SOCIALIST Party Chipangali Constituency aspirant Kenani Kalala Phiri says the only disability in life is bad attitude.
And headman Mbelele of chief Kapatamoyo’s area has called on government to repair Muswa bridge which was washed away by rains more than four years ago.
Speaking when he donated a wheelchair to 12-year-old Taonga Miti and second hand clothes to people of Mbelele village on Friday, Phiri said God paves the way for every person.
“My message to the disabled people is that, concentrate on things that your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well and don’t regret the things it interferes with. Don’t be disabled in spirit as well as physically,” he said.
Phiri said he would ensure that Taonga starts school and pledged that he would engage a private teacher to be coaching her.
“As a party, we believe that education is a pillar for somebody to see a different life, it’s not really about finding a better job but when you are educated, you are able to see things in a different way than someone who is not educated. In Socialist Party, we believe that under our leadership or the leadership of comrade Fred M’membe, we will socialise education so that it is totally free from grade one up to university level. We believe that without education, the country cannot develop,” he said.
Phiri said he was touched by Taonga’s situation.
“You know, Taonga’s twin sister is in grade two and Taonga does not go to school because of her condition. We don’t want Taonga’s future to be affected by her condition and this is the reason why we’ve decided to come in and help. I went through a lot but because of education, I am somewhere, without education I was not going to be sharing the same table with comrade Fred M’membe,” he said.
And Toanga’s mother, Elena Soko, said she used to face a lot of challenges with Tonga.
“At first when she was young, I used to carry her at the back but now it is difficult because she has grown. So these days what I do is to carry her on a bicycle whenever I want to take her to hospital. So this donation will go a long way,” he said.
And headman Mbelele commended Phiri for the gesture.
He said Muswa bridge should be repaired because it was a death trap.
Headman Mbelele said Muswa bridge was washed away four years ago and appealed to government to consider repairing it.