.SATA

By CHARITY MOONGA –

AN OPPOSITION UPND Member of Parliament (MP) on Tuesday evening commended President Michael Sata’s call for regrouping of Zambia’s medical personnel to strengthen the medical system in Zambia.
Contributing to debate on President Sata’s address to the House, UPND Lukulu West MP Misheck Mutelo said it was good for Government to consider regrouping the medical personnel in the country instead of evacuating people to other countries for medical attention.
Mr Mutelo however said that it was sad that 50 years after independence, in areas like Mitete there were still no doctors hence the need to prioritise rural people’s needs.
He said people in his area were finding it difficult to celebrate 50 years of Zambia’s independence because they had not benefitted much from the country’s resources in the past 50 years of independence.
Mazabuka central UPND MP Gary Nkombo called for reconciliation, unity and a departure from acts of violence including electoral violence as Zambia celebrated 50 years of independence.
Mr Nkombo said there was need for Zambia to introspect on how the country had performed in the past 50 years and foster unity and growth in the country.
Mr Nkombo said Zambians should no longer suffer as a result of the continued use of youths to harm innocent Zambians.
He explained that Zambia was a democracy and people should be allowed space to operate in a free environment.
On the issue of the Constitution, Mr Nkombo said that Government should take advantage of Zambia’s 50 years of independence to tell the country whether they would be giving the Zambian people a new Constitution because the old one had some colonial content.
He said Government should also increase its respect for the media and improve the country’s economy.
Mr Nkombo further called for a living conditions survey in Zambia to determine the extent of poverty levels in the country.
He said there was also need to address the increasing mealie meal prices and the continued unstable exchange rate for the benefit of Zambians.
Luena UPND MP Gertrude Imenda said people of Western Province could not wholly celebrate independence because the province had remained under-developed in the last 50 years.