Zambia: NCC Shall Deliver - Levy

Source from:  The Times of Zambia (Ndola) 24 December 2007 12/26/2007

PRESIDENT Mwanawasa is confident the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) will produce a people-driven Constitution and urged everybody to support it. Speaking on arrival at Mfuwe International Airport yesterday, Dr Mwanawasa said he was confident that the NCC would give the people what they wanted if only they gave it the necessary support. Addressing MMD members and senior Government officials who welcomed him at the airport, the President said even those who had previously opposed the NCC should now jump on board because the Constitution-making process was irreversible. "The NCC is now law and what we are doing cannot be cancelled at this stage," he said. He said Zambians should bury whatever differences they had regarding the Constitution-making process and move forward as a nation because the stage reached was critical. Dr Mwanawasa said, however, that those insisting that they would not be part of the NCC would not be forced to join because they enjoyed freedom of association and had the right to do what they did. The President also said the Government had put in place good agricultural policies which had led to positive developments in the sector across the country. He said plans were underway to build a tobacco processing plant in Eastern Province and the project would create new jobs and improve people's living standards. "I don't smoke and I want those who smoke to stop because it is harmful but I like it because it generates a lot of income," Dr Mwanawasa said. He also said he was happy with progress on the Chipata-Mchinji railway which would enable farmers in Eastern Province to export their agricultural produce directly to Malawi instead of passing through Tanzania. He said politicians had in the past talked about the project without implementing it but his Government ensured that work started on the ground. Dr Mwanawasa observed that during his second term of office Eastern Province, which was the hub of the opposition had become a true stronghold of the MMD. Dr Mwanawasa said he would not take the support for granted but do everything possible to facilitate more developmental programmes in the region. He said initially, Eastern Province did not support the ruling MMD during his first term because they had doubts about the New Deal Administration. The President observed that the recent victory by the MMD candidate in the Nsefu ward bye-elections was indicative of the MMD's strength in the province and Mambwe in particular. The president is in Mfuwe for a Christmas holiday. Enditem