PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema says his trip should not be reduced to acquiring an IMF bailout package because he effectively represented the broader interests of the Zambian people and the benefits will soon show.

And President Hichilema says his government will exploit the goodwill it has generated to benefit the people of Zambia.

Meanwhile, President Hichilema says government will not use a “political hammer” to fight corruption.

Speaking upon arrival at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport, Monday, President Hichilema said his key goal was to reconstruct the economy.

“We went out to the United Nations General Assembly to represent the people of Zambia, to advance their interests. It is more than the IMF, we should not reduce it to the IMF. It is representing the broader interest of the people of Zambia and I believe we did that effectively. Zambians are yet to see the benefits and they will see those benefits very soon. The key is that we must reconstruct the economy and unless we reconstruct the economy, we cannot create jobs, we cannot support health and we cannot support education. So economic reconstruction is number one and we have set this agenda. We will not weave around it and we will stay focused because we know what the benefits are,” President Hichilema said.

And President Hichilema said his government would exploit the goodwill which it had generated.

“We have generated electricity, we have generated goodwill and we want to exploit this goodwill to the best of our abilities to benefit the people of Zambia. I emphasise, whatever we do, you will see this tradition that wherever we go and whatever we do is for the people of Zambia. You will see credibility returning to Zambia once again and we said so before these people put us in office that we will raise the bar, we are just beginning and you will see how we will perform,” President Hichilema said.

Meanwhile, President Hichilema said government would not use a “political hammer” to fight corruption.

“We understand the anxiety Zambians have because a lot of their resources were taken away from them. Our intent is very clear that we will be civil about it, we will be legal about it and we will not use a political hammer. We will allow the oversight institutions that are mandated legally to deal with corruption. We expect them to do it professionally, the Zambians want them to do what they are paid for to do. We will give them the political will and they will get that will, make no mistake about it,” said President Hakainde.