ABOUT USELESSNESS: A CASE OF GIVING PROBLEMS TO THE PEOPLE WHO EMPLOYED YOU TO FIND SOLUTIONS
By Sean Tembo – PeP President
1. Yesterday, l was taken by surprise by President Hakainde Hichilema’s impromptu announcement that he was going to address the nation. I wondered what about? Then his address came. He announced to the nation that the country requires K23.5 billion to mitigate the effects of the drought, and said that his Government had only been able to raise K1.3 billion, leaving a deficit of K22.2 billion.
2. Two things immediately struck me at that moment. Firstly, it occurred to me that the President had declared the drought as a national disaster more than 3 months ago, and just left the matter at a declaration, with no proposed solutions on how his Government was going to mitigate the effects of the drought. In other words, the President and his Government have been calculating how much will be needed to provide relief assistance to the affected population, for more than 3 months, meanwhile the affected people are either sleeping hungry, or in the case of the rural population, sleeping on wild roots. Are those really the attributes of a serious President who cares about his people?
3. The other thing that struck me about President Hakainde Hichilema’s address yesterday was the fact that after he indicated how much his Government needs to provide relief assistance for drought victims and that he has a shortfall of K22.2 billion, he ended there without providing a solution of where he intends to get that money. In other words, instead of providing a solution to the problem facing the people, he was giving the problem back to the people without a solution.
4. A serious President was supposed to say: “we have a deficit of K22.2 billion for us to provide relief assistance for the effects of the drought, and my Government has decided to re-align the National Budget by cutting down on expenditure for sectors A, B and C so as to mobilize the required deficit of K22.2 billion which is urgently needed to save lives by providing relief assistance to our population that is hard hit by the effects of the drought”. That would be a President offering solutions to the people who employed him to do exactly that. But alas, Hakainde Hichilema does not have any solutions, and is only able to offer a restatement of our problems.
5. The President should ask himself what it is he is offering the people in return to the many perks that the people of Zambia have provided him as Republican President. The food he eats at his home is provided by the people of Zambia. The suits, shoes, shirts etcetera that he wears are provided by the people of Zambia. The private jet that he uses to galavant the world is provided by the people of Zambia, together with the hotel bills for the seven star hotels in which he stays when he goes out of the country. The reason the people of Zambia are so generous to provide President Hakainde Hichilema with all the perks that he enjoys is because they expect that he will provide solutions to problems which the nation faces from time to time.
6. If the people of Zambia knew that their President is unable to provide any solutions to their problems, am very confident that they would not be willing to extend to him the perks that he currently enjoys as Republican President. And the issue of the current drought is as big as the national problems come.
7. When we had the last big drought in 1991/92, President Fredrick Titus Jacob Chiluba did not give the problem to the citizens. Instead, he worked quietly and found a solution. Next we just realized that there was yellow mealie meal and yellow flour for our bread and buns. In other words, President FTJ Chiluba had found a solution to the drought problem. He had done exactly what the people of Zambia had employed him to do.
8. By restating the problem of financing the mitigating measures of the current drought, instead of providing a solution, President Hakainde Hichilema is proving to be a useless President. He is not useful to the people of Zambia. At this point, all well-meaning citizens should ask themselves why we should continue to endear the President with the many perks that he has been enjoying.
9. Why should the people of Zambia continue to prove free food to a President that is unable to find solutions to the current drought. Why should the people of Zambia continue to prove free suits and other clothes to an impotent President? A President who is unable to birth any solutions for the nation? A eunuch. A liability. A President who consumes so much from the people but gives back so little?
10. More than 3 months after declaring the drought a national disaster, President Hakainde Hichilema and his Government have not delivered a single bag of relief food to any household across the country. Is this President serious? Is this President mentally fit? This level of uselessness is indeed unprecedented. Anyway, let me end here for today before he sends his Zambezi Squad to come and break down the door to my house. Let him go look for that K22.2 billion and provide relief food to all citizens affected by drought. We don’t need problems from him, only solutions. Every job has benefits and responsibilities. In order to enjoy the benefits, one must first discharge the responsibilities. It is immoral for Mr. Hakainde Hichilema to only enjoy the benefits of being Republican President and yet abscond from discharging his responsibilities. Go do your job sir !!!
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SET 17.04.2024
What do you expect when you elect someone with zero record of public service to public office? As the Bembas would say, kuwayawaya fye. No wonder they even start celebrating a mere call by lenders to government that they are ready to engage in debt restructuring with them.
I need help imwe, where are the highly sung about savings from debt restructuring? Is 22billion anything worth the National announcement.
Mr Presido cut your bloated statehouse consultation fees you are paying those gay foreigners.
SHAME, SHAME
You guys are bitter with jealousy. Offer solutions not criticism all the time. How about attacking ECL who allowed all this debt etc hence HH having to source and beg and look inefficient whilst trying to source money and debt relief caused by the PF and their surrogates who are now pointing a finger at HH. You people just want to govern for your own pockets.
We do not need to attack ECL or PF, because we voted them out. To voters, that was the end of the story with PF. But to the one we voted for, and his cow brained praise singers, their bitterness and thirst for revenge against PF remains. They have failed in their duties.
I need help imwe, where are the highly sung about savings from debt restructuring? Is 22billion anything worth the National announcement.
Mr Presido cut your bloated statehouse consultation fees you are paying those gay foreigners.
SHAME, SHAME
He sold our maize reserves. Where is the vision here? We do not even know where he took the money realized therefrom. In an attempt to take advantage of what international relations scholars call CNN Effect, Hypocrite Hyena lies through his teeth that for 100 years Zambia has not had such a severe drought with no single drop of rain. Since when did almost 60 years of Zambia’s existence equal a 100 years? Besides, is Zambia only the Southern or Western Provinces? During the drought of the early 90s, as SET shows, the government of FTJ did not only declare drought as a national disaster, it was also able to realign budgetary expenditure and mobilize international support to mitigate the impact of drought on the population. So was the early in early 2000 under the government of LPM. But we have not yet seen this under the UPND.
I think some of us as Zambians we should be thinking as people who add value to society in times of need and otherwise.
What the President did is updating the nation where we are in terms of the drought and it’s effects, where we are and what has been done, realised so far to answer to the situation.
Now the K1.3 billion will go a long way to help the affected households and otherwise families. More I tell you brethren is still being done by our government even the K 22 billion will found.
I hear one gentleman here saying where are the savings, for me I tell you that, the savings are still working tremendously in especially CDF where schools, clinics, desks are being procurement and more planned projects are being implemented and from my assumption, I don’t see our vision carrier President of the Republic of Zambia His Excellency President Hakainde Hichilema disturbing the allocation of CDF but he will use his great business skills together with his team to source or get some resources from other 2024 budget allocation lines. Otherwise what he did is to update the nation and our partners who always support us and have committed to assist us to come on board. It is a if you like, reminder and feedback otherwise update which is good and coming from a good leader.
I see also most of the allocations to the 2024 budget especially for employment, skills bursaries, medicines supplies not being affected or to be tempered with, only areas like consumption, ( trips as we have already seen plus other will be affected but even that not much because the situation is systematically being attended to – talk of winter maize just as one example )
Again, as we can see some stollen money being recovered from plunderers, the hard core thieves { ba pompwe } I foresee through the the lines and probably -the justice ministry / ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security and most importantly the Attorney General working in collaborations with other government agencies like ACC, DEC etc striking a balance to use some of the recovered cash
towards this noble course if there will be a delay from outside support.
Only those who can not hear and see can say people are dying or are not being attended to otherwise govt is on the ground making sure that it’s citizens are assisted at this time of need, including the Church and other well wishers though the is of course on government.
The farmers who the previous government got their maize on credit have been paid through the sales of some maize in FRA reserved, , for me this is good just like the way they are doing to settle the debt for OMCs. So it is good to think with knowledge and understanding because you will get the wisdom and be wise than just condemning even where it is not necessary.
Additionally, government is aggressively taking this draught as an eye opener to use even the dry period for farming while for energy to maximise on solar. Just wait and see how this economy and the well being of Zambians will improve through and under this President.
God Bless Zambia and help those who are affected to have something to eat even more importantly by the use of the two Bible quotes that our founding father DR Kenneth David Buchizya Kaunda lived with and used to quote or say.
“Loving your neighbour as thyself and your Almighty God.”
Try by all means practicing humanism. Helping your neighbour not just waiting for the government too, we also have a part to play, but by saying this does not mean that we are saying government should stay away. No because some of you like twisting the truth like the likes of S. Tembo and Emmanuel Mwamba.
God is with us otherwise the devil will fail in all his tricks of counterfeit. But the real is being realised.