Into Livingstone and Beyond

05/04/2025

3-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN LIVINGSTONE ALLEGEDLY DEFILED AMID RISING CHILD ABUSE CASES.

05/04/2025

HIPPO ATTACK CLAIMS LIFE OF 67-YEAR-OLD MAN IN GWEMBE.

A 67-year-old man from Chisamu village in Gwembe District, Southern Province, has died after being attacked by a hippopotamus.

Robson Sandi met his fate while attempting to chase three hippos away from his maize field along the shores of Lake Kariba.

Southern Province Police Commanding Officer Auxensio Daka confirmed that the incident occurred on April 3, 2025, between 20:00 and 21:00 hours.

Mr. Daka says on that fateful evening, Mr. Sandi and his younger brother, Martin Sandi, aged 59, visited the maize field to check on their crops.

He says during their visit, they encountered three hippos grazing in the field and in an effort to protect their harvest, Mr. Sandi attempted to drive the animals away using sticks and stones.

Mr. Daka says in the process, one of the hippos became aggressive and charged at Mr. Sandi, inflicting fatal injuries while his brother Martin managed to escape to safety during the attack.

He adds that the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) was notified of the incident, and subsequently, Mr. Sandi’s body was taken back to the village for burial.

04/04/2025

SIALUBALO ORDERS THE COMMISSIONING OF MWANDI POLICE POST IN LIVINGSTONE.

Newly appointed Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Gift Sialubalo has directed that all completed Constituency Development Fund projects should be commissioned within 60 days, effective Monday next week.

In Livingstone, under the leadership of Tourism Minister Rodney Sikumba, Mwandi Police Post in Freedom Ward, whose construction was completed in 2021, has yet to be commissioned.

On several occasions, Area Councilor Luckson Mumba has lamented the delays in commissioning the facility.

Mr. Mumba observed that the delays could result in the building becoming a white elephant and pose significant security challenges in the area.

With Mr. Sialubalo’s directive, it is hoped that Mr. Sikumba and his team will expedite the process to make the Police Post operational.

09/02/2022

The Transformation.

This is Mr. Mubita who was mostly found covered in a blanket at a railway crossing along Musiotunya road near Port Office.

25/01/2022

Crowds attempted to enter through a southern entrance at Olembe stadium in the capital Yaounde to watch the host nation play Comoros.

25/01/2022

The coup comes a day after troops attacked barracks and gunshots were heard in the capital.

24/01/2022

JUST IN: Malawi President, Dr Lazarus McCarthy, has dissolved his entire cabinet.

24/01/2022

News Making Headlines!!

24/01/2022

President Hakainde Hichilema Writes;

We said that if elected we would invest in Education. Here’s where we are now:

Increased teachers' salaries

Removed school fees in public schools

Removed examination fees

Removed PTA fees

Recruiting 30,000 more teachers

Providing additional funding for our most vulnerable pupils through the CDF

Building 120 new schools in 2022

Providing free sanitary pads for our young women in public schools

Spending over k18 billion on education in our first year.

HH aka Bally

24/01/2022

21/01/2022

Friday 21st January, 2022

For Immediate Release

PRESS STATEMENT

RISE IN MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS IN ZAMBIA – A CALL TO ACTION

Dear Members of the Press,

Mental illness and disability are one of the most ignored silent killers in the Zambian society today. Common mental health problems are those that affect peoples’ behaviours, relationships, life styles and ability to make decisions. Mental health challenges are driven by many social factors such as poverty, joblessness, alcohol and substance abuse, breakdown in family union and a general sense of despair and hopelessness as people struggle to cope with the stresses of life.

Recent developments in the social media and mainstream media spaces have brought out some strange behavioural patterns among citizens especially women who are struggling with particular aspects of their social and economic lives. These are mostly young ladies who are struggling to raise children as single mothers with no visible family support, others are women struggling to create profiles of themselves that are inconsistent with what they are known for a way to respond to their past. These situations have sadly escalated into personal wars of words, innuendos and even legal suits.

As organisations concerned with mental health and psycho-social disability from a human rights position, we are appalled at the high levels of ignorance some stakeholders are exhibiting on mental health. We are further disturbed that individuals who should help vulnerable young women to access crucial support services to enhance their mental wellbeing are instead abusing them through the media.

We are sending a wake-up call to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services to sit up and perform their roles to ensure that mental health services are accessible at community level and that individuals experiencing mental health breakdowns in the community are attended to through community-based support systems as envisioned in the Mental Health Act of 2019.

Furthermore, we want the public to know that exploiting a person with a mental disability for personal gain is unlawful and can attract serious sanctions under the law. Sections 5 and 6 of the Mental Health Act provides that, “a person, shall respect, safeguard the dignity, and uphold the rights of a mental patient –

6. (1) A person shall not discriminate against a mental patient.
(2) A person shall not exploit or subject a mental patient to abusive, violent or degrading treatment including their gender-based aspects.
(3) A person shall not call a mental patient by a derogatory name on account of a disability of that mental patient.”

Those who take advantage of girls and women with mental and intellectual disabilities should be brought to book and punished as prescribed by the law. Those who indulge in any form of sexual exploitation of girls and women with mental disabilities should be investigated and brought to book and made to support and maintain the innocent children they father.

The coming of the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the situation for persons with mental disabilities as the cost of medications have gone up, access to treatment and periodic reviews is constrained among other factors. We need to urgently invest adequate resources in mental health which should be at par with physical health services.

The current allocation in the health budget towards mental health still lingers around one percent a situation which is unacceptable especially under this new dawn administration. We demand that the Minister of Health Honourable Sylvia Masebo, MP, should immediately establish the Mental Health Council and ensure that it is funded.

We need to have deliberate programmes to address the high levels of alcohol and substance abuse in the communities by the youth and increasingly by girls and women. We need more counselling service and rehabilitation centres supported by government to address these social vices that are also causing an increase in crime.

Country men and women especially our social media celebrities, please let’s avoid using social media to verbally and emotionally abuse or attack others because we are all potential victims of mental health diseases. Empathy (understanding, sympathy and compassion) should be the guiding principle whenever we encounter a person with a mental health disease.

The mission of The Commuter Magazine (TCM) is to create more demand for local tourism products and services. Our vision is a road transport sector that is inclusive and protective of commuters especially tourists. TCM is currently creating more demand for HIV Testing and Mental Health Services at bus stations and markets in Lusaka and Livingstone.

Yours in National Service
The Commuter Magazine

Liswaniso Mwanalushi (Mr.)
Team Leader and Editor

20/01/2022

HUSBAND SHOOTS WIFE TO DEATH AT HER PARENTS’ HOUSE.

Thursday, 20 January, 2022

Police in Lusaka have arrested Isaac Chulu aged 33 of Katete in Eastern Province after he handed himself to the Police for shooting dead his 28 year old wife Modai Mwambazi of Katete.

According to the Police Spokesperson Rae Hamoonga, the incident occurred on Tuesday 18th January, 2022 at around 18:00 hours in Kabanana Site and Service in Lusaka.

Mr. Hamoonga said on the fateful day around 07:00 hours, the deceased called her father Clement Mwambazi and informed him that they were travelling to Lusaka from Katete to sort out their marital disputes which the couple was facing.

He said according to the father of the deceased, around 18:00 hours upon arrival in Kabanana Site and Service in Lusaka in the company of a marriage counselor and friend to the suspect, they sat to discuss the matter.

Mr. Hamoonga explained that while they were discussing, the suspect went outside the house and was followed by his wife and suddenly a gunshot was heard and the father went to see what was happening only to find his daughter lying on the ground and bleeding profusely from the head.

He said immediately after that, the suspect, marriage counselor and the friend to the suspect got into the vehicle which was parked outside and sped off.

Police rushed to the scene and picked the victim and took her to Chipata level one Hospital where she was pronounced dead upon arrival.

The body of the deceased has been deposited in the Mortuary awaiting postmortem and burial.