Government has challenged local authorities to translate the Grow Zambia Agenda into practical and measurable results at community level.
Northern Province Acting Permanent Secretary, Beauty Undi-Phiri, underscored the need for councils to take a leading role in actualising economic expansion agenda.
Ms Undi-Phiri said this when she officiated at the installation ceremony for Kasama Mayor, Peter Yuda, held at Civic Centre grounds yesterday.
She noted that Kasama is well-positioned to contribute significantly to the realisation of the Grow Zambia Agenda through sectors such as agriculture, livestock production, trade, tourism, and small-scale enterprise development and that the council should take leading role in actualising opportunities.
“Kasama is well positioned to contribute to the Grow Zambia Agenda, I therefore encourage the council to work closely with stakeholders to support farmers, improve market infrastructure, promote value addition, attract both local and foreign investment and create an enabling environment for business growth,” Ms Undi-Phiri stated.
She further appealed to Mr Yuda and councilors to serve the people of Kasama with diligence regardless of their political affiliation.
“Let the interests of Kasama and its people always take precedence over individual and partisan considerations,” she said.
And the Acting Permanent Secretary has urged the council to spearhead constructive engagement with traders and provide practical solutions that promote lawful economic activity while ensuring orderly urban development.
And delivering his maiden speech, Mr Yuda pledged to work with the government through constructive and collaborative engagement.
He observed that Kasama residents are yearning for development hence the need to put politics aside and provide the much needed services.
“Development knows no political colour, bad roads affect every vehicle; poor sanitation threatens every family and economic hardship touches every household regardless of how they voted,” Mr Yuda said.
He added that there is need for the municipality to work with all stakeholders and come up with practical ideas aimed at increasing the revenue base.
The Mayor further called for the construction of key infrastructure in the district, among them, a modern abattoir and a dry port.
Kasama has 19 Councilors spread across the three Constituencies in the districts with three more Councilors elected under the Proportional Representation Electoral System.
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