HH IS AN INCOMPETENT OPERATOR…he has never run anything of substance, charges Nawakwi
By Thomas Ngala (The Mast)
ANYTHING in Zambian hands is not good for President Hakainde Hichilema, charges FDD leader Edith Nawakwi.
“HH is an incompetent operator. He has never run anything of substance,” Nawakwi says.
She says for President Hichilema anything Zambian must be given to foreign hands.
Nawakwi told The Mast that President Hichilema has “this love for foreigners. It is an inferiority complex that most of our African leaders have”.
“It’s even better for him as he has demonstrated on Mopani that a South African politician from ANC is a better shareholder than the Zambian people. He would rather give shares in Mopani to a South African failed politician. So there is nothing you can say about Hakainde,” she said.
Nawakwi said President Hichilema has the phobia that is carried from the colonialists where people used to say inde bwana (yes boss).
She also fumed over allegations that she owed Development Bank of Zambia money.
“When it’s those European, Caucasian or Asian they think it is better than when it is pitch black… These are Mr inde bwanas. They closed DBZ, now they are scandalising us that we owe DBZ. I challenge his [Bank of Zambia governor Denny] Kalyalya to come out in the open and say how much I owe DBZ. Ma nonsense ine sinimayafuna (I don’t brook no nonsense),” she said. “And this was started by this mentally bankrupt [information minister Cornelius) Mweetwa. They are just good at creating stories. That is all.”
On the issue of Investrust Bank insolvency, Nawakwi said what is happening is a reflection of the highest levels of incompetence by President Hichilema.
“HH is an incompetent operator. He has never run anything of substance. Can you figure any company where you know this one, beyond Grant Thornton…?” she asked. “It’s not just about Investrust (Bank). It is many companies which were starting to run, which are being bankrupted like Zesco, Mpulungu Harbour … and yet Mpulungu Harbour is a gateway to 10 or so Great Lakes region countries. 16 of them and Hakainde is treating Mpulungu Harbour like it is Namwine Ranch.”
She charged that all that President Hichilema specialises in is lying.
“All he specialises in is lies. We told them that these continuous revisions of the capital requirement for banks under the so-called statutory reserve ratio, whatever the name is, is a recipe for bankruptcy. And the banks which can survive in this economy are those banks which are leveraged by the foreign banks,” said Nawakwi. “For example, the capital requirement to open a bank in this country used to be like $2 million, K10 million. Now, that K10 million is just about $400,000. That was the last national bank in our laps. The other one Atlas Mara was taken over by Access Bank, foreign operators from Nigeria. Because they only have to cash in like $400,000 and remit the reserve requirement.”