Johannesburg - The Economic Freedom Fighters on Tuesday congratulated the Patriotic Front in Zambia for winning the recent elections.
“We particularly wish to congratulate the new president, Edgar Lungu, in leading an effective campaign which saw the people of Zambia taking a formidable stance against neo-liberal forces led by a certain Mr Hakainde Hichilema,” deputy president Floyd Shivambu said in a statement.
“The people of Zambia have imposed the burden of responsibility on President Lungu to fulfil the electoral promises in order that the transformation of their social circumstances and their economic emancipation can be realised in their lifetime.”
Shivambu said the natural resources of Zambia should be used to benefit the people of the country and the Patriotic Front had committed itself to promoting ownership of large scale mines by indigenous Zambians.
He said the ownership and control of all strategic sectors, including banks, was paramount in the pursuit of any massive industrialisation programme and localisation of production.
“The EFF advocates for massive development of the African economy. Divided we are weak; united, Africa could become one of the greatest forces for the good of the world,” Shivambu said.
“The pursuit of a common agenda, economic freedom,demands of the SADC region and the rest of Africa to reject the neo-liberal narrative that has decimated the African economy and served as the means to expatriate wealth from Africa to western capitalists while millions of Africans continue to live in abject poverty.”
The new Zambian government had the task to promote socialism and intensify its radical programmes together with its regional partners, he said.
After the recent elections, Zambia has its first female vice president since gaining independence in 1964.
Inonge Mutukwa Wina, Patriotic Front national chairwoman since 2006, was announced as the deputy to Lungu on Monday.
Lungu made the announcement when he appointed his partial cabinet at a press conference in the capital Lusaka.
In the previous administration of late president Michael Sata, Wina was Minister of Gender. The newly enacted Anti Gender-Based Violence Act was passed under her watch.
Lungu only appointed seven cabinet ministers and promised to appoint more when he returned from the African Union Heads of State and Government Summit.
Out of the seven cabinet ministers, one - Tourism and Arts Minister Jean Kapata - is a woman.
Those retained from the previous cabinet include Alexander Chikwanda, who is Minister of Finance, Ngosa Simbyakula (Justice), Harry Kalaba (Foreign Affairs) and Davies Mwila (Home Affairs).
The new president appointed a Member of Parliament of the opposition United Party for National Development as provincial minister for Southern Province, one of the country's 10 provinces. This position is equivalent to that of deputy minister.
Sapa