ABOUT THE NEW DAWN OF BEGGING: A CASE OF THE “TIPEMPAKO THANDIZO” MENTALITY
By Sean Tembo – PeP President
1. There are a lot of things wrong about the UPND administration, which range from economic policy blunders to grand corruption, dereliction of duty, regionalism and tribalism, dishonesty when dealing with the Zambian people, wastefulness of scarce national resources, etcetera. But among all these wrongs, there is one particular mischief which l feel has significantly contributed to the suffering of the Zambian people in the past two years or so that Mr. Hakainde Hichilema has been President of the Republic of Zambia. And that is a begging mentality by the President and his Ministers. A false belief that this nation can only develop through handouts and favours from western countries.
2. About two weeks ago, President Hakainde Hichilema made a comment regarding the controversial Gulfstream G650 private jet which struck me as odd. He said he shall never use the famed presidential jet because it is too posh and he would look awkward when he goes to ask for grants (donations) from other countries. This supposedly innocent off-the-cuff statement spoke volumes about the President’s mindset and his idea of bringing development to Zambia. Evidently, his default mentality is not to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), or facilitate partnerships between Zambian and foreign companies or develop foreign markets for Zambian products, no. The President’s default mindset is to beg for donor assistance.
3. About three days ago, the Minister of Finance issued a statement saying that there is a lot of sympathy among IMF officials to release a $188 million disbursement which is part of the bailout loan that we got from the Fund, despite the country not reaching a debt restructuring agreement with it’s creditors. Key word here being “sympathy”!!!
4. For a country that is endowed with so much natural resources, l find it very painful that our stock-in-trade should be sympathy. We have an abundance of arable land, stable climate and fresh water to undertake any agricultural endeavor that we want. We are blessed with huge tourism potential that includes exotic lakes such as Kariba, Mweru, Tanganyika, Bangweulu, well-stocked game parks, central location in the region to be a transport hub, etcetera. We have an abundance of mineral wealth including base metals such as copper, cobalt and manganese as well as precious metals such as gold, silver, emeralds etcetera. And yet, the only thing that President Hakainde Hichilema and his cabinet see fit to offer to the outside world is sympathy? Tipempako thandizo? Tulelombako ubwafwilisho?
5. The thing about trading in sympathy and handouts is that whoever gives you assistance will own you and can make you dance to their tune whenever they feel like. There is nothing for free in this world. While President Hakainde Hichilema might think the IMF are his friends, the same IMF end up compelling him to give tax holidays and also relinquish future dividends in western-based mining companies operating in Zambia such as FQM. You let go of national revenue which this country is entitled to, in favor of handouts which are dependant on the goodwill of others? Mr. President sir, where is the morality in what you are doing? Where is your patriotism to this nation? Better still, where is your common sense sir?
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SET 25.04.2023