KK attributes his longevity to healthy lifestyle

KK attributes his longevity to healthy lifestyle
By Moses Kuwema
Sat 28 Apr. 2012, 15:50 CAT

DR Kenneth Kaunda has attributed his longevity to the healthy lifestyle he leads. In an interview, Dr Kaunda, whose birthday falls today, said his vegetarian lifestyle had helped him reach 88 years.

"I am a vegetarian, I don't take meat, no eggs, no chicken, I eat only vegetables," he said. And Dr Kaunda welcomed the banning of tujilijili by the government. He appealed to young people in the country to stay away from the consumption of the illicit brew.

Dr Kaunda said much as the government had banned the manufacturing, distribution, stocking and consumption of tujilijili, young people in the country could take a leading role by avoiding the consumption of the sachet beer.

"Tujilijili must be stopped, the kids, young men and women must stop that. They should not wait for the government to act, but should do so themselves. They should solve the issue themselves by not drinking the stuff and that's the best way of fighting tujilijili. So I appeal to them to stop," he said.

And later after officiating at the Habitat for humanity Zambia (HFHZ) function in Kalingalinga, Dr Kaunda led children that had surrounded his vehicle in denouncing tujilijili.

Dr Kaunda further said parents and leaders in every walk of life must come together to build Zambia for the future of the children.

Meanwhile, speaking during HFHZ's commemoration of Dr Kaunda's 88th birthday, which was celebrated by building a house for Christina Banda of Kalingalinga, HFHZ programme manager Musoli Kashinga said her organisation had constructed over 2,442 houses in various communities serving approximately 20,000 people with housing-related services.

Kashinga said slum dwellers faced a lot of hardships as oftentimes they had no title to land, no sustainable livelihood or income and faced hunger.

She said vulnerable groups lacked tangible livelihood activities to meet their income needs due to their age, situation and lack of skills and information.

"Because of living in marginalised unserviced areas, vulnerable groups are at risk of infection from various diseases such as HIV and AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and many," she said.

And Lusaka mayor Daniel Chisenga said the challenge of housing in the city was quite insurmountable.

Chisenga said it was good that private organisations and individuals were helping in resolving the housing deficit, saying the PF government was committed to seeing that people had decent accommodation.

Christina Banda, a widow who takes care of six grandchildren who are single orphans, urged HFHZ to continue with its programme of building houses for the needy whom she said were many out there.