Lungu: I am President; When I Say ‘Let’s Talk’, It’s Not a Sign of Weakness

PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has said he was elected by people to lead Zambia and “when I say let us talk to each other, I just mean that; it’s not a sign of weakness”.

And the Head of State has called for seriousness among all political players over the dialogue issue. Meanwhile, members of the clergy in Eastern Province have urged President Lungu to attend to the road network in the region and agricultural sector.

President Lungu told the clergy during a meeting at Luangwa House on Sunday that he was concerned with “the continued shifting of goal posts by some people” on who should chair the dialogue process.

He claimed he was always ready for the dialogue.

“So we need to be serious with what we want to do, we are not playing games here, I am a President, I was elected by people to lead this nation and when I say let us talk to each other, I just mean that; it’s not a sign of weakness because I can decide that I don’t need this dialogue, I am in charge but that’s not my style because I know that alone, I am not wiser. Alone, I am bound to go astray but if you tell me this is wrong, this is right, then we all agree,” President Lungu said.

He hoped that what he was hearing about some people who were allegedly shifting goal posts on dialogue was not true. President Lungu said he received a phone call from Lusaka Archbishop Alick Banda and that he would meet him and share with him what he was sharing with the clergy.

He expressed disappointment over the poor workmanship by some Zambian road constructors. President Lungu called for patriotism and loyalty among Zambians. On the e-voucher system for government subsidised inputs, President Lungu said government’s intention was to continue with it but that it would use conventional ways in areas with communication challenges.

He also revealed that he discussed the issue of maize marketing with Mpezeni, the paramount chief of the Ngonis. President Lungu said he was aware of the road projects that had stalled because of money challenges but assured the people that government would complete them when money was available.

He said there was need to do road projects in order of their priority.

President Lungu said his government was not broke.

“When I became President, I came at an awkward time; two elections were held within six months and elections cost money so that’s where the money went. For now, we are trying to put pieces together so cries over roads is a common song but we would like to assure you that we are going to work on the roads. Again, we have also sat down to look at the issues of roads…but it’s not possible to have bituminous roads countrywide. This gentleman (RDA board chairperson Samuel Mukupa) is just from Kenya to see how they are doing it and to consider those that can be done cheaply,” he said.

President Lungu said the myth and belief that the whole country could wake up one day and have bituminous roads everywhere was not possible. And the clergy from Zambia Council for Catholic Bishops, Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia and Council of Churches in Zambia commended the Head of State for finding time to meet them.

They appealed to him to attend to a number of issues affecting the people such as bad roads, agriculture and fighting crime. The Chipata Muslim Association was also represented at the meeting. The President commissioned Chipata district hospital and toured some projects in Vubwi district.

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