EFF PRESIDENT KASONDE MWENDA RAISES RED FLAG OVER AN ALLEGED SECRETLY CONTRACTED IMF LOAN

EFF PRESIDENT KASONDE MWENDA RAISES RED FLAG OVER AN ALLEGED SECRETLY CONTRACTED IMF LOAN

8 January, 2026.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (C-EFF) of Zambia *unequivocally condemns* the decision by the Hakainde Hichilema–UPND government to secretly return to the International Monetary Fund for yet another loan programme, a move that places Zambia on a path of deeper debt, harsher austerity, and total surrender of our economic sovereignty.

As confirmed by *Reuters on January 8, 2026*, the Zambian government has quietly resolved to replace the current IMF Extended Credit Facility with *a new full IMF programme* — without first informing the citizens whose lives will be devastated by its conditions.

This is nothing short of *economic betrayal*.

Zambians already know the bitter taste of IMF prescriptions:
• Electricity shortages and crippling *load-shedding*.
• Austerity measures that punish the poor and working class
• The continued *hemorrhaging of Zambia’s minerals* to foreign corporations
• Shrinking public services and rising cost of living

Instead of developing Zambia, the UPND administration has chosen to *govern Zambia on behalf of Washington, foreign creditors, and multinational mining interests.

Under IMF pressure, this same government enacted *Statutory Instrument No. 47*, waiving export tax on copper concentrate — effectively *giving away Zambia’s mineral wealth for nothing*, even as copper prices surge globally. The result?
*No meaningful benefits for Zambians. No price relief. No jobs. No empowerment.

This is not economic reform — it is *economic colonization.*

Now, Zambians are being dragged into *another five-year IMF programme*, meaning:
• *More debt starting this year*
• Deeper austerity
• Further surrender of our minerals and national policy
• A future of permanent dependency and poverty

EFF warns the nation:
*The worst suffering is still coming if this path is not stopped.*

President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND have demonstrated that they have *no independent development vision for Zambia.* Their solution to every problem is to *hand the country to the IMF.*

EFF stands for a *different future.*

We commit that under a C-EFF government:
• Zambia’s minerals and natural resources will *serve Zambians first*
• Ownership and real empowerment will be returned to the people
• The economy will be structured around *national development, not foreign interests*
• Zambia will never again mortgage its future to international financial institutions

We therefore call upon Zambians to *reject this cycle of suffering and deception* and to never again make the mistake of re-electing the UPND in this year’s General Elections.

Zambia must be governed by Zambians, for Zambians — not by the IMF.

Wherever we want to go our feet will take us there.

Issued by:
Kasonde Mwenda C,
President, Economic Freedom Fighters-EFF–Zambia