By Kamuti Muyambela
Republican President Hakainde Hichilema has described as inferiority complex when someone raises concern when another language other than the one they speak is mentioned.
And the President said the government is already taking steps to scrap of criminal defamation of the President and the death penalty from the statute books.
Speaking during the official opening of parliament today, President Hichilema at one point used the Lozi dialect “alubelekele moho” in urging members of parliament, both from the ruling party and opposition to work together, saying if one was Zambian they must learn different languages.
The President repeated the same phrase at another point, saying someone showed concern when other languages were mentioned, and describing the same as inferiority complex.
President Hichilema said the government through the relevant ministry was working on repealing the criminal defamation of the President and the death penalty.
On the fight against corruption, the President said more effort shall be employed to seal loopholes in pubic payroll systems, as at the behest of the government the Auditor General was already looking into the matter.
He said the fight against graft was gathering momentum as opposed to times past when “public resources were personalized by individuals who thought that public money belonged to them.”
President Hichilema urged the country to replace corruption with the art of hard work and not through shortcuts.
He said he was concerned with how local authorities and the Ministry of Lands were allocating land, saying most citizens have had their properties demolished owing to the same and other reasons.
He said in the one year the UPND have been in office, they have managed to change the economic trajectory from the minus 2.8 percent GDP rate to the projected four percent growth, saying inflation has come down 9.7 percent from the highs of 22 percent, and that as opposed to the 1.9 import cover on foreign reserves it was now at 3.6 months.
He said the Kwacha was now one of the best performing currencies in the world, adding that the government was now focused on resolving what he described as the biggest disaster of our time, the issue of debt with the approved IMF approved programme.
President Hichilema said he hears people say that the UPND have no plan, but the 8th National Development Plan focusing on social and economic transformation for improve livelihood was recently launched.
On the policy objectives for next year, the President urged members of parliament to support the national budget which will be presented by the Finance minister.
He mentioned agriculture, mining, manufacturing and tourism as the four key areas of focus.
On agriculture, the President talked about enhanced surveillance and extension services, while embarking on comprehensive agricultural support programme which will move away from fertilizer dependency, with export agreements of several crops agreed with China, Germany, South Africa, including timber exports to China and Vietnam.
On mining, President Hichilema said there will be specific interventions in terms of increasing the participation of Zambians in mining, including working on resolving the KCM and Mopani issues, and that an agreement has been signed with the Democratic Republic of Congo for the manufacture of electric batteries for motor vehicles.
“We follow comments people make when we make these travels. We are undeterred. We are on the move,” President Hichilema said, saying there was a debate as to where the plant will be established between Ndola and Chingola. “Copperbelt is our home. Copperbelt is our region. Fwebena kasensa. We are citizens of this country.”
He said the government was determined to end illegal mining, and that the administration was working on establishing market hubs for managanese mining from Luapula Province.
“Those are our people. That is our land,” President Hichilema said, and that government will review the mineral resource development policy.
He said the administration will embark on modernising key border posts into one stop border posts.
In the tourism sector, President Hichilema said the number of foreign tourist arrivals has increased to 496,500 from the 240,000 recorded during the same period last year, urging parliament to support the move on reducing visa charges and in some cases waiving them off entirely as the benefits for doing so would outweigh the fees accumulated from visa charges.
He also said the government will set up a single licensing system for the tourism sector, including upgrading infrastructure around Kasama Bay, Nsumbu national park and the Liuwa national park in western province.
President Hichilema said the government will work towards improving the operations of TAZARA and improving Zambia Railways Infrastructure.
In the petroleum sector, the President said the objective was to ensure stability, availability and affordability of supply saying Indeni was no longer economically viable to discharge its functions and shall manage depots among other responsibilities, with TAZAMA transporting the finished products.
He said electricity generation had increased to 10.8 million megawatt hours during the first half of the year from 9.9 million megawatt hours on account of increased water levels and the resuscitation of Works at Kafue Gorge Lower, as the government was able to find the money to complete the second, third and fourth generators.
President Hichilema said the government will complete the remaining circuits for Tanzania and Kenya interconnections, with an eye on the Batoka Gorge which has the potential of 2400 megawatts.
On education, the President said 59,000 girls were already benefiting from the programme where government pays boarding fees, beyond providing free education and that 120 additional secondary schools will be constructed including finishing those which were incomplete, and vowing that no child will sit on the floor before 2023.
