Kafue disitrict in food relief SOS
Written by Millennium on June 8, 2019
LILLIAN CHIKANDI writes
@SunZambian
KAFUE district has been badly hit by hunger following the drought which affected several parts of Zambia and the people in the area will need relief food, says district commissioner Joseph Kamana.
Mr. Kamana said due to total crop failure his office had engaged the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) to come to the aid of the people.
And briefing the first lady Esther Lungu who was touring the area, Mr. Kamana said district had received 100 metric tonnes of maize translating into 6,400 by 12.5 kg of mealie meal.
He said so far 3,000 bags has been taken to Chiawa ward and hoped to finish the distribution soon.
Mr. Kamana also bemoaned the increasing number of girls falling pregnant which had forced him to engage the ministry of education to teach pupils sexual reproductive health.
“This year 12 cases of school girls falling pregnant in Kafue district have been recorded,” said Mr Kamana
And Chieftainess Chiawa told Ms. Lungu after she paid a courtesy on her that the people in her chiefdom were so grateful to President Edgar Lungu for remembering them and for the mealie meal that was freely being distributed to the community.
Chieftainess Chiawa said there are investors in the chiefdom like Trade Kings that wanted to buy a lot of maize to freely give to the local people until when the situation normalized.
She was however told that government could not allow that and wondered how that could be an issue.
She has bemoaned the rising number of people being killed by wild animals such as elephants and lions.
Chieftainess Chiawa has expressed displeasure at the operation of the department of national parks and wildlife who valued more animal life than that of humans.
She said that Mugurameno village has a lot of elephants, lions and hippos instilling fear in the villagers who were so limited in their activities.
Chieftainess Chiawa has also appealed to the first lady to help fence the Kafue River so that wild animals will not be crossing to graze through the whole plantation of cash crops grown by the people to sustain themselves.
In reply Lungu has told the chieftainess that she was in her area to donate a container of medical equipment to Chiawa rural health post and officially open a recreation centre.
Ms. Lungu said that the container was donated to the Esther Lungu Foundation Trust and her target was to donate to rural areas while the recreation centre was built by the foundation Trust partners Explore Africa Zambia.
Ms. Lungu noted with concern the human-animal conflict that was rife in the area and wondered what the DNPW was doing in about the situation.
