•PRESIDENT Lungu with Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba (second left) when he arrived at Mansa Airport yesterday for a five-day visit in Luapula. Picture by THOMAS NSAMA/STATE HOUSE

By REBECCA MUSHOTA in Mansa –
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has said he is confident that the Patriotic Front (PF) is scooping all the seats in Luapula Province.
Mr Lungu said there was no doubt that Luapula Province was a stronghold of the PF.
“This is the home of the PF. I know we are taking all the 22 parliamentary seats,” President Lungu said.
He was speaking at Mansa Airport yesterday when he arrived in the province for a five-day visit to check on projects and undertake campaigns.
The Head of State is accompanied by the First Lady, Esther.
Mr Lungu said the party was taking all the parliamentary seats and that the onus was on the people of the province to ensure that the party took all the council seats.
He urged the people to make sure the PF won convincingly in the August general elections.
In Milenge District where he went to visit soon after arrival, President Lungu said Zambians should vote for the PF because it had shown that it was able to deliver on its promises.
In the five years the party has been in power, it has delivered a hospital, a police post and health posts.
Mr Lungu said it was important that the people of Milenge voted for PF councillors in order to expedite development.
He said this is because some opposition councillors and MPs had a tendency of opposing everything the Government was doing.
The President urged the people of Milenge to vote for the PF aspiring MP Mwansa Mbulakulima and all the other PF candidates.
Once re-elected, the PF will take electricity to Milenge, he said.
In Chembe District, President Lungu said at a rally that he was aware that the new district required piped water.
He said the Government was already working on delivering piped water and township roads.
Mr Lungu asked the people of Chembe Constituency to vote for the PF candidate Sebastian Kopulande to ensure continued development.
And the First Lady said women were the source of community strength and growth.
Ms Lungu said the PF had proved that it was aware of that and that was why it had taken health facilities to Milenge District to improve access to health facilities for women.
Hundreds of thrilled Milenge and Chembe residents turned out in numbers to see the President.
Meanwhile, President Lungu has assured the people of Luapula that he will discuss with the ministers of Agriculture and Home Affairs to see how best the people of the area can sell their maize on the Copperbelt using the Pedicle Road through the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Mr Lungu said leaders in the province and chiefs had asked him to facilitate for the passage of maize through the DRC to the Copperbelt.
This is because the Government has strengthened security measures on the sale of the crop as a way to stop smuggling of the commodity.
“I’ll have a meeting next week with my ministers to see how best the maize could be transported without contributing to smuggling,” Mr Lungu said.
The President was speaking at a rally in Chembe District yesterday.
Earlier, in Milenge District, President Lungu commissioned the first-ever district hospital which was built at a cost of K12 million.
Mr Lungu said the Government was keen on taking development to all parts of the country, regardless of the distance from the line of rail.
Milenge District Commissioner James Nyengele said it was the first time in history that a President was visiting the district.
Mr Nyengele said the 45,000 people of Milenge were indebted to the Government for the new hospital.