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Rev Chilembo laments lack of development in Chililabombwe

Rev Chilembo laments lack of development in Chililabombwe
By Mwila Chansa in Chililabombwe
Tue 19 Apr. 2011, 04:00 CAT

COUNCIL of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) Chililabombwe district chairman Rev Moses Chilembo says the people of Chililabombwe are not seeing the economic boom that the government talks about.

And the Chililabombwe Ecumenical Church has urged the government to seriously address issues of unemployment, unequal distribution of wealth and inadequate access to health facilities in the district.

Delivering a Palm Sunday message under the theme ‘Jesus is the Ultimate Answer for the World Today’ at Konkola Stadium in Chililabombwe on Sunday, Rev Chilembo said it was sad that despite Chililabombwe being endowed with mineral wealth, people in the area were poor.

“You walk on wealth everyday and yet you are poor. When you come to Chililabombwe, you are greeted with potholes and yet we hear that the economy is booming. What kind of boom is that?” Rev Chilembo wondered.

“We don’t want an economic boom that is just on paper, we want a boom that translates into bread and butter for our people.”

Rev Chilembo said politicians were not the answer to Zambia’s problems because they were just human beings who were bound to change goal posts at any time.
He asked every citizen of Chililabombwe to evaluate themselves and scrutinise their contribution to Zambia’s damage.

“What kind of damage have you done to Zambia? Are you the kind of person who just throws garbage everywhere and expect the council to collect it for you?” he asked.

“If you are, then I’m asking you to change your mentality and not wait for the council. You can do it yourselves, it’s a blessing for you to be in Chililabombwe,” said Rev Chilembo.

He encouraged residents not to lose hope even if they go through challenges because there was hope in Jesus, the ultimate answer for the world.

And delivering the ecumenical speech, Evelyn Miyambo from African Methodist Church warned that unequal distribution of wealth had been known to cause turmoil everywhere it had shown its ugly face.

She complained that most people that were working in Chililabombwe were not Chililabombwe residents because of the corrupt system of employing workers.

She said there were so many sub-contractors being engaged in major mining operations that were offering slave wages and poor conditions of service.

Miyambo also complained that people’s cry for a district hospital in Chililabombwe seemed to have fallen on deaf ears and that merely putting a fence around Kakoso Health Centre did not mean that the institution had been upgraded because it was lacking a lot of amenities.

Miyambo also urged the government to seriously address the security lapses that were emerging in Chililabombwe as could be seen by the number of killings that had been reported in the peri-urban areas and within town.

She also said the ecumenical church supported the parallel vote tabulation and urged residents to vote wisely.

And CCZ national president Rev Moses Mwale said social conditions in Chililabombwe had deteriorated so much and that the people deserved better.

Labels: CCZ, CHILILABOMBWE

posted by MrK @ 4:03 AM