FOCUSED UNIT

REMAIN disciplined, resilient and focused was President Edgar Lungu’s apt advice to ministers and senior government officials yesterday.

In the midst of nonstop criticism from the opposition ranks and other professional critics, they would indeed gain to heed the President’s counsel.

Even though there has been massive infrastructure development throughout the country, visible to any naked eye, detractors have still continued to attack the government on the projects.

But as President Lungu pointed out, the criticism is aimed at derailing development programmes and make them lose concentration.

Indeed discipline is key to success for the two people the President was swearing-in yesterday at State House as proof that his government values discipline.

President Lungu swore-in Dr Jonas Chanda, the Bwana Mkubwa Member of Parliament as the new Minister of Water Development, Sanitation and Environmental Protection.

He also swore-in the new Zambia National Service (ZNS) deputy commandant, Major-General Benson Miti, who was elevated from Brigadier- General in which position he served as Chief of Administration.

President Lungu has terminated the contract of ZNS deputy commandant, Maj-Gen Alick Kamiji.

For Dr Chanda, the new minister has been one of the most hard working and disciplined backbenchers in the National Assembly and his addition to the cabinet will surely add value.

For as President Lungu noted, the government has so far performed well and wants ministers to remain focused and explain its successes to the people.

As the nation heads to general elections next year, discipline will play a key factor for the opposition will up their game in an effort to distract government functionaries from concentrating on their work.

The nation expects ministers and other public figures to put the interest of the nation first before themselves.

The President emphasised this point when he reminded the new minister that they were in those positions to offer services to the Zambians by delivering development.

“Let me use this opportunity to remind you, and indeed other Cabinet ministers that we are here to serve the people of Zambia.

“The people of Zambia expect us to deliver, and we are delivering. But above all, you should tell them where we are delivering because some of them don’t see, or they are simply naïve or myopic. So explain to them what we have done and what we are doing,” President Lungu said.

The bigger picture, as President Lungu pointed out is that by remaining resilient and focused, their performance will show and be judged by the people come the 2021 general elections.

Mr Lungu said his government had continued to make strides in improving service delivery in the provision of water and sanitation services as well as access to sanitation.

It is these achievements that ministers and other leaders need to market to the people but they can only do this by working as a unit.

Armchair critics will always be there for their specialty is to distract those in government to lose focus and abandon their development agenda. But if they are focused, they will not be distracted, but deliver.