By Sara Imutowana Yeta II
It goes without saying that Lungu has destroyed the economy.
They say numbers do not lie.
When he came into power in 2015, petrol was K7.60 per litre but today petrol is more than K17.00 per litre.
One US Dollar was K6.45 but today one needs K18.00 to buy a Dollar.
Mealie meal was K68.00 but today the same product sells at K170.00.
Lungu found the National Debt at $4.7 Billion but today the debt is close to $12 Billion and unsustainable.
The inflation quickened from 7.81% in 2015 to 15.7% in 2020.
In simple terms, the economy has collapsed; and all sections of society are in distress.
Therefore, it only requires common sense to understand why people want a president who will fix the economy; improve living standards, create jobs, fight corruption, reduce poverty, improve government’s finances, develop science-driven policies, professionalise the civil service, and influence economic growth, business confidence and good application of public resources.
These are some of the economic issues Bally as well has been highlighting in his economic recovery discourse making the notion that “Bally will fix it” resonate with people from all walks of life.
Therefore, Bally’s promise to be a responsible president and ‘fix it’ addresses the obvious gaps and weaknesses in the economy that people on their own have identified and want to be fixed to enhance economic growth and welfare values.
Besides, the notion that “Bally will fix it” is not from without as stated by cynics but based on people’s understanding of Bally’s competency.
Bally’s widely admired success story observable through his diverse and multinational businesses shows that he has competence or standardised requirements to fix the economy.
Many people believe that “Bally will fix it” because he has a rare combination of management knowledge, skills and behaviours needed to fix and manage the economy.
Some people would agree with me that our broken economy needs a manager as president to fix it by developing sound government and sectoral policies, plans, controls, and to direct resources to achieve the objectives of national policies, an economic area Bally is well qualified.
Bally has also technical competency that can be utilised to fix the economy. He has sufficient economic knowledge, and good at planning and organising that would make it easy for his team to achieve maximum economic results.
Who does not know that Bally has administrative competency reinforced by his formal education?
As a result, Bally has a range of organisation knowledge, can easily follow rules, procedures and guidelines, and perform to the expected standards set out by government as he is doing in his business and political leadership.
It is lack of administration competency in the current regime that has made the economy collapse therefore Bally’s administrative proficiency makes him the right person to manage or direct the affairs of government if the country is to come out of the current economic disorder.
It is not out of naivety that people are excited that “Bally will fix it.”
People are now aware than any other time that Bally has a gift of ethical aptitude needed to fix the economy. They have seen for themselves that Bally has moral standards guiding him in his decision-making activities.
This is the reason all types of wild accusations thrown at him such as selling mines and the lower Zambezi National Park do not stick.
Therefore, to come out of the current economic mess, we need a leader like Bally with knowledge and action that defines right and wrong behaviour to fix corruption and abuse of public resources.
Lack of ethical competency in the sitting regime has made corruption thrive and kill the economy.
Therefore, people believe that Bally’s ethical competency will help to fix corruption because he is committed to high ethical standards, knows the rule of law, passionate about acting on public ethics and values, and good at promoting ethical practices and behaviours needed to curb extortion, bribery, cronyism, nepotism, patronage, and embezzlement rife in government.
Bally’s ethical competency is precisely what the economy needs to tackle criminal enterprises such as drug trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering.
Not only that, Bally has productive competency making him produce desirable results in his business and political party he is leading.
This is the type of competency we need in leadership to fix the economy.
His productive aptitude means that it would be easy for him to develop professionals and make use of their knowledge and skills to deliver the economic results unlike what is happening now where professionals have been replaced by cadres.
When people say, “Bally will fix it”, it is not that they are not thinking of how difficult it is to fix the economy and not aware of the extent of damage Lungu has caused to the economy, instead people’s thrill is based on evidence of Bally’s personal ability. Both in business and political field Bally has demonstrated that he can manage operations, and has necessary ‘people skills’, communications and management skills that would make it easy for him to operate effectively in the government environment.
Thus, his personal competency makes people believe that “Bally will fix it”.
To fix our economy, we need a president with competency and a vision to lead himself, government, and the country.