ITS NOT POSSIBLE TO IMPROVE THE ECONOMY WITHIN HOURS OF BEING ELECTED – GIVEN LUBINDA
FORMER Justice Minister Given Lubinda says Zambians should not be swayed to believing people who are promising that they will improve the economy within two hours of being elected.
In an interview, Lubinda said it would take so many years for a person who has never been in government to understand the mechanics of governance.
“Some people have a tenacity of demeaning the intelligence of Zambians. Some people think Zambians are not knowledgeable and they think that they can sway them by giving them false information, they understand the reasons for the high cost of living. They know that there are some people who are bent on telling falsehoods, who are giving people false promises that as soon as they are elected, Zambia will become three times bigger than it is within an hour, that productivity in Zambia will increase, within two hours. So, don’t be swayed to believe people who are bent on trying to convince citizens on the basis of falsehoods,” Lubinda said.
“Zambians are intelligent enough to realise that no one can improve the economy of the country within two hours of being elected, not even within one year of being elected. Zambians are aware of the fact that a person who has never been in government will not understand the mechanics of government, it will take them years before they understand.”
He emphasised that the PF was confident because it had been truthful to the citizens.
“This is the reason we in the PF are very confident because we are telling people the truth, we are not telling them falsehoods. Our campaigns are based on verifiable facts. Isn’t [it] true that when we took over government in 2011, the last investment in the energy sector was 1977? The last major investment in Zambia was in 1977 when the population was only 4 million. Isn’t it true that the PF government has invested in infrastructure development in the last 10 years? Isn’t it true that we built a very important Kazungula Bridge? Isn’t it true that the projects that MMD failed to do in 20 years, the Kalabo-Mongu bridge, we did it in two years? Isn’t true that we have increased the number of universities from two public universities to eight in 10 years?” asked Lubinda.
“Isn’t it true that we have doubled the salaries of civil servants in 2021? Isn’t [it] true that we have added to the number of teaching hospitals? We had one, we now have four. Isn’t it true that the Chipata- Lusaka road was in a state of disrepair when we took over? Isn’t it true that we repaired it? These are facts so there is nothing for us to worry [about]. We are not just fantasising, we are not going around the country telling people our dreams and wishful thinking. We are telling people what we have done and explaining to them what we will do to build on. The campaign for the PF is easy, it has never been this easy. It was difficult in 2011, it was hard in 2016 because President Edgar Lungu had not been given an opportunity to prove himself but now the dynamics are different.”