LUSAKA, Tuesday, 12th April, 2022
It is shocking to see the whole Republican President and his entire government machinery move all the way from Lusaka to Northern Province at a huge cost to the national treasury just to go and campaign for a simple WARD by-election at a time when our people are going through tremendous economic challenges, and at a time when government has literally got no money to waste on such unnecessary trips.
Mr Hichilema promised the people of Zambia that once elected, he would not be wasting their hard earned taxpayers’ money on unnecessary expenditure such as the trip he is undertaking today but like he has reneged on most of his campaign promises, he has continued to recklessly deplete the national coffers on his unproductive voyages and adventures with no any sense of concern or care for the suffering masses.
The entire Government and its machinery has shifted to a tiny ward of Lukutu which has less than 1700 registered voters at the expense of poor Zambian taxpayers. There are 4 helicopters, over 50 government vehicles, numerous Cabinet Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, District Commissioners and countless Senior Government officials that have gone and are camping in Lukutu. They are wasting man-hours campaigning for UPND in Lukutu Ward while amassing hefty allowances and other incentives at the expense of poor taxpayers who are suffering and are in dire need of some breathing space from the prevailing excruciating economic challenges.
Why is Mr. Hichilema wasting taxpayers’ money on such unnecessary trips; does the man care that there are no medicines in the hospitals; does he even know that the majority of the people in Lukutu Ward who depend on farming have not received fertiliser from his failed Government; why can’t he use the huge amounts of public resources that he is wasting on electioneering and campaigning to uplift the lives of the people of Lukutu by giving them agro-inputs?
Contrary to the electoral code of conduct, the UPND are using and abusing government resources campaigning in the Lukutu Ward. They have flooded the ward with lots of government vehicles which they are disguising as personal motor vehicles by removing or hiding the number plates. This behaviour is criminal and must be stopped forthwith. These are the same things that the UPND were accusing the PF of doing yet they are the worst culprits.
We have observed a number of government trucks heading to Lukutu, it seems the President has finally opted to give the great people of Lukutu the fertiliser which his government has up to now failed to deliver. One can only wonder, of what use will that fertiliser be, looking at the fact that farming season has already come to a close.
Last February when Mr Hichilema realised that they were losing the by-election in Kabwata Constituency, they quickly duped the voters by reducing fuel prices by K1; we hope that he will do the same by reducing the price of fuel by atleast K4 so that the people of Lukutu in particular and the people of Zambia in general may atleast get some relief and breathing space from the escalating prices of goods and services and the crushing high cost of living they are currently burdened with.
For us as PF, we are happy to note that Mr. Hichilema has realised that the UPND have lost popularity and they cannot win even a simple WARD election without the heavy involvement of the President, his entire cabinet and the entire state machinery getting heavily involved. This is clearly a show of no-confidence. The UPND are fully aware that things on the ground are bad; the economy has collapsed, people have no money, the cost of living is escalating, the prices of essential goods and services are beyond the reach of many Zambians and the jobs they promised the youths are nowhere to be found.
This is a government in crisis; they have no economic plan and they are failing to provide any direction or hope on how they will solve the many challenges our people are facing. They are panicking, hence these desperate manoeuvres by the President to spend so much time and waste so much money and human resource going to campaign in a simple Ward election.
We want to remind President Hichilema that his primary and only objective should be to help provide solutions to the numerous socio-economic problems facing our people. This is not the time for cheap politics and blame-games; our people are under so much economic stress and they need a government that can give them hope and economic direction not a government that is hellbent at killing multi-party democracy and turning the country into a defacto one-party state. So Mr. President stop these wasteful expenditures and focus on delivering your campaign promises.
Issued by
Hon. Nickson Chilangwa, MP, MCC, AIH
Acting Secretary General
Patriotic Front
Acting