Government To Aid Churches In Mitigating COVID – 19

Vice President Inonge Wina has assured the Church on the Copperbelt of government support following the negative effects of the COVID – 19.

Mrs Wina noted that the church was among the worst affected by the pandemic.

Speaking when she met members of the Kitwe Pastors Fellowship in Kitwe today, the Vice President said the church will be helped through interventions like the Covid-19 emergency relief funds for projects such as completion of construction of their churches and also provision of relief food for the vulnerable members among others.

And Mrs Wina told the clergy that government is still discussing the issue of suspension of church gatherings in schools which the members of the clergy presented to the Vice President.

Mrs Wina said it would be difficult for schools to open their doors to the public due to the current health restrictions.

“The suspension of churches meetings in schools is still under discussion between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education to find a way of helping you,” Mrs. Wina told the clergy.

She further urged church leaders to engage councils for church plots each time the local authorities are giving out land so that they can have permanent places of worship.

Earlier, Kitwe Pastors Fellowship Chairperson Bishop Raddy Lewila thanked government through the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) for the support rendered to them in the wake of the Covid- 19 pandemic.

Bishop Lewila also thanked government for the empowerment funds aimed at helping churches complete the structures stating that over 500 churches have so far applied for the funds.

And Bishop Lewila has assured the Vice President that the church in Kitwe was in support of the Patriotic Front led government development agenda which has resulted into massive infrastructure development which he said will stabilize the country for many years to come.

He also called for prudent use of the money being raised through the tollgates, an initiative he said was an excellent money spinner for government.

He further called on government to make a deliberate policy that will ensure that business contracts in the mines are given to indigenous Zambians as a way of ensuring empowerment of locals and equal distribution of resources.

And Copperbelt Minister Japhen Mwakalombe said the Church on the Copperbelt has been supportive to government.

“We have consulted and engaged the church on several issues,” Mr Mwakalombe said.

The Vice President is on a three day working visit on the Copperbelt where she is tomorrow scheduled to commission the handing over of pieces of land to the Kitwe flood victims and members of the Luyando Community whose houses were demolished by Mopani Copper Mines in Mindolo North recently.

The Vice president is also expected to hold meetings with various stakeholders later in the afternoon.

This article originally appeared on Lusaka Times