TRADERS at Limulunga and Main Green markets in Mongu yesterday burst into ecstatic dance and song to celebrate the unexpected appearance of President Rupiah Banda at the trading centres. The atmosphere was heavy with jubilation as the residents of Western Province headquarters clamoured to either greet or get a better view of the president, posing serious challenges to security personnel who struggled to keep the situation in control.
At Limulunga Market, Mr Banda urged the traders to work hard and ensure Zambia’s economy developed. The president, who was also met by Zambia National Marketeers Association (ZANAMA) Western Province officials, pledged his administration’s commitment to the continued growth of the economy.
At Green Market which he toured after addressing a rally in Limulunga, Mr Banda did not have easy access to the market because of the huge crowd that took time to shake hands with him.
Earlier, during the rally at Limulunga Basic School, President Banda reiterated that his Government would continue supporting local and foreign investors in the country. He said it was only through increased investment that the economy would grow from its current status.
The president was in Mongu to drum up support for the MMD candidate in the August 5 Luena parliamentary by-election, Mwangala Maopu.
Mr Banda said since ascending to the presidency, he had been heavily criticised by opposition political parties but that he was not worried about such because it was the role of the opposition to criticise.
He, however, said it was unfortunate that some people were even going to levels of creating false stories about his travels abroad. He cited recent reports in which some people alleged that he had travelled to South Africa to watch football when he was in Turkey attending to national matters.
And Mr Maopu appealed to the residents to vote for him so that they could benefit from the development plans he had lined up for them.
He said it was disheartening to see how undeveloped Luena was when the people in the area still had an opportunity to elect better leaders.
Speaking during a campaign rally in Luena, Mr Maopu said he had been working closely with the people in the constituency for a long time and wanted authority from them to lead the development agenda.
MMD Western Province chairperson, Simasiku Namakando said there were a lot of small political parties whose agenda and vision were not known.
He urged the people of Luena and Western Province as a whole to get united and reject any parties whose agenda was questionable.
Mr Namakando said Luena had been led by opposition members of Parliament (MPs) for the past 15 years and was lagging behind in development, hence the need for the people to turn to the MMD for better leadership.
MMD Nalikwanda MP Geoffrey Lungwangwa said parliamentarians were supposed to provide the means for development in a constituency and that the current under-development in Luena was because of poor representation by the former leaders.
MMD acting national secretary, Chembe Nyangu said Western Province was a special place for the party and the Government and was targetted for more development projects.
The Luena seat is being contested by the MMD, United Party for National Development, United Liberal Party, Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD), and UNIP.
It fell vacant after the resignation of independent MP Charles Milupi, who is also recontesting the seat on the ADD platform.
And President Banda arrived in Lusaka yesterday after a two-day campaign trail for the MMD candidate in the Luena parliamentary by-election.
Mr Banda told journalists upon arrival at City Airport that the seat was hotly contested but that the people had to wait and see the outcome once people had voted.
The president said the people of Luena felt abused by their former MP, Mr Milupi when he resigned and then went back to ask for their votes.
[Times of Zambia]