By PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE –
PRESIDIENT Edgar Lungu has invited the people of North-Western Province to come on board and work with him to spur development in the province.
Mr Lungu told residents in Kanyama chiefdom, about 65 kilometres from Mwinilunga, that he was ready to work with any person, whether they were from the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) or MMD.
He said when he addressed a brief meeting at Kanyama Primary School ground that those who wanted to work with him were welcome regardless of their political background as long as they were Zambians.
Mr Lungu said all the people in the country should be free to work with the Government of the day for the sake of developing the nation.
Earlier, Mr Lungu paid a courtesy call on Chief Kanyama where he expressed gratitude to the people of North-Western Province for receiving him with “warm hearts”.
President Lungu said the Government was working towards taking development to all parts of the country, and that chiefs were key partners.
He said the countrywide visits he was undertaking were to help him appreciate the challenges people were facing and how the same could be resolved through mutual understanding.
Mr Lungu urged Zambians to work hard, adding that not all times were for politicking.
“Time for politics should have a season. You vote, you win and concentrate on developing the nation,” he said.
Mr Lungu said his administration was already demonstrating its desire to end the plight of the poor through a number of projects that were being implemented.
The visibly happy Chief Kanyama thanked President Lungu for visiting his chiefdom many years after former Republican President Kenneth Kaunda had been to the area, in 1971.
The traditional leader said his subjects were excited to be visited by the Head of State and that his footprints would not be erased in their hearts.
“I am grateful and happy that I have seen the President of this nation. Your footprints in this chiefdom will not be washed away, I will live to remember this day,” Chief Kanyama said.
He said it was only through the Government that he would work and develop the chiefdom and urged the President to address his subjects who had been anxiously waiting to hear from him.
Mr Lungu later launched a livestock breeding centre in Chief Kanyama’s chiefdom, where he said the facility was good for boosting the agriculture sector.