Sata lobbies MPs to support 2014 budget

President Michael Sata has urged Members of Parliament to support the 2014 Budget in order for government to continue implementing progressive programmes to secure a better life for the people in the country.

President Sata has also advised parliamentarians to engage their constituencies and simplify the budget in order to insulate members of the general public from deliberate distortions and deceptive interpretations by certain cynical stakeholders.

The Head of State has maintained that said the Patriotic Front (PF) government is determined to radically reduce the levels of poverty, by combining the resources of the public and private sectors to build an economy that benefits all.

He says while expanding the country’s economic base, the PF government will further ensure that the country’s wealth, business opportunities, skills training and other opportunities are more equitably shared among the people in the country.

The President adds the PF government shall further intensify efforts to create employment through new jobs, skills development, assistance to small businesses, opportunities for self employment and sustainable community livelihoods.

And President Sata has dismissed assertions that the recent appointments of Ambassador Josephine Mumbi Phiri and Ambassador Mirriam Mwape Mulenga were irregular.

President Sata has explained that all appointments were based on merit and the consideration of an individual’s capacity to contribute to the country’s development agenda takes priority.

President Sata says he takes cognizant of his limitations and prerogatives in whatever he does within the prescribed guidelines and procedures as espoused in our laws.

The Head of State has since described alleged innuendos and malicious claims on his recent appointments as primitive and retrogressive to the country’s progress.

The President also advised the opposition to engage the government without partiality to enable both sides mull over potential paths forward for the growth of the country.

This is contained in a statement released to Qfm by the President’s special aid for press and public relations George Chellah.