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Fresh insights into how our bodies interact with the microbes living in our guts suggest that a two-drug combination may offer a new way to treat inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

TWO men accused of abducting Pamela Chisumpa and 12 other females in Lusaka’s Chalala area will undergo mental examination before taking plea in the High Court.

This is to ascertain whether James Bwalya, 22, and Matthews Sikaonga, also 22 are mentally fit to attend trial.

The Court has also ordered that Bwalya be referred for medical examination to determine his fitness to attend trial given the injuries sustained on his back.

Bwalya could be seen in pain and required Sikaonga’s aid to walk.

The two who appeared this morning before High Court Judge Charles Kafunda, are facing 54 counts which include aggravated robbery, abduction, assault and rape. Defence lawyer Osborne Ngoma made an application that the two be subjected to mental examination before taking plea.

Mr Ngoma said their mental fitness be examined before, during and after the commission of the offences.

He also made an application for Bwalya to be physically examined to ascertain his ability to attend trial.

Mr Ngoma explained that Bwalya was involved in an activity that led to him falling and sustained some backache injury, to an extent that he was undergoing excruciating pain which is affecting his mental faculty.

The State did not object to the application but asked the court to set a date of receipt of the medical reports to ensure a speedy trial.

Judge Kafunda ruled that the examination would be limited to the accused persons’ state of mind to attend trial and not during the period of the alleged commission of the offences.

He said that the state of mind of the duo during the period of the alleged commission of the offence followed the separate procedure to the defence of the accused persons.

He ordered that the medical report for the two be tendered on April 6, 2023.

“The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health together with the Commissioner General of the Zambia Correctional Services of course acting through their officers shall coordinate this process and ensure that the examination is under taken within the period beginning today up to Wednesday and that a medical personal undertaking the examination and preparing the reports be before the court on the 6th of April ,2023, to tender the said report,” he said.

Judge Kafunda adjourned the matter to April 6, 2023.

It is alleged that on September 14, 2022 in Lusaka, Bwalya and Sikaonga intentionally and unlawfully did traffic a victim within Zambia for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

In another count, the duo is charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm contrary to Section 248 of the Penal Code Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia.

The duo on dates unknown but between September 14, 2022 and October 3, 2022 at Lusaka did assault a victim thereby occasioning actual bodily harm to her.

By NATION REPORTER

CITIZENS First (CF) president Harry Kalaba has said the only way to reduce the price of mealie meal and end shortages of the staple food is to increase maize production.

And Mr Kalaba says the only way to increase production of maize in the country is to help small-scale farmers with simple mechanical implements and affordable farm inputs.

He said in a statement Monday besides empowering small-scale farmers with mechanisation and cheap farm inputs government should bring back state farms which should be managed by the Zambia National Service (ZNS).

There is a shortage of mealie meal on the Copperbelt and North-Western Province triggering further increases in the price of the commodity.

In some parts of, the country the price has jumped to between K300 and K500 for a 25-kilogram bag.

About two months ago Mr Kalaba warned that the maize released to the Zambia National Service (ZNS) was not a solution because the grain would run out in two months.

“There was a lot of excitement when the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) released 250,000 metric tonnes of maize to millers. Our friend in the UPND went to town praising themselves that they had solved the problem. But I warned them not to be excited because that was going to last only two months. We are back to the same situation,” he said.

Mr Kalaba said once in government, the CF would encourage citizens to take up farming at household level by making land easily accessible to them, as well as providing cheap inputs and small tractors.

The price of the staple food has risen from K120 in 2021 to an average of between K200 and K500, sparking a public outcry.

Some stakeholders have warned that if not decisively addressed the escalating cost of living could cause instability in the nation.

 TWO court officials have earned themselves a day in court after being arrested for allegedly soliciting bribes amounting to K13,000 in separate incidents on the pretext they would positively influence court processes in favour of their bribers. In the first incident, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has arrested Vernon Matente, an interpreter at the Kalomo Subordinate […]

 THE two men accused of abducting 13 young women in October last year have been referred to a medical facility where physicians will examine their physical and mental status to stand trial . This was after their lawyer, Osbourne Ngoma, applied that the accused, James Bwalya and Mathews Sikaonga, seek medical examination ascertain whether they […]

 THE body of a seven-year-old boy of Kapiri-Mposhi who went missing on Friday last week has been found in Mulungushi river. Nathaniel Chanda who is alleged to have drowned was found with mutilated body parts as a result of fish bites. Meanwhile, an 86-year-old woman of Serenje has died after her grass thatched house caught […]

 ONE suspected poacher has been shot dead, while the other one has escaped with gunshot wounds after a shoot out with game scouts at a ranch in Chisamba on a property believed to belong to former Republican president Edgar Lungu. Mike Tembo aged between 44 and 46-years-old of Chibombo district was shot dead in a […]

 ECONOMIC and Equity Party (EEF) president Chilufya Tayali has appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to uttering words deemed to be harassing senior chief Mukuni through a live Facebook clip. In the words under contention, Mr Tayali is quoted saying that the traditional leader was the brain child behind the gassing of people’s homes. […]

 A 38-year-old man of Mpongwe district on the Copperbelt has drowned while trying to retrieve the body of another who had drowned. Lazarus Mayuka, who has been helping retrieve bodies from the lake whenever there are cases of drowning, failed to manuver his way out of the lake while looking for the body of Jeffrey […]

A new paper in Rheumatology Advances in Practice indicates that granulomatosis with polyangiitis, a nasal disease that causes inflammation of the blood vessels and commonly presents with symptoms in sinuses, throat, lungs, and kidneys, may be commonly misdiagnosed. Researchers believe that many patients identified with the sinus and nasal-limited form of the disease may actually be suffering from nasal damage due to cocaine usage.