Mpika district commissioner Catherine Chileshe says she will start chasing women from bars because she wants them to be with their families.
Addressing mourners during burial of a minibus driver, Happy Bowa, at Yowani cemetery in Mpika on Monday, Chileshe said women needed to respect marriage because it was sacred.
She said she was disappointed to learn that most women in the area love beer more than their spouses as evidenced by the long hours they spend drinking.
Chileshe wondered whether the women were not satisfied with what they had in their respective homes.
She observed with regret that there were more women in the district that had abandoned their families than their menfolk because of beer drinking.
“Bushe ba namayo tamwasekelamo mufintu mwakwata mu mayanda yenu pakuti mulesangwafye mufikulwa fya bwalwa? Kanshi cinshi mufwaya muma bar (Women, are you not happy with what you have in your homes for you to always be found in beer drinking places? What do look for in bars)?” Chileshe asked.
The District Commissioner, who called on women to exercise restraint against excessive beer drinking, said she would personally be visiting bars and taverns to drive away women because those were not right places for them.
Chileshe said she had resolved to personally involve herself in chasing away women from drinking places because assigning other officers could not work as some of them allegedly compromise with the culprits.
She warned that as long as she remained district commissioner for Mpika, she would ensure that women were discouraged from going to bars.
Chileshe said women should instead embark on productive activities that would improve their standards of living in the district.
She also directed police to look at the possibility of stopping trucks from passing through Mpika at night.
Chileshe said police officers should ensure that all trucks are parked after 18:00 hours to prevent unnecessary deaths through accidents.