PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema has told citizens to vote for the opposition if they want bad things, urging them to vote for the UPND for good things.

Meanwhile, President Hichilema has directed his Political Advisor Levy Ngoma to take down names and contact details of volunteer nurses who attended his Isoka rally so that they can be employed.

Further, President Hichilema has told Chinsali residents that government will open a large-scale gold mine in the area.

Speaking during Wednesday’s rallies in Muchinga Province, President Hichilema said his government had employed a lot of people, telling those who were not employed yet, there were next.

“Where we are coming from there was violence, not under the UPND, we have peace. What we want is peace, how many people want peace, you want peace? Vote for UPND on August 13. Where we are coming from, children were not in school because parents had no money. Under UPND we have brought free education and our children are back in school. Do you want free education? Vote for UPND on August 13. So if you want good things, vote for UPND. You want bad things, go back there. We have brought jobs, we have employed a lot of teachers, nurses and doctors. A lot have been employed, some of them come from this area. If your neighbour has been employed and you have not been employed, don’t worry you are the next one, your job is to vote for UPND on August 13,” he said.

President Hichilema told the “lucky” volunteers to campaign and vote for him in the August polls.

“PF borrowed and UPND solved the problem, so who is better the one who acquired debt or the one who solved the problem? You don’t want to go back to debt, vote for the UPND. We have employed a lot of people since we came into office. Teachers, over 45,000, nurses [and] medical doctors, over 20,000. Now if you are a teacher or nurse or a plumber, carpenter, engineer and you have not been employed, campaign and vote for the UPND because you are next to be employed. You are the one who will be employed, like these nurses here, Levy Ngoma, where is Levy Ngoma? Go and write the names and numbers of those nurses, they will be employed, those nurses there who are volunteering, write their names and numbers and they shall be employed,” President Hichilema directed.

“There are nurses there who are saying they are volunteers and they have not been employed, the President has said it, you will be employed. I want your names, I want your numbers and your certificates and you will be employed, including these ones that are standing there. When this President says something, it happens. So, these are lucky people, so you nurses must campaign and vote for Bally on August 13. And all those who have not been employed don’t be angry, you are next to be employed, and in order to create more employment here, your government, UPND is establishing a large-scale phosphate mine to create more jobs here in Isoka”.

Meanwhile, President Hichilema told Chinsali residents that they will be given a good price for the gold they will mine.

“Now mines, small scale mines, large scale mines I said already here (Chinsali) we’ll be opening a big gold mine around here so that we can employ more of the young people. Small scale artisanal mines, we want to make sure that you are given licences, our government, your government will make sure that you are given licences, you mine legally, number one. Number two, you will mine safely, we don’t want our children to be dying in the mines there, we don’t want. No, parent who will send children to go to the mines and die there, there is no parent who does anything like that, unless one is not a proper parent. So, we want to protect you from dying there. We want to make sure that you don’t use mercury to clean the gold, which is polluting our rivers,” said President Hichilema.

“We will give you a good price, we don’t want you to kill each other there because there are a lot of bamwisa, foreigners coming to those mines and selling guns, we don’t want that. We want to protect you and then we give you a good price, isn’t that good? Don’t be lied to, no good leader wants his children to die, no one! That gold belongs to Zambians, not those that are foreigners”.