Kapiri Mposhi Mother Arrested For Burning Her Child Over Food

Mrs Nsongwe and her daughter Lillian at home

By Paul Shalala in Kapiri Mposhi

A 34 year old mother of Kapiri Mposhi in the Central Province has been arrested for burning the hands of her seven year old daughter after she ate sweet potatoes at a neighbour's house.

Doreen Nsongwe has been remanded at the Kapiri Mposhi Police Station where she has been charged for the offence of assaulting a child.

"We received a report of a seven year old girl of Kapiri Mposhi being burnt by her mother. The report was given to the Police by the girl's stepfather who said the mother was annoyed because the girl ate at her neighbour's house," said Central Province Police Commissioner Lombe Kamukoshi in an interview.

According to an officer who conducted the arrest in Material Compound, on 9th February,  Mrs Nsongwe got hot charcoal and placed it in the hands of her daughter Lillian which ended up burning her severely.

Lillian is a Grade one pupil at Material Primary School.

During her arrest yesterday which this blogger witnessed, Mrs Nsongwe cried, saying she was trying to discipline her daughter when she burnt her.

The arrest attracted a huge number of neighbours, some of whom wailed as she was led away into a vehicle by uniformed Police officers.

The victim, who was visibly traumatised, cried as she noticed that her mother was being led away by police officers.

And Kapiri Mposhi District Commissioner Peter Mwiinde vowed that parents who physically harm their children should be prosecuted.

"This is total stupidity. Such parents must be arrested and taken to court. Am ordering all the Police officers in the Victim Support Unit, do not release such culprits, take them to court and let them face the law," said the visibly annoyed Mr Mwiinde.

The GBV One Stop Center under construction 

Mrs Nsongwe was today expected to appear before a magistrate's court in Kapiri Mposhi.

Her child has now been taken by the District Social Welfare Office which will monitor her progress as she is being treated by medical personnel.

Gender Based Violence (GBV) is a major problem in Kapiri Mposhi.

This has led government to construct the first ever GBV One Stop Center in the District which will serve the whole province.

The center has so far reached roof level and the contractor Workman Limited is on schedule.

K1.4 million is being spent on the project.

"GBV cases here in Kapiri Mposhi are on the rise due to the location of the town. We need this GBV One Stop Center because currently, victims have nowhere to run to," said Kapiri Mposhi District Social Welfare Officer Moses Manasseh in an interview.

He added that once completed, the center will offer refuge to GBV victims and those who do not need shelter will be going there for counselling.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The story on the construction of the GBV One Stop Center was also aired as a report on TV1's Morning Live program on 16 February 2017 and it can be watched here: GBV One Stop Center

Army Worms Destroy 20,000 Hectares of Maize In Central Province

Chanda Kabwe (in blue) sprays a maize field in Kapiri Mposhi

By Paul Shalala in Kapiri Mposhi

Over 20,000 hectares of maize has so far been destroyed by the fall army worms in Central Province since the first cases of the pests were reported in the region late last year.

Newly appointed Central Province Permanent Secretary Chanda Kabwe says the region has now become one of the hardest hit by the pests alongside the Copperbelt province.

Mr Kabwe says the deployment of Zambia National Service (ZNS) officers across the province has helped contain the fall army worms in most of the districts which are hard hit.

“So far, the situation looks under control. We have distributed over 10 thousand chemicals across Central Province since the fall army worms were first reported. We have another consignment coming this coming week, we are doing everything possible to fight these pests,” said Mr Kabwe when he toured some affected farms in Kapiri Mposhi’s Kambosha area on Friday.

The Central Province Permanent Secretary assured farmers in the province that government is doing everything possible to ensure that they have a good harvest at the end of the current farming season.

And Kapiri Mposhi District Commissioner Peter Mwiinde has revealed that about one thousand four hundred hectares of maize have so far been sprayed by the authorities.

Mr Mwiinde says the District is this weekend expected to receive more bottles of the chemicals to spray the remaining one thousand hectares.

“We received 700 litres of the chemicals to fight the army worms. So far we have sprayed 1,458 hectares but we are still remaining with 1,000 more hectares. Am confident we will spray them too and produce a bumper harvest this year,” said Mr Mwiinde.

Meanwhile, one of the hard hit farmers is Mary Zimba, whose three fields in Kambosha area along the Great North Road were attacked by the fall army worms late last year.

“When my fields were attacked, I had lost hope. I was worried that this year we will be in poverty. But with the free chemicals I received from the agricultural extension officers, my crop has been saved,” said Mrs Zimba.

A check in her three maize fields found her crop was growing well and had reached knee level.

Tomorrow, authorities in Kabwe, the provincial capital, will be deploying inmates to beef up the ZNS team which is fighting the army worms in the fields.

Due to security reasons, the prisoners are only expected to spray fields which are in the outskirts of Kabwe town.