President Hichilema Orders Immediate Action on University Sanitation Crisis

President Hakainde Hichilema convened an urgent meeting this afternoon with senior government ministers and University of Zambia leadership to address deteriorating sanitation conditions at the country's public higher education institutions.

The President directed the Ministries of Education, Health, Infrastructure, and Water Development and Sanitation to conduct an immediate review of sanitation facilities at UNZA and across all public universities and colleges, with instructions to present actionable solutions without delay. He further ordered the ministries to work alongside the Zambia National Service to accelerate on-the-ground interventions.

President Hichilema also used the meeting to press the Ministry of Education and UNZA management to resolve long-running grievances affecting lecturers and academic staff, issues that have lingered without resolution for years.

Speaking at the meeting, the President was unequivocal about the government's obligations to its students. Every young Zambian in higher education, he said, deserves to study and live in conditions that are safe, dignified, and conducive to academic success. Sanitation, he stressed, is not a peripheral concern, it is fundamental to health, wellbeing, and basic human dignity.

The President reaffirmed his administration's commitment to responsive governance, stating that government takes the concerns raised by students seriously and will pursue solutions through dialogue and decisive action.