HUNDREDS of women marketeers on the Copperbelt yesterday staged a solidarity march in Kitwe to thank President Lungu for empowering them with soft loans under the presidential initiative.
The marketeers brought business in the central business district to a standstill.
They showered accolades on President Lungu for empowering them economically with loans to boost their businesses.
National Traders and Marketeers Association of Zambia (NATMAZ) national chairlady Lizzie Kaluba said in Kitwe yesterday that marketeers on the Copperbelt are indebted to Mr Lungu for his empowerment initiatives.
“As women marketeers on the Copperbelt, we are happy with President Lungu’s decision to empower us, traders and vendors. We will support his government because it cares about us,” Ms Kaluba said.
She said NATMAZ is committed to supplementing Government’s efforts in accelerating national development through the promotion of viable and sustainable businesses.
Ms Kaluba said women marketeers have been facing many challenges in accessing loans from financial lending institutions because of prohibitive interest rates and lack of collateral, but President Lungu has now made it possible for them.
Ms Kaluba appealed to the government to come up with more viable and sustainable empowerment schemes that will directly address the challenges faced by marketeers.
She also called on Government to intervene in lowering exorbitant charges marketeers are paying to the Kitwe City Council at Chisokone Market.
And Kitwe district commissioner Chanda Kabwe re-affirmed Government’s commitment to empowering women countrywide.
Mr Kabwe, who is also patron for NATMAZ, said women play an important role in national development and donated K15,000 to the marketeers during the solidarity march.
Did they have a permit? Or is it the case that the police only apply the POA to others?
Mwana differentiate between ‘OPPOSITION’ and a working government more so if the opposition are opposing everything including good things so long as they are done by the government.
Its good that at least one sector of people are not feeling the pinch of the economy.
Show as some pictures of these women for us to see how business was brought to standstill in Kitwe…!
Sensational reporting!!!
Thats the working presidential material unlike some materials disturbing the peace and selling out our people to the outside world
Poorly implemented schemes done out of political appeasement never yield any desired results. MR ECL is panicking and knows that CB will teach him a lesson hence such uncoordinated plots. It will not work to give a few hundreds tuma K2000 when you want hundreds of thousands of voters on the CB. People a clever now and will not be hoodwinked. And why CB alone if indeed this is a Govt programme to empower marketeers.
Desperate times require desperate measures indeed. ECL should just improve the economy and these marketeers will automatically love him or else, worst of stolen money.
Thats no news bring the exchange rate of dollar to K5 as you found it in 2011. The rate is now above K11 per dollar and is this what you call working presidential material? Ma rubbish!
LUNGU IS A PRESIDENT WHY WOULD HE NEED A PERMIT.
How much did each group receive if K3000 is drop in an ocean and buses were hired for them and forced but the trueth is coming
i VERY WELL REMEMBER THEM MARCHING FOR RB in 2010 , chwee chwee chwee . next year they will parade for muliokela !!!
Those are just Lungu’s Dancing qeens
They march in solidarity when their husbands’ jobs are on the chopping boards and theses same women do not even pay taxes towards development programs and they are just praise singing without understanding critical national issues failings leading them to try making a living from markets!
STAGE MANAGED. THEY CAN SMELL THE AIR OF CHANGE. PF KUYA BEBELE! AND IT WILL BE “SUDDENLY”!
Lucy is a bitter woman, she is like hh who never sees anything good in the government. Be careful or you die na chikonko .