PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH IN PARLIAMENT PROGRESSIVE – CHABINGA

PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH IN PARLIAMENT PROGRESSIVE – CHABINGA

MAFINGA Member of Parliament Robert Chabinga has described as progressive President Hakainde Hichilema’s speech  delivered during the opening of the 4th session of Parliament.

Mr Chabinga says President Hichilema’s speech covered critical aspects that are responding positively towards mitigating various challenges that the country is facing.

Speaking to the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Mafinga over the weekend, Mr Chabinga stated that Mr. Hichilema gave hope to Zambians of increased development amidst  the social-economic challenges that the country is going through especially in the energy sector.

He noted that the President underscored the importance of addressing the challenges in a methodical manner in order to come up with sustainable solutions amidst the drought crisis caused by the adverse effects of climate change.

“The Presidential address gave a lot of insight and challenged us Parliamentarians in the effective use of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and implored us to ensure that the fund is used for the intended purpose of poverty reduction,” he added.

During his official opening of the fourth session of the thirteenth national Assembly, President Hichilema pledged  to continue resuscitating the economy despite the impact of drought.

Mr Chabinga, who is also the leader of the opposition in Parliament, further noted that the Head of State announced that another batch of 4,000 health workers will be recruited before the end of 2024 in an effort to increase the human resource of medical practitioners in the health sector.

Mr Chabinga acknowledged that the pronouncement is highly commendable, stressing that he is optimistic that Mafinga district which has two modern hospitals will benefit from the recruitment exercise.

However, he appealed to the government to exhibit professionalism during the recruiting exercise by ensuring that qualified applicants from within the district were considered.

Meanwhile, the Mafinga lawmaker advised the government to actualise the open access of the use of the Tanzania-Zambia Mafuta (TAZAMA) pipeline to help counter the problem of high fuel pump prices.

He charged that the actualisation of accessibility of the pipeline will be a significant milestone in mitigating the high fuel prices, especially for rural areas like Mafinga that purchase the commodity from Isoka district at a higher price.

“We cannot have a few greedy individuals who are using that pipeline to sabotage the country. This is very unacceptable and we need to quickly address this issue,” he said.

He further commended President Hichilema for the strides he has been making towards the uplifting of the living standards of people through his development oriented approach.