The President said he will not change what his predecessors did but will instead build on them.
“I will not undo what my predecessors did simply because I am a new President as doing so would make the country fail to move forward,” Mr Lungu said.
He said this in Livingstone yesterday when he addressed stakeholders in the tourism industry and heads of government departments.
The President was reacting to Livingstone Tourism Association representative Pater Jones who expressed concern about the relocation of the provincial capital from Livingstone to Choma.
Mr Jones said while moving the provincial capital from Livingstone to Choma makes sense to the province, it has not helped the city of Livingstone.
The President wondered whether Livingstone is currently a ghost town following the relocation of Provincial capital to Choma.
“Let’s learn to abide by decisions of predecessors and move forward. We have to live with certain decisions, let’s build Choma and rebuild Livingstone,” President Lungu said.
He said he will not blame his predecessors but focus on developing the country.
Commenting on the energy deficit, President Lungu said there is need to explore alternative sources of energy to sustain the supply of power and mitigate the impact of climate change that has hit the country.
“I am excited to hear that our dams are picking up now but that won’t stop us from going into solar and other alternative sources of energy,” President Lungu said.
He said sustained economic growth and constant power supply at reasonable prices throughout the year can only be guaranteed if Zambia adopts alternative sources of energy
Mr Lungu is also concerned about the growing trend among some people who are always waiting for the President or Government to do something for them.
“We believe the private sector will drive the economy and the role of the government will be to provide a favourable environment for the private sector to thrive,” he said.
He said the Patriotic Front (PF) promised to lower taxes and put more money in people’s pockets but money will have to come from the private sector and not Government.
He urged the private sector to work with the government to make money and create jobs.
Earlier, Mr Jones proposed the creation of a bypass road in Livingstone to avoid destruction of roads in the central business district by heavy-duty vehicles.
And in a vote of thanks, Minister of Tourism and Arts Charles Banda commended President Lungu for planning to elevate his ministry to an economic one.
Mr Banda said the tourism sector contributes four percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) but that there is potential to do more.
“Let’s target to solve most problems by 2030 and make Zambia one of the top tourism destinations globally,” he said.
“I will not undo what my predecessors did simply because I am a new President as doing so would make the country fail to move forward,”
Are you going to return disappeared billions to restore liquidity?
What de fk? All those Chiluba and RB decisions? 1 step forward – 2 steps back.
Where are we going kanshi.
He needs help and information. The man is surrounded by hungry cadres who cannot offer him any valuable advise. Those stakeholders must have felt bad, they express their concerns and the president dismisses their concerns by just claiming that he is a new president which may imply that I more clueless than my predecessors.
Kikiki can you imagine this sewer rat. Indeed he has no vision. Himself stated that he wasn’t fit and ready to stand as president and yet the pf illiterates forced him to . Now he is abusing the law to his advantage and cutting in civil liberties. He is a dictator with water in his head. The sooner we stop this chap the better. Very sad for Zambia
Yes, let’s look forward to the future, to a future with the PF but without this waster of time and stealer of money.
A good leader will always have clueless, bitter and frustrated detractors. Mind these flies not! Keep working hard Mr President Sir! Let’s improve the lives of all Zambians even the one that insult and wish death on others..let the hot coals fall on their heads.
Can you imagine a situation where every new president cancelled all what the previous presidents did and start afresh. That is what ECL is trying to tell us. Build on what has been decided. Building in this case can be through revision, modification and/or expansion and not necessarily cancellation. That is how you develop. If you guys have made stupid decisions before, but instead of leaving with regrets, you have picked yourselves up and moved forward with a new approach. I do not think it will be wise to revert Livingstone as capital of Southern Province
Actually, there are examples to this: FTJ branded everything KK bad – and we all saw what happened. Even now, we are still paying heavily for those mistakes – SITET gone, ACC weak, and more recently ZAMTEL. ECL is right-on message.
We believe the private sector will drive the economy and the role of the government Will be to provide a favourable environment for the private sector to thrive, ” he said. People of Zambia we ‘ re heading 4 doom like it or not. Can someone show me the real profit We as a country getting from this private sector. Workers are exploited . We really need a government that is business minded to bring dollar down, better the warfare of its people than provide a favourable environment to private sector who makes money on governments expense take it to there countries. Just because of blown envelopes. We all supported them en gave them my vote but we have to see were they are taking us. No more hope
This man is a genius. He is so diplomatic as not to accept that Sata actually f***ked up:
– appointing relatives to Diplomatic Svcs
-Unplanned projects
-Announcements of Districts
-Almost all Bemba Cabinet/ boards etc
–bad diplomacy
Etc etc
Lungu is a true gentleman !
When you loses a game? You lean from it and plan for the next game that is what the president is saying.you can not be crying for spy otter water