Maravi

Stand up and be counted, Sata urges Zambians in the Diaspora

Stand up and be counted, Sata urges Zambians in the Diaspora
By George Chellah in London
Mon 02 May 2011, 04:02 CAT

PF leader Michael Sata has urged Zambians in the Diaspora to stand up and be counted. And Sata says a PF-led government will have a smart partnership with the Chinese, which would be for the benefit of the Zambian people.

Addressing the Zambian community at The Orchard Community Hall in London on Saturday evening, Sata who is in England at the invitation of Oxford University to give a special lecture, encouraged Zambians to come back home and contribute to the development of the country.

“You need to come to Zambia. Don’t rush for greener pastures. Stand up and be counted. Turn Zambia into a greener pasture. Let other people start coming to Zambia,” he said.

Sata said there was need for a leadership that would recognise and appreciate the qualified Zambian manpower that is in the Diaspora.

“I know some of you left because of frustration,” he said.

Sata said once in office, PF would ensure that it puts in place special incentives to attract Zambians in the Diaspora.

He said as leader of the most popular political party in Zambia currently, he was quite mindful of the people in the Diaspora.

“I truly welcome the opportunity to engage with you on the issues and challenges facing our nation at home, as well as to share with you our party’s vision and proposed solutions to take our country to the next level,” he said.

Sata said he had travelled to the UK to achieve a number of things.

“To respond to the repeated calls that I have received from various Zambian citizens living in the UK, that I share our party’s and my own vision for our country to which I solicit your feedback,” Sata said.

“I have also been specifically invited by the University of Oxford, to attend a Workshop on Monday, 2nd May 2011 and later on in the evening, for me to share with participants 'The challenges and difficulties of running a successful political party in Zambia’.”

Sata said he would be using the opportunity to meet with a number of other stakeholders, interest groups and friends of Zambia, to brief them on how they perceive the Zambian political landscape as the country heads towards the 2011 general elections.

He said it was his earnest desire to hear their views and seek how they could be accommodated in a PF-led government that is expected to emerge after the elections. “Some of you who may have travelled home recently, especially since the current administration took over, will attest to the perspectives which I will present tonight,” Sata said. “However, some of you may not be fully conversant with the challenges which may have emerged since you left Zambia, or are not reported in the media.”

He said the Zambian public media no longer reflected public concerns or the views of the opposition political parties.

“Instead the Zambia Daily Mail, the Times of Zambia and the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), have simply become the mouth pieces, or as most people refer to them now 'Vuvuzelas' for the ruling MMD party,” Sata said. “I therefore, wish to openly thank the private media in our country both print and electronic.”

On poverty, Sata said in the vision of his mind he daily considered the strange dichotomy of how such a richly endowed country as Zambia could have such large percentage of God’s people living in such abject poverty.

Sata acknowledged that high and chronic unemployment, especially amongst the youth and failure to effectively utilise the available Zambian human capital as well as high levels of abject poverty were among the major challenges that had beset the country.

He said Zambia is currently like a country that was under economic sanctions.

Sata criticised the concept of mobile hospitals, insisting that it was not sustainable because the Zambian terrain was different.

“In 90 days we have to change things,” he said.

And during a question and answer session, Sata, who was asked what his government’s policy would be towards Chinese investment once elected, stressed the need for investment that would benefit the ordinary people.

“We will ask the Chinese...is what they are doing in Zambia, the same as what they are doing in China? Whatever they are doing should be able to benefit the Zambians,” Sata said. “We will welcome them and when we welcome them, we will deal with them on our terms and not on their terms. We are going to have a smart partnership between the Chinese and ourselves.”

Sata said there was no leader in Zambia today that understands the country better than him.

“...politics is not trial and error. Politics you build, you grow with it until you mature,” he said.

Sata further stressed the need for a healthy relationship between the Church and the government.
And PF London branch chairman Arnold Zulu said PF was a momentum party and that Sata was the only hardworking leader that has shown his abilities and capacity.

Sata is accompanied by former SADC Parliamentary Forum secretary general Dr Kasuka Mutukwa and economic consultant Bob Sichinga.

Labels: DIASPORA, MICHAEL SATA

posted by MrK @ 11:57 AM