I SYMPATHIZE WITH BROTHER HH- Saviour Chishimba

I SYMPATHIZE WITH BROTHER HH

Sir, running the country is not the same as running a company. President Donald J. Trump learnt this the hard way. In his first term, he appointed billionaire CEOs of big corporations and he thought that since they were successful they would bring success to the USA. Not all the rich get riches honestly and through hard work. This cost Trump a second term. In his current term, Trump has appointed people who are loyal to him and his vision. Look at how he is delivering on the promises. Don’t mind his actions against illegal immigrants, withdrawal from WHO, closure of USAID, etc because all these are part of what he promised.

I have not been president of Zambia before, but it took me one month as MP to discover how rigged the government system was and 3 years later I resigned and it was exactly 3 weeks before MPs and ministers were due for midterm gratuities. I resigned in protest and solidarity with the suffering masses who objected to huge gratuities.

President Levy Mwanawasa Z”L was also so frustrated in government that he quit as Vice President. When he had a miraculous chance to become president in the last minute, against all odds, he wisely used power to work for nobody, but for Zambians. With Peter Magande Z”L as Finance Minister, our country introduced the windfall tax on minerals, among other measures and money was circulating in the household economies. The New Deal Administration was very swift in parting company with non-performing ministers.

President Hakainde Hichilema must know that there are some people who only focus on eating in government. Therefore, the best he can do is to meritoriously appoint to key government positions people who are loyal to his party with a clear understanding of the party manifesto. He needs men and women who would like UPND to perform to the praise of Zambians as the only sure way to succeed. When Zambia succeeds we all succeed. The real faces of the UPND are not anywhere near the corridors of power. The people who helped the UPND to win the elections are now street vendors.

The real PF, forget about the eater Chabinga, are very shrewd and experienced politicians and they still have huge resources they  looted from government. The UPND in government let a lot of looters free in the first two years and they got entrenched. Any court cases against them are now viewed as political persecution. Why? The UPND went to sleep when it mattered most. If I were President, I would have handled the PF looters differently (I am not referring to ordinary PF members). My actions against them would have been swift and on day one! UPP gathered a lot of evidence under the #BringBackOurMoney! anti corruption crusade.

A CEO of a company is satisfied when managers present reports of the targets that have been met like growth in market share. This is not necessarily the case with state management. As a young MP, I was very close to President FTJ Chiluba Z”L, who at the time was going through trial. I saw what he went through firsthand and sometimes I gave him money for food (ask Emmanuel Mwamba) – all his accounts were seized. I learned a lot from him, especially on what not to do as President. He said that the President must call people on the ground to verify intelligence reports on his table. He hinted that as President, he would call people from the wards to get the real issues on the ground.

Mr. President, don’t measure your success by how the international community praises you or by macro-economic indicators only. Measure your success by trickle down effects – household economies. Families are not balancing the budgets, the purchasing power of the kwacha has decreased, money is not circulating in Main Street, small businesses are struggling, unemployment is rising, the cost of food is rising, rentals are rising, taxes are high, etc.

The dynamics on the ground have changed. Bye elections are not measures of strength. In 2006, PF appeared insignificant, but results spoke for themselves and the UPND was displaced as the biggest opposition party then.

Saviour Chishimba
President
UPP