By CHILA NAMAIKO –
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) Lusaka Central Constituency aspiring candidate Lewis Chizu has promised to initiate valuable skills training and entrepreneurship programmes to empower street vendors and persons with disabilities.
Mr Chizu, a business executive, was concerned with the hardships that street vendors, children on the streets and many people with disabilities in the central business district were faced with.
He said coming from the business sector, he was aware of the challenges that traders on the streets went through, which were coupled with a lack of capital.
Mr Chizu said in an interview that he would help to offer more meaningful skills and training programmes to empower scores of traders on the streets.
“I have many innovative ideas to help uplift the welfare of street vendors. They need designated trading areas and capital. If adopted and elected as a member of Parliament, I pledge to offer them valuable incentives,” Mr Chizu said.
He pledged to remove persons with disabilities from streets and offer them empowerment projects as opposed to the current situation where most depended on alms.
Mr Chizu said if elected, he would bring on board various stakeholders to lobby for more valuable incentives to change the face of Lusaka Central Constituency and bring sanity to the area.
He would create partnerships with business entities to find solutions to challenges such as uncollected garbage in the town centre and markets while enforcing laws to adhere to hygiene and avert an outbreak of cholera.
He urged Zambians to rally behind President Edgar Lungu’s leadership by giving him a full five-year mandate if the country was to achieve more economic development.
“The country is developing and recording more economic development and I am urging Zambians to continue supporting the President,” he said.
Mr Chizu said Mr Lungu had exhibited good leadership resulting in the country to continue receiving unprecedented infrastructure development.