SAVIOUR CHISHIMBA WRITES;
ECONOMIC HIT MEN AND THE UPND DISASTER
The economic hit men are already steering the statecraft. They want to increase fuel “because government spends US$26 million per month on fuel subsidies”. They want to increase electricity tariffs “because currently they are not cost reflective”. They have increased bank interest rates “because they want to control inflation”. Meanwhile, they have scraped off mineral royalties so that international mining companies can pocket US$3.2 billion per annum. This is US$266 million per month, which is ten times bigger that the US$26 million on the so called subsidies they are lamenting about everyday.
Interest rates in countries they are going to in the name of “economic diplomacy” are less than 3%. They want to deliberately kill Zambian owned businesses by increasing the cost of borrowing for investments while giving chance to their fellow international economic conmen to get loans from their countries and come in the name of foreign investors to reap off our nation and externalise everything. It’s a desecration of the graves to visit (while auctioning our nation) the gravesites of the men and women who paid with their blood to liberate us.
What is happening is the biggest saga of all times. The IMF is not the best manager of our economy. It’s utter nonsense to bring the IMF for a facility of US$1.3 billion or even more when we lose more than US$8 billion every year in the illegal trade of our emeralds. Remember that we have gold and other precious minerals before we even talk about our copper whose loot they are facilitating before our eyes. The hit men who are now in charge of our economy are heartless and their allegiance is to international institutions they belong to.
UPP, in government, will put the destiny of our nation in the hands of Zambians. Further, all central government structures will be realigned to Local Government under executive mayors. Each district will steer the development agenda for its people under the policy of “equal distribution of resources to all districts”. This is our Zambia and our resources are here. The hit men have offshore accounts as our people continue to live in untold misery.
Saviour Chishimba
UPP LEADER