PROFILE OF CHRISTINE PHIRI, UPND CANDIDATE FOR MILANZI CONSTITUENCY
Christine Phiri is United Party for National Development (UPND) Milanzi constituency candidate who hopes to drill boreholes in all the villages so that the people must have access to clean water.
She says access to clean water is the biggest challenge the people of Milanzi have been facing and that the previous area Members of Parliament (MPs) have failed to address the issue.
“My manifesto borders on access to clean water. I will definitely start working towards that by drilling boreholes,’’ she says.
She says Milanzi constituency has grown big thus; she would like some villages to have access to tap water that would be drawn from the storage tanks.
She says despite the area having a lot of livestock, most of the animals suffer and die along the way due to insufficient water.
“We have even seen situations where animals and human beings share water from the streams and ponds,’’ she says.
Ms Phiri says, she also wants women toget empowered with various skills that will help them become self sustainable.
For those not in the know, Ms Phiri is an ordained pastor and diplomat who served as High Commissioner of Zambia to Nigeria during the Levy Mwanawasa reign.
She is a founder member of Transparency International (TI) Zambia chapter and worked for Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM).
During her tour of duty, she fought for Zambians that got stranded in Mali after being divorced by their husbands.
She says she played a major role in convincing Aliko Dangote to open his company in Zambia.
It was also during her tenure of office that United Bank of Africa (UBA), Access bank and Eco banks extended their branches to Zambia.
“I played a very important role in convincing Mr Dangote to come to Zambia. I influenced the Chief Executive officers for the three banks to bring their banks to Zambia,’’ she says