President Lungu has disclosed that he will in the next five years ensure that the poverty levels in Luapula Province are reduced through embarking on deliberate programmes that will address the poverty levels in the province.
Speaking at a public rally at Katungulu Primary School grounds in Kawambwa yesterday , President Lungu said he will deliberately embark on programmes for the region to reduce poverty levels and bring prosperity to the people because Luapula is the most impoverished province in Zambia together with Western.
Mr. Lungu said he will first consider Luapula because it is Luapula that enabled him to manage the 50 per cent plus one threshold in securing his victory in last year’s presidential elections.
He said the human index report shows luapula to be the most impoverished which has compelled him to ensure that development should come to luapula first before he takes it anywhere so that the province could also start looking up.
He reiterated his reason for appointing a good number of Luapula people in his cabinet so that the y help him in bringing development to the region.
Mr. Lungu challenged the provincial minister Nixon Chilangwa, Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya, General Education Minister Dennis Wanchinga, Housing and Infrastructure Development Minister Ronald Chitotla, Energy Minister David Mabumba who were present at the rally to ensure that they use their positions to bring development to Luapula.
President Lungu gave Health Minister Chilufya a task to ensure that he brings a modern zonal health facility to Katungulu area by April this year.
Housing and Infrastructure Minister Chitotela was tasked to ensure that the road in the area is completed before July while Energy Minister Mabumba was instructed to make sure that the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) should bring power to Katungulu Primary School and the surrounding areas before REA leaves Luapula as REA is currently working in Milenge District in the province.
General Education Minister Wanchinga promised to deliver computers and a laboratory to the school in the area in order to enable pupils appreciate technology in their learning process.
The Head of State assured the people that he will come back to see for himself whether what he is promising will be delivered in record time by his Ministers.
He observed that he will adopt the ‘seeing is believing’ approach to his performance based work style as opposed to just reading reports in Lusaka because some reports were not the true reflection of the situation on the ground.
Mr. Lungu said it is good that he travelled because he has even discovered that UREA fertilizer has not been delivered for Mansa and Samfya up to now which he could not have known if he was in Lusaka.
He said roads, clinics, schools, and power will come to the area to change the life outlook of the people.
Meanwhile, President Lungu has promised to restock fish in Luapula water bodies. Speaking at a public rally at Katungulu Primary School grounds in Kawambwa yesterday, President Lungu said he will make sure that at the end of his five year term, Luapula’s economic profile will improve for the better.
He urged the people in Luapula to support the fish ban when it is in force in order to give fish a chance to breed during its breeding season.
The President said if the leadership in the province is committed to his vision and work together, the province is bound to become the food basket for the southern African region because of its good rain patterns, fertile soils and abundant water.
Mr. Lungu revealed that the agriculture sector will grow as it is the focus of his economic transformation for the country.
He urged all his leaders from Luapula who were present at the rally to ensure that they deliver on the promises they were making during political campaign trails before looking elsewhere.
The Head of state stated that it is important to first clean your own house before rendering a helping hand to your neighbor and it is important for Luapula leaders to first work towards fulfilling the promises they made to the people who voted for them.
Mr. Lungu observed that he will not hesitate to fire people both in the party and in government who will fail to perform because the citizens want to see results on what they were promised in the campaigns.
He reiterated his servant-hood approach to leadership and urged the people of Kawambwa to demand performance from their elected leaders because every leader is a servant of the people whom he pledged to serve with commitment, diligence and selflessness.
Initially there was 500 000 jobs to be created and that was not to be. Now to develop Luapula, interesting. Let’s see the delivery of it.
Lucky Luapulans! Lungu is going to do in 5 years what previous govts failed to do in 53 years. Or what Satan failed to do in 90 days!
Nuff said, I couldn’t have said it any better.
And how many years in other provinces? Its this kind of talk that divides us. Using our taxes to favour one group of people.
How Lungu wishes developing Luapula was as easy as emptying 5 litres of Jemasoni Kwa Misisi….Utumatobo. Fuma apa!!
Luapula we are intelligent people, thats why we always have majority ministers. Why Harry Kalaba not tasked anything?
Mind you Chiluba, Katele, me are examples… yes we deserve all energies from PF government. We don’t even fight our chiefs.
By the way this poverty thing can be said in any province. Lusaka has only 3 water hydrants.
He has been President for the last 3 yrs, why has not developed Chawama?
So this bum had to go to Luapula to go and make this pledge…why was he elected Head of State..am confused!!
You can’t reduce poverty useless president. You just drink beer
I stopped that habit long time ago. Ifyakukolwa fyashala ku cawama man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is time for development through farming and not mining.
The President is a Born again Christian. How can he drink beer? He dances alright but each time he dances it’s for the lord.
Ba LUNGU,ORDERING Minister to implement projects that were NOT PLANNED does NOT amount to ENDING POVERTY! How is electrifying one school and giving it computers going to end poverty in a province of close to 1million people?No wonder they call you guys “CHIPANTEPANTE”! WHERE IS AN ARTICULATED PLAN TO END POVERTY? You can say LUAPULA and WESTERN are MOST IMPOVERISHED in Zambia but I can see that at least WESTERN IS TALKING OF CASHEWS as a way to IMPROVE PEOPLE’s LIVELIHOODS! WHAT DO YOU HAVE PEOPLE FOR LUAPULA ON A SIMILAR SCALE THAT CAN ADDRESS HOUSEHOLD POVERTY LEVELS and CONTRIBUTE TO THE NATIONAL ECONOMY? NOTHING but talk,talk..PARADING MINISTERS,ENCOURAGING THEM TO PRACTICE REGIONALISM -Is that Development?!
very true he sounds like he is campainining,he really does not know what he is doing..
You are very clever Mr Bwafya; you have seen what others have not see and clarified what others can not. There is no proper plan for addressing household poverty – it is all rubbish and cheap talk. If agriculture is the way forward, what concrete steps are there to show he wants to improve agriculture. Fertiliser was not delivered, whom did he reprimand? There are smart phones and internet, can he not know what is happening unless he travels? I like what you pointed out:”How is electrifying one school and giving it computers going to end poverty in a province of close to 1million people?”
Yes Lungu is encouraging regionalism what a shame, he thinks he can strengthen his power in that manner. He is infact weakening his power because if at all akeminina kukaba fye ukufilia munsenga cikapwilemo
Akulandeni fye ba pompwe ifwe chikulu filechitika, chwe chwe chwe, go go go working government by 5 years we will reach somewhere. Corner to corner bachili ba le dabwa!
Foo.lish, senseless, empty talking indeed, it’s day dreaming! Looking at zambia’s economy today, what Programmes can reduce poverty in a province within 5 years? It is also nonsense for a president to publicly declare that Luapula province will receive more attention than western province, because he got more votes in luapula. This is crap, sh.it and nonsense!!
I could not agree more.
And he calls himself the president of everyone? What about NWP? What is there? This centralized governance system must be dismantled. Let’s have a decentralized system. Let provincial development be planned by people of that province from the resources that they produce.
That’s just a hopless excuse of a leader.
No wonder lungu failed in his private life in business resorting to fraud. And you think he can lead ? Haphazard random buildings with out policy the chawama way is how lungu governs. Without a plan.
If he had any plan he should be asking why those things he mentions are not done. He has no plan to follow.
THE LATE SATA WOULD HAVE SAID HE IS JUST YAPPING YAPPING. VERY CORRECT DESCRIPTION ACTUALY BECAUSE THEY ARE JUST EMPTY WORDS UTTERED WITHOUT THOUGHT.
All provinces have high poverty levels. Moreover poverty reduction starts at household/ individual level, but the people there are just too lazy , all they know best is begging. So we can’t buy such cheap talk from Lungu. And moreover does Lungu think Luapula can win him an election if at all he is declared eligible? I don’t think so, apose amano kuli Copperbelt, NP, Muchinga, Lusaka etc the strongholds of PF. Otherwise pitying province against province is a cheap outdated strategy which KK used to strengthen himself in power.
People are now enlightened and should see through their or his nose, and Luapulans need to know that they are just being used just as ka Nathan Chanda was being used. But people are now enlightened not when KK used that trick to pit province against province…
The number one commitment for lungu and his cabinet is borrowing and expecting doners to fund projects.
Because he has no plan or set policy the rest of the country is like what he sees there in luapula. Will he visit every corner of zambia and promise his chipantepante haphazard random development ??
If he had any policy or plan he should be firing his ministers for the short commings he sees.
good observation. this president has no idea of what to do. lishamo sana
Cont……. But people are now enlightened not when KK used that trick to pit province against province as a way to strengthen his power, NEVER AGAIN, ba Lungu mwacepa sana
And this Monday the empty tins are having a cabinet meeting!!
The easiest group of people to hoodwink, Lungu has promised heaven in Luapula and people in Luapula have no spine to question it. Lubgu came from Chawama town ship and that tells tales.
“President Lungu said he will make sure that at the end of his five year term, Luapula’s economic profile will improve for the better.”
I’M SURE HE IS NOW AWARE THAT HE IS INELIGIBLE TO CONTEST 2021!
Is he on ‘official’ visit or private or campaign tour? Raising that fist tells me he is campaigning
Is he on ‘official’ visit or private or campaign tour? Raising that fist tells me he is campaigning, hence what speech would you expect?
If there ever was ichisushi in state house, Lungu is it. How do Zambians end up with punks like these? KK, Kafupi, RB, Sata and now the drunkard? There has to be some curse.
You are right; it must be a curse
Even the usless PF vuvuzelas on these blogs can see there is no plan or policy. Only guesswork.
Interestingly, they are quite…ziiiiii chabe….
They realise something is wrong here.
am sure he meant in five years starting 2021
Third term campaign trail. Talking about projects when there is no money in the coffers. We will vote wisely next time.
Our Presido, well spoken. It is better to give more support to the regions that vote for you than the regions where they do not. Keep it up. In 2021, we will again vote for you if you think in those lines. By the way, what are the benefits of voting for someone if the treatment is the same with those that they reject? Whether plans or no plans, what we need is development in our areas. If you want to develop other areas, then we will vote for someone else who can develop our area.
He should change his name to Mr. Promises
Visit Dundumwezi soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some pipo are so easily tricked or lied to. If u believe a VISION-LESS man then u worse than a F00L & deserve the poverty u are going through
Ati i’ll create 500,000 jobs when actually 500,000 will be lost by the time PF00LS leave office.
Well said president ECL!!let hh also develop bantustan provinces.PF must openly appreciate voters in its strongholds such as Luapula because even in 2021 PF will win in those areas.even if PF turn bantustan provinces into America,voters in those areas will still vote for their god hh in 2021 and beyond,so why not develop provinces where PF is popular?way to go ECL!!you have my vote in 2021!!
So, what is the criteria used for equitably allocating projects to the various Regions of the Country?
Mu 90 days
For sure there has to be a criterion not just guess work or ukusabalila fye or ukulota just to please or hoodwink some people
Very vague promise because there are no solid goals set so we cant evaluate it later
Lungu claims to have won the 2016 Election outright and met the 50% +1 vote threshold. If Lungu truly and fairly won the Election why has he been blocking the Petition Hearing? The fact that its almost 6 months after the Elections were disputed and Petitioned means that Lungu lost the Election,stole it and illegally and unconstitutionally inaugurated himself in power. For that Reason Lungu is and will remain illegitimate until the Court after a proper hearing declares him a Winner of that Election. Even a 5 year old child knows that HH won the 2016 Election outright. The whole country knows this and that is why in the eyes of most Zambians Lungu is an illegitimate President.Period.
@Moya:dont include me in those people who know that hh won 2016 elections.yes in your 3.5 provinces thats what you know but in 6.5 provinces we know that PF and ECL won 2016 elections because numbers do not lie.how can hh win general elections by winning in 3.5 provinces?are you normal!!stop dreaming my dear.your KAINDE lost in Luapula,Northern,CB,Eastern,Lusaka,Muchinga and bemba speaking areas of central,so how can he win?dream on with your failded petition!!
Lungu stole votes in lusaka. Those are the numbers you are seeing, stolen votes.
How can some one who had spent 10 billion US on development, has all GRZ marchinary and money only win by less than 100,000 votes ? He was plugging 20 000 there 30 000 there and so on.
HH NEVER WON ANY ELECTION IN 2016. HH HAS NEVER WON ANY ELECTION IN ANY CONTESTED PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. IT IS MOST LIKELY THAT HH WILL NEVER WIN ANY ELECTIONS IN ZAMBIA IN HIS LIFE TIME. THE THING IS HH IS NOT A PRESIDENTIAL MATERIAL, HE HAS TOO MANY DARK CORNERS IN HIS LIFE ABOUT HIS MONEY AND IF EVER HE SHOULD BECOME PRESIDENT THE DARK SIDE OF HIM WILL MAKE HIM BECOME A SERIOUS DICTATOR MORE THAN IDI AMINI, MOBUTU, KABILA AND ADOLF HITLER. IT IS QUITE RECENTLY THAT HH STARTED SMILING BECAUSE PEOPLE TOLD HIM THAT, “YOU SHOULD BE SMILING”. OTHERWISE, HIS FACE IS STONE-COLD, AND YOU DON’T WANT A PRESIDENT WHO IS ALREADY STONE-COLD. SO MY ADVICE IS, ZAMBIANS, “SHOULDN’T TROUBLE, TROUBLE BEFORE TROUBLE, TROUBLES THEM”.
President Lungu is spending 3 days in Luapula to familiarize himself with what’s going on and that’s good for him. Whether he has a plan or not, what he sees on this tour with be enough material for him to work with and plan for the province and we should support him. He is meeting with real people and not cadres and that gives him an opportunity to assess the needs of the people of this province. Remember he is a Presisent of an African country with few resources and he can not (even if he wanted) eradicate poverty in Zambia!! You may not have voted for him but he is the president of Zambia and we should support him when he means well. We support you Mr President in your efforts, don’t be discouraged by the frustrated opposition who will never see anything good in you. Ebuntu bwine !!!
@ Ponga Miles
“…Remember he is a Presisent of an African country with few resources and he can not (even if he wanted) eradicate poverty in Zambia!!…”
Are you NUTS?
Only resources which are lacking in Zambia are functional brain, honesty, integrity and rule of law!!!
@Spaka like lilo:if you believe that Edgar Lungu stole votes in Lusaka and CB,then even HH did the same in 3.5 provinces where PF monitors were not allowed in polling stations.why cant you people believe the fact that its tribal voting which made HH even come closer to ECL?in Dundumwezi alone HH got 33 000 against 250 for ECL.but HH was getting above 5 000 votes in Eastern province,etc.if bantustans vote like the rest of Zambia,HH was going to lose badly!!of HH’s 1.7 million votes,above 1.5million votes came from tongas,lozis and luvales.moreover, if ECL stole votes in 2016 then even in 2021 PF will still steal votes because the same people at ECZ who conducted elections in 2016 will be conducting 2021 elections too,so tell HH not to stand and waste his money and time.WHAT WILL UPND…
WHAT WILL UPND CHANGE IN 2021?NOTHING.but any political expert will tell you that as long as HH fails to win in bemba and nyanja dominated provinces then he will never be Zambian president because HH’s bantustan voters are in minority-SIMPLE!!!forget about RIGGING.Zambian politics have gone tribal.today 98% of those from 3.5 provinces are pro UPND and more than 80% of those from 6.5 provinces are pro PF!!this is the reality on the ground!!
.”…because HH’s bantustan voters are in minority-..”
If that is the case why did lungu win by the smallest of margins. ? That is despite spending billions and using GRZ to campain for him , that small margin can only be atteibuted to rigging.
The divisive comments by the President deserve condemnation. He states unashamedly that the criteria for development is to concentrate on areas that voted for the ruling party. Yet, his mandate is to give direction as to what plans and general policies the government has for the nation as a whole. A blueprint, a road-map – and which he should explain by addressing the nation and might I say, take questions.
I have no problem with ECL starting with Luapula if it is the mist impoverished province in the country so as to bring it to the same level as other provinces. However I don’t think that will happen cause the man has no plans. The man does not know what to do even where to start from. Non existent Plans & programmes he is cheating poor luapulans will be forgotten the moment he boards the plane. His trip would have been worthwhile if he had already gone with a plan of how to develop the province & not to go & see what is supposed to be done. WHAT DO THESE PEOPLE DISCUSS IN THEIR SO CALLED CABINET MEETINGS!!!
Spell check, meant “most” not “mist “
Perhaps He will. He will reduce poverty by 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000001percent
What about rest of Zambia?