MONDAY 31st MARCH 2014 NEWS HEADLINES • Search efforts for a missing person have intensified on the Chambeshi River following the capsizing of Safwa pontoon on the boarder of Kasama-Chinsali last Friday. Northern Province Permanent Secretary Hlobotha Nkunika who confirmed the retrieving of the body of Cephas Silungwe 25 to Mano News today, said searching efforts for Matthews Sichone 20 who is still missing, have deepen following governments acquiring of a speed boat. Mr. Nkunika has since commended the locals for helping and guiding in the search for the missing persons. Meanwhile, Mr. Nkunika added that his government has since engaged China Geo and the rural roads units to help retrieve the sunken truck and the pontoon. ********************************* • On Friday, two people went missing in Kasama after the Safwa Pontoon on Chambeshi River was partially moved by a heavy current. A check by a Mano News Crew which visited the scene at about 08:00 Hours, revealed that the Pontoon which was carrying an Isuzu truck bearing registration number ALB 3479 was loaded with 241 planks. And the Pontoon Operator; Osward Chanda disclosed that the two men feared dead were part of the truck crew which was heading to Nakonde. The locals and the Driver of the said truck belonging to Tamikanji Company of Kasama; Lameck Simwanza are currently searching for the missing person. *********************************** • A 38-year old man of Chilubi’s Kampamba village in chief Matipa’s area has been killed by a crocodile leaving him only with his head and a rib. Northern Province Police Deputy Commissioner Milner Muyambango confirmed the development to Mano News today saying the incident happened on Saturday when the deceased named as Atanasio Musongo was fishing on Lake Bangweulu. And Commissioner Muyambango added that when the remains of the deceased where discovered yesterday, his relatives took the head and the rib to the police and the move sparked commotion form the members of the public. He said the police managed to disperse the angry mob and ordered the relatives to bury the remains. Commissioner Muyambango has since disclosed that calm has retained to the area. ************************************ • The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has challenged political parties to take a leading role in reducing electoral violence. ECZ chairperson Irene Mambilima disclosed that the ferrying of political party cadres to areas where by-elections are taking place was a major contributor to electoral violence. Justice Mambilima has since urged leaders of political parties to desist from the practice of ferrying cadres to places where elections are being held. She was speaking during a media luncheon held at Mulungushi International Conference Center in Lusaka last Friday. ********************************* • Over 50 retirees and retrenches in Kasama have been trained and equipped with entrepreneurial skills. The training was conducted for two days at the Provincial Administration by the Future Search Programme. Speaking after the meeting, Aaron Katota, a retiree said most civil servants and other workers in formal employment have been retiring without knowledge on how to manage resources. Mr. Katota advised fellow retirees to put the information acquired during the training to good use to avoid the recurrent of financial problems after retirement. And workshop organizer and Future Search Regional Organizer for Northern Province Mawila Fututu said the meeting was intended to educate retirees and retrenches on how to prudently manage their pension. Mr. Fututu said The Future Search Programme is anchored under the Public Service Management Division and is aimed at equipping retirees with financial management and survival skills after retirement. ************************************ • And speaking during the closure of the meeting, Northern Province Assistant Administrative Secretary Royd Tembo encouraged the retirees to be resilient and hopeful as they face life after retirement. Tembo expressed confidence that retirees will manage their resources effectively and efficiently. He urged them to use the knowledge acquired from the training to startup businesses and create jobs for other. ************************************ • Kasama General Hospital management has appealed to the government to speed up the upgrading of the institution to a tertiary level following the commencement of its modernization. Hospital medical Superintendent, Elijah Mutoloki said the arrival of the state of art medical equipment, the hospital has made great strides in providing quality health care to people in Northern Province. Dr. Mutoloki added that with the expected arrival of the CT scan and Renal Dialysis Machines, the hospital will provide improved and much needed health services to the community. He also praised the Ministry of health for sending a team of 14 specialist doctors under the jubilee medical outreach programme to Kasama general Hospital to offer specialized treatment and health care services to the numerous complicated medical cares on the hospital’s referral list. Dr, Mutoloki revealed that in five days the specialist doctors has attended to over 1,000 patients and successfully performed 130 surgical operations which include the removal of a large tumor on the head of a 66 year old Kasama woman. ********************************** • And Northern Province Clinical Care Specialist Dr. Lawrence Phiri has commended government for embarking on a programme to provide specialist treatment to rural patients that are unable to access such services. Dr. Phiri said the initiative by the ministry of health to take specialist doctors round the country will provide quality health care services to many patients. He added that the move will reduce on the number of referral cases from provincial hospitals to university teaching hospital. The Ministry of health in commemorating golden jubilee independence cerebrations initiated a medical jubilee outreach program that provides specialist doctors to treat and perform surgical operations in provincial centers to patients on the referral list to UTH and Ndola central Hospital. ************************************** • In a related development, government has allocated 13.8 million kwacha for the construction of phase one modern district hospital in Mungwi. Minister of Health Dr. Joseph Kasonde who officiated at the ground breaking ceremony in Mungwi recently disclosed that the first phase of the project is expected to be completed by March 2015. He said the first phase of the project will include an outpatient, administration block and mother and child departments. And Mungwi District Commissioner Joyce Chanda said the successful completion of the hospital will greatly help people who have been walking long distances to access quality health care. ******************************** • The Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection-JCTR has expressed concern at the rate at which the Zambian government is accumulating external debts. JCTR Northern Province Outreach Officer Felix Chiwela said that it is important for government should be seen to contract and manage debt in ways that could not threaten the lives of people. Mr. Chiwela noted that increasing debt levels could have a negative bearing on the country’s economic development. And Mr. Chiwela has reiterated his organizations demand for government to explain the benefits of the removal of subsidies on fuel. #Mano updates..
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 12:39:08 +0000
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