Sat, 27 Jan 2018 10:54:09 +0000
By CHIKUMBI KATEBE
ALL chiefs in Zambia are required to work with the Government of the day for the economic development of their areas, says House of Chiefs chairperson Chief Ngabwe of Central Province.
Chief Ngabwe said all chiefs will work with anyone who become Republican President and not take up political sides with the opposition.
He said all chiefs should work and support Government projects which were meant to benefit the people of their chiefdoms regardless of their political affiliation.
“All chiefs in Zambia are required to work with the Government of the day. All chiefs in Zambia are not supposed to be partisan.
“If a chief says I will work with the government of the day, that does not make him or her partisan because the Government of the day will bring development for the benefit of all the people,” he said.
He explained that chiefs work with the government of the day because it is not all parties that are ruling, and only the ruling party brings development.
Chief Ngabwe said all chiefs regardless of which region they came from represented the people in their areas, and not political parties.
He said the position of the House of Chiefs was that all chiefs work with the government of the day, and all the 288 chiefs in Zambia were like civil servants who commit their efforts to working with the government and not a political party.
“It is very important to emphasise that the chiefs shall work with the government of the day. Any person who becomes president or who forms government, the chiefs will work with them.
“It is not individual politicians who build universities or a school, it is the government. And for that as chiefs we support people that are going to bring development for the people. Politicians have their own agenda, but for Government they bring development for everybody regardless of which party they support.
Chief Ngabwe has since advised politicians not to bring chiefs into their political differences.
He said the 50 chiefs who sit in the House of Chief were selected from various chiefdoms to represent over 288 chiefs and chiefdoms across the country, and all those are selected from among the traditional rulers that represent the people in their various chiefdoms.
“We look after many people from different political parties, but as chiefs, we are like civil servants who work for everybody and we do not differentiate which party you come from, which province you come from or which tribe you come from.
“There are five chiefs from each province selected to the House of Chiefs by the rest of the chiefs of each province to represent their views on behalf of the rest of the provinces,” Chief Ngabwe said.
