Mangani hails Lungu over new Cabinet

Tue, 04 Oct 2016 08:48:50 +0000

PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu’s composition of the new Cabinet and provincial ministers so far has demonstrated and reflected his commitment towards nation-building, former Chipata Central Member of Parliament (MP) Lameck Mangani has said.

And Mr Mangani has challenged all Cabinet and provincial ministers appointed so far and those to be appointed to apply themselves fully to the service of the people by working hard to develop the country. Mr Mangani also appealed to the Patriotic Front (PF) Members of Parliament who would be appointed as ministers to understand that not everybody could be appointed because the Constitution limits the number of ministers the Head of State could appoint.

In an interview with the Daily Nation yesterday, Mr Mangani said President Lungu’s selection of his new Cabinet and provincial ministers clearly demonstrated that he had to look at the bigger picture of nation-building.    “You can clearly see that in his appointments President Lungu had to think about the bigger picture. It is about all the parts of Zambia and how they can fairly be represented.

“You are aware of the situation during the general elections and how the people of Southern, Western and North-Western provinces voted. It was rather disappointing to the PF but President Lungu did not want to use that as a weapon of punishing the people in those areas by denying them chance of fair representation,” he said.

He said the appointment of North-Western Province minister Richard Kapita, Southern Province minister Edify Haamukale and Western Province minister Nathaniel Mubukwanu was an excellent choice. Mr Mangani said the Easterners also sincerely welcomed the appointment of Makebi Zulu as provincial minister, adding that it was a well thought-out appointment.

He said Eastern Province had its own challenges but that Mr Zulu was the right person for the job. Mr Mangani appealed to the people of Eastern Province to give Mr Zulu all the support he needed so that the province, which was an agricultural area, could build on its economic strength.

“The President is doing his best by giving these responsibilities to men and women whom we all feel are capable of delivering. We have the new Minister of Finance Mr Felix Mutati from the opposition MMD. ‘‘Expectations are high particularly now that the country is going through a lot of problems.

It is a job that was given looking at the experience and the abilities in Mr Mutati,” he said. Mr Mangani, however, threw the challenge among those appointed so far and would be appointed that they had a duty to the President and the nation at large.

“The challenge now is more on the people who have been appointed to deliver to people’s expectations; so we do not expect people to disappoint the President by involving themselves in activities that will disappoint the appointing authority and the people of Zambia.

-+The challenge is big and we expect our colleagues to rise above the challenge,” he said.