By Merlyn Mwanza
It is wrong for the corrupt to deliberately label themselves as victims in the fight against corruption so as to gain the sympathy of the public, says President Hakainde Hichilema.
And President Hichilema said the fact that some are complaining of overcrowding leading to some pupils to sit on the floor because of over-enrollment, shows that free education is actually working.
The President also said apart from going after men who marry young girls, the government will also go after the parents and guardians marrying them off.
Delivering the state of the nation address to parliament on the national values and principles, President said he remained committed towards the fight against corruption, and ensuring prudent utilization of public resources.
He said his government will not falter in fighting corruption.
“It is wrong for the corrupt to deliberately label themselves as victims in the fight against corruption so as to gain sympathy from the public,” the President said, adding that the children and other members of society who were deprived of their resources remained the real victims.
He said there will be no sacred cows in the fight against corruption, urging those who engage in corruption to voluntarily come forward and pay back to society what they took away rather than parroting themselves as victims. He said it will be wise for them to do so now rather than wait for prosecution.
The President said the government remained concerned with the high levels of unemployment in the country, particularly among the youths, but that handouts will not solve the problem, highlighting the conduct by some people’s representatives who after failing to perform in their constituencies ask to people to “tantameni (line up)” to give them K20s.
He also addressed the argument that there has been overcrowding in schools leading to school children sitting on floors, and that on account of that the free education policy in public schools from Grade 1 – 12 has failed, saying that was a good problem to have as the over enrollment showed that the policy was working.
President Hichilema said it was a right and pleasurable challenge to have, and the country must be ashamed that there were so many children who were not in school as their parents could not afford, saying that opened up the opportunity to make more desks and that they must be sourced locally and that the policy itself will drive the capacity.
He said the surest way of employing a lot of people was through entrepreneurship.
The President pointedly said he did not understand why there were so many lacunas in the 2016 amended constitution, saying no constitution must be driven without consensus and that he will lobby parliament to legislate against the costly, time-consuming and disruptive by-elections, as elections should be held every after after years.
On alcohol abuse, the President said unfortunately there were also adults involved in abusing the substances, commonly among the youths, wondering how they would discourage the youths with their involvement in the vice.
Touching on social media abuse, the President said the laws will be enforced against all forms of cyber bullying and other crimes committed under the curtail of social media.
The President warned the men who were in the habit of marrying young girls, saying the law will be enforced against them, and against the parents and guardians who aid them in that abuse.
He decried the conduct by some citizens who are always looking for handouts without doing any work, saying this attitude destroys nations as people must embrace the value of hard work.
Addressing the buy Zambia campaign, President Hichilema urged citizens to take pride in buying Zambian goods, and that if the if it meant legislating to achieve the desired outcomes, the administration would ask parliament to do so.
He wondered why Zambia should be importing onions, saying this was one issue which bordered on common sense.
He said he was convinced that despite some not seeing it, “many citizens are beginning to see a new dawn is here.”
President Hichilema said ethnicity was a gift from God, although others have tried to exploit it and have benefited from it for years, and that there were a lot more which united Zambians than those which separated them.
He said there was no honour in caderism that leads to violence and discrimination against other citizens, warning those who would to commit crime that they were on their own. President Hichilema added that people were free now to walk into markets and bus stations even wearing the party regalia of their choice when “only seven months ago that was a death sentence.”
More @ www.dailyrevelationzambia.com
