HH SHOULD DECLARE HIS ASSETS – MUSUMALI
….says Zambians should know the President’s true worth before and after leaving Office
Kitwe, Friday, July 14, 2023 ( Daily Nation Zambia )
THE UPND is the most corrupt party and its fight against corruption must start within itself with President Hakainde Hichilema declaring his assets so that Zambians can know how much he was worth before he was elected Republican President, Socialist Party General Secretary Cosmas Musumali has said.
Dr. Musumali said President Hichilema has deliberately refused to declare his assets so that Zambia will not be able to know how much he was worth when he became Republican President and how much he will acquire after leaving the office.
Dr. Musumali said during at press briefing in Kitwe that the UPND was not only a corrupt party, but was also a violent party which has failed to set the stage for poverty alleviation and hunger.
He said the UPND which used to label the Patriotic Front (PF) to be a corrupt party, has turned out to be the most corrupt party which was making policies that aimed supporting the individual businesses of the party leadership.
“The UPND used to label the PF to be a corrupt party, but it has turned to be the most corrupt party. The fight against corruption must start within the UPND itself before looking at opposition parties and individuals. The fight against corruption must start with President Hichilema declaring his assets.
“It is sad that President Hichilema has been silent on issues of corruption in fertiliser and others. When you are Republican President, you remain silent when there are corruption scandals, then people will conclude you are part of it,” Dr. Musumali said.
When reminded about the firing of Luapula Province Minister Derrick Chilundika over the alleged Sugilite scandal, Dr. Musumali said the opposition was not excited about Mr Chilundika’s dismissal because it was mere sugar coating and not a genuine fight against corruption.
And Dr. Musumali said Mr Chilundika was implicated in the Sugilite scandal from the beginning and it had even taken long for him to be fired now, adding that there are many corruption scandals which President Hichilema should have taken action on.
“The Chilundika issue is nothing to be excited about. From the beginning, Mr Chilundika was implicated in the Sugilite scandal. Those boys said he is one of us. So his dismissal is nothing to be excited about to say now Mr Hichilema is fighting corruption. No,” he said.
Dr. Musumali also said Zambians had learnt a bitter lesson of replacing the former Republican President Edgar Lungu with President Hichilema whose capitalist policies had resulted into worsening poverty and hunger levels in communities.
He said replacing the PF with the UPND was the worst mistake Zambians had made because it will not only plunge the nation into the hunger and poverty, but will also hand over the country into the hands of imperialists.
“Zambians have seen the sky-rocketing prices of essential commodities with mealie meal prices fetching almost K300 per 25 kilogramme bag of mealie meal. I can tell you that Zambians made the worst mistake of replacing the PF with the UPND.
“Zambians are going through untold misery. I can tell you that that there is serious poverty and hunger in townships. It is sad that instead of laying a firm foundation for poverty alleviation and food security, the New Dawn administration is using law enforcement agencies like the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and others to intimidate its critics,” he said.
