By Winifred Bulus
Zambian Member of Parliament, Sebastian Kopulande, has stressed the need for immediate intervention against poverty in Zambia.
Kopulande, who is a member of the ruling party, Patriotic Front, made this call at the Lusaka District 413 Charter night for Lions Club of Kapila, the world’s largest service club organization, with 1.35 million members in more than 45,000 clubs, more than 206 countries.
The club meets the needs of local communities and the world every day because they share a core belief; to serve their community.
He observed that poverty in Zambia needs to be confronted head on and recalled the county’s president, Edgar Lungu statements on poverty in Zambia, while speaking to parliament.
The country’s president had said poverty in Zambia was on a high rise with 54.4 per cent of the people living below the poverty line, nationally.
The president had also stated that 76.6 per cent, in the rural areas where poor and expressed the need for bridging the gap between the rich and poor.
In his remark, Kopulande made an appeal to the church, politicians, business persons and every well-meaning Zambian to work together in fighting poverty in the country, saying, “The poverty situation in our country has reached emergency proportions and cannot be dealt with using conventional formulas and approaches.
“Yes, we can talk about it, but more importantly, as the President stressed, let us do something about it.
“More than ever before, the situation calls for unity and combined effort with a new creativity in addressing the issue.”
