INAUGURAL SPEECH BY MR LEVY PATRICK MWANAWASA S.C. PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA ON WEDNESDAY, 2nd JANUARY, 2002
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“I have now been sworn in as President, if anybody transgresses the law, I will ensure the law visits them.
“If stone throwing continues, then I’m not the President. Governance of this country will continue to be of laws rather than men. Those agitating violence are putting Zambia in jeopardy. Zambia has been peaceful since independence and let it remain that way.”
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DR Frederick J. T Chiluba, immediate past President of the Repub¬lic of Zambia, Dr Ken¬neth D. Kaunda First President of the Repub¬lic of Zambia.
Representatives of foreign Heads of State and Government.
My Lord the Chief Justice.
My Lords the Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Court.
Speaker of the National Assembly.
Newly elected members of Parliament.
Distinguished invited guests.
Fellow countrymen and women.
Ladies and Gentlemen.
I feel extremely honoured and humbled by the enor¬mous responsibility bestowed upon me today to lead Zambia as President of the Republic in the next 5 years.
I am more touched because of this place where we are today. It is befitting that I take oath of office here on the steps of the Supreme Court of Zambia, as we have always done, to reflect the dignity with which we hold our judiciary as a mirror of the national spirit. The presence of you the Heads of State and of your Lordships the distinguished judges, underscores the importance of the job the nation has given me.
I promise as I have sworn to do my best in this task for the good of Zambia.
I am here today because it is the will of the Zambian people. I say thank you very much for voting for me.
I extend special thanks to Dr F.J.T. Chiluba who has steered this country for the past 10 years in peace and tranquility. We have had a peaceful and successful election. I would like him to be available from time to time to play a positive role in the affairs of this country.
Let me at this juncture as well extend an invitation to Dr K.D. Kaunda, the founding father of our nation, to make himself available when need arises to advise me and the new administration. Dr Kaunda and Dr Chiluba as our only ex-Presidents de¬serve our respect and honour and must be consulted when it is necessary to seek their counsel.
I also wish to extend my very sincere thanks to my party, the MMD – especially the members of NEC who bestowed on me, the honour to be the party’s presidential candidate. Their efforts and support have made it pos¬sible for me to be here today. To all the ranks and file of our party, I say continue to work hard – the task to build on the laid foundation starts today.
The Electoral Commission of Zambia has done a tremendous job to conduct these elections so successfully. I commend them for a job well done under very trying circumstances. I look forward to receive your suggestions, if any, of how we can improve our electoral process to achieve greater efficiency. We need to build and strengthen our young democracy on the experiences we have leant.
I thank all the election monitors for their excellent performance in observing the elections and helping us per¬fect our organisational skills. I particularly want to recognise the excellencies Gen¬eral Abdulsalami Abubakar former president of the Fed¬eral Republic of Nigeria. Mr Nicephore Soglo, former president of Benin and Judge Joseph Warioba, a former primer of the Republic of Tanzania. I also recognise the presence of the SADC Electoral Commission Fo¬rum led by Honourable Mademe Motsamai, Speaker of the National Assembly of Lesotho.
I am honoured by the pres¬ence here of Heads of State of friendly countries in the region. l am grateful for their profound expression of soli¬darity with the people of Zambia. I want to assure you your excellencies of our full¬est support.
Your excellencies, fellow citizens:
You are all aware of the great honour bestowed on our country in July 2001 when the African Heads of State and Government placed upon us the chairmanship of the Organisation of African Unity. I wish to pledge to do my best to en¬sure that the mandate en-trusted to our country, namely to facilitate and manage the transformation pro¬cess from the OAU into the African Union is fulfilled.
To our colleagues in the region I wish to assure you that my administration will administration will continue to pursue the policy of peace, friendship and good neighborliness. We shall respect the independence, sovereignty and territorial in-tegrity of all our neighbours. In this regard, we shall not allow our territory to be used by, nor shall we support, any group seeking to overthrow a government through unconstitutional means, in any of our neighbouring countries. In turn, we expect all our neighbours to treat and relate to us in a similar manner, where differences occur on any issue between Zam¬bia and another country, we shall have recourse to the available regional and bilateral mechanism in order to resolve those differences amicably.
Ever since Zambia gained independence, she has been involved in the search for peace in the region, in Africa and, indeed, in the entire world. This we have done based on the conviction that peace is indivisible and, therefore, that any threat to peace anywhere is a threat to peace everywhere. I wish to assure all our neighbours and all our brothers and sisters in Africa, as well as the rest of the international community, that during my administration, Zambia will continue to play an active role in the search for peace in the various conflict areas of our region, the continent and the world.
We shall respect all international and bilateral agreements signed by the outgo¬ing government and proudly take our position in the international community.
Our public service in all its various sectors, the Civil Service, the Police Service, the Armed Forces and all other wings of Central and Local Government have contributed enormously to the success of these elections. I say thank you very much for a job well-done.
To the non-governmental organisations, local and for¬eign, I say thank you for your commitment to Zam¬bia. Please continue to do whatever is possible to make Zambia a better place for all.
On my part, in the new deal I have been talking about as I went around the country, I promise you coun¬trymen and women of Zam-bia that:
1. I shall be your servant to work, promote and ad¬vance the interests of Zam¬bia and Zambians in all aspects of our national life.
2. I shall expect the men and women of the New Deal administration to be honest, committed and loyal to the interests of Zambia and its people.
3. If there is any conflict of interest, Zambian inter¬ests will always prevail. I shall expect the new administration to understand this.
4. We intend to implement the programmes in our mani¬festo, and emphasise the new change which will be a more human-centered process, by this we mean we will focus on the Zambian people as both the End and the Means of development. These programmes, as reflected in our manifesto, will be all-embracing focusing on hu¬man development.
In The New Deal, agriculture shall be at the centre stage of our economic development policy.
Agricultural programmes will aim at ensuring food security in both rural and urban areas, and in creating employment, we have to give a new look at agriculture since copper cannot be re¬tied upon to be a continuing engine of development and employment.
We aim to boost or encourage investment both foreign and local, individually or foreign capital in partner¬ship with local capital. All these will be designed to establish factories and plants and we will offer suitable incentives to those to be located in rural or export processing zones, particularly those using local raw materials which are in abundant supply. That way, we will be creating employment and putting money in the pock¬ets of our people.
To us, the policies of economic growth, fiscal policy, and monetary policies are merely means to achieve the fundamentals of improving the quality of life and welfare of the Zambian people.
It means, in other words, that we will strive to enable as many of our people as possible wherever they are to access goods and services to satisfy their basic needs.
Some people might think that this is an impossible task. But what is it then that we want for the Zambians? Why go to all these efforts to have elections if not for the betterment of our people’s lives?
It is my declared intention to ensure that our people are at least able to have the mini-mum standards of living meaning that there should be enough food for families, better housing and essential services such as clean wa-ter, sanitation, public trans¬port, education and health services.
Therefore, ensure that our job creation efforts take into account the need to include the women, the disabled and the youth. We shall also strive to create opportuni¬ties for retrenchees to lead productive lives and contrib¬ute to national development.
I am aware, fellow citizens, of the suffering that retirees go through as a re¬sult of delays in paying them their pension benefits. In seeking these benefits, retir¬ees are not asking for favours: They are asking for what is rightfully theirs. It is therefore, our obligation as Government, to ensure that their dues are paid on time. My administration will pay urgent attention to this mat¬ter, with a view to finding the quickest and most efficient means of paying pension benefits.
As we went around the country and listened to the people and the business com¬munity, it was obvious that the current tax regime has placed a heavy burden on the people and the business sector. It is, therefore, the intention of my Government to consult extensively with all stakeholders with a view to establishing a tax regime that facilitates rather than hinders local productivity.
Let us from now on dedicate ourselves to hard work in the interest of this nation. Ministers, members of Par¬liament and other leaders in society – let us work to discourage the “culture of hand outs”. Like other nations we must develop using our own efforts and not rely on “hand outs.”
We wish to appeal to all leaders of various organisations that the world today is a tough and difficult one. There is nothing for nothing. No one will have so much money that it can be handed out freely to all and sundry. Please do not misunderstand our intentions. All of us should first of all work hard, produce and try to be self-reliant.
We should use the little resources available for national development and reconstruction.
These elections have come and gone. Many lessons have been learnt. It is my sincere hope that as Zambians we shall all bury our differences and march forward together. This is not the end of the world. There is now a job to be done for the people. Other elections will come in the future.
To my colleagues who aspired for this position, I salute you and respect you for the good fight we had. Now, the nation needs your positive contribution because we all want a better life for our people. The constituency you were addressing is the same one I was addressing. The people of Zambia you were referring to are the same people of Zambia I was addressing. I appeal to you – search your hearts and discover what you can do to bring about prosperity and advancement to Zambia and not harm it.
I once again solemnly and humbly accept the honour to serve as President of the Republic of Zambia. I promise to be President for all the people, whether you voted for me or not, whether you voted for MMD or not, whether you did not vote or did not even register as a voter, I am President for all of you, the people of Zambia.
Countrymen and women, and your excellencies:
I want to conclude my ad¬dress by repeating my mission statement since this will be the principle which will guide me as I serve our people:
“I will provide continuity with change. In the interest of our nation Zambia and the common good, sacrificing all and expecting little in return, I wholeheartedly commit myself with God’s help and guidance to serve Zambia and Zambians to the best of my ability with loyalty, honour and integrity, with all my heart and strength, with love and justice, with consideration and compassion, with commitment and dedication and in collaboration with stakeholders, women and men of goodwill, to give fresh hope to our people, to create opportunities for all and bring honour, dignity and prosperity to our country through honest, self¬less hard work above and beyond the normal call of duty.”
I pray for your support and cooperation in this task. I also pray for all of you.
Long live Zambian democracy.
God bless Zambia.
I thank you.