IN HIS final address to Cabinet, President Hakainde Hichilema said his administration has over the past four years and eight months worked hard to stabilise the economy, but that a lot more needs to be done.
The President thanked his ministers for their service to the Zambians through economic stabilisation and planting seeds of prosperity.
He said this in a message posted on his Facebook page last evening.
“In the afternoon, we held the final Cabinet meeting of our first term ahead of the general election on August 13,” Mr Hichilema said.“We thanked our ministers for their service to the people of Zambia. Together we have done the hard work of stabilising our economy, restoring our institutions, and planting the seeds of a more prosperous nation.”
He added: “We recognise the progress made, but we know much more remains to be done. Together, let’s deliver Zambia’s harvest.”
And President Hichilema said citizens have a choice to continue building the Zambia the New Dawn administration started to deliver, or return to the one inherited in 2021.
Mr Hichilema said his administration needs to finish the work it started in 2021 and deliver more development for the love of Zambians.
This is contained in a statement issued by State House chief communications specialist Clayson Hamasaka.
“At the opening of the final Cabinet meeting before Zambians go to the polls in August, President Hakainde Hichilema set out the choice facing the country: continue building the Zambia the New Dawn government has begun to deliver, or return to the one inherited in 2021,” Mr Hamasaka said.
President Hichilema opened the Cabinet meeting by thanking ministers for their service to Zambians.
He thanked Zambians for the work they have done to put the country back on its feet over the last five years.
The head of State reminded ministers that the UPND government inherited an economy that was buried in debt and that the recovery is now beginning to bear fruit.
“We tilled the soil. We planted the seeds. And today, those seeds are sprouting,” Mr Hichilema said.
The President pointed to free education and the school feeding programme, rebuilding of every constituency through the enhanced Constituency Development Fund, peace on the streets, and the return of international partners as evidence of the progress made since 2021.
President Hichilema said, however, that “the job is not done”.
“Prices at the market remain too high, and too many young Zambians are still looking for work,” he said.
Mr Hichilema said Government is not making excuses — the energy crisis is being fixed once and for all, new power is coming online, mining is back, and the economy is getting stronger.
He told Cabinet that Zambia is no longer a country divided against itself, citing the national response to the drought as proof that Zambians look out for one another.
Turning to the August 13 general election, the President framed the choice in plain terms: “You do not abandon a crop just as it begins to bear fruit.”
He closed the meeting with a call to finish the work that started in 2021.
“Let us go forward, not back. Let’s deliver Zambia’s harvest — together,” Mr Hichilema said.
The head of State emphasised that his Government is delivering because of the deep love it has for the country.
-ZDM