By Isaac Zulu
UPND Lusaka district information and publicity secretary for mobilisation Costain Chilikwazi has said that President Hakainde Hichilema is becoming a lone Head of State.
In a statement, Chilikwazi argued that President Hichilema has a vision but the people he has appointed to government positions are not helping him.
He also excoriated members of parliament from both his party UPND and the opposition saying despite Parliament being on recess, most Parliamentarians have not gone back to their respective Constituencies to explain the government’s development agenda, appreciate the challenges that the electorate are facing with regard to accessing and the execution of Constituency Development Fund projects.
“I was personally in Mandevu, Kanyama and Chawama Constituencies on Friday and after interacting with the electorate, I came to learn that these members of parliament have not been to their Constituencies despite Parliament being on recess. Our findings, as party officials, is that of the seven members of parliament that we have, most of them are absentee members of parliament. They are not on the ground to appreciate and understand the challenges that the people are facing in their respective Constituencies. This problem is not only in Lusaka district, but all over the country,” Chilikwazi said. “About four days ago I was at Parliament Motel and I realised that most members of parliament that are not even ministers and come from rural Constituencies such as North Western Province, Mafinga, Southern Province, are still at Parliament Motel, instead of being in the Constituencies to explain government policies and projects. And because of that, President Hakainde Hichilema is now becoming a lone Head of State. The President has a vision, but the people he has appointed to serve in government positions are not helping him.”
He said that despite attaining the Grade 12 minimum requirement, most members of parliament have not been able to articulate issues being raised in Parliament, stating that most of the UPND members of parliament have been a letdown.
“The President has a clear vision and focus but the MPs that we have are a letdown. They are confined to their homes. They have acquired some Grade 12 minimum requirement, but are failing to debate effectively in Parliament. We are, in fact, calling for the abolishment of the Constitutional provision that requires one to be a Grade 12 certificate for them to be a councillor or member of parliament. What we want are members of parliament and councillors that are resident in their localities. We did not vote for absentee members of parliament or councillors. We want political leaders that will have time with the electorate,” stated Chilikwazi.
