UPND president Hakainde Hichilema says Zambians will elect a new God-fearing leadership in the August 2021 elections because they will vote for hope, food and a better life that they deserve.

And Hichilema says it is a challenging but humbling experience to continue as president of the biggest opposition political party in the country.

Speaking when he officially opened the party’s national convention, Sunday, Hichilema said Zambians are now ready for a new competent leadership that will address the challenges faced at the hands of the maladministration.

“Our determination to do what is right for this country cannot be shaken by anyone or anything because what we have gone through is too much. But for a good cause nothing is too much. We are bound by duty. We have a duty to change our country. We all have a duty to change our country. The millions of Zambians who have suffered at the hands of maladministration deserve a God fearing and servant leadership. A leadership that is visionary, a leadership that is competent, a leadership that is void of ill intent. Intent makes a leader understand his duty to society. The rise in poverty, unemployment, unbearable high costs of living must be arrested and banished from amongst us. The people of Zambia are ready for such leadership because they are deserving of such leadership. They are not asking for it, they deserve it. They shouldn’t ask for it, they deserve it. 2021 is a year of change,” he said.

“A year when Zambians will vote for hope, a year when Zambians will vote for food, Zambians will vote for jobs, Zambians will vote for a better life. They deserve it. Their civil liberties and freedoms will be restored. The respect for rule and law will be there; I am talking about law and order. The people of Zambia are counting on us to deliver this change which they deserve and our team is equal to the task. The economy of this country sits on top of this agenda. There is nothing you can achieve if the economy is derelict, if the economy is dysfunctional. You cannot share poverty; you can only redistribute value. We want to raise the standards of living for our citizens. We will prioritise national unity.”

And Hichilema says it is a challenging but humbling experience to continue as president of the biggest opposition political party in the country.

“I am grateful, I am proud to be a member of the United Party for National Development. A consistent party. I am humbled to be president, further I am humbled by your confidence. Consider me as your servant. I take this unique opportunity to offer myself to continue as president of this great party, United Party for National Development. Most of the people wish to be presidents of political parties but very few can be presidents of viable political parties. It is not easy to be president of a party I can confess. You have to love what you do; you have to dip into your pockets with your confidence we will be vying for the presidency of this country. Don’t worry about the schemes to remove us from the ballot paper, you will put us on the ballot paper,” Hichilema said.

And Hichilema said having achieved success in the opposition, it would easy for him to succeed at the higher level.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has taken many. We cannot however pretend that all was well before the pandemic started. The country was already in distress even before Covid-19 arrived. We cannot however pretend that covid-19 is what we hear from other countries, it is here. We will, however, put in place a robust measure of managing the Coronavirus pandemic than it is being done today. Donations will not disappear into private pockets,” said Hichilema.

“The UPND stands ready to change things around positively not negatively. We cannot fail you at a bigger level because we have done something at a smaller level. We will improve the agriculture sector. We will promote small and medium enterprises including a large manufacturing sector. We are coming to save you. It’s our duty to save you from irresponsible people. But it’s you to make it possible for us to save you. The power is in your hands not far from now. 12th August is the day you will have your power. The UPND will ensure that not only is there increased Zambian participation in the mining sector, participation in the extractive industry processes. How can there be no Zambian in these industries? It’s just the extraction we are interested in, we want the value addition. There were the money lies.”