By Kellys Kaunda
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BY NUMBERS – WHICH NUMBER DO YOU WANT?
6.3 inflation rate. K18 to a dollar. 6.4 billion USD in foreign reserves. 2.5 million children back in school.
Or 65 billion dollars annually in GDP between 2026 and 2031 along with 2million jobs!
Numbers remind me of a scene from Erin Brokovic (2000) starring Julia Roberts. Her biker boyfriend George asks her for her number.
“You want my number? Okay. I’ve got three kids.
I’ve got 42 bills.
I’ve got $327 in my bank account.
Now, which number did you want?”
In the movie, Julia played the character of a single mum struggling to makes ends meet.
When President Hichilema spats out his favorite economic numbers, like Julia in the movie, such numbers don’t mean much to the majority Zambians.
They are bitterly struggling everyday with kids they can barely feed; rentals they can barely afford; sometimes walking long distances to and from work because they can’t afford bus fares, etc.
A Zambian citizen is asking President Hichilema, “which number do you want? I have three kids; I have zero savings; 2,500 is my wages; my rent is 3,500; my food basket is 12,000. So, which number do you want?”
The reason why the President’s numbers are not relevant to the majority Zambians is because his economy is primarily suitable for an investor who in turn employs a few Zambians as part of his operational requirements.
What Hichilema puts in the social sector is as small as what a company sets aside for its corporate social responsibility, CSR, activities.
If Hichilema comes across as hardworking and his economy as the best you have ever seen, then his public relations strategy has worked on you.
Ba Kelly Kaunda….!!! You are just a frustrated Man.
YOU WILL NEVER MAKE every afford a EVERYTHING in life. Even Jesus Christ didn’t MANAGE TO MAKE everyone taste a piece of fish.
At least HH has made the place enabling for people to achieve something.