FRED M’MEMBE CALLS FOR MASS PROTESTS OVER BOOTHS
CLARION CALL: Join Booths Removal Protest
How can they remove mobile money booths in Lusaka without giving notice to their owners?
And these are small business people from whom levies used to be collected! Booths which were acquired at a cost of not less than K7,000 are being taken away without compensation! How are these poor and struggling people going to survive?
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Gary Nkombo, says the removal of mobile money booths in the Central Business District has been done to bring sanity and not because of the African Union summit as insinuated. Clearly, what we have today as political leaders of our country are heartless people displaying a complete lack of feeling or consideration. These are cruel people wilfully causing pain or suffering to others, or feeling no concern about it.
Good leaders must be interested in the welfare of those in distress. We must expect them to be concerned with the increasing gap between those who have and those who do not have. We expect them to feel the distress of many who have a big problem about the cost of goods, medicine, with the tragedy of unemployment, of youth, of serious problems with transport, public and personal security, and many other important concerns where we are all involved. We need people of courage who will defend the truth and demand justice for the poor and others struggling to make ends meet.
Virtue must be nourished but vice springs up spontaneously like weeds and grows by itself. We must bear that in mind. If we do otherwise, while nourishing virtue we are simultaneously paving way for vice. That is a reality and we mustn’t lose sight of it.
We support the decision of the Socialist Youth League to closely work with the owners of the mobile money booths and protest at the International Conference Centre. This protest deserves the support all us. We make a clarion call to all of you to join this protest.
Let’s not forget that this country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless it’s a good place for all of us to live in.
Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party