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(TIMES) ...pledges to fight poverty among Zambians

...pledges to fight poverty among Zambians
By Obert Simwanza

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has pledged to fight poverty and improve the living conditions of all Zambians irrespective of their political or religious affiliations.

In his inaugural speech soon after being sworn in as the country’s fourth president, Mr Banda said his main goal would be to fight poverty. He said in the last seven years, the Government had made tremendous efforts in reducing the poverty levels but there was still a lot to be done.

“Too many Zambians have been left behind. They do not share in the economic prosperity of the Zambian economy.

‘‘My priority will be to fight poverty. I made it clear during the campaigns that poverty is demeaning and an unnecessary evil,” he said.

Mr Banda said he did not want people to think of Zambia as a Third World country with a begging bowl.

In the campaigns running to the just-ended election, he said that even his opponents brought out the issue of poverty levels among Zambians, stressing that it would be his main priority area to address.

“I cannot promise to solve the problems in just three years but I can lay the foundation for the future. I want all Zambians to know that Zambia will be safe and secure under my presidency,” Mr Banda said.

He said his vision would be to move the nation from perpetually depending on handouts from donors to ensuring that Zambia was a prosperous and confident nation.

Mr Banda said he would ensure that the dream of making Zambia a middle-income nation by 2030 was realised.

He added that he would ensure that the education sector was improved as that was the only way of empowering the future generation.

Over the past seven years, he said, the Government had worked hard to ensure that the economy was on track to reduce poverty.

Since 2003, the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had risen from 3.3 per cent to 6.2 per cent.

The growth, President Banda said, was in all the sectors, among them, manufacturing, construction, tourism, transport and communications.

“As a percentage of GDP, the service sector has grown from over 50 per cent to 56.5 per cent. Inflation is down from over 25 per cent to 13.2 per cent. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has risen from US$255 million in 2003 to over $4.25 billion for 2008.

Mr Banda said he was going to tackle corruption head-on because the vice sapped investor confidence.

With the stability in the economy, foreign investors have found the country attractive for their investment.

The president said the Government would continue to encourage investors so that they contribute towards the fight against poverty.

He, however, said foreign investors should obey and respect the country’s labour laws.

President Banda said foreign investment helped to generate revenue used for, among others, modernising the communication facilities, rehabilitating roads, improving the energy sector, and construction of more education and health facilities.

“I will continue to make sure that all in Zambia can improve their living conditions,” Mr Banda said.

He also implored foreigners to come to Zambia and sample the country’s tourism.

He said the reason he promised to reduce visa fees was to attract as many tourists as possible into the country so that the revenue generated from their visits could be used to fight poverty.

Mr Banda said because of the realisation that farmers play an important role in reducing poverty, the Government would continue to support them in producing food.

He said farmers should take advantage of the reduction in the prices of fuel and fertiliser to produce more.

He said that alongside the agricultural sector, mining was also fundamental to the Government. The sector, Mr Banda said, was responsible for 80 per cent of the export earnings and almost 15 per cent of GDP.

He said foreign investment in the sector had totalled over US$4 billion since 2000. That, he said, was an indication of the confidence that the investors had in the Government.

Since 2002, he said, the Government policies had brought growth and stability in the sector resulting in the increase in production by over 38 per cent.

Mr Banda pledged to attract more investors in the energy sector to enable Zambians have access to electricity. He said without reliable electricity, much of the country’s economy was hindered.

He said he envisioned a Zambia without load-shedding and, therefore, pledged to upgrade the existing power stations, saying by 2016 five new hydro-generating projects would be in progress.

Mr Banda further said he envisaged improving the health sector and help reduce the levels of life-threatening diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria, among others.
He said he would be happy to see a Zambia with refurbished hospitals, better training for medical personnel and strengthen the staff retention scheme.

Labels: POVERTY, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 12:21 AM