WHY I VOTED FOR HH- Dr Fred Mutesa

WHY I VOTED FOR HH

By Dr Fred Mutesa

I didn’t vote for HH because he is perfect; no one is.

I voted for HH because I believe he is the right man to drive economic growth and spearhead sustainable development based on the strong macroeconomic foundation that he laid in his first term of office.

I didn’t vote for HH because he fulfilled all the promises he made prior to his first term of office.

I voted for him because I was realistic enough to  recognise that, given the magnitude of the challenges he inherited, he needed more than five years to make substantial progress.

I voted for him because setting  the economy back on its tracks was in itself a major step in the right direction.

It is my hope that in his second term of office, he will apply even greater vigour to ensuring that the distribution of benefits is spread evenly among  the people.

I didn’t vote for HH because I ticked all the indicators of good  governance in the box.

I voted for HH because, in my view, getting the economy working is the primary task of our time, and going by what he demonstrated, I am convinced he earned his second term of office.

Of course, I believe in good governance, but even more importantly, I am convinced that without adequate  jobs for our people, good infrastructure, and efficient public service delivery, good governance will just be an exclusive club for the elite of our society.

I didn’t vote for the opposition because I think they are bad people.

Actually, I think a good number of them are patriots who may still have their time in the future.

I didn’t vote for them because I believe Zambia needs continuity more than change at this time.

Who else is better placed to safeguard the gains made in the last five years than the man who drove that progress?

I believe we need a strong opposition and one that can act as a government in waiting.

I hope in the next five years, the opposition can provide effective checks and balances and develop viable policy alternatives.

You can’t run an election campaign predominantly on danceable tunes, insults and hollow words like, ukuya kwena aleya! Offer the people realistic hope.

To our President-elect, I hope you will be humble in victory, as appreciation of the confidence the voters have reposed in you. I am looking for demonstrable acts of leading the charge in healing the rift in our nation, so we can remain one Zambia one nation and one people, as you like to say.