Speaking when he visited the area today, Mr. Kalaba said the flood situation in the area needs to be declared a disaster so that aid begins to tickle in.

He said if President Hakainde Hichilema was a serious leader, he would have cut off short his Egypt visit and returned home and help alleviate the suffering that residents are going through adding that if left unchecked the floods may end up causing serious diarrhea diseases in the area.

“Some of you may be wondering why I have chosen to speak about Kanyama when more areas in Lusaka have equally been adversely affected by the ongoing floods. The reason is simple and historic: with about 500,000 people or inhabitants according to latest official government statistics, Kanyama is the highest populated homestead in Zambia. Apart from that, Kanyama is also one of the poorest homesteads or townships in Zambia located in the heart of our capital, Lusaka. So when Kanyama coughs, Lusaka catches a cold. And your guess is as good as mine what would happen when those floods lead to cholera infection,” Mr. Kalaba said.

“47 years later, Kanyama has yet again become a hazard to live in after over 100,000 households being displaced by the floods that have affected most parts of Zambia but more so in Kanyama and yet again killing some people according to official reports. I live near Kanyama, as CF President and a citizen of Zambia, my heart bleeds when I see the devastation these floods have wrecked on the vulnerable community where some of the poorest of the poor in Lusaka or indeed Zambia reside,” he said.

The CF leaders adds that houses have been washed away, massive property damage recorded, and power has been switched off in Kanyama rendering it a dark city by the state utility company ZESCO to reduce or avoid further accidents or danger onto residents.

“ Experts fear that gastro-intestinal diseases will escalate in Kanyama as drinking water co-mingles with sewer water, which residents may eventually use to drink or cook. Given the clear and present danger, I call upon President Hakainde Hichilema to cut his tourism trip to Egypt and come back home and do one sensible and logical thing—declare kanyama floods a national disaster,” said.

“Mr Hichilema will open the flood gates of aid and relief assistance into Kanyama once he makes this declaration and reduce or forestall the deaths that have already occurred in Kanyama before an epidemic breaks out. We call upon urgent action onto the Kanyama disaster because it is bound to explode right before our very eyes in a worse manner than it did in 1978 under KK if Mr. Hichilema fails to act swiftly,” Mr. Kalaba said