HH promises to reduce cost of doing business

President of the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) Hakainde Hichilema has maintained that the UPND would improve the plight of Mkushi residents if he is elected into power on January 20, 2015.

Mr. Hichilema said he will reduce the cost of key factors for doing business in Zambia.

He said he will reduce electricity tariffs and prices of fuel adding that reductions would also be effected in other items such as fertilizer and mealie-meal.

He was speaking at Welfare ground in Mkushi district today during his campaigns for the presidential by-election that has been slated for 20^th January 2015.

Mr. Hichilema said although Mkushi district was renowned for being a leading agriculture production region, he was saddened to learn that poverty levels were still among the pertinent challenges people were facing in the area.

He said his party was determined to introduce measure that would help reduce the cost of production in all sectors including agriculture.

He said the UPND had plans to devise other interventions such as the support for irrigation, cheap loans for marketers and small businesses, as well as subsiding education from primary to tertiary level.

He stressed that the efforts of his party were focused on creating the environment that would create jobs for youths and make it viable for businesses to thrive.

Mr. Hichilema also stated that his party would lift the current wage freeze pertaining imposed on civil servants and reinstate all nurses that were dismissed from their jobs last year.

The nurses were fired for taking part in an illegal strike.

He claimed that the wage freeze had impacted negatively on people and impeded efforts towards mitigating poverty as prices of commodities had continued to increase.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia has set January 20, 2015 as voting day to elect a new presidential that will succeed the late Michael Sata.

This has prompted several political parties to commence their campaigns.