What’s The Grow Zambia Agenda?
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Top StoriesBy now we expected every citizen, particularly Cabinet Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Directors, District Commissioners and Town Clerks etc to have mastered the GROW ZAMBIA AGENDA like the palm of their hands! What is this animal called Grow Zambia Agenda? We shall put it as…
By now we expected every citizen, particularly Cabinet Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Directors, District Commissioners and Town Clerks etc to have mastered the GROW ZAMBIA AGENDA like the palm of their hands!
What is this animal called Grow Zambia Agenda?
We shall put it as mildly as possible for the benefit of every Jim and Jack in Kalingalinga, kwa Chipulukusu, ku Kapoto and even at John Chinena:
1. 10 MILLION TONNES OF MAIZE
Farmers in rural areas grow it, while entrepreneurs (tamanga tamangas) buy it and sell it to factories in town. There’s more mealie meal for everyone to consume, prices are reduced; excess maize is exported to the neighbouring countries – more US dollars into the economy.
2. 10,000 MEGAWATTS OF POWER
More power means, the mines will run without any disruption. Jobs will be secured while welders, salons and barbershops will not close due to load-shedding.
3. 5 MILLION TOURISTS
Tourists don’t just come to have fun or marvel at the Victoria Falls. A tourist is a walking dollar. When he lands in Zambia, he sleeps in our lodge, he eats our nshima, he pays our taxi driver, he buys our chitenge and our carving at the market. That is money entering the pocket of an ordinary Zambian in Livingstone, in Kitwe, in Mfuwe, without going through Government. 5 million tourists means 5 million customers for Zambia.
4. 3 MILLION TONNES OF COPPER
Copper is our bread and butter. When we produce more copper, the mines employ more people. And it’s not just the miner underground. It’s the driver who transports the copper, the woman who cooks for the miners, the supplier who sells boots and uniforms, the landlord who rents a house to a miner in Nkana. When copper grows, Copperbelt grows.
5. 3 MILLION TONNES OF SOYA BEANS
Soya is the new gold for the farmer. From soya we get cooking oil, we get feed for chickens and pigs, we get factories. Instead of importing cooking oil from outside, we make it here. The farmer in Mkushi grows, the factory in Ndola processes, the shopkeeper in Kapoto sells. Everyone benefits.
6. 1 MILLION TONNES OF WHEAT
Bread should not be a luxury. If we grow our own wheat, we bake our own bread. It means cheaper bread for the child going to school in Kalingalinga, and jobs for our youths in bakeries and mills. No more begging for wheat from other countries.
7. 1 MILLION TONNES OF SUGAR
We have good soil and good water for sugar. Why should sugar be expensive in a country that grows sugarcane? 1 million tonnes means enough sugar for our homes, for our factories making drinks and sweets, and extra to sell outside. Sweet money for Zambia.
8. US$1 BILLION IN BEEF EXPORTS
Our cattle should not just end at funerals, weddings and lobola. Our beef must cross borders. To sell beef for $1 billion, we need healthy animals, good abattoirs, cold rooms, and good roads. That means the farmer in Southern Province, Western Province, and Central Province becomes an exporter. His cow becomes dollars.
My fellow Zambians, that is Grow Zambia Agenda. It is not a slogan. It is food on the table, power in the socket, jobs in the mine, money in the pocket.
Grow Zambia! Grow Our Future!
Prince Bill M. Kaping’a
Secretary General
HH Mpaka 2O31 People’s Alliance
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