HICHILEMA’S FOREIGN TRIPS, INVESTORS AND DOMESTIC CHAOS
It is a standard practice for Presidents to travel overseas for various reasons, which include participation in high-level meetings or conferences, strengthening diplomatic ties, wooing foreign investors, and promoting and negotiating business, trade and other treaties. This happens everyhere with almost all Presidents.
However, countries with serious Presidents ensure that they strike a balance between foreign travels and the reality facing their domestic politics. They make sure that foreign travels yield tangible benefits for their countries and citizens. But in Zambia, particularly under the leadership of Mr Hakainde Hichilema, who perhaps is the most travelled Zambian President in the last two and half decades, the situation is different.
Mr Hichilema’s presidential trips, which are disguised as ‘economic diplomacy’ assignments have raised a lot of dust, as the citizens query the merits and demerits of these expensive trips. This remains a puzzle to many Zambians who are unable to see the benefits of these foreign trips. It is also apparent that the more Mr Hichilema travels, the worse things become back home. Can the citizens be blamed for perceiving issues this way? Absolutely, not! It’s for Mr Hichilema to cautiously interrogate the citizen’s frustration about his foreign trips.
But why are Zambians annoyed with Mr Hichilema’s travels abroad?
Its simple. Zambians are going through so much and life is becoming unbearable every day. For instance, today, the cost of fertilizers, fuel, electricity, transport, mealie meal and other essential commodities is unaffordable. And loadshedding, unemployment, floods, and local businesses shutting down among others, is the order of the day. So, who can be happy to live under these circumstances? Mr Hichilema and the UPND cannot keep insisting that foreign trips and connections are yielding results, yet they have constantly failed to get it right at the domestic level and to manage the economy.
Mr Hichilema must understand that his presence in the country, and availability to stand with the citizens in tough times, is uplifting and assuring to the people. Zambians are tired of a leader who is prepared to abandon them at the slightest sound of the jet engine under the guise of being the country’s chief marketing officer. Let Mr Hichilema understand that his presence and readiness to address the challenges facing citizens is more than symbolic.
This President must realize that foreign investors flock to destinations where there is social, economic and political stability. Zambia will only be an attractive investment destination if Mr Hichilema sorts out the economic and political mess he has created. Which serious investor will invest in Zambia under the current political and economic chaos? Which investor will come and invest in a country with a collapsing economy, decaying democracy, unstable currency, extreme loadshedding, and crumbling state institutions like the judiciary, parliament, the police and so on and so forth?
Mr Hichilema must recognize the fact that as long as he maintains the prevailing economic chaos, foreign businesses will keep leaving this country, whilst he keeps chasing foreign investors with little or no results at all.
We call upon Mr Hichilema to immediately sit down and fix the economy, after all he told us that ‘Bally will fix it!’ This is the only way this country will be more attractive for foreign investment. He need to identify with the people and their challenges.
Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party