By AARON CHIYANZO
EMPOWERMENT tankers will not be retrieved from PF youths and others as long as they qualify, Minister of Youth, Sport and Art Elvis Nkandu has said.
Mr Nkandu announced that the ministry has instituted an inquiry to ascertain that beneficiaries of the tankers qualify.
He said the only qualification to access the tankers was being a Zambian youth and that political affiliation did not matter.
The minister said this when he inspected 30 out of the 50 tankers that were given to youths by the PF government for empowerment purposes.
“I directed that all the tankers should come to Lusaka because there has been too much talk and speculation about these tankers. So we are going to audit and check the ownership of these trucks. Those who qualify, we will give them and it won’t matter whether they are PF youths,” he said.
Mr Nkandu said the ministry wanted to ensure that no individuals who were not youths benefitted from the empowerment.
He said that in as much as PF did not consider youths from other political parties when it came to empowerment programmes, the UPND government would do things differently.
Mr Nkandu said the UPND government would not look at political inclination when it comes to empowerment programmes.
He also urged UPND youths not to worry that they did not benefit from the tankers as more were coming.
Mr Nkandu also assured the tanker beneficiaries that he would engage relevant ministries to see to it that any challenges getting the trucks on the road were sorted out.
Meanwhile, beneficiaries of fuel tankers empowerment have been given a one week ultimatum to prove ownership or risk losing their trucks to other beneficiaries.
The minister said this is being done to clear the air over assumptions that the fuel tankers are owned by big business persons hiding under youth cooperatives.
Mr Nkandu who expressed happiness that all 30 fuel tankers are in good condition and ready to hit the road once issues are cleared, also said he wants to see the state of the other 20 tankers under Mount Meru to ascertain if they are all intact.
