Hichilema´s government under fire for growing poverty in Zambia from the most powerful Church in the country.
19.04.22 Lusaka
…. Archbishop Alick Banda calls Hichilema´s bluff
In a move unprecedented, the most high Reverend and Archbishop of Lusaka Catholic Church, the largest religion group in Zambia has called the Hakainde Hichilema administration to question over various governance issue’s including the spiralling high cost of living in the dirt poor southern African country.
The highly revered Archbishop who rarely takes political shots started with lamenting that diseases such as cholera that had been eradicated under the former administration of President Edgar Lungu had returned including a grave shortage of medicine in hospitals.
“The lack of medicine (in Zambian hospitals) the unfulfilled promises and now the forgotten cholera has resurfaced,” said the Reverend Archbishop I an Easter sermon, “at the same time we pride in officiating projects which we never started without shame and without acknowledging the very people we vilify.”
The Archbishop also advised the government subtly to help build local investors to grow the economy instead of “worshiping” or “favouring” foreign investors whose sole purpose is to make profits and take them back to their foreign headquarters.
Archbishop Banda believes Zambian investors if given a chance to grow could build the country, reduce poverty and create more jobs than foreigners.
“our country my dear brothers ad friends will not be developed by investors, they are businessmen with the sole purpose of maximising profits and minimising coststhey will always go where business profits seem to favour them (like Zambia under HH),” said Archbishop Banda.
The most revered Reverend also lamented at the fact that instead of increasing or finding better ways for the Hichilema government to maximise gains over increasing copper prices peaking at about US$10, 000 per tonne now, the government has instead decided to give the foreign companies tax breaks.
In his dismay, the Reverend Archbishop said, “tax holidays for investors are a danger to our economy. That money (from tax holidays such as mineral royalties) could have been applied to subsidise our economy.”
The Archbishop Dr Banda said it made no economic sense to subsidise foreign companies at the expense of locals.
“I wonder why the double standards (favouring foreign companies at the expense of locals)we are quick to subsidise local companies instead of our own citizens.”
Archbishop Banda said probably the worst case economic case scenario in Zambia os the costant decision by the government to give contracts to foreign companies instead of local companies.
Recently, Emmanuel Mwamba, the former Ambassador of Zambia to the Africa Union filed an official complaint to the Anti-Corruption Commission against ZESCO, the insolvent power company that has given contracts to supply poles to Zimbabwean and South African companies that can be supplied by Zambian companies.
Fuel prices, fertiliser, mealie meal, cooking prices have shot through the roof in Zambia since Hichilema took office last August.
Many Zambians are now wondering whether voting out President Edgar Lungu was a good political idea ggiven the unfulfilled promises the Archibishop referred to.
As the leader of the largest religion group that has played a crucial role in Zambia, Archbishop rarely makes public statements about the state of the economy or politics.
According to the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) that compiles monthly statistics on the cost of living, a family of six in Zambia now needs about K9000 per month (500) to survive on basic food needs while the basic wages for Zambians is about K5000.
President Hichilema during his campaign promised to reduce the prices of fuel, mealie meal, electricity and everything else. The promise has not been kept and many Zambians are angry as demonstrated by the Archbishop Banda.
Below is the video clip of Archbishop Banda´s concerns. Source: Catholic Church of Zambia.