PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema will today launch his re-election bid at Heroes Stadium.
President Hichilema recently launched the UPND 2026 – 2031 manifesto which is anchored on seven key targets which the party is calling the 10,10,5, 3,3,1 HH7 goals.
These seven goals include 10, 000 MW of power generation by 2031, 10 million metric tonnes of Maize production, five million tourist arrivals, three million tonnes of copper production, three million tonnes of Soya Beans production, one million tonnes of wheat production and $1 billion of beef exports annually by 2031.
A number of artistes are also expected to perform during the launch of the campaign.
And government has said that the Jehovah’s Witnesses will hold the final day of their District Convention virtually on Sunday, paving way for the UPND’s campaign launch at Heroes stadium.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses were scheduled to have their District Convention from 26th to 28th June at Heroes stadium. However, the dates collided with the UPND’s campiagn launch rally on Sunday at the Heroes stadium grounds.
Addressing journalists, Saturday, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Art Permanent Secretary Chileshe Kangwa said the decision resulted from consultations between the government and the church after a scheduling clash.
He explained that both events were initially planned for the same time, with the church holding their conference inside the stadium, while the rally was to be held outside the stadium.
Kangwa, however, said noise and interaction concerns led to further deliberations.
He further thanked the church for accommodating the rally during the campaign period, adding that government would compensate for the missed physical gathering.
“We did realize that there was a calendar clash in the sense that this event is happening during the same time when there’s a convention that’s going on. So the idea was that this event was supposed to take place outside, and then the convention was taking place inside the stadium. But we realized that there would be a lot of interference in terms of noise, in terms of interaction. And so we sat down with the leadership of the church, and we deliberated and said, what would be the best course of action? Would we be able to run both events simultaneously? Would that be okay? That was an option. Or would the church have to start earlier, and then the rally is held in the afternoon? All these were deliberations, and it was resolved that the church would actually have a virtual meeting on Sunday, so as to pave the way for tomorrow’s [today] meeting,” he said.
“We are very grateful and very appreciative for the church to be magnanimous to us, knowing very well that this is a campaign period. They actually understood that, and so as a ministry, we’re grateful, and we definitely will extend further courtesies to the church for inconveniencing them. The day that they were supposed to meet and they have not met, we’ll give them several other days on concession just to say, please, this is our way of saying sorry for inconveniencing you. But otherwise, we’ve had good deliberation with the eldership of the church. I’m just from having a conversation with them right now with PS Joe Kalusa, and it was very cordial, very understanding, and we’re just putting everything in writing to ensure that in future, we don’t inconvenience each other like that”.
And Kangwa further cautioned young people against being used for political violence and defacing campaign materials during elections.
“My message to the youth is to be very conscious of the times that we are in now. We are in a campaign season, and in the past, youths have been utilized or misused as pawns and tools of violence, tools to spread political hate speech and also to be used as vehicles of violence. I caution our young people to stay away from such vices. Their futures are bright. Zambia is a beautiful, flourishing country where they can find other, more responsible things to do. I’ll also take this opportunity just to encourage my youth not to deface campaign materials, because what has been trending is that some youths are being used by political parties to go and tear posters, rip billboards. Number one, that is vandalism. Number two, it’s also a crime. So we don’t want our youths to be caught up brushing against the law. And then also, it’s also very dangerous, because in case another youth from another political party finds you tearing down a poster or painting over a billboard, they may attack you,” said Kangwa.
Meanwhile, preparations for the UPND’s campaign launch have reached an advance state.
President Hakainde Hichilema is set to officiate at the launch, and most Zambia’s top artistes, who have endorsed the Head of State for the August polls, are expected to perform at the event.
Do you agree that child defilers should be castrated?
Total Votes: 756
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
23 Parirenyatwa Road
Rhodes Park
P.O. Box 32147
Lusaka, Zambia
Telephone or WhatsApp:
+26-097-7708285
+26-095-3424603
+26-096-5815078
Email:
diggers [at] diggers [dot] news
editor [at] diggers [dot] news
