. Hakainde

By REBECCA MUSHOTA –
UNITED Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema has pledged to invest in the training of teachers once he forms government because teachers are a cornerstone of development.
Mr Hichilema said in a statement that if he was elected on January 20, 2015, his party would support the education sector by providing training for teachers and involve them regularly in formulating the education policy.
“Any candidate elected in January 2015 will only have a short time until the next election in 2016. So our pledge to teachers is simple, we will respect you, we will consult you so as to understand how government can better support you, and we will invest in education properly,” he said.
Mr Hichilema said to ensure proper education for children, teachers needed to be supported by providing sufficient facilities and reducing the teacher-pupil ratio.
The party would also stick to the social contract it signed with the Grand Coalition last November to deliver a Constitution.
“In addition to delivering the new Constitution, we have committed to forming a representative government with ministers from every province, slimming down government, repealing the Non-Governmental Organisation Act, regularise communication from State House, revisiting the Public Order Act, and an end to government interference in matters of traditional leadership,” Mr Hichilema said.
Meanwhile, UPND campaign manager Dipak Patel has said that even though Minister of Finance Alexander Chikwanda said the performance of the Zambian economy was positive, it was not the case because Zambians were struggling financially.
“Yes our economy is growing but not enough, if we are going to deliver everything we need to move Zambia forward,” Mr Patel said. “Better education and healthcare are dependent on us managing the economy more effectively, and six per cent growth does not cut it for a country like ours so rich in resources and young talent.”
He said the other problem with the current growth rate was that it was not trickling down to improve the lives of Zambians across the country.
Mr Patel said the Zambian economy was not doing well as evidenced by delayed payments to farmers, unpaid student allowances, unpaid rural teachers’ hardship allowance, removal of subsidies on fuel and mealie-meal and the huge debt.
The UPND pledged to end the cycle of debt, waste and mismanagement and instead focus on supporting the farmers and provide local investors with incentives.