Bweengwa UPND member of parliament Kasautu Michelo says Hakainde Hichilema has built a clinic in his constituency which is a demonstration of his commitment to duty.

Recently, Southern Province Minister Edify Hamukale said some UPND officials had been going round the rural communities deceiving people that all the developmental projects in the province had been initiated by Hichilema.

Hamukale also urged UPND leaders to come out in the open and give credit to President Edgar Lungu.

“Some people have been going round the rural areas deceiving them that all the development that is going on in Southern province is funded by Hakainde Hichilema. And I am here to bring out the truth as it stands that all the development projects that are ongoing and those that have been completed in Southern province and elsewhere in Zambia are as a result of conscious and planned activities and decisions by the patriotic front government under the leadership of His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu,” Hamukale said.

“And so it is very unfounded and uncalled for, for such people to be cheating our rural citizens that the social cash transfer which they are receiving, the roads, the schools, the clinics, the solar harmer mills, the telephone towers and all manner of development that Zambia has scored here in Southern province is as a result of Hakainde Hichilema. This is not true and every Zambian knows that. I am not aware of any development project that has been funded by Hakainde Hichilema in my capacity as Minister for Southern Province. I know this province like the back of my hand and I go to every town at least once in a month. I am not aware of any project that the UPND has funded. What the UPND should do is to come out in the open and give credit where it is due that President Lungu and his government has delivered, as simple as that.”

But in an interview, Michelo said Hichilema had built a clinic at Mooya and had put up more 15 dip tanks in Bweengwa constituency alone.

He lamented that government was not showing commitment to open the clinic.

“Most of the time that Edify Hamukale sometimes he turns to be a joker. Hamukale is from Bweengwa constituency and he knows exactly what is happening in Bweengwa constituency. And he has been to Mooya clinic where Hakainde Hichilema built a clinic, a clinic which you cannot even compare it with any clinic built by the PF government, the entire country. It is a modern clinic which Hakainde has built there and the government is dilly-dallying to open it and you know somebody happens to build you a clinic and you are not providing the staff. That is a problem. The thing is Hakainde is doing a lot of projects like not just in my constituency,” Michelo said.

“In fact, it is the entire country but I will just mention what he is doing in my constituency. So far he has built more than 15 dip tanks which are working in my constituency. HH has built a modern clinic at Mooya whereby if you want you can even come and see it. And we are now doing some drainages, there is water, even piped water is there. That is HH, he had even put up a borehole at that clinic.”

Michelo said once voted into office, Hichilema would transform the country.

“The other thing which HH has done, yesterday, he sent his SG, our secretary general [Patrick] Mucheleka where we contributed a number of equipment, items to be used to fight this cholera. But what has Hamukale and his President Edgar Chagwa Lungu done? There is nothing which they have done so far, it is only the government and HH himself, they are the people who are fighting cholera. So HH has done a number of things, a lot of things in the entire country even in Namwala, you go to Namwala, he has put up a school. So to say that HH is not doing anything in this province, I think I will simply say it is a joke and HH is not yet in government but look at what he has done, he is trying to help his people but he is not yet in government. What more when he is given instruments of power? He is going to do more development than what this government is doing,” said Michelo.