Central Province Minister Sydney Mushanga has with immediate effect directed all local authorities in the region to consider cancelling all events that attract more than 50 people following the escalation in the number of COVID-19 positive cases.

Mr. Mushanga said it is regrettable that people in the province have continued to ignore Statutory Instruments 21 and 22 which have been put in place to help fight the spread of COVID -19.

Mr. Mushanga was speaking in Kabwe today when he officially opened a virtual Provincial Epidemic Preparedness meeting on COVID-19.

“I am also directing health as well as local authorities in the province to ensure marketeers and vendors adhere to COVID-19 health guidelines of masking up, social distancing and handwashing among others if the coronavirus was to be controlled,” he stated.

He has further directed public transport operators to ensure all their passengers were masked up before boarding their buses and taxis.

Mr. Mushanga described the second wave of COVID-19 in Kabwe as serious, further urging relevant authorities to also mount check-points where people coming into and out of the province were masked up.

The Provincial Minister added that transporters carrying unmasked travelers should not be allowed to proceed to their destinations.

And Mr. Mushanga has called on the officers at the provincial administration to take advantage of the screening exercise and ensure that they get tested for COVID-19.

“The offices at provincial administration would also be fumigated soon,” he said.

Speaking during the same meeting, Central Province Public Health Specialist Isaac Banda equally bemoaned the public’s poor compliance to health measures put in place by the government.

“The Provincial Health Office is equally having a challenge of contact tracing as some people that tested positive were denying the results and were not willing to share their residential addresses for ease contact tracing.

He said so far all districts in the province except Ngabwe were affected by the COVID-19 with an increased number of critically ill patients found at various health facilities.

Central province is trailing behind Lusaka in terms of increasing COVID-19 cases with Kabwe district in the province recording 153 cases in the last 24 hours.

Foreign diplomats in Zambia representing countries such as Britain and the USA itself international community have been called upon to condemn the acts of terrorists who threatening the peaceful transfer of power in USA.

The Zambian Institute of Governance and Civil Liberties Platform (ZIGGLAP) said it is deeply troubled with political happenings in the United States which have been sponsored by the US administration under President Trump.

“The current regime has sponsored local terrorists who besieged the US Capitol where Senators were having a constitutional session on the election of President-Elect Biden,” said ZIGGLAP Chief Executive Officer Francis Chipili.

Mr. Chipili said ZIGGLAP is concerned that some foreign diplomats in Zambia representing countries such as Britain and the USA itself international community have been dead silent on these happenings in the USA.

“These are the same diplomats who have been taking a leading role in condemning recent happenings in Zambia where two people were shot dead. These countries have also been supporting elements in Zambia who are sowing seeds of discord ahead of Zambia’s 2021 elections as part of the democratic process,” said Chipili.

ZIGGLAP has since ask Zambians to avoid taking the path being witnessed in the USA where politicians are sacrificing citizens at the altar of political expedience when these politicians lose an election.

“We urge Zambian parents to not allow their children and youth to be used. Don’t sacrifice your children,” said Mr. Chipili.

He asked Zambians to be wary of some clergy such as Archibishop Mpundu and civil society organiusations who are mobilising them for such similar actions which contribute to breakdown of law and order as well as loss of life as has happened in America.
Mr. Chipili reiterated the message by Zambia’s President that no politician, including himself, is worth dying for.

Congress has affirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory over President Trump.

The counting of Vermont’s three electoral votes put Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris over the 270-threshold needed to win the presidency.

The Senate and House rejected objections to throw out Georgia and Pennsylvania’s electoral votes for Biden. Republicans also objected to Arizona, Nevada and Michigan’s electoral votes, but the motions failed before they reached debate.

“The announcement of the state of the vote by the President of the Senate shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected President and Vice President of the United States, each for the term beginning on the 20th day of January 2021 and shall be entered together with the list of the votes on the journals of the Senate and the House of Representatives,” Pence said following the count of all of the state’s Electoral College votes.

The certification comes after pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol earlier Wednesday.

Four people are dead, including one woman who was shot after supporters of President Donald Trump breached one of the most iconic American buildings, engulfing the nation’s capital in chaos after Trump urged his supporters to fight against the ceremonial counting of the electoral votes that will confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s win.

Shortly after 1 p.m. ET Wednesday hundreds of pro-Trump protesters pushed through barriers set up along the perimeter of the Capitol, where they tussled with officers in full riot gear, some calling the officers “traitors” for doing their jobs. About 90 minutes later, police said demonstrators got into the building and the doors to the House and Senate were being locked. Shortly after, the House floor was evacuated by police. Vice President Mike Pence was also evacuated from the chamber, where he was to perform his role in the counting of electoral votes.

An armed standoff took place at the House front door at about 3 p.m. ET, and police officers had their guns drawn at someone who was trying to breach it. A Trump supporter was also pictured standing at the Senate dais earlier in the afternoon.

A woman died after being shot in the chest on the Capitol grounds, DC police confirmed to CNN. DC Police Chief Robert Contee said three other people died from medical emergencies during the riot.

Multiple officers have been injured with at least one transported to the hospital, multiple sources tell CNN.

Smoke grenades were used on the Senate side of the Capitol, as police worked to clear the building of rioters. Windows on the west side of the Senate were broken, and hundreds of officers amassed on the first floor of the building.

The Senate floor was cleared of rioters as of 3:30 p.m. ET, and an officer told CNN that they successfully squeezed them away from the Senate wing of the building and toward the Rotunda. The protesters were removed through the east and west doors of the Capitol. At least 52 people were arrested as of 9:30 p.m. ET Wednesday in Washington.

The US Capitol Police worked to secure the second floor of the Capitol first, and were seen just before 5 p.m. ET pushing demonstrators off the steps on the east side of the building. With about 30 minutes to go before Washington’s 6 p.m. ET curfew, Washington police amassed in a long line to push the mob back from the Capitol grounds.

It took until roughly 5:40 p.m. ET for the building to once again be secured, according to the sergeant-at-arms.

The stunning display of insurrection was the first time the US Capitol had been overrun since the British attacked and burned the building in August of 1814, during the War of 1812, according to Samuel Holliday, director of scholarship and operations with the US Capitol Historical Society.

The shocking scene was met with less police force than many of the Black Lives Matter protests that rolled across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s killing at the hands of Minneapolis police officers last year. While federal police attacked peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square outside the White House over the summer, clearing the way for Trump to take a photo in front of a nearby church at the time, protesters on Wednesday were able to overrun Capitol police and infiltrate the country’s legislative chambers.

Source:CNN

Police and Immigration Officers have been warned against engaging in corrupt activities.

Zambia Police Service Commission, Chairperson, Peter Chingaipe, warns that those found wanting will face severe disciplinary action in line with government policy to zero tolerance on corruption.

Mr Chingaipe said this when he and other senior government officers paid a courtesy call on Nchelenge District Commissioner, Ivo Mpasa at his office today.

“Officers must continue maintaining law and order for the sake of peace and security the country enjoys, “he said.

And Mr Mpasa appealed to the commission to consider sending more staff and construct decent accommodation for men and women in uniform.

“There is a need to increase the number of officers in the district and conducive accommodation,” Mr Mpasa requested.

Southern Province Minister Edify Hamukale has directed the Mazabuka Municipal Council to ensure all traders trading on the streets relocate to provided markets to ensure there is the social distance in the midst of the second wave of the coronavirus.

Dr Hamukale laments that the second wave of the coronavirus is on the rise and all traders must abide by the health guidelines and observe social distance.

Dr Hamukale has further observed that most market shelters are not being utilised and people have continued trading on the streets.

ZANIS reports that the Minister was speaking in Mazabuka this morning, during his tour of the Nakambala and Ndeke Community Markets to sensitise members of the public on the dangers of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Hamukale also donated 3,000 face masks to the traders to help mitigate the pandemic.

“Mazabuka is a highly populated town and there is a need for people to follow health guidelines of the COVID19,” he said.

He said he has observed that compliance levels in the district have gone down hence his visit to sensitise the people on the dangers of the second wave of the coronavirus.

He stressed that people are aware of the COVID-19 pandemic, but prefer moving with face masks in their pockets which is worrying.

“COVID-19 is not a fight for health authorities alone but it requires efforts from all citizens. It should start from our homes to ensure we play our part to stop the spread of the pandemic,” Dr Hamukale said.

And Mazabuka Town Clerk, Shiela Songolo, said the Municipality has put in various measures in markets to mitigate the spread of the second wave of the coronavirus.

“People became reluctant and we have moved in as the council to sensitise and provide the necessary things traders need to stop the spread of the coronavirus,” Ms Songolo said.

Ms Songolo said the campaign against the CVID-19 is still on and most traders have started complying.