LISWANISO LISTS UPND ACHIEVEMENTS, CHALLENGES AS PARTY CLOCKS 2 YEARS
AS UPND clocks two years in power, the party’s national youth chairman Gilbert Liswaniso has listed the successes as well as the challenges of the New Dawn government.
Appearing on Lusaka’s Pan African Radio yesterday, Liswaniso acknowledged the economic difficulties the country was facing due to the huge debts left behind by the previous regime but emphasized that positive steps had been and were still being taken to change the face of Zambia.
He says under the watch of President Hakainde Hichilema and his UPND, the country was experiencing unprecedented peace in market and public places for the first time in more than a decade.
He said peace was an an important ingredient for national development and with the recent debt restructuring deal, government had some breathing space to stabilize the economy and improve the foreign exchange rate.
He said government’s focus now lay in working on mining policies and improving agricultural practices to boost the local economy and exports.
Liswaniso also addressed the issue of escalating food prices, attributing it to the actions of cartels who sought to frustrate the government’s efforts by exporting food to neighboring countries.
However, he assured the public that the government had intensified border patrols to prevent such actions and promised that those found wanting would face the law.
He explained that government had also addressed the concerns of farmers, particularly regarding the pricing of Soya Beans.
Liswaniso said the Ministry of Agriculture was actively seeking external buyers who would purchase soya beans at a good price, with the government facilitating the entire process.
Liswaniso acknowledged that fuel price adjustments were controlled by the international market, which influenced both increases and reductions while noting that this allowed the people to plan based on international market prices.
He said government also faced challenges in the health sector but had taken steps to rectify the issues.
He also said government had cleaned up the all procurement process by removing middlemen who frustrated and overpriced medicines.
“The responsibility for drugs procument and distribution has now been vested in the Zambia Medicine Regulatory Authority, ensuring fair access for all hospitals across the country,” Liswaniso said.
He emphasized that education was a priority for the UPND government, which had reintroduced free education, slashed or reduced school fees, and reinstated university student meal allowances.
Further, Liswaniso said government was in the process of revisiting the school curriculum through the Technical Education, Vocational, and Entrepreneurship Training Authority (TEVETA).
Liswaniso also addressed concerns regarding labor laws, stating that the government was working on fine-tuning the existing legislation.
Additionally, Liswaniso said government had returned money to the people through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), enabling communities to plan and implement projects according to their needs and priorities which has never happened before .
Kalemba