Maravi

Call for genuine dialogue, Mulafulafu tells Rupiah

Call for genuine dialogue, Mulafulafu tells Rupiah
Written by Allan Mulenga
Sunday, December 14, 2008 10:08:32 AM

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda should exhibit genuineness and not merely politic in his call for dialogue, Caritas Zambia executive director Sam Mulafulafu said yesterday.
Commenting on President Banda’s statement that there was need for the government and stakeholders, including opposition political parties to seek dialogue as an avenue to find solutions to the problems Zambia is facing as a result of the global economic recession, Mulafulafu said rather than making mere pronouncements, President Banda needed first to exercise openness and willingness to accommodate other people’s views.

“Well, the development is welcome and we only hope that the call for dialogue will facilitate openness and willingness to accommodate divergent views from other parties involved,” he said.

Mulafulafu hoped that President Banda’s call for dialogue was not for symbolic purposes.

“President Banda should be reminded that the government is not a monopoly of ideas when it comes to national issues,” Mulafulafu said. “President Banda’s government should be magnanimous enough to listen to all parties, if discussions will yield desirable results.”

And Mulafulafu said as clearly pointed out by President Banda, if not properly handled, the global economic recession would have a disastrous effect on the Zambian economy.

“We are seeing that all countries world over are putting up processes to respond to the economic recession. As a country too, what matters really is how we are preparing to address the global economic downturn,” he said.

Mulafulafu advised the government to quickly respond to the current economic challenges by identifying the key sectors that drive the Zambian economy and work towards developing them.

“Although as at now we are in the wait-and-see situation, the government should shift its attention from mining and explore other sectors that drive our economy such as tourism and agriculture,” he said. “Since there are a lot of Zambians who have already invested in these sectors, there is need for the government to put up measures that will boost their businesses,” said Mulafulafu.

Labels: CARITAS, RUPIAH BANDA, SAM MULAFULAFU

posted by MrK @ 10:08 AM