President Hakainde Hichilema has called on the Church to reclaim its role as the moral campus of the country in the social and economic development dissension.

President Hichilema explained that government remains resolute in working with the church in fighting challenges in society such as injustice and poverty.

President Hichilema made the remarks through Minister of Defence, Ambrose Lufuma during the official launch of the first-ever Christians United For National Economic Transformation Summit in Lusaka.

The Head of State emphasized that with the 10,000 churches the country has, economic transformation is attainable if all embraced farming and entrepreneurship.

President Hichilema has since directed his Ministers and other government institutions to put in place measures that will make it easy for the church to acquire land for development purposes.

“According to Matthew 25 vs 34-36 we are all encouraged to embrace the kind of faith that is practical. We have about 4000 churches in Zambia that are Catholic and imagine if all had to have a farm, we could have more than enough food for export and consumption,” the President stressed.

President Hichilema recollected that October 18 was not declared as Day of National Player, Fasting and Reconciliation by accident by his Predecessor Edgar Lungu but was done according to the will of God which should translate into practical faith that changes people’s livelihoods.

President Hichilema placed emphasis that there should be no Christians for Hichilema but for Jesus Christ alone as God deserves honor and glory.

And Christians Business Community (CBC) Chairperson who are the organisers of the Summit, Raphael Lubanga explained that 95% of Zambians are Christians which makes it realistic to transform the economy.

Pastor Lubanga said his organisation is working with traditional leaders as they are custodians of land and the people.

He pointed out that the 26 chiefs who were in attendance represented the commitment of all the 10 provinces to develop the country expeditiously.

The CBC Chairperson said Christianity does not mean poverty and church elders should encourage the worshipers to be hard working so that they change the economic fortunes of their families.

“We want to chuck out the spirit of the devil from development and fellow pastors do not mistake Christianity for poverty. Christianity does not mean poverty and church elders should refrain from depending on brown envelopes but depend on hard work,” he said.

He further called on both believers and non-believers to desist from tribal remarks because the common enemy is poverty.

Association of Vendors and Marketeers (AVEMA) president Abel Chikwa has expressed concern that the relocation of vendors from the streets in Kitwe might cause confrontations because the council has not adequately sensitized the vendors on the available trading stands in the Chisokone market.

Speaking in an interview, Mr. Chikwa said the vendors are not aware of the stands being offered by the council because the Local authority has not carried out adequate sensitization on the available trading stands.

He observed that the council is using social media to publicize available trading stands to the vendors, a channel he described is not accessible to everyone.

“The calls by the council to vendors to apply for trading stands at Chisokone market is likely to fail or bring confrontations because the message is not reaching most of the vendors because the council is using social media, you do not communicate such information on social media, they should also engage the market association leaders,” Mr. Chikwa suggested.

He also urged the vendors to apply for the trading stands to avoid being inconvenienced when the council starts removing them from the streets.

However, Kitwe City Council Public Relations Manager Chola Mwamba said the council has issued several press releases calling on vendors to apply for trading stands.

Ms. Mwamba refuted assertions by the market association leader that the vendors may not be aware of the messages.

“The vendors are aware of the availability of the trading stands on offer but they may say they are not aware as an excuse because they just want to remain on the streets,” Ms. Mwamba said.

She urged the vendors to leave the streets as trading on the street was a public health risk especially with the eminency of the rain season.

She said the council will continue prosecuting members of the public that buy from the street vendors because they are the ones that encourage the trend.

ZANIS reports that Kitwe City council is offering trading stands in Chisokone market for vendors to apply in an effort to bring to an end to street vending.

The Local authority has further stated that once the period given for vendors to apply and acquire the trading stands on offer elapse, the council will not allow any vendors on the street.

The National Action for Quality Education in Zambia (NAQEZ) has urged the newly formed computer Studies Teachers Association of Zambia (COSTAZ) to strongly advocate for an ICT policy in education.

And Executive Director Aaron Chansa has expressed excitement with the birth of the Association in Zambia.

Mr Chansa told ZANIS that the birth of COSTAZ has come at the right time when the country is advancing to become a knowledge-based society.

He said the association is critical to the improvement of ICTS in Zambia which he said many countries are using as a tool for education and expansion of national economies.

“Apart from providing a special platform for up-skilling teachers of Computer Science in schools, colleges and universities, the new association should strongly advocate for an ICT policy in education,” he said.

Mr Chansa said the country needs an ICT policy to sit as a guide for computer studies in schools and further advised government to craft the policy as quickly as possible.

He has since pledged to render for support by partnering with COSTAZ to advance for a one computer, one child policy in Zambia.

Mr Chansa described as sad the current situation where the average computer and pupil ratio is at one against 200 pupils.

He has since appealed for more computers to be sent to schools in rural areas so as to change the computer narrative from mysterious to practical.

“Very few learners in rural Zambia have touched a computer before. How will this country realize the 2030 vision when some children are clearly being left behind,” he added.

Meanwhile Mr Chansa further appealed to the Ministry of Education to prioritize computer studies by making it a standalone department in schools.

He said the subject is too important to sit under the Mathematics department.

Mr Chansa said he is optimistic that once school systems begin to embrace computer studies at early grades, Zambia will become a centre of innovations.

He has since encouraged computer studies teachers in Zambia to unite around COSTAZ and make sure that they collectively help to improve the poor situation of computer studies in the country.

Government has urged school managers and parents to understand the many pieces of legislation that the National Assembly has enacted to ensure education standards especially for girls are improved.

First Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Malungo Chisangano says there is a need to support the cause of having girls to return and in role in school as it has a far reaching positive impact on girls, families and society at large.

Ms Chisangano was speaking when she officiated at the third annual retreat on keeping girls in school (KGS) held at Luuumbo Secondary school in Gwembe district of Southern Province.

She stated that International evidence indicates that keeping girls in school has positive effects on their trajectory and benefits the wellbeing of the next generation.

“When girls are exposed to quality education, they build numeracy, literacy, cognitive and skills, making them better prepared to participate in the labour market and gain an income,” Ms Chisangano stated.

Ms Chisangano added that girls’ attendance in school during adolescence is correlated with delayed sexual initiation and subsequently marriage and childbearing.

Therefore, increasing enrolment and improving school performance, by keeping girls in school, has many positive impacts on the well-being of not only this generation, but the many generations to come.

“This is the reason the great importance that has been attached to girls education in Zambia, in this regard, some of the laws enacted to protect girls include, the Education act of 2011, which provides for GBV protection of employees, teachers, and learners at educational institutions, as well as establishing mechanisms for dealing with GBV” she stated.

“Others are the anti-Gender-based violence act of 2011, which provides among others, for the protection of GBV survivors, the establishment of Anti- GBV committee and the Anti GBV Fund,” she stressed.

Ms Chisangano also cited the penal code amendment act number 5 of 2005, which introduced the offence of sexual harassment and made indecent assault a felony.

She further quoted the Gender Equity and Equality act number 22 of 2015 with some objectives such as to promote gender equity and equality as a cross-cutting issue in all spheres of life and stimulate productive resources and development opportunities for both sexes among others.

At the same event, Assistant KGS Coordinator, Obbie Musaka, speaking on behalf of KGS coordinator, Willie Kaputo said the GEWEL project focuses on increasing access to livelihood support for extremely poor rural women and access to secondary education for disadvantaged adolescent girls in extremely poor households in selected districts.

Mr Musaka stated that to realise this goal the project has three components which is the Supporting Women’s Livelihoods initiative being implemented in MCDSS, while the second component is the Keeping Girls in School Initiative which is implemented in MOE and MCDSS.

He said the third component is the Institutional Strengthening and System Building (ISSB) anchored at Gender Division and MCDSS.

“ Specifically, the objective of KGS has been to provide bursaries to vulnerable secondary school going girls living in Social Cash Transfer households in selected districts and that Since project inception, the project has reached out to 31,762 girls,” Mr Musaka said.

Mr Musaka stressed that the KGS selection criteria are that a girl must have qualified for secondary school, and passed grade 7 or 9, or out of school with acceptance letter and able to return to school.

“Other requirements are that a girl must be living in a SCT household in the selected district and has been a member of that household for Six (6) months and must not be benefiting from another bursary or scholarship programme for their education,” Mr Musaka explained.

He clarified that KGS pays school fees, boarding fees for those in boarding schools, exam fees and that this year the Government, through the GEWEL Project, will begin paying education grants to SCT households with enrolled KGS beneficiaries to help the girls buy some school necessities.

Mr Musaka further said the education grant payments will be made in addition to the KGS bursary support to help cover expenses related to school such as uniform, shoes and supplies and that SCT households will receive K 252 annually for each girl enrolled in KGS.

“In order to mitigate the challenge of distance for girls to access education, the project also funds the improvement of school owned weekly boarding facilities for girls to make them safe, secure and conducive for girls to live in,” he added.

Mr Musaka said in the fourth quarter of 2021 the Ministry through KGS PIU will embark on the vigorous process of transferring girls to safe boarding facilities effective the first term of 2022 academic year.

He said Education authorities at provincial, district and school levels will be required to play a critical role in making sure that the exercise is conducted successfully.

“Further, against the backdrop that provision of school fees is not a panacea to retaining girls in school, the KGS component has witnessed the challenge of girls dropping out of school. For instance, in 2020 a total of 2,973 out of 13,514 girls supported dropped out representing 22%. Key reasons attributed to the dropping out included teen pregnancies, marriages and long distances to accessing schools,” he said.

“In order to address the dropping out challenge, KGS has developed a number of systems. Key among the systems developed are the Case Management System and the Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM).The CMS is core to the KGS project objective of increasing access, participation, retention and progression of vulnerable adolescent girls in secondary education. The CMS interventions target three categories of girls, namely:

i) Girls at-risk of missing school days or dropping out;

ii) Girls who have dropped out of school already and

iii) The eligible but out of school girls who may require extra support to enroll.

Mr Musaka said as outlined in the three categories the system is both preventive and responsive as it seeks to detect, prevent and deter risks that KGS beneficiary girls may potentially face that are likely to hinder their access and progression in secondary education.

He said the system links the girls at-risk to appropriate support services and alternative forms of education to mitigate the identified risks.

“GRM is a system through which queries or clarifications about the project are responded to, problems that arise out of implementation are resolved, and grievances are addressed efficiently and effectively. The GRM will allow stakeholders to have a platform to air out grievances they might have towards the implementation of the project,” he stated.

“ The rationale of the GRM is to ensure communities use the system, communities are sensitized on their rights to complain, staff understand what is going well or poorly with programme design and implementation, and ensure different Government programmes are addressed in a systematic manner,” he stated.

Mr Musaka stressed that the project will further empower learners who are victims or survivors of School Related Gender Based Violence and help them to become active participants in the transformation of their communities.

He also said Advocacy sessions championed by survivors or victims will have long term impact on learning environments and homes to be free from serial Violence or harassment and physical abuse.

“In line with the New Dawn Government’s development Agenda, KGS will continue to enroll additional girls on the project and is targeting to reach out to 43,520 girls in 2022. To this effect, the Ministry through the KGS PIU just conducted the Mop up exercise in all the 39 KGS districts to recruit eligible girls living in the recently enumerated Social Cash Transfer (SCT) households,” Mr Musaka said.

“All this is the demonstration of Governments’ commitment through the Ministry of Education to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goal Number 4 of ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting long life learning opportunities for all.

The Keeping Girls in School (KGS) Initiative is a component under the Girls’ Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihood (GEWEL) Project and currently being implemented by the Government of Zambia with support from the World Bank. The Project which is being implemented in the two

Ministries of the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS) and Ministry of General Education (MOGE) are coordinated by the Gender Division – Cabinet Office.

Every year since 2019, Gwembe District holds the Annual retreat for the Keeping Girls in School beneficiaries. The retreats are aimed at raising awareness for the return and enrolment of all girls who have dropped out of school for various reasons.

Additionally, the event enables bringing all old and new KGS girls together so that they can share real life experiences and be encouraged that despite the hardships of life, they can go to school and create a better life for themselves and their families

State House has said that government will not implement development programmes that compromise the environmental needs of future generations.

Presidential Spokesperson Anthony Bwalya said that was why the government was taking steps to protect the environment.

Mr. Bwalya said that various measures such as connecting more people to the National power grid will have to be taken to discourage them from using charcoal.

Mr Bwalya sa the use of other sources of energy will also be encouraged.

He says government is also discussing possibilities of coming up with a fund which will support innovators who are promoting the use of other forms of energy.

Mr. BWALYA says President HAKAINDE HICHILEMA has shown leadership and should be helped to protect the environment.

He said this during a special program on ZNBC TV1.

And Presidential Advisor on Covid-19 ROMA CHILENGI said it is sad that the country has not had a framework to support innovators.

Dr CHILENGI said innovators who are promoting the use of other sources of energy should be supported.

Meanwhile, Dr. CHILENGI said there is progress in the number of people who are getting the Covid 19 vaccines.

He said his office has been engaging stakeholders on how to increase the number of people getting vaccinated.

Dr. CHILENGI said discussions have been held with Speaker of the National Assembly to see how more people can be vaccinated in constituencies.

He said people should not wait for more citizens to start dying before they can take the vaccine.

And Mr. BWALYA said there will be no economic activities if the fourth wave hits the country.

He said people should protect the integrity of the budget by ensuring that the economy continues running by getting vaccinated.