12 AUGUST ELECTIONS: PF vs YOUTHS
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Written By Mupishi Jones
This August 12 elections will be the last time I’ll be voting as a youth.In 2016,I voted for the PF because I was meant to believe that those elections were between ECL of PF vs HH of UPND.Despite participating in voting,I thought I was merely a spectator,impatiently waiting for the outcome of the votes between ECL and HH.When results came in ‘favor’ of ECL,I went home saying HH has lost the elections.I had no idea then,that my vote will affect my way of life.I had no idea that my vote will determine whether I have a job opportunity as a graduate to enable me have more money in my pockets,or my vote will open up more spaces in colleges and universities with affordable fees.I need seriously thought my vote can facilitate moderate prices of basic foodstuffs….
However, five years down the road,things have become worse… When my fantasies and illusions were over I came back to reality that those 2016 elections were NOT between ECL of PF vs HH of UPND BUT YOUTHS like myself vs the PF.
Five years down the road, the PF have repaid the Youths with 55,000 unemployed trained teachers on the streets.The PF have offloaded thousands of trained Medical Doctors unemployed on the streets.We have thousands of accountants, economists,engineers unemployed on the streets.I realized that HH was NOT the loser but ourselves as youths.HH can afford to buy whatever he wants without complaining whilst we can’t.
WE WERE THE LOSERS IN THE 2016 ELECTIONS BECAUSE WE VOTED FOR SONGS!
WHY THE PF CAN’T CREATE ANY JOB OPPORTUNITIES
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During the PF’s tenure of office,they have borrowed almost US$30B loans from expensive sources.
In the 2020/2021 National Budget, the PF government is paying 40.1% of it’s total budget towards loan interest repayments. Another 50% of the budget goes towards personal emoluments. The remaining 9.9% is what goes towards other discretionary expenditures such as educational grants, health grants,LGEF and CDF grants to councils..
This 9.9% leaves no room for economic expansion.Faced with political appeasements during this year’s election, the PF embarked on reckless cash economic empowerment programs devoid of internal controls, by unofficially re-arranging the budget. They grabbed some of the budgeted funds towards debt servicing and took it to these empowerment programs resulting into consecutive debt defaults of US$43.3m each!
WHAT THE PF IS NOT TELLING THE YOUTHS
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What the PF is not telling everyone is that the first US$750m Eurobond loan they got,is maturing next year and it has to be repaid as a single bullet on the agreed date and time! Remember we are currently failing to pay US$43.3m interest,how then do they suggest to pay US$750m at once!! This the PF is not telling us!!
This is not all, the PF government went further to contract another US$1.0B Eurobond loan maturing after the first loan.They went back again the following year to contract yet another US$1.2B Eurobond loan.Despite many protestations against reckless borrowing,even to the point of UPND MPs walking out of parliament,however, using the arrogance of their numbers in parliament then,the PF kept on adjusting the ceiling of loan amounts to be contracted and they kept on borrowing after borrowing!!!!
WHY IS THIS YOUR ELECTION*
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The PF of today assumed power without a detailed plan of how to grow the economy.Once given another five years,the current economic meltdown which is projected at -2% will even get worse as we’ll be getting closer to 2022, the year of our first ‘kaloba’ repayment! Once re-elected (God forbid) the PF will have no choice but to embark on more painful measures of raising funds to finance this debt repayments.Trust me, this will preoccupy our national discourse starting next year should PF be re-elected.
Expect more and higher taxes, civil servants MUST not expect any salary increment instead,they must brace themselves with more strigent austerity measures, expect irratic disbursement of grants to education, health, local government, social security schemes.The so-called economic empowerment programs will eventually disappear, timely distribution of farming inputs will be stripped off subsidies…. The government will adopt more brutal methods of silencing any critics! This is the future that awaits you once you give the PF another chance this year!
This is the reason why this August 12 election is your elections, please take it personal!!
Viva Youths
Mupishi Jones
Presidential Campaign Team/ UPND Provincial vice Youth Treasurer Western Province