.

Mrs. Mulyata said Sinyawagora health centre provides healthcare services to a population of over 3,000 people.

Meanwhile, Child Fund Country Director, Simba Machingaidze, said the facility consists of a maternity wing, pharmacy, laboratory, screening rooms, male and female wards, mother and child wing among other units.

He disclosed that patients with complicated medical conditions had to cover a distance of over 24 kilometres to Katondwe mission hospital to access healthcare.

Mr. Machingaidze said some expectant mothers opted to deliver in their homes because the only health centre in the country did not have adequate equipment and space for maternal services.

He expressed concern that poor staffing has been a major challenge among health facilities that ChildFund has built in some parts of the country.

“This is so, especially in rural areas. We hope the ongoing recruitment of health workers will help address this concern,” he said.

Feira Constituency Member of Parliament, Emmanuel Tembo, said the construction of the health facility will reduce the travel costs to access healthcare services.

Mr. Tembo stated that Luangwa district has 400 health workers who are working on a voluntary basis.

He has therefore appealed to government to give priority to the local people in the recruitment of healthcare workers.

Traders in Kitwe’s Chisokone market have threatened to hold massive protests against alleged failure by the Zambia Immigration Department to control the influx of foreigners trading illegally.

The traders have also accused the foreigners of engaging in retailing instead of selling wholesale merchandise, a situation they said has disadvantaged the local traders as foreigners are selling their merchandise cheaply.

Speaking with ZANIS in Kitwe today Association of Vendors and Marketeers (AVEMA) President Abel Chikwa said the Immigration department officers should be proactive and remove all foreigners conducting business without work permits.

“There is an influx of foreigners trading illegally in Chisokone market and they are disadvantaging Zambians as they are retailing their products cheaply, we need to be protected because we cannot compete with them, as Zambians we cannot go to their countries and just start trading, we need government to intervene,” Mr. Chikwa said.

He noted that the same foreigners who are owning shops are employing their own children instead of employing Zambian youths.

And AVEMA Kitwe District Chairman Astone Sakala appealed to the Kitwe City council to ensure that foreigners are restricted to the wholesale business instead of retailing.

Mr. Sakala said it was unfortunate that foreigners are doing small businesses such as manicure and pedicure, and hair plaiting which should ideally be left to Zambians.

And Kitwe District Commissioner Lawrence Mwanza said all illegal foreign traders will be removed as everyone ought to do business within the confines of the law.

”We are not going to allow foreigners to trade without trading documents, there are laws in Zambia just as there are laws in Tanzania, we will remove everyone without documents,” Mr. Mwanza warned.

Mr. Mwanza however noted that the local traders are in the habit of alerting foreigners when the Immigration department undertakes clean-up operations.

He also noted that some traders have rented out their shops to Tanzanian traders and now they want to use government to have the foreigners chased so they get back the shops without paying back.

“Immediately we go there to remove the Tanzanians, the same Zambians alert the foreigners and they run away, others have rented their shops and they want government to remove the foreigners so that they do not pay pack the money they got, otherwise we encourage everyone to do business in a proper manner” Mr. Mwanza said.

He however stated that government will address the situation as it involves two nations whose business ties should be promoted.

Paramount Chief Chitimukulu of the Bemba people has urged Zambians to suggest ideas that will improve the country’s economic status, unlike condemning the government.

The Paramount Chief cited some challenges being experienced in the world such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the war between Russia and Ukraine as some aspects that are destabilizing the global economy.

He noted that the increase in commodity prices has affected the whole world and cannot be blamed on the government.

The Paramount Chief was speaking when the United Party for National Development (UPND) Secretary-General Batuke Imenda paid a courtesy call on him at his palace in Mungwi district.

Chief Chitimukulu commended the new dawn administration for making strides in improving the welfare of people by introducing policies such as free education.

And Chief Nkweto of Chinsali district in Muchinga Province said the provision of free education by the government will allow every parent to send their children to school.

Chief Nkweto also asked Zambians to give President Hakainde Hichilema time as he focuses on the economic transformation agenda.

And Mr. Imenda pledged the Party’s commitment to work with traditional leaders to improve people’s livelihood.

He appealed to the Paramount Chief to help government by explaining policies to his subjects as the President is working hard to improve the economy.

The Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) has said that it is yet to be seen if the Government’s efforts to reduce the cost of living will work amid the increase in fuel pump prices.

JCTR Executive Director Fr. Alex Muyebe, S.J. said in a statement that the cost of living in Zambia was rising in contrast to the recent trend in national inflation which has been on the decline.

Fr. Muyebe said JCTR is aware that the Government is citing delivery of Constituency Development Fund, rolling-out of social cash transfer programme, implementation of free education programme, payment of salary arrears for local government employees, recruitment of health and teachers as efforts to cushion Zambian households from the rising cost of living.

He said the JCTR’s Basic Needs and Nutrition Basket (BNNB) survey recently for Lusaka stood at K9, 049.25 for the month of January 2022, showing a K689.45 increase in comparison to December, 2021.

“Since January 2022 the cost of living in Zambia has been on the upward trend corresponding to the rise in commodity prices. This scenario is not surprising given that the rise in fuel pump prices generally does have a spiral effect on the commodity prices in Zambia. The fuel pump price adjustment by almost K10 between December 2021 and April 2022 and the resultant adjustment in the commodity prices is inevitably going to hit hard on the majority of the Zambian people whose incomes are already very low. According to a study report by Karl Pauw, Bernard Tembo and James Thurlow on “COVID-19 in Zambia: Impacts on Production, Poverty & Food Systems” published on 6th April 2021, poverty rate in Zambia increased by 4.3 percent due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Fr. Muyebe stated.

“The rising cost of living is just setting on course, and it looks likely that it is going to push more households into absolute poverty. In the midst of this, the Government has urged citizens to be extra resilient because it is aggressively working towards stabilizing and ultimately lowering fuel pump prices and improving the general economic welfare of Zambians.”

Fr. Muyebe added:”It is yet to be seen if what Government is pointing to as its key commitments such as delivery on Constituency Development Fund, rolling-out of social cash transfer programme, implementation of free education programme, payment of salary arrears for local government employees, recruitment of health and education workers will be enough to cushion Zambian households from the pangs of the rising cost of living when the fuel pump prices still remain very high in the short term. What does the Government say to a poor household in Chibolya compound which is not a beneficiary of any of the above listed programmes and yet it now has to pay more for food and other basic necessities?”

Fr. Muyebe observed that Zambia’s recent inflation rate is not corresponding with the cost of living.

“This signified an 8.24percent increase in the cost of living between December 2021 and January 2022. The BNNB for Lusaka has continued to rise since January 2022. This is in contrast to the recent trend in national inflation which has been on the decline. According to the Zambia Statistics Agency Zambia’s inflation rate for March has declined to 13.1 percent from 14.2 percent recorded in February driven by the base effect, which compares inflation in the corresponding period of the previous year,” he said.

Fr. Muyebe emphasised:”The point that needs to be highlighted is that although these two indicators are intimately related, they are not synonymous. The explanation lies in the definition of inflation; “inflation measures the rate of increase of general prices level”. The opposite is deflation, “the general decline in prices for goods and services”. Therefore, a decline in inflation rate does not mean that prices have necessarily reduced.”

“All it means is that the rate at which these prices are rising over the comparable period has reduced. We can only talk about reduction in prices if the inflation rate falls below zero (in this case it becomes deflation). Inflation presents the big picture. As the cost of goods and services rises, the buying power of the Kwacha falls. The inflation rate is often measured by the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a monthly measure by the Zambia Statistics Agency that averages the cost of a basket of goods and services from areas around the country. It reports the result as a percentage rise or drop in CPI,” Fr. Muyebe said.