The Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) has commended the New Dawn Government for the landmark achievements it has scored in the education sector in just one year of being in office.
CCZ President Sauros Phaika cited the free education policy as one of the milestones that the New Dawn has scored.
Reverend Phaika said this policy has enabled the poorest of Zambians in a remote rural area to attend school, a situation that will see Zambia have an educated population.
“The free policy in terms of education, allowing even those who cannot afford to go to school is something that we should take note of and recommend,” he said.
He noted that free education is the first step of other things that Government will put in place to deliver sustainable development in the country.
“They cannot do a 100 per cent but what they have done is the first step in the vision that they have for this nation and they can do much more, but we want them to know that we as a church also appreciate,” he said.
Rev Phaika also cited the recruitment of health workers and teachers as something unprecedented and commendable.
And, the Reformed Church in Zambia (RCZ) Synod Moderator Ackson Banda reiterated the church’s commitment to supplementing the Government’s efforts in bettering the lives of communities where they operate in.
“Our operations and working with the Government are interlocked, we cannot work separately,” he said.
Rev Banda seeks to work with the government of the day in a bid to offer a well-rounded holistic approach toward bettering the lives of the people.
The two clergymen said this during the 32nd RCZ Synod Conference held under the Theme, ‘striving for wholeness.
The conference attracted participants from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and South Africa.
Meanwhile, A governance expert, Wesley Miyanda, has commended the United Party for National Development (UPND) led government for fulfilling most of the campaign promises.
Mr. Miyanda says by fulfilling most of its campaign promises the new dawn government has managed to rewrite the economic history of the country.
He observed that within a space of one year in power, the government has recruited more than 40, 000 civil servants through open and competitive processes in the education and health sectors.
The expert said the government also increased the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) from K1.6-Million to K25.7-Million.
“We can’t leave out the increment of the constituency Development Fund (CDF) that has been increased from K1.6-Million to K25.7-Million which effectively actualized the decentralization,” Mr. Miyanda said.
Mr. Miyanda cited the free education from primary to secondary school, youth and women empowerment at all levels of society and concerted efforts in the fight against corruption among the fulfilled promises of the New Dawn Administration.
He noted that the presidential interactions with other international communities both within and outside the African continent are good and have helped to attract foreign investment for the country.
The activist added that in the long run these will translate into job creation and business opportunities for the people that are key ingredients for any growing economy.
He also commended the new dawn government for its commitment to dismantle unpaid benefits to retirees inherited from the previous regime.
“It should be noted here that the issue of retirees is quite critical because there are some who were retrenched in 1991. Particularly those that worked for state owned organizations such as Zambia State Insurance Corporation (ZIS) and Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL) that were overlooked by all these previous administrations. Unfortunately, a good number of these people have since died. So the UPND government has a very huge task to make sure all these retirees are paid their money without any further delay,” he said.
Mr. Miyanda, however, said while the UPND government has scored tremendous achievements in the few months of being in office, there was still need for the new dawn administration to quickly work on securing more drugs in health facilities and also to employ enough health personnel to attend to patients.
