PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu says there is nothing wrong with him to campaign during his provincial tours because it is part of his job.

The Head of State said this after touring an Agriculture Service Centre in Sioma District of Western Province, Sunday.

“I heard someone saying that I travel too much already. I haven’t yet travelled. If I am campaigning, what’s wrong with that? If I am working and in the process, I am campaigning, what’s wrong with that? I am supposed to campaign for progress on behalf of the people of Zambia wherever they are. I am campaigning for projects that these projects that we promised the people of Zambia are delivered. That is the campaigning that we are talking about, ‘voila!” President Lungu said.

He said it would be difficult for him to know the challenges faced in implementing government projects if he remained stuck in Lusaka.

“For me, this justifies my moving about the country because if I didn’t come this way this time, I wouldn’t have known about it and probably the minister wouldn’t have been pushed to pledge what she had pledged. There are a lot of projects that we are very ambitious about as PF Government. We really want to transform this country [but] sometimes resources don’t allow us to do all our plans and this has affected the progress of the works here. But I would have not known had I been stuck in Lusaka. So, I think that it’s imperative that I visit regularly so that even the smallest of projects in the Ministry [of Fisheries and Livestock] which the minister may either ignore the voice of her helm or either be told about them so that we can given the progress in time,” said President Lungu.

Earlier during the tour, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Professor Nkandu Luo told the President that the Sioma service centre had suffered poor funding hence the delay in its completion.

“The World Bank gave us money to put up service centres. The total number done now is four and we are putting them in different parts of the country. But this particular project suffered an exchange loss. But, as a ministry, we are just saving money here and there so that we can complete this project because these are very important projects in our livestock activities. We funded the contractor and he has assured me that he has bought most of the materials that are required and he has also started paying the workers. We are on course and we will see to it that this project is finished in a few months. They have promised me [that it will be done in] four months but we shall continue monitoring progress,” said Professor Luo.