• FIRST Lady Christine Kaseba (left) takes part in building a house for Jennifer Milama (far right) during the Women Build event organised by Habitat for Humanity and Standard Chartered Bank in Lusaka’s Linda Township yesterday. The two organisations are also building another house for Tilubeko Tembo (not in picture) of the same area. Picture by CHUSA SICHONE.

By SARAH TEMBO –

FIRST Lady Christine Kaseba has implored the Bank of Zambia to ensure that commercial banks in Zambia consider giving loans to women without collateral.

The First Lady said many women could not access loans from banks as they did not have collateral.

She, therefore, challenged Bank of Zambia deputy Governor of administration Tukiya Kankasa-Mabula to ensure that the Central Bank encouraged financial institutions to offer them collateral-free loans.

“I have always wondered why the banks can’t trust a woman and take her as collateral herself,” she said.

“I will take this chance to ask Dr Tukiya Mabula to keep pushing the banks to consider women getting loans without land collateral,” the First Lady said.

Dr Kaseba referred to the 2014 International Bar Association (IBA) outstanding female lawyer awarded to Dr Kankasa-Mabula, congratulating her and Jean Kapata for her elevation as Tourism and Arts Minister.

The First Lady said this when she officiated at the Women Build event in Lusaka’s Linda Township yesterday where Habitat for Humanity and Standard Chartered Bank partnered to build two houses for two women in the area.

Dr Kaseba also implored the Government to ensure that more women were allocated land for them to own decent houses and was happy that President Michael Sata had recognised that women could develop if they accessed land.

Recently, President Michael Sata directed the Ministry of Lands, Environment and Natural Resources to liaise with the Ministry of Gender and Child Development in a bid to help women own land.

She said if women secured rights to land and accommodation, they would become less vulnerable to gender based violence and diseases like HIV / AIDS.

“It is sad we still have people in our midst without decent shelter. We owe it to them to provide shelter that goes beyond the aesthetic comfort and bring dignity to protect them from internal and external hazards,” she said.

Habitat for Humanity board chairperson Douglas Katengo said Zambia faced a 1.3 million urban house deficit and that poverty could only be alleviated when various stakeholders partnered with Government.

Standard Chartered Bank chief executive officer Andrew Okai pledged the bank’s commitment to working with Government to help the underprivileged and spur economic development.

Mr Okai said the bank had funded the construction of the two Linda Township houses and together with Habitat for Humanity had constructed 18 houses in Zambia.