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Perform civic duties, Hakainde urges MPs, councillors

Perform civic duties, Hakainde urges MPs, councillors
By REBECCA CHILESHE

UNITED Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema has urged his councillors and members of parliament to perform their civic duties without fear of being reprimanded by the party. Speaking during a press briefing at Taj Pamodzi Hotel in Lusaka yesterday , Mr Hichilema said councillors and MPs should ensure that they carry out their civic duties, including the welcoming of dignitaries.

“Councillors and MPs should perform their civic duties, Even if it means you welcoming President Hu Jintao, " he said.If you are the Mayor of Lusaka , you do not have to shun civic events for fear of being disciplined by your party” , he said. He said his party did not want to create acrimony based on minute issues adding that when President Hu visited Zambia , he gladly accepted the invitation and he looked forward to being invited again at another function of the same nature. Mr Hichilema also said Zambia was now in the era of economic and social development and that the country needed a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of eight percent as compared to the six percent that was targeted.

He said Zambians had continued to live in "sub human " conditions when the country was endowed with natural resources , which included arable land and minerals. "Cholera has now become an annual event on the calendar just like a traditional ceremony, " he said. He said the nation was losing about US $300 million annually from unpaid mineral loyalties. "Imagine that over a five year window period, we could earn about US $1.8 billion which could go towards buying of drugs and paying for education , and other urgent needs of Zambians, " he said . He said mining companies should cooperate with government by effecting these taxes adding that the mining sector should be able to contribute to the growth projections of the economy.

And Mr Hichilema has said that there was no longer need for further debate on the constitution as the only thing left to do was to enact it through a Constituent Assembly (CA) . He said government and opposition parties should sit down and strategise on how they would lobby for funding for a CA from donors. He disclosed that he had instructed his MPs to move a motion during this sitting of Parliament for government to institute a CA.

A new constitution should be in place by the end of 2008 or by early 2009 , Mr Hichillema said. He said he still felt that a presidential candidate should be elected by a 50 plus one majority , as this was the only way in which the person would appreciate that he or she had a moral duty to carry out the mandate of leading the nation.

Labels: HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, UPND

posted by MrK @ 4:59 PM