JOIN DRIVERN TAXI AS PARTNER DRIVER TODAY!
Sunday 30th NovemberThank you to all of those who have come out to meet me so far on the Zambia United tour, which started Wednesday. The reception has been overwhelming. Tomorrow we continue the tour and will visit Luapula, Northern, Muchinga, and Eastern Provinces.
I would also like to thank the Hon Felix Mutati and colleagues who haveendorsed my candidature and are supporting me for the January 20 election. I greatly look forward to campaigning with the Hon Mutati around the country. This is exactly the kind of partnership we need to unite the country and move it forward together. It is the politics of peace and partnership, not confusion and conflict.
Today I would like to restate my call for leadership. I have serious concerns regarding the governance of our country at the moment. With a distracted and divided government no-one is currently focused on delivering change for the Zambian people. We urgently need a leader that addresses the plight of our children, farmers, workers, student, and jobless.
The PF must let the Acting President Guy Scott do his job. His first obligation is to the Zambian people. He is Acting President of the entire country and not just the PF party. Whilst Acting President Scott is caught up in PF squabbles, Zambians across the country are suffering on a daily basis. Only this week we have seen farmers arrested in Kasama. Why haven’t these peasant farmers been paid the money they are owed? Why are they now getting arrested? This week as I toured around I have seen the absence of leadership is a concern for people wherever I have travelled. I have heard about how it impacts their daily lives. Without proper governance and direction our economy is also at risk.
As we move towards elections Acting President Scott has many obligations to meet to make sure we have a peaceful, free and fair election on January 20. He must ensure that every Presidential candidate and party has access to ZNBC, that there is no interference in the workings of the ZNBC, and that there is proper support of those organizations within the Zambia Electoral Alliance as they work to ensure a free and fair environment and a good voter turnout even at short notice and during rainy season.
Government has a responsibility to communicate regularly and provide clarity and assurance to the people during the run up to elections. As a country we have only recently lost our President His Excellency Michael Sata, MHSRIP, and we have only a short time before this election so good communication is essential for continued peace and stability.
Finally, the problems we are experiencing now demonstrate again why we need to prioritize bringing in the new constitution. I was pleased to be given the opportunity to sign a social contract with the Grand Coalition last week in which I committed to delivering the constitution if elected president.
Thank you for all taking the time to be here. Even in the campaign period we can make this first step together towards better communication with the media and the Zambian people.
Hakainde Hichilema
UPND President
