• PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu’s motorcade is welcomed by Ila war dancers in Namwala yesterday.
Picture by EDDIE mWANALEZA/STATEHOUSE
By CHUSA SICHONE-
in Namwala
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has dispelled assertions that he does not love the people of Southern Province.
President Lungu who was speaking during a public rally held at Namwala Market grounds yesterday said he was the President for all Zambians.
He insisted that he does not discriminate against any province and that was why he had taken development to the area among other parts of Zambia.
President Lungu said he had carried on his predecessor Michael Sata’s vision of inclusiveness and promoting co-existence.
He urged the people of Southern Province to avoid being swayed by cheap divisive politics from some sections of the opposition.
Meanwhile, President Lungu has insisted that the Grade 12 certificate clause will not be removed from the recently-amended Constitution.
President Lungu said he would not succumb to pressure by people calling for the removal of the Grade 12 certificate clause from the amended Constitution, which has barred some people from contesting Local Government, Parliamentary and Presidential elections.
President Lungu said contrary to some people’s assertions, the Grade 12 certificate clause was not discriminatory and challenged those aspiring for public leadership positions to go back to school.
“I want to put this subject to rest today once and for all because even if Parliament passes a law amending the Constitution to say that we are scraping the Grade 12 certificate requirement, I will not sign it.
“I am telling my fellow Zambians, in Parliament and outside Parliament that the Grade 12 certificate requirement for a councillor, President and Member of Parliament (MP), was not put in by me, but by Zambians across the breadth and width of this country and it’s not discriminatory at all,” he said.
President Lungu said he was aware of some MPs who did not possess Grade 12 certificates in 2006, but they have since acquired that qualification after going back to school.
The Head of State was equally aware of some councillors without Grade 12 certificates who failed to articulate issues owing to their low education qualifications.
“I am saying all this because I know of some councillors who are sitting now in councils who can’t even read reports and just get their allowances and agree to everything proposed. Is this the kind of councillor that you want to represent you who doesn’t even know what is good or bad because he cannot read and is failing to understand what the debates are?
