. Chipwende

By PASSY HAACHIZO and REBECCA MUSHOTA –
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu yesterday officially opened  Mulungushi Textiles in Kabwe with a pledge to create more than 20,000 jobs in the next five years.
The Industrial Development Corporation  (IDC) and its partners would mobilise and invest an initial US $15 million in cutting edge technology and rehabilitation of the textile plant which was closed about 10 years ago.
Speaking when he opened the textile yesterday, President Lungu said the revival of the industry would also increase the cotton value chain and expand exports to boost the country’s economy.
Apart from investing the  US $15 million, the company would also establish a cotton outgrower scheme of more than 10,000 farmers in Kabwe, Kapiri Mposhi, Chibombo, Chisamba and Ngabwe districts.
President Lungu said the reopening of the textile factory was expected to earn the country the much needed foreign exchange.
He said there was need to take advantage of the plant being at the central location for it  have access to the market both locally and internationally.
President Lungu also called on small scale farmers to take advantage of the Mulungushi Textiles to access certified seed and increase production.
He noted that time had come for the country to embark on a crusade of embracing value addition and expressed gratitude that the revival of the textile firm was set to meet such aspirations.
“The rationale for my Government’s decision to revive operations at Mulungushi Textile Industries is there for all to see.
“It is not a secret that the reopening of this textile company provides the most significant opportunity for small scale farmers to engage in cash crops in line with our industrialization agenda,” he said.
The company has already employed about 300 people who had been doing preliminary works ahead of the reopening yesterday although the number is expected to reach more than 2,000 by December this year.
Mr Lungu pledged to resuscitate the cotton industry in Zambia as it provided employment to many people in the country.
He called on management at the firm to collaborate with the Cotton Association of Zambia (CAZ), the Cotton Development Trust (CDT) and the Seed Control and Certification Institute (SCCI) for quality seed production to be offered on the market.
“To people of Kabwe, the gallant men and women who have undergone 10 grueling years of suffering when this company closed in 2007, my Government will stand to support and expand the economic activities within the district,” he said.
The Government has scored by transforming the country through massive infrastructural development as pledged in 2011 prior to the general elections.
The Head of State also thanked the Chinese government for handing over the Mulungushi plant to the Zambian Government in 1983.
President Lungu said that the reopening of Mulungushi Textiles meant that the Patriotic Front (PF) Government should be trusted as it was a Government that kept its promises.
This is according to a Press release from the President’s Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda.
“Our promises mean something. Words must have meaning and our actions show that we can be trusted to deliver jobs and prosperity to our people,” Mr Lungu said.
He said the creation of the many jobs and income opportunities was yet another milestone  showcasing the President’s demonstration of the PF’s credible programme of industrialisation and job creation.
Mr Lungu said those that doubted Government’s intentions and credibility of its  programmes would be ashamed as Government continued to act and point at what they were delivering.
He said that what the opposition political parties were promising to do was what the PF was already doing and would continue to do in the second term of office.
In Zambia, cotton was Zambia’s second most important crop after maize.
Industrial Development Corporation chief executive officer Andrew Chipwende described President Lungu’s move to open the textilee as fulfillment of his promise to the people of Kabwe.
Mr Chipwende said following Zambia’s liberalization of the economy in 991 the company was heavily affected. Kabwe central PF candidate Tutwa Ngulube praised President Lungu and his government for reopening the Mulungushi Textiles.
Mr Ngulube called on the electorate to vote for President Lungu for more jobs through industrialisation in country.