‘Ng’ombe school needs material’

NG’OMBE School Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) chairperson Margret Tembo has called on Government to aid the school with learning materials to cushion the rising demand for quality education in the community.

Ms Tembo said at a Madison Insurance-sponsored child motivation ceremony in Lusaka that the school enrolment has gone up to 604 from 564 last year. While demand for adult literacy has also gone up with 124 scholars.
Ms Tembo said “the school lacks desks, text books and computers in the newly-established laboratory to cater for the rising demand for education in Ng’ombe community.”
The ceremony saw Patson Kaweme and Saviour Nkonde receive awards for scoring the highest at grade seven and nine, respectively.
However, Ms Tembo said despite the challenges, the school is still the most preferred in the community due to outstanding the performance it has recorded over the years. “We are doing exceptionally compared to some high profile schools,” she said.
And Madison General Insurance Company head of Public Relations Kelvin Mwale pledged to continue supporting the school because of the remarkable successes pupils have continued scoring.
The realisation of the awards ceremony acts as an inspiration to pupils to strive to get better results.
“Mr Headmaster, we are proud and encouraged that some of pupils you nurtured and produced from this school have progressed to different secondary schools and have continued to shine brightly in their education,” he said.
And Ceaser Sakala, a grade eight pupil called on other companies to emulate Madison General in ensuring pupils from community schools realise their dreams.
She said “this colourful ceremony is a reminder to many of us that the sky shouldn’t be the limit but we must work hard at school as a way of alleviating poverty in our community.”

Chief Chipepo allocates land to women

CHIEF Chipepo of Southern Province says he has started allocating land to women in his chiefdom because they are the major producers of food.

The traditional leader said he has taken the mantle to empower women with land because they have potential to eradicate hunger in any given society when empowered.
He has since attributed the bumper harvests recorded in his chiefdom to women.
He is of the view that “very few men in my chiefdom produce food and that is why I have made it mandatory for women to own land.”
He added that women farmers have also been encouraged to form clubs where they will be assisted with farming inputs and equipment.
The chief also expressed happiness over the reduction in gender-based violence (GBV) in his chiefdom. He has initiated a by-law where any man who beats his wife is also flayed by palace guards.
“We always beat the perpetrators of GBV for them to feel how their wives feel when they are beaten,” he said.
Meanwhile, the traditional ruler further expressed happiness over people’s adherence not to marry off their young daughters.

Lusaka pupils donates to Heifer

PUPILS at the American International School of Lusaka (AIS) have donated K7,000 to Heifer Zambia with view to end hunger and poverty among families in Mumbwa.

Heifer Zambia has since last year been running a programme dubbed ‘Read to feed with AIS, where pupils raise money for vulnerable families through reading.
Speaking at the presentation of funds during the week, Heifer Planning Monitoring and Evaluation Manager Siphiwe Kaponda said the funds received will be used to help families in Mumbwa with livestock.
Ms Kaponda disclosed that about 10 families will be helped with livestock this year.
She said “we will soon arrange a field visit to Mumbwa with the pupils at AIS where they will have an opportunity to see the families.”
And Terry McGuire, a teacher at AIS said the Read to feed programme has not only helped in improving the lives of vulnerable families but also improved the reading culture among pupils.
Ms McGuire expressively said pupils in the seventh and eighth grade took part in the Read to feed programme.
She has since pledged to continue working with Heifer Zambia in their endeavour to eliminate hunger and poverty in Zambia.
“Our pupils were happy to take part in this programme, it is a good for the improvement of their reading,’ Ms McGuire said.
And Linnea Bidder, an eighth grader said she felt compelled to take part in the programme because she has the heart for the vulnerable.
Linnea said her reading culture has tremendously improved because of the programme.
“I managed to read 10 books in a row and for every book I read, my parents gave me a K5,” she said.

Finland seeks more women in politics

FINNISH ambassador to Zambia Pertti Anttinen is concerned about low levels of women’s participation in politics in Zambia.
Mr Anttinen also said Zambia should recommit itself to enhancing gender equality through various regional and international instruments.
“At the local government level, only six percent of councillors are women while at the national level, women representation is at 11.4 percent,” Mr Anttinen said.

He said this in Lusaka yesterday during a send-off press briefing for three women councillors and two aspiring councillors to Finland on an exchange programme.
The Finnish Embassy and Zambia National Women’s Lobby (ZNWL) have embarked on a three-year project called `Women in governance’ implemented in Lusaka, Kabwe, Kapiri Mposhi, Mpika and Choma.
The exchange visit is aimed at enabling the Zambian delegation and their Finnish counterparts to share good practices on gender equality and promoting women’s political participation at local level.
And Zambia National Women’s Lobby chairperson Beauty Katebe said the councillors are from five political parties.
Gift Kapila, who is aspiring to be a councillor for the Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) ticket, said she will use the opportunity to learn how women politicians are faring in Finland.
Ms Kapila pledged to share what she will learn in Finland to encourage women to participate in politics.

Uncertified seeds affects crop yield

CHIEF Chipepo of Southern Province has observed that farmers in rural areas record low crop yields due to uncertified seed they purchase from bogus sellers.

And the traditional ruler has called on Government to monitor and regulate maize seed imported into the country.
Speaking in an interview at the Civil Society Organisation (CSO) seed law workshop in Lusaka on Thursday, Chief Chipepo charged that the uncertified maize seed being supplied on the market grows like grass.
The traditional ruler said rural farmers have for a long time been subjected to uncertified seeds which has resulted in their recording of low crop yields.
“Rural areas always face problems when it comes to the issue of seed. Many people come to rural areas to cheat our farmers with all sorts of fake seeds which instead grow like grass,” he lamented.
Meanwhile, Chief Chipepo said the 2013/2014 farming season yield has been poor arising from the poor management of the fertiliser input support programme.
“The FISP programme was poorly handled in my chiefdom and this resulted in low crop yield.
“We have since written to Government complaining about how badly the FISP was managed and they have promised to mitigate the problem,” he said.
He has since urged Government to consider consulting chiefs over the FISP because they are the custodians of the people.
“Chiefs know who real farmers are in any particular area and so it is imperative that we are consulted in the FISP programme,” he said.
And chief Chipepo said farmers in his chiefdom have started selling their maize despite the absence of a new floor price for maize.

Men dominate access to FISP’

A STUDY conducted by the Ministry of Gender and Child Development has revealed that access to Fertiliser Input Support Programme (FISP) is still dominated by men although women are the majority of small-scale farmers.

The ministry recently conducted a gender assessment report on FISP.
Minister of Gender and Child Development Inonge Wina said despite the FISP programme being dominated by men, women are the majority producers of crops arising from such inputs.
Ms Wina said the assessment report was needed to highlight the need for gender equality in the small-holder agricultural sector.
She was speaking at the launch of the national referral mechanism in gender-based violence, translated versions of the Anti-GBV Act and the gender assessment of the farmer input support report documents.
“The FISP report also serves as an indicator that many more programmes in Government need to be engendered and my ministry will continue the dialogue with different ministries to ensure that gender is mainstreamed as per strategy for engendering the public,” Ms Wina said.
She also said the national referral mechanism on GBV handbook is addressed to survivors and an information tool for use by stakeholders.
Ms Wina said the handbook will be used as a methodology by medical health practitioners, civil society actors and law enforcers.
“Today we are also launching the translated and simplified version of the Anti-GBV Act No 1 of 2011 into seven local languages. This is meant to ensure many Zambians are able to read and understand the provision therein in order to adequately address the scourge of GBV,” she said.
And Ms Wina has urged chiefs and traditional leaders to help in disseminating the newly-launched documents countrywide.

Kawambwa-Mushota road construction laudable

KAWAMBWA district commissioner Ivo Mpasa has praised Government for constructing the 152-kilometre Kawambwa-Mushota road.
Mr Mpasa told journalists here yesterday that works on Kawambwa-Mushota road are progressing well.

Mr Mpasa said Government has engaged China Henan International Corporation to undertake the project.
He said politicians have in the past used the bad state of Kawambwa-Mushota road as a campaign tool but that the Patriotic Front (PF) government is now working on it.
“With the construction of this road, we hope to see massive investment in the district and we will be a shining example to many other districts in the province,” Mr Mpasa said.
And Mr Mpasa also said investors have shown interest to invest in a sugar plantation in Kawambwa.
“We want our farmers to take up sugar cane farming and perhaps be able to produce a finished product. This will add value to our people in the district and create employment for our youths,” Mr Mpasa said.
Mr Mpasa said the 44,000-hectare Chushya Breeding Centre will help diversify the economy of Kawambwa from fishing to cattle ranching.
He also called on the Ministry of Tourism and Arts to restock the Lusenge National Park with animals.
He said there is need to restock animals that have been depleted due to poor management.
“There is poor management at the Lusenge National Park and currently there are only eight scouts manning the place,” he said.