If you slacken, we’ll be just a one-term govt – Nalumango
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone
IF you slacken we will be just a one-term government, Vice-President Mutale Nalumango has warned UPND members.
And Vice-President Nalumango says the PF is dead and buried and what is being seen are just ghosts.
Addressing Kazungula and Livingstone UPND district, constituency and Southern Province officials at Livingstone Lodge on Wednesday, Vice-President Nalumango advised ministers to hold meetings with UPND members to explain their ministries’ programmes every time they were on national duties countrywide.
“You (ministers) may do all your business in the day, in the night you may have to sit and say how are you? When we meet with these colleagues, it is not about money. It is about information. Information is power because when we come back in 2026, if we leave these guys behind, tukasanga ifibolya (we will find ruins). Matongo buya (only ruins), there will be no people and therefore we will pass through matongo to go and bury ourselves. It is important colleagues that we always interact,” she said.
“We have an agenda to develop this country and ministers must be seen to explain programmes. Give information whether in the night, people will appreciate and say Boma (government). How can you be Boma without information? Let’s interact because these (UPND members) are the gatekeepers. I just came to have interactions and just to encourage our ministers because I can’t just pass without thanking you. If you slacken, we will be one term. Would you want to be one term? You are the ones with Boma, so keep your Boma. Let’s work together because President [Hakainde] Hichilema is a man of conviction. He is a man of dreams, a man of love for this country. I am excited to serve under a man like him. Let us give him an opportunity and you will not be embarrassed. You will be shocked what will happen in this country including the debt burden. It is not a big issue. God will help us.”
Vice-President Nalumango however, noted that some ministers were avoiding meeting UPND members because of what she termed a “PF problem of dishing out money”.
She added that the UPND administration was not deviating from its campaign promises.
Vice-President Nalumango said the UPND as per its name intends to unite the nation.
“This is what we are, that is what the PF fought left and right. They were not ashamed to divide this country. Let me say as we are uniting this country, we must know that President Hichilema is President of this entire country. Look around, where have you seen someone being beaten by over one million votes? This is the first time and in 2026 they should not dare challenge him [Hichilema] because he will really win,” she said.
“Do you know he won in most provinces? Do you know that he won in Northern Province where I come from? They may have MPs but Hichilema got the votes…I wonder what those, I won’t mention names, how they are feeling because for them they would do a road in one province and
not a single road in another. Is that leadership? But HH says CDF, everybody. We must be proud of this man. The son of the soil and he is showing it. He is a leader and a leader is never selfish. Immediately you start seeing traits of selfishness then you must say this person is in a wrong place. It is selfishness that made our friends in the previous regime amass a lot of wealth [at the expense of] the Zambian people. A
leader who is selfish, who steals from his own people, is not worthy the salt.”
Vice-President Nalumango added: “these (PF) let them go mwee. Twafuma kumanda mukushika PF we mwana (We are from the grave to bury PF)”.
“Those are gone. When you are buried, that is the end. Wherever they show themselves, people must run away because they are ghosts. The leadership of PF brought misery to this nation. It brought misery to people in this country,” she said.
Vice-President Nalumango informed the UPND members that there was nothing sinister with the procurement of fertiliser and that AlfaCommodities had made corrections to what was wrong on fuel, she said it was better to subsidise on food than fuel as the majority don’t drive.
As for cadres seeking jobs Vice-PresidentNalumango agreed that UPND members did sacrifice a lot for the nation but was quick to add that President Hichilema was very careful on selection of people.
“Nchito ibwela (jobs are coming),” she said as UPND officials clapped prompting her to say:
“Don’t clap before you un-clap me.”
“Yes, we all need jobs. It is not white collar jobs that we all want. Some of you thought we will fire all the policemen and you become policemen, especially that they were beating us. Some of you thought we would fire teachers because they were campaigning for PF and you would become policemen and teachers who are not trained and directors who know nothing. Can we run a country like that? Jobs are there both in the informal and formal sectors,” said Vice-President Nalumango while advising youths not to opt for white collar jobs but engage into entrepreneurships.
Southern Province UPND chairman Billiard Makwembo said Vice-President Nalumango deserved the portfolio because she was always there when others baka lukanka (ran away) when President Hichilema was in trouble with the PF regime.
He told Vice-President Nalumango that the UPND would be in leadership beyond 2026.
“We did not know that there was money in this country that is why we now have free education. These people (PF) really plundered,” said Makwembo.
Southern Province minister Cornelius Mweetwa said Zambians were very happy with the state of affairs in the country.