President Hakainde Hichilema has resounded calls to Zambian to continue to work hard and in unison with the Government to rebuild the country’s economy and generate wealth and jobs.
“No more parte-after-parte,” President Hichilema said during a Special HotFM radio interview yesterday, on his first anniversary as head of state as well as the United Party for National Development (UPND) in government.
He said during his first year in office, the country had returned on a positive trajectory, with economic fundamentals looking sound to attain a growth projection of 3.5 per cent in 2022.
“No more tantameni (queue up for handouts), we have to work and work hard for the betterment of this country. We inherited an economy in the negatives but slowly and methodically, we have turned things around,” Mr Hichilema said.
Mr Hichilema said since last year, the Government had managed to restore economic credibility, stabilise the Kwacha and reduce inflation.
This, he said had led to investor confidence with multilateral lenders such as the International Monetary Fund ready to inject cash into the economy.
President Hichilema said the Government had also restored the rule of law, with citizens enjoying their fundamental rights to freedom of movement and expression.
He reiterated that the enhanced Constituency Development Fund would help devolution of public services to community level, creating opportunities for direct involvement in social and economic development.
“We have delivered on the campaign promise to fight past and present corruption, deliver free education, end load shedding and create jobs for our people in the health and education sectors. More jobs are coming,” the president said.
Mr Hichilema said significant headway had been in unlocking private sector investments in the mining sector despite the surrounding legal issues.
He was confident that an out-of-court settlement would be attained to unlock Konkola Copper Mines, with a fresh deal also to be implemented on Mopani Copper Mines.
The president described the two mining units as critical assets whose unlocking would create jobs and liquidity in the economy for the betterment of citizens’ lives.
