Honorable Malungo Chisangano, MP and First Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Zambia, concluded her tour of Central Province constituencies with a nationwide appeal for tree planting. The tour which ran from 18th to 21st July 2025 was intended to engage with Constituency Office staff and promote the tree planting initiative. Bwacha Parliamentary Constituency Office was the first stop on the itinerary.

In her speech, Hon. MalungoChisangano, commended Bwacha Constituency for its vital role in Zambia’s socio-economic development, particularly through mining, agriculture, and education. She encouraged the area Member of Parliament, Hon. Sydney Mushanga, to continue using the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to promote local participation and ownership of development efforts.

She expressed concern over the growing threat climate change poses to national development, highlighting its impact through heat waves, flash floods, and prolonged droughts. These changes, she warned, are undermining ecosystems and threatening the livelihoods of communities that depend on the environment.

Hon. Chisangano lamented the rapid loss of forest cover in Zambia, with an estimated 270,000 hectares disappearing each year—placing the country among the most deforested in Africa. To help address this, she noted that the National Assembly has committed to planting at least 1,000 trees in every parliamentary constituency. This national tree planting campaign was officially launched in July 2022 at Chongwe Constituency under the theme “Promoting a Green Parliament.”

During her visit to constituency offices, Hon. Chisangano engaged with staff who outlined various challenges affecting service delivery, including inadequate furniture, limited transportation for fieldwork, and insufficient funding.

She expressed satisfaction with the number of projects underway in Central Province through the CDF, noting both completed initiatives and those nearing commissioning. As part of her tour, she also visited Nangoma, Mumbwa, Itezhi-Tezhi, and Mwembeshi constituencies, where she led tree planting activities aimed at combating climate change. Additionally, she toured the Itezhi-Tezhi Hydro Power Plant to gain insight into its operations. In total, Hon. Chisangano visited 11 constituencies across Central Province, accompanied by the Deputy Clerk (Procedure), Mr. Stephen Kawimbe, and selected National Assembly staff.