I’M SEEING A REVOLT… HH you talk too much, little action on ground – Musenge
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone
WHAT I am seeing is a revolt against the current government, says former CopperbProvince minister Mwenya Musenge.
He says the UPND’s loss in the Luangwa council chairperson by-election to opposition PF is the first tip of the iceberg adding that even in Kabushi and Kwacha they can’t win.
He noted that the UPND was slowly taking the path of the PF of not listerning to people’s concerns.
Musenge told The Mast that the vote against the UPND in Luangwa was a protest vote for what he termed poor governce systems.
“The people are sending out a protest message. Sir ba HH you talk too much but there is little action on the ground. The expectations of the general population is not there. The poverty levels are unprecedented. People are now sleeping on empty stomachs Majority of our people are not dying out of disease but hunger. Unemployment levels are unprecedented. The US $1.3 billion IMF deal is nothing but political talk which has no basis in terms of cushioning the suffering of our people in the country. As long as they cannot provide food, shelter and health for the people, there is no way they can help the government,” he said. “There is a total mess in the governance system of our country and the sooner the commander, the captain of the ship, takes charge the better. Our friends have lost the Luangwa by-election, and for me the first tip of an iceberg is recorded in Luangwa. Even here on the Copperbelt they cannot win in Kabushi and Kwacha. Not that Bowman Lusambo and Joe Malanji are popular, no! It is not only on the Copperbelt but the entire country. Even where they claim to be popular, in even where Mweetwa (Cornelius) is from, the people are sending out a protest message. What I am seeing is a revolt against the current government.”
Musenge said the gap between the rich and the poor was widening each day.
He said despite that the UPND lost to the PF in Luangwa, Zambians did not want to go back to the former ruling party.
“But they are merely sending warning shots. For me personally as Mwenya Musenge as much as one might say that PF is a better devil than the angel you have never lived with, for me I would rather go for the angel than the devil. So for me PF is not an option. But some of his (President Hakainde Hichilema) ministers have gotten big-headed. They think they have arrived. People like Mweetwa who always wants to respond to issues without first reading through. That is what PF used to do. They had a lot of vuvuzela’s in the forefront showering praises on Edgar Lungu. Telling him lies not knowing that the people had left them a long time. Where are they today?” he asked. “As for UPND they are lucky that these warning messages are coming in just a year and in that peoriod they cannot destroy as much as the PF did. But things are at there lowest in the country. But they (UPND) need to come up with a strategy to reach out to the most vulnerable.”
However, Musenge said the fight against corruption embarked on by the UPND should not be stopped.
“We need to arrest bakabolala (thieves) and end corruption,” urged Musenge.