. SATA

By CHARITY MOONGA –
PRESIDENT Michael Sata says the Government will continue to put in place stringent measures to protect women and children from all forms of abuse.
Mr Sata said the prevalence of gender-based violence was unacceptable, while citing child pregnancies and early marriages as having remained a challenge in the country.
The President said this when opening the latest session of Parliament yesterday.
He said the Government would continue to promote gender and child development in all its programmes.
The Government had appointed and maintained a high number of the womenfolk in leadership and decision-making positions to ensure gender equity in the development process.
Mr Sata challenged women to rise to the challenge because there was still room for them to participate in the leadership of the country.
On decentralisation, the President said the Government remained committed to the programme to ensure services were closer to the people and facilitated employment creation.
He said that in 2015, the Government would empower councils with additional financial resources needed to deliver local services effectively.
“This is an initial step in operationalising the decentralisation policy which I launched in 2013,” Mr Sata said.
He said a local Government equalisation fund would be established to provide a solid base for further devolution.
Mr Sata directed the ministers of Finance and Local Government  to develop an effective mechanism of ensuring predictable, stable and sustainable sources of funds for local development and delivery of municipal services.
The Government was committed to ensuring that all citizens had quality and affordable housing and was currently working to resolve the housing deficit.
He said the Government had recapitalised Zambia National Building Society with an equity contribution of K165 million to allow more people to access affordable housing credit.
“We are also working with the private sector to close the housing deficit through public private partnerships,” he said.
On rural areas, Mr Sata said the Government was committed to improving the standard of living for the people in rural areas by accelerating service delivery, adding that 32 newly-created districts had now been operationalised.
Construction of infrastructure had started in five districts, including the upgrading of infrastructure in Choma and Chinsali, as new provincial headquarters, while construction of district offices and other infrastructure in the remaining 27 districts would start before the end of the year.
On customary land, Mr Sata said that the customary land administration Bill had been drafted and would be tabled before Parliament in 2015 to govern customary land.
“It will ensure that the interests of local people in the rural farming communities are protected and promoted as well as improve the possibilities for better economic utilisation of land,” Mr Sata said.