No security personnel died in cholera clean-up campaign - minister

PARLIAMENT yesterday heard that no security personnel involved in the fight against cholera which affected Lusaka, died Local Government Minister Vincent Mwale said in Parliament and demanded UPND Livingstone lawmaker, Matthews Jere retracts his assertions.

This was after a followup question to Mr. Mwale’s ministerial statement posed by Mr. Jere on the update of the Keep Zambia Clean, Green and Healthy Campaign (KZCGHC). Mr. Jere alleged that some security personnel involved in the cholera clean-up campaign had died as they did not have protective clothing. But Mr. Mwale vehemently denied the claims and demanded that Mr. Jere retract his allegation. However, Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Patrick Matibini guided that Mr. Jere could not immediately retract the said statement as he was not sure whether his claims were factual or not. The Minister said his Ministry and other line ministries and the private sector were ensuring that every last Saturday of every month was reserved for community work to clean the surroundings. Mr. Mwale who is Chipangali lawmaker said his ministry using the 2017 National Budget has procured seven skip loader trucks and 49 skip bins worth K7.2 million for cities and municipalities. And Parliament yesterday heard that despite Zambia being a signatory to the World Health Organisation Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (WHOFCTC), production of tobacco will not be stopped. And Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya said though the government had promoted production of tobacco, it has not relaxed on the measures it needed to put in place to protect the health of the public. Dr Chilufya was responding to question for oral answer raised by UPND Nkeyema MP, Akapelwa Mbangweta who wanted to know whether Zambia was a signatory to the WHO FCTC which aims to stop tobacco production by 2030 and who signed it on behalf of the country.Mr Bangweta also wanted to know whether government was implementing FCTC, and if implementing the FCTC was it not in variance with the Seven National Development Plan (7NDP) which depicts tobacco production as a very lucrative investment opportunity. The Minister disclosed that the ministry of Foreign Affairs signed Vincent Mwale on behalf of Zambia adding that the convention does not aim at stopping tobacco production. Dr Chilufya explained that the convention aims at protecting the public from the catastrophic effects of tobacco. And with regards to how the two positions will be harmonised and what the livelihood of tobacco farmers will be when tobacco production was stopped by the year 2030, Dr Chilufya said while promoting tobacco production government will endeavour to protect health of the people. Tobacco production will not be stopped and in any case, Dr Chilufya said, for those tobacco farmers who are being encouraged to diversify, they are also being encouraged to grow other crops and are being empowered in a different way.