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Teachers' Unions want education ministry restructured

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The Zambia National Union of Teachers (ZNUT) and the Basic Education Teachers Union of Zambia (BETUZ) have called for the appointment of an Education Minister with a strong understanding of the sector and the ability to engage all key stakeholders. The unions say the next minister should prioritise quality education, teacher welfare, infrastructure development and improved learning outcomes. ZNUT General Secretary Muvwanjilanji Siwila says the minister should be able to implement Government policies while ensuring that teachers, learners, parents, unions and other stakeholders are involved in decisions affecting the education sector. Mr Siwila says the minister should also address challenges affecting teachers, particularly accommodation in rural and urban areas, and improve school infrastructure. He says the ministry should urgently address overcrowding in schools and the high teacher-pupil ratio, noting that some classrooms have more than 100 learners. Mr Siwila says the mi...
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LuSE eyes Village Banks as new source of capital

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The Lusaka Securities Exchange (LuSE) says village banks have the potential to become an important source of capital for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), while helping channel community savings into productive sectors of the economy. Village banking is a community-based savings and lending model in which members pool their money, provide loans to one another and earn interest on their savings. LuSE Chief Executive Officer Nicholas Kabaso says village banks should consider investing their pooled resources through the capital market to grow their savings and strengthen their financial sustainability. Mr Kabaso says the funds held by village banks, if properly managed and invested, could play a greater role in supporting economic activity. “From the exchange point of view, we are seeing village banks to be a very instrumental piece of pooled funds that we can use to be able to redeploy into more productive sectors,” he says. He says the growing appetite among SMEs to r...
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MQHZ sets expectations for new Health Minister

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The Medical for Quality Healthcare in Zambia (MQHZ) has called on President Hichilema to appoint a competent and decisive Minister of Health capable of driving reforms and delivering measurable improvements in patient care. Organisation Director General Quince Mwabu says the incoming minister should possess the leadership capacity to provide both strategic and operational direction to the health sector. “Zambia needs a Minister who will provide strong strategic and operational leadership, understand the realities of the health system and ensure that Government policies, programmes and investments translate into actual services for patients,” he said. He says the minister should be implementation-focused and demand results at health-facility level rather than being satisfied with policies and plans on paper. Dr Mwabu says the new minister will inherit a health system facing challenges including gaps in medicines and medical supplies, equipment requiring maintenance, human-resour...
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MQHZ Urges Hichilema to consolidate health gains

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President Hakainde Hichilema has been urged to use his second term to consolidate gains made in the health sector while addressing persistent gaps in access, quality and equity. Medical for Quality Healthcare in Zambia (MQHZ) Director General Dr Quince Mwabu says the ultimate measure of progress should be sustained improvements in healthcare delivery and health outcomes, particularly among underserved communities. Dr Mwabu says the re-election of President Hichilema provides an opportunity for government to build on investments made in the health sector over the past five years. He says government has increased investment in healthcare, expanded health infrastructure, recruited additional health personnel and strengthened the availability of essential medicines and medical supplies. Dr Mwabu says there has also been increased investment in diagnostic capacity and specialised health services, which he says has strengthened the health system and provided a foundation for improvin...
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Bishop Mambo urges Hichilema to appoint servant-leaders

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Chikondi Foundation President Bishop John Mambo has urged President Hakainde Hichilema to appoint a Cabinet that will serve the people and support his administration in delivering national development. Bishop Mambo says Cabinet ministers must understand that they are servants of the people and should remain accessible and responsive to citizens. Bishop Mambo says is prayer with those who are elected is that he picks a Cabinet that will run with him, where they will answer phone calls, where they will know that they are not masters, they are servants. Bishop Mambo says President Hichilema’s electoral victory should be attributed largely to his administration’s policies and programmes, including the increased Constituency Development Fund (CDF) allocation. He says the CDF has increased significantly from 1.6 million kwacha to 40 million kwacha per constituency, although he notes that some rural communities may not fully appreciate the impact of the intervention. Bishop Mambo sa...
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BETUZ wants Hichilema to sustain education reforms

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The Basic Education Teachers Union of Zambia (BETUZ) has welcomed President Hakainde Hichilema’s re-election, saying his second term should focus on consolidating reforms and investments made in the education sector. BETUZ Secretary General Henry Sinkala says the union is particularly pleased with the expansion of the school feeding programme, which he says is benefiting more than five million children from Monday to Friday. “The feeding programme, which has seen more than five million children being fed from Monday to Friday, is a good policy. With him being there, it means our children across the country are assured of being fed,” Mr Sinkala said. He said the union also wants government to sustain the implementation of free education, which is now backed by law. Mr Sinkala said the removal of user fees, including tuition, examination, Parent-Teacher Association, broom and other charges, would provide financial relief to parents. “Parents who have an opportunity to save from...
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NGOCC urges President-elect to appoint more women to senior government positions

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The Non-Governmental Gender Organisations Coordinating Council (NGOCC) has called on President-Elect Hakainde Hichilema to increase the number of women appointed to senior decision-making positions, particularly at Permanent Secretary level. NGOCC Executive Director Anne Mbewe-Anamela says greater representation of women in leadership is critical to ensuring that women's lived experiences are reflected in national policies, laws and government programmes. Ms. Mbewe-Anamela said the organisation was concerned about the low number of women who contested the recent elections. “We really do need women in the leadership positions for women to be able to articulate their lived experiences and to ensure that these get into policy, into legal frameworks and into the practice of everything that we do in this country,” she said. Ms. Mbewe-Anamela said NGOCC was particularly disappointed by the decline in the number of women contesting for elected positions compared to the 2021 electi...
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