President Hakainde Hichilema has called on Zambians to rise to the highest standards of patriotism, integrity and peaceful co-existence before, during and after the elections.
Mr Hichilema says Zambian citizens must reject all forms of violence, say no to hate speech and detest cybercrimes before, during and after elections.
Speaking when he addressed Parliament on the progress made in the application of national values and principles in Lusaka today, President Hichilema urged citizens to reject divisive politics.
“We, therefore, call upon all political actors once again, all candidates, all supporters, civil society, the church, traditional leaders among others to demonstrate a high level of restraint, respect and responsibility as we head to the polls,” he said.
The President reiterated that national values and principles are an embodiment of citizens as a people, adding that national character and policy choices are firmly anchored on the values and principles.
“Notwithstanding the tremendous progress we have made together, we have more work to do, we all have a duty to turn our national values and principles into action from a place of love and deep care for our people,” he said.
And the President has announced that the Kwacha has been one of the best performing currencies in the world and that inflation is coming down and economic fundamentals are getting better.
He added that citizens are yet to feel the full benefits and that the cost of living should stabilise further.
“But with Macroeconomic stability now firmly in place, the benefits will increasingly be felt by the citizens through a gradual but sustained easing of the cost of living,” Mr Hichilema noted.
He observed that as the Government works to increase wages, there is a need to partner with the private sector to help further drive down the cost of doing business to stabilise prices for the benefit of the people.
The President further commended the Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM) for responding to positive economic fundamentals by lowering prices and urged others to do the same.
Meanwhile, President Hichilema has promised to increase the allocation to the constituency Development fund next year in a quest to continue empowering the youth, women and the vulnerable in communities.
He said this is a giant step in the right direction and that his Government will not rest until every Zambian family feels the benefits of the generational change.
“We are delivering for the Zambian people from a place of love and deep care, more health services are now within reach for our communities, with provision of life saving ambulances,” he added.
On the amendment of the constitution, President Hichilema expressed happiness that the initiative has resulted in the country undertaking the delimitation exercise soon.
He said it is gratifying that even people that were opposed to the constitution amendment are now looking for the delimitation of large constituencies so that they can stand as Member of Parliament in those areas.
In the education sector, the President stated that government has expanded the school feeding programme from 1.5 million in 2021 to 4.7 million learners in 2025 aimed at improving the quality of education.
He indicated that it is gratifying that the interventions are contributing to improved school attendance, retention, and learning outcomes among vulnerable learners, particularly in rural and under-served communities.
“In 2025, we recorded an impressive pass rate in public schools of 70 percent at grade 12, the highest ever in the history of our country, this was not an accident, it was the direct outcome of well-planned policy reforms,” he said.
Earlier, the President indicated that the government has tackled the electricity challenge head-on, drastically reducing the hours of load shedding and in many locations completely ending it.
