(LUSAKATIMES) Vote for a candidate with access to govt resources- Kunda

Vote for a candidate with access to govt resources- Kunda
Monday, November 9, 2009, 18:45

Vice President George Kunda has cautioned people of North Western Province against making experiments on government leadership. Mr. Kunda said it was important for people in the area to vote for a candidate that will have an easy access to government resources in order for development to flourish in the area.

He appealed to the people in the area to continue supporting MMD so that development can continue, noting that government would not relent in its efforts of ensuring that the people in the province benefit from its leadership.

He said it was only the MMD government which has the capacity to developing all parts of the country because it was the party in power.

Mr. Kunda said it was not safe to experiment on leadership by voting into office people that did not have the interest of the electorate and of the nation at heart.

He said the MMD government has managed to lead the country in peace and tranquility and has accelerated development because it leaders were experienced.

He said government has a robust programme for building schools, hospitals, and other infrastructure through out the country, adding that it has so far succeeded in its developmental programmes because it was listening to the citizens.

North Western Province Minster Joseph Mulyata accused Kansanshi mine owners of only employing opposition Patriotic Front (PF) members at the expense of the local community.Mr. Kunda was speaking at a public rally at Kyafukuma Basic School in Solwezi today to drum up support for the MMD’s candidate Albert Chifita in the forthcoming Solwezi parliamentary by-elections.

And Mr. Kunda has said it was a legal requirement for foreign investors to practice cooperate social responsibility.

He said it was important that investors support communities that live around the area of their operation.

Mr. Kunda was reacting to reports that Kansanshi mine investors were not doing enough to support communities around the mining area.

He said investors should not only make money but should instead plough back some of their profits into communities by building schools, clinics and other facilities.

And speaking earlier, North Western Province Minster Joseph Mulyata accused Kansanshi mine owners of only employing opposition Patriotic Front (PF) members at the expense of the local community.

He said it was strange that some mining companies could engage themselves in politics by employing only members of a particular political party when government does not choose who to employ.

Mr. Mulyata said since Kansanshi mine is based in Solwezi, it must work towards benefiting the local people.

He said government will soon engage the mining company to discuss the problems surrounding the employment of the local people.

Meanwhile, government has pledged to continue putting in place programmes that will benefit the poor and disabled people in the country.

Community Development Deputy Minister Moses Muteteka, who was speaking at the same rally, said government would ensure that the living standards of Zambians were improved.

Mr. Muteteka said government has so far spent K50 billion on Fertilizer Support Program (FSP), adding that input on this programme have already been distributed to vulnerable but viable farmers through out the country.

He appealed to traditional leaders and the church to work with his ministry in the distribution of inputs to avoid incidents of segregation and abuse of the programme.

On women empowerment, Mr. Muteteka said government has allocated K5 billion in next years budget for the empowerment of women and appealed to them to form cooperatives for them to access the funds.

He said government was mindful of many challenges that women around the country were facing and was working hard to mitigate some of these sufferings.

And Solwezi central campaign manager Kabinga Pande appealed to the electorates in the area not to deceive themselves by voting for the opposition political parties whom he said were only bent on opposing whatever programme the government initiates.

Mr. Pande, who is also Foreign Affairs Minister, said Mr. Chifita is the best candidate for the Solwezi Central parliamentary seat because he has the experience and understood the difficulties people faced in the area.

He said Mr. Chifita was once a District Commissioner for Solwezi and therefore, it would be easy for him to understand the needs of the people.

The Solwezi parliamentary seat fell vacant after the death of Ben Tetamashimba, who was Member of Parliament under the MMD.

ZANIS