By JAMES KUNDA –
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu will soon sanction an executive order permitting additional law enforcement agencies to join in the clamp down on the illegal harvesting and trade of the Mukula tree.
Muchinga Province Minister Malozo Sichone said the Head of State was not happy that illegal trading in the mukula tree had remained rampant and had said the Zambia Army would also be engaged to fight the scourge.
“The army will also be engaged to extensively patrol the province and seal off all loopholes so that the Mukula is preserved for the benefit of our local people,” Mr Sichone said.

LUNGU

He said this to journalists at State House in Lusaka yesterday after presenting a quarterly progress report on Government operations in the province to President Lungu.
Mr Sichone, who was accompanied by his Permanent Secretary Bright Nundwe, said the Head of State also wanted the provincial administration to act quickly in curbing teenage pregnancies and early childhood marriages.
He said the President also wanted the Mbesuma Ranch in Chinsali to be viable and create employment and wealth for the people.
President Lungu also received a report from Luapula Province Minister Nixon Chilangwa, who also informed journalists on the progress in the region’s development agenda.
Mr Chilangwa said Luapula had made headway in achieving several objectives set for the region under the Sixth National Development Plan (SNDP).
He outlined agriculture, forestry, fisheries and livestock, energy, tourism, mining and infrastructure development as the pillars driving economic growth in the region.
Mr Chilangwa said President Lungu was happy with the report of the provincial administration and looked forward to enhanced growth under the Seventh National Development Plan.
Northern Province Minister Brian Mundubile also presented a report on his region, with President Lungu expressing his desire to see the Northern tourism circuit booming.
Mr Mundubile said he informed the President that Government would enter into a public private partnership with an investor to revive the Kateshi coffee plantation in Kasama.