Maravi

Zambians want to benefit from change - Rev Matale

Zambians want to benefit from change - Rev Matale
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Wed 04 Apr. 2012, 12:57 CAT

THE PF government must expedite the process of implementing its developmental policies because Zambians want to start seeing the benefits of changing government, says Reverend Susan Matale.

In an interview after gracing the Palm Sunday celebrations in Chililabombwe, Rev Matale who is the secretary general of the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) said people were tired of poverty, unemployment and poor health service delivery.

Rev Matale said poverty and lack of good public infrastructure were the greatest challenges facing the country and leaders must begin to demonstrate the much-needed political will in addressing them.

She said the advocacy of the Council of Churches of Zambia had always been that the government must put in place a good tax regime where investors in the mines would contribute fairly to the national treasury.

Rev Matale said Zambians were in a hurry to see change and the government could not afford to procrastinate in terms of delivery of its promises.

She said the hope of many people, especially the youths on the Copperbelt, was that government would begin to take pragmatic steps to ensure that foreign investment in the mining sector the country had continued to attract would translate into more jobs and equal pay for the locals.

"I don't see how we can make Zambia a better place for all if we have people unemployed, chronic poverty at household level and deplorable infrastructure such as the roads like the situation is in Chingola and Chililabombwe," Matale said.

She said the idleness of young people in districts such as Chililabombwe on the Copperbelt required addressing through job creation.

She said the opening up of mines was not helping the situation as there were very few jobs that had been filled by the locals.

"The people of Zambia are not counting the months but the immediate delivery of services as promised by the PF when they were in the opposition. They were promised 90 days and after that period the people are still anxious about when they would start seeing development," Matale said.

She said the PF government had a task of being in a hurry as many poor Zambians were looking up to the government to improve their situation.

Rev Matale said the church took comfort in the fact that President Michael Sata had pledged to work hard to implement a strategy to end poverty and provide a conducive atmosphere for human integral development.

"The rhetoric that people have to wait should not be the language. People have been waiting since the late Frederick Chiluba's administration when we were told to tighten our belts. Zambia does not deserve to be a country of poor people because it is very rich in terms of natural," Matale said.

Labels: CCZ, CHILILABOMBWE, POVERTY, SUSAN MATALE

posted by MrK @ 3:13 PM