President, State working well – Kalaba

“Instead of praying for the Head of State to continuously enjoy good health, some people are wishing him bad health and saying he has been evacuated outside the country for medical treatment,” he said.
Mr Kalaba, who is Bahati Member of Parliament (MP), said he was with Mr Sata at State House, where the President chaired a Cabinet meeting on Monday, and wondered why some people are saying he is not well.
The minister was speaking in Mansa yesterday on a Radio Yangeni special programme.  He is on a tour of Bahati constituency.
He urged those peddling lies to stop the unnecessary talk but concentrate on developmental programmes which will be helpful to them.
Mr Kalaba said some people in Zambia enjoy peddling lies at the expense of developmental programmes.
“I should say here that if talking was an industry, Zambia was going to be the most industrialised nation because some people like talking instead of working,” he said.
Mr Kalaba said politicians should emulate the President’s style of leadership because his track record in politics is there for all to see.
He said that unlike some politicians who have dribbled their way to the top of political parties, President Sata’s track record is clear as he has never been fired from a political party but merely resigns when he is not happy.
“President Sata has been in UNIP and left when he felt that it was not necessary to belong to the party.
“He also left MMD and formed the Patriotic Front and all this time was not fired unlike other party leaders who have dribbled their way through,” Mr Kalaba said.
He said Zambians should consider giving the PF more time to complete its programmes.
And Mr Kalaba has assured Zambians that the country’s international borrowing is within sustainable limits hence there is no need for people to panic.
Mr Kalaba also said President Sata has cut his travel in order to save some funds.
“President Sata delegates his vice president and me as Foreign Affairs [minister]because he wants to be prudent in as far as spending government coffers is concerned,” the minister said.
Kalaba said there are tremendous developmental programmes which the PF government has embarked in his constituency.
He said infrastructure such as schools, roads and clinics has been built in Luapula and, in particular, Bahati constituency.
“When people want to lie to you that there is no development, I am sure that you have all seen what the PF is doing. It’s there for everyone to see,” he said.
Asked why Government fired some nurses, Mr Kalaba explained that every organisation has rules which need to be observed.
He said it was wrong for the nurses to take the law into their own hands when there were steps that they were supposed to follow.
Mr Kalaba said, however, that some nurses have since been reinstated.
He also explained that the ZESCO tariff increase is meant to make the power utility facility more efficient so that it can help to boost industries in a province like Luapula.
He said that for Luapula to start investing more in industries like manganese mining, there is need for adequate electricity.

Zambia Daily Mail