By MUSONDA MANGILASHI –

THE Association for Vendors and Marketeers in Zambia (AVEMA) has urged marketeers to support President Edgar Lungu’s re-election bid in the August 11 polls.
AVEMA president Able Chikwa said President Lungu had incorporated street vendors and marketeers into the national development agenda.
He said street vendors should reciprocate the gesture by rallying behind the leadership of President Lungu.
He said supporting President Lungu’s administration would entail more incentives for the people in the informal sector.
“President Lungu has demonstrated his vision for us vendors through various empowerment programmes for the benefit of all of us, hence the need for us marketeers, to vote for him in the coming elections.
“The President has given us hope by supporting us, if we give him another five- year term, we will always be cherished,” Mr Chikwa said.
He said in an interview yesterday that President Lungu deserves another term in order for the country to continue pushing the economic development and poverty reduction agenda.
Mr Chikwa said the association would rally behind President Lungu as a quality leader who believed in uplifting lives of the poor people in the country.
“The leadership of AVEMZ will support President Edgar Lungu and his running mate in the forthcoming elections on August 11,” he said.
Mr Chikwa said in an interview that the President had been the friend to the poor people, especially those in the informal sector, hence the decision to support him in the forthcoming elections.
He said the association appreciated the gesture of his excellence and would want to see more.
“We want to appeal to our leaders in all structures to rally behind the leadership of president Lungu by campaigning for his leadership during this period,” he said.