PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema says government is considering reintroducing voluntary national service training for young people.

And President Hichilema has urged the Zambia National Service to work with the farming community to ensure that the country and Africa, as a whole, are food secure.

Speaking during the 50th Golden Jubilee celebrations for the Zambia National Service (ZNS), Wednesday, President Hichilema advised individuals who would be recruited in the defence forces to be committed to duty.

“We thank our national service for your great contribution to the development of our country. Please know that these contributions are deeply appreciated by government and people of Zambia. Being at this site reminds the nation of the contribution of Zambia and other services towards the liberation struggle of Southern Africa. Other than Botswana, it is the rest of Southern Africa, Zambia and other frontline states that carried the burden to liberate Southern Africa under the leadership of president Kaunda,” he said.

“The memories of this site are more than the beauty we see but the gallant men and women who served the country in that space. We enjoy the freedom we do today because of the gallant men and women. So our way of thanking them is to emulate what they did. When your time comes to serve in the national service don’t complain. As the recruitment process is going on now and those being recruited into ZNS, ZAF, Correctional Service, you must take that training with love, responsibility and commitment to duty. If you don’t love what you’re doing, you will never succeed. You may be an average person in that field but you will never be the best because your mind is away from the body”.

President Hichilema said he would reintroduce national service training if he had his way.

“You have our full support. We will do everything as a government to ease your work. ZNS and other Service Chiefs, thank you for continuing to provide skills training to our young people. If I had my way, I would reintroduce national service. I can see the difference between the population that didn’t go through this process and us who went through that process. Discipline, commitment, hard work and desire to achieve. When I came here it was raining, I said to General Solochi, ‘can’t we get our men and women in the tents’? Then he said, ‘Mr President, have you forgotten you used to stand in the rain yourself as a trainee’?” he said.

“I didn’t announce [that] we will forcibly take our young people to national service. I said if I had my way, I would do it because it is a good breeding ground for good citizens. What we are considering for now, further discussions are on, is that to reintroduce voluntary national service for young people who wish to go through the process. We should get to that quickly. Let us put this on the table. I think it’s good for our country. One of the hallmarks for good leadership is to think ahead. How will the future leadership look like when we’re not there? Personally, I am convinced of what I’m saying and I will try and persuade others in the process”.

And President Hichilema urged ZNS to produce as much food as possible.

“We are putting an additional responsibility on the national service and hopefully correctional services. To some extent, the Army in terms of engineering work. This extra we are asking for as a nation is for national service to work with the farming community to ensure Zambia and Africa are food secure. We want for us in Zambia, SADC to contribute positively to the global food insecurity that is looming,” he said.

“This means we have to produce enough for Zambia, the region and send some production into the global food market which is in deficit at the moment. National service, I’m your Commander-in-Chief, produce more food. You have our support. We will be engaging away from the media on the initiatives Africa is taking as a continent around food security. Zambia has been chosen as one of the pilot countries given our ecological conditions to produce more food for Africa”.

President Hichilema said government would be announcing specific support that ZNS would be getting in addition to its normal budgetary allocation.

“We will be announcing specific support that you will be getting in addition to the normal budgetary allocation. In the absence of the liberation war and the heroes we remember here, we would like our military to engage in reconstructing our country. Bridges, roads, food production. I think that’s a good thing to keep our men and women busy. We won’t wait for UN peace mission, we have our own peace missions such as in northern Mozambique. We’re helping Mozambique to deal with the instability there,” said President Hichilema.

“Our men and women are there right now. We know that the stability of Mozambique is our stability. Instability anywhere has the potential to destabilise everywhere else. The national service must continue its role in maintaining our national peace, security and stability which are essential for economic development. We must support the stability of our neighbours because that is our duty, as it is their duty to support us”.