VZCZCXRO6882
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHLS #0667/01 2721121
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 291121Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY LUSAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7305
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 LUSAKA 000667 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
PASS TO USAID AND STATE FOR AF/S 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID ZA
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S VISIT TO ZAMBIA'S NORTHERN PROVINCE 
 
REF: A. LUSAKA 583 
     ¶B. LUSAKA 471 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (SBU) Ambassador received an outpouring of local 
appreciation for the USG's efforts to support provincial 
sanitation, health, and poverty reduction projects during his 
September 21-24 visit to Northern Province.  He noted that 
USG assistance there is serving as a catalyst to improve 
local health and sanitation conditions.  He also observed 
many challenges to local economic development, including 
insufficient capacity to tap natural resources, substandard 
infrastructure, and inefficient farming methods. 
Ambassador's visit to the provincial capital, Kasama, 
coincided with Vice President George Kunda appearance in town 
before a key October parliamentary MP by-election. 
Ambassador's visit generated substantial goodwill for the 
United States and highlighted the USG's positive impact on 
local development.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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AMBASSADOR'S PROVINCIAL TOUR 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Ambassador presided over the launch of the School 
Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (WASH) and Quality Education 
Project at Sabwa Basic School in Mpika during his September 
21-24 visit to Northern Province.  He attended a ceremony at 
Chibansa Rural Health Center in Mpika marking the end of a 
bilateral Health Communications Partnership (HCP) Program. 
He also toured Our Lady of Hope (OLH) Hospital in Chilonga 
and Community Recreation Center at the Zambia College of 
Agriculture in Mpika, two other recipients of USG assistance. 
 Ambassador discussed local development initiatives with the 
district commissioners of Kasama, John Chanda, and of Mpika, 
John Chinyanta, and gleaned insights from Peace Corps 
volunteers (PCVs) working in Serenje and Kasama districts. 
Ambassador ended his trip with a brief visit to Chengelo 
School in Mkushi, Central Province, where he hosted a 
roundtable discussion with high school students and faculty. 
 
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USG ASSISTANCE WELL RECEIVED 
---------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) Ambassador noted that USG assistance to the remote 
Northern Province is serving as a catalyst to improve local 
health and sanitation conditions.  Deputy Education Minister 
Clement Sinyinda and Ambassador highlighted the September 23 
launch of the WASH and Quality Education Project at Sabwa 
Basic School.  The school is one of many in the province that 
will benefit from a three-year USG and Ministry of Education 
initiative to construct or refurbish school latrines and 
water wells; train educators on hygiene practices; provide 
teaching materials; promote behavioral change in schools and 
surrounding communities; and mobilize communities to support 
additional water and sanitation projects.  The project will 
ultimately benefit 240,000 students in 800 schools throughout 
Northern Province by 2012.  Deputy Minister Sinyinda and 
school administrators thanked the USG for its assistance 
funding this project. 
 
¶4.  (U) Ambassador attended a September 23 ceremony at 
Chibansa Rural Health Center marking the end of the Health 
Communications Partnership (HCP) Program.  The five-year 
USAID-Ministry of Health partnership mobilized communities to 
improve local health conditions, promote positive hygenic 
behaviors, and produce communication materials in support of 
community health priorities. The HCP's "Theatre for Life" 
training educated performing groups to use drama and 
discussions to promote community involvement on key health 
and social issues such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, child health, 
community apathy, and conflict resolution.  HCP helped the 
Chibansa community reduce its high maternal death rate by 
mobilizing local resources to construct a maternity wing and 
latrine at the health center.  Health center officials 
thanked the USG for its assistance, and a drama group 
demonstrated how the local community planned to continue its 
outreach efforts in the absence of USG funding. 
 
¶5.  (U) OLH Hospital Director Dr. Nsumpi Kanemesha told 
Ambassador during his September 21 visit that the hospital 
appreciated the USG's financial support for its 
Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) Program.  He noted that the 
PEPFAR-funded program served 712 patients in Mpika, Northern 
Province's largest district.  Kanemesha said that the 
hospital's quality care attracted patients from throughout 
 
LUSAKA 00000667  002 OF 003 
 
 
northern Zambia and that the hospital deployed mobile patient 
units to attend patients in rural areas.  He said that 
USG-sponsored programs such as ART had positive impacts on 
local communities by raising awareness of sanitary practices 
and encouraging more people to seek HIV/AIDS testing and 
treatment.  Zambian College of Agriculture Community 
Recreation Center (CRC) Director Leonard Mulenga thanked the 
USG September 23 for funding the construction of the CRC 
building and purchasing equipment for the center.  Mulenga 
said that the CRC provided local youths with extracurricular 
activities and training opportunities.  During his September 
24 meeting with students and faculty at Changelo School, one 
of Zambia's premier high schools, Ambassador discussed 
President Obama's September 8 education speech and 
educational opportunities in the United States to promote the 
Embassy's education outreach program. 
 
¶6.  (U) Kasama District Commissioner John Chanda and Mpika 
District Commissioner John Chinyanta thanked the USG 
September 22 for its support in the areas of sanitation, 
health, and poverty reduction.  They said that local 
residents increasingly responded to efforts to prevent 
HIV/AIDS and malaria through awareness campaigns such as 
dramas and community radio programs, as well as by promoting 
hygienic practices, spraying, and using mosquito nets. 
 
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CHALLENGES TO LOCAL DEVELOPMENT 
------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Ambassador observed many challenges to local 
economic development, including insufficient capacity to tap 
natural resources, substandard infrastructure, and 
inefficient farming methods -- particularly slash-and-burn 
farming.  Chanda and Chinyanta told Ambassador that the 
province sought to diversify its economy by promoting 
agriculture, small-scale mining, and tourism.  They said that 
the GRZ established a farm bloc near Mpika to promote 
agricultural development.  However, they stated that the 
province lacked key infrastructure, including storage dams 
and micro-dams, and an irrigation program to utilize the 
province's significant water resources.  Chanda and Chinyanta 
said the provine lacked programs to exploit its potential 
minera wealth.  They further noted that the province's"Northern Circuit" tourism initiative was well undrway and 
included building resorts and an airpor at Kasaba Bay on 
Lake Tanganika; constructing rads in the northern reaches of 
the province; openng the military air base in Mbala to 
civilian aicraft; and refurbishing Kasama's airport.  Chanda 
also said that Kasama's airport terminal refurbishment was 
completed this year and that commercial flights to Kasama 
would resume once the tarmac was paved in 2010.  Despite 
these development efforts, Ambassador observed during his 
visit that the major highway and railway passing through the 
province were in poor condition and in desperate need of 
maintenance. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Ambassador gleaned insights from PCVs serving in 
Serenje and Kasama districts.  PCVs working in rural villages 
told Ambassador September 21 and 23 that GRZ officials had 
limited contact with villagers and that the villagers were 
generally apolitical.  They said that perceptions of American 
culture and the USG in rural areas were positive but 
generally limited to awareness of President Obama, U.S. 
action movie stars, and the PCVs themselves.  They stated 
that rural residents were primarily preoccupied with crop 
cultivating, aquaculture, and beekeeping -- although they 
were aware of macroeconomic issues that affected them such as 
the global financial crisis.  Although PCVs worked closely 
with villagers to improve productivity -- including teaching 
alternative methods to slash-and-burn farming -- they 
indicated that many villagers remained opposed to change or 
risk-averse.  PCVs observed that rural alcoholism was rampant 
as a result of homebrew beer parties villagers threw to earn 
extra income but that no rural programs existed to treat 
alcoholism.  They confirmed that alcoholism is a significant 
factor behind the risky behaviors that are driving the 
HIV/AIDS pandemic. 
 
------------------------------ 
VEEP VISITS BEFORE BY-ELECTION 
------------------------------ 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Ambassador's September 22 visit to Kasama coincided 
with Vice President George Kunda's appearance in town before 
the October 15 member of parliament (MP) by-election -- a key 
race that could prove a harbinger of the region's political 
mood.  Former Patriotic Front (PF) MP Saviour Chishimba 
vacated his seat July 27 when he left the PF to launch his 
own political party.  Kunda visited Kasama to participate 
 
LUSAKA 00000667  003 OF 003 
 
 
obstensibly in the annual "Ukusefya Pan'gwena" Bemba 
festival.  However, he also met with the Provincial Minister 
and other key provincial political leaders.  Chanda, 
Chinyanta and some PCVs indicated that PF candidate Geoffrey 
Bwalya Mwamba was favored to win.  Nevertheless, the Movement 
for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) could mount an electoral 
challenge should it employ tactics it used to win the 
Chitambo by-elections -- buying votes, misusing government 
vehicles, and distributing free food and clothing -- or 
benefits from the August 17 acquittal of former president 
Frederick Chiluba (ref A).  Chinyanta noted that this 
by-election would not be a test of the PF-United Party for 
National Development (UPND) alliance because the UPND lacks 
political support in the north (ref B). 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶10.  (SBU) Ambassador's visit generated substantial goodwill 
for the United States and highlighted the USG's positive 
impact on local development.  The strong outpouring of 
appreciation for USG assistance in Northern Province 
indicated that our engagement is paying dividends in goodwill 
at a local level.  Provincial leadership and residents alike 
credited the USG for improving sanitation and health 
conditions in the area and increasing awareness of these 
issues.  END COMMENT. 
BOOTH