President Hakainde Hichilema says the country “totally lost” the 10 years the former ruling Patriotic Front (PF) ruled between 2011 and 2021.
And President Hichilema says by now Zambia “would have been a totally different place” if the ruling UPND won the 2011 election, taking over from the MMD.
Speaking at State House in Lusaka on Thursday after assenting five bills recently passed by Parliament, President Hichilema said it is scary that “we can bring back” the PF damage to our country which took us three years to unwind.
“This country has a habit of moving one step forward, three steps backward such as the debt mountain. Under president Levy Mwanawasa, may his soul rest in peace. We actually wiped out debt through the HIPC programme, I never believed that we would have another debt mountain [but] I was wrong. A few years later, debt was back with vengeance and now we have had to go to a painful G20 framework debt restructuring; very very complicated,” President Hichilema said.
“…shortly after we were elected, we went to Parliament to legislate against reckless borrowing – there is a law there because the debt was acquired recklessly borrowing; [under PF], a Ministry could acquire debt, line ministry and ministry of finance is not aware. How can you run a country like that? How?”
He said Zambia would have made a lot of progress if UPND, and not PF, won the 2011 general election which ushered into power former president late president Michael Sata.
“So, me I am listening when people say they are coming back; I say to do what? To occasion more damage so that we can spend three years to working the debt restructuring again? The little thing we have done is this four years and nine months, we spent three years on debt restructuring,” said President Hichilema.
“Imagine if we came in after the balance sheet was cleaned up in 2011, today, this country would have been a totally different place. We lost 10 years after 2011, totally lost. And now the colleagues want to come back, to do what?”
The President accused former ruling PF politicians of attempting to use the different political parties as vehicles to masquerade as they push to retake power this August.
“You can change the name plate that you’re now a different creature; you are the same. You can change the name; you can change the t-shirt colour; you are the same,” the President said. “This is not a joke. My heart bleeds; I hope your hearts bleeds. It’s scary that we can bring back damage to our country which took us three years to unwind. We have relatives, yes; we love them. We have nephews, cousins, we love them; but we love the 21 million Zambians more than a small group.”
Sadly the average Zambian thinking that appeasement is the only way they can make money doesnt see it that way Mr. President. They only see sitting around and expecting to be given money. They only see you paying for their campaign material; as a sense of entitlement. They seek political position to seem like they are relevant yet; dont want to serve voters. They only want to steal, marry more wives and breed kids that they can not afford. Like Gray they think having ducked a stone or punch, they are entitled to some kind of immunity and dont have to work any more as they walk in close proximity to you….status as oppose to function. They went to SDA schools yet stewardship is alien to them. Selective thinking.