Zambian’s alarmingly high road toll remains stuck at the levels it was at six years ago says the Zambia Road Safety Trust (ZRST), the nation’s leading NGO for Road Safety. The latest road safety statistics released by the Zambia Police for 2019 displays Zambia will fail to meet agreed on targets set by the UN to reduce road crash fatalities and serious injuries by 50 percent between 2011 and the end of 2020 (Decade of Action).

The statistics show that in the 12 months to 31st December 2019, 1,756 people died on Zambian roads. This is a reduction of only 3.4 percent from the toll of 1,817 deaths in the 12 months of 2018.

Zambia Road Safety Trust Chairman, Daniel Mwamba:

“This analysis is a damning indictment of those who are responsible for road safety in our country and it should serve as a wake-up call to all government departments – the Police, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Transport & Communications, the Ministry of Health, the Transport, Road Transport & Safety Agency (RTSA), Road Development Agency (RDA) and the rest that their disjointed and disorganized approach to road safety is failing badly. Instead of declining, the road toll has plateaued at a level that makes it clear we cannot meet the UN targets.”

The Police statistics highlight that 5,012 persons were injured and 5,713 were slightly injured in road traffic in 2019.

“We know that there is currently no way to collect national data on the number of people being seriously injured on the roads and those who subsequently, die in hospitals around the country – meaning their annual road fatality figures remain above than the figures collected.

“This failure must not create a perception that road safety problems can’t be solved. Significantly reducing road accidents in Zambia necessitates devoting resources and cooperation between all government offices and bodies involved directly and indirectly. We cannot create real change without the allocation of resources correlating to the number of those killed every year. Drivers should also behave more responsibly on the roads; the human factor is a deciding factor in this war.”

ZRST remains supportive of the government’s to engage and welcome our contribution to road safety – but we shall continue to raise the voice of road safety empirically.

The Zambia Police Service has noted with regret the number of videos and audios being circulated on Social media of purported crimes alleged to have been committed within the country.

Acting Inspector General of Police Eugene Sibote has urged the public to ignore the calculated falsehoods being peddled on various Social media platforms and advise the general public to seek clarification from the Police whenever they are faced with any matter of security concern.

Mr. Sibote said from preliminary investigations and findings by the Police, these video incidents being circulated do not depict incidents that have occurred and recorded in Zambia.

He said these videos originate from other countries but merely edited to suit the evil agenda of those behind their circulation.

Mr. Siboted said the videos or audios being circulated are intended to cause fear, alarm, and despondency among the general public.

“So far the Zambia Police Service has not recorded any such incidents in any part of the Republic of Zambia. Further, the public may be consoled by the fact that no family has so far registered a loss of their family member as depicted in the videos being circulated”, he said.

He has warned all those behind such falsehoods that police shall soon catch up with them and they will be held accountable for their actions.

Mr. Sibote has further appealed to the general public to go about their businesses with the full assurance that the Police are working round the clock to bring these alarmists to book.

The Zambia Centre for Interparty Dialogue has called for progressive inclusion of new constituencies and provinces arising from the delimitation process being conducted by the Electoral Commission of Zambia.

ZCID Spokesperson Elizabeth Chitika says the implementation of the delimitation process recommendations should respond to both service delivery and the country’s fiscal position to avoid creating a super governance structure that gobbles huge resources at the expense of human development.

Mrs Chitika said before the recommendations are submitted to Parliament for possible enactment by the ECZ, broad based consensus has to be built amongst political parties and stakeholders to avoid politicization of this important national matter vital to enriching Zambia’s democracy.

Meanwhile, Mrs Chitika has cautioned ECZ over the reported printing of ballot papers in Dubai for the 2021 general elections to avoid speculations and mistrust.

She said the announcement made by the ECZ, that stakeholders will have to sponsor themselves to monitor the printing of ballot papers outside the country has the capacity to inflame tensions and mistrust and further intoxicate the political atmosphere.

“As a platform for political parties in Zambia whose constituent members are directly affected by this pronouncement, we are extremely concerned that ECZ has not adequately consulted and as such it will have a negative bearing on the 2021 general elections”, she added.

She noted that in 2019, there were pronouncements from government that printing of ballot papers could be done locally and has since urged the government to update the nation of this pronouncement.

Mrs Mulobeka has urged the ECZ to convene a stakeholder’s meeting where they can be able to engage directly in order to find amicable solutions acceptable to all.

She has further called on the ECZ to suspend the tendering process of printing ballot papers until stakeholders concerns are dealt with satisfactorily.

Mrs Chitika said ECZ has a responsibility to ensure that the process and outcome of elections has the support and legitimized by the majority citizenry, political parties and stakeholders alike.

The Football Association of Zambia has appointed Serbian Coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic as head coach of the Zambian National Team.

Micho will jet into Zambia next week to sign a two year deal.

FAZ General Secretary Adrian Kashala confirmed the appointment to the media this afternoon.

FAZ has since informed the Ministry of Sports over the development.

The former Uganda trainer who took the Cranes to the first Africa Cup finals in 38 years beat off competition from former Mozambique coach and Portugal International Abel Xavier and Ivan Jacky Minnaert of Belgium.

Micho is coming with an assistant coach, goalkeeper trainer and will be joined from time to time by a physical trainer and a video analyst.

Preparations for the African Union 33rd Heads of States and Government Summit which will be held under the theme; ‘’Silencing the Guns: Creating Conducive Conditions for Africa’s Development”, have started in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

This follows the official opening of the 39th Ordinary Session of the Permanent Representative Committee, a committee that deliberates on draft reports and prepares the agenda for the Executive Council that later feeds into the work of the Summit for Heads of States and Governments.

Zambia’s Permanent Representative to the African Union, Emmanuel Mwamba confirmed the development and said this year’s Summit is slated for 9th to 10th February, 2020.

Mr Mwamba stated that since January 13th 2020, the PRC has been adopting various sub-Committee Reports preparing for the Summit.

And speaking during the official opening, Permanent Representative Committee Chairperson Osama Mahmoud Abdelkhalek said some of the key achievements recorded by Africa in 2019 where the establishment and operationalisation of the African Continental Free Trade Area that seeks to increase trade relations among African Countries.

He said Africa was committed to attaining integration through successive protocols such as the free movement of people for sustainable development.

Mr. Abdelkhalek further said Africa in 2019 come up with mechanism to minimize conflict such as the establishment of the Peace and AU stand-by-force to respond to conflicts within the continent.

He said eliminating civil and military conflict in Africa was a sure way of guaranteeing development on the continent.

And AUC Deputy Chairperson, Thoman Kwesi Quartey, said the African Union Commission is still undergoing reforms in order to have a smaller but effective commission that would respond to the needs of Member states.

He further said stringent measures had been put up to ensure that there was budget compliance, transparency and value for money.

This is according to a statement issued by First Secretary-Press and Tourism at the Zambian Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Inutu Mwanza.

Churches in Zambia have called on the government of the country to declare a food crisis to unlock international help.

The President of the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Bishop of Chipata, the Rt Revd George Lungu, said that declaring a crisis was the first step in addressing it.

“We believe as a Catholic Church that it would not only be wise but necessary for the government to send a very clear message — not only to the people in Zambia but the world at large — acknowledging the problem,” he said.

“And we are not saying that when we say there is a problem, it is the fault of one person or another; of one ministry or another in government. These are things that occur because of climate change because of unfavourable weather patterns. The only responsible way to address the situation is not to bury our heads in the sand. We must face the truth, and the truth is that people need help.”

The Zambian government has rejected the call.
It said that it has enough supplies of grain.

The UN has issued a warning, however, about the growing threat of hunger in the west and south of the country, owing to prolonged droughts.

The general secretary of the United Church of Zambia, the Revd Dr Peggy Mulambya-Kabonde, told the World Council of Churches: “Things are so bad in the south and west of Zambia we have to pray to God to have mercy on us.”

It is feared that at least 2.3 million people are facing food shortages during the “lean” season, until March 2020.