By CHATULA KANGALI –
CHIEFTAINESS Malembeka of the Lamba-speaking people of Mpongwe District says apart from improving hygiene, the campaign against open defecation has resulted in the reduction of adulterous cases in her chiefdom.
The traditional leader said in an interview that the Open Defecation Free (ODF) status attained by her chiefdom has helped also reduce adulterous activities.

. Chieftainess Malembeka

She said in the past, some of her subjects wondered off in the bush for toilet issues, yet they met their partners for illicit sex.
“Many are the times people wondered off in the night in the name of answering the call of nature but were instead engaging in late night illicit affairs,” she said.
The chieftainess said: “From the time my chiefdom attained the ODF status, I have seen a reduction in the number of adulterous cases from traditional courts I hold.
Before then, a number of our subjects were cheating on their spouses that they had gone to answer the call of nature in the bush where they engaged in adulterous activities,” she said.
The chieftainess said majority of her people in her chiefdom had now built toilets within their vicinity, hence making it difficult for a man or woman to cheat their spouses in the name of answering the call of nature.
She added that access to toilets by the local people had also restored dignity in her chiefdom and accorded privacy in answering the call of nature.
She said that sanitation had prevailed in her chiefdom, thereby leading to a reduction in water-borne diseases.
Malembeka Chiefdom is the first female chiefdom in Africa to attain ODF status.
The status means that more than 80 per cent of the population in her chiefdom has access to a toilet and hand washing facility.