IT WILL END IN TEARS COME 2026- KALABA WARNS UPND

IT WILL END IN TEARS COME 2026- KALABA WARNS UPND

…says the Current Administration is very corrupt

Lusaka… Tuesday, December 5, 2023 (Smart Eagles)

Citizens First President Harry Kalaba has accused the ruling UPND of not being willing to embrace Democracy in the bid to project itself as the Most popular Party.

Hon Kalaba has cited the recently held ward by-elections as the case in point.

He said incidences of vote buying, distribution of mealie meal are so high during the elections and the UPND keeps on breaking the electoral code of conduct with impunity.

“This will surely end in tears in 2026. But for those who are involved in electoral violence and supporting such, there are videos being kept and your of reckoning is fast approaching,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hon Kalaba has charged that the UPND Government is very Corrupt as he questioned the awarding of compensations to Individuals alleged to be connected to the ruling party.

He said it is gratifying that the donor community has started noting grey areas in the UPND administration.

He said the ugly hand of corruption has resurfaced and manifested itself in the area of Consent Judgements that are today being used as a means of syphoning money from government, more so at a time when the country is faced with serious challenges in meeting the basic needs of the citizens.

“This government has decided to reward its cadres through consent judgements but failed to repair CTC Scan and X-ray equipment in hospitals. They have been rewarding each other with millions of Kwachas while they are giving fertilizer and inputs in medas to be shared among 4 or 5 farmers. This economist is busy rewarding his friends through Consent Judgements but people are dying because they are no drugs in the hospitals,” he said.

The Opposition Leader also raised red flags in the handling of the Mukula tree.

“One of the biggest challenges that was raised in the nation under the previous government was around the Mukula tree. The question is why has the handling of Mukula been given to ZNS under the UPND as opposed to ZAFFICO whose mandate is to deal with forestry? Why is it that the same ZNS has been given to handle multi billion dollar road projects and yet, owing to the fact that the ZNS is under the defense, this institution is never audited? How can a President who believes in transparency be making significant investments in an institution that cannot be audited, “he said.

And Hon Kalaba has tasked the UPND leadership to explain why ZCCM-IH has been compelled to sell out its 20% shareholding in one of the most profitable mining houses in the country and yet maintain its positions in loss making ones.

He also spoke strongly against the trend of awarding business opportunities to Close associates of those in power even when their pricing is higher than the market rate.

“How do you justify the procurement of drugs from Egypt at the value of USD24m without following the procurement procedure? It is clear that ZAMSA and ZAMRA had dropped the ball in that procurement and following our Joint Press Briefing on 16th November, 2023 when we made that revelation and anomaly in the procurement of drugs, we saw ACC swing into action at ZAMRA and 5 people being dismissed and 30 placed on suspension at ZAMSA.” he said.

Regarding the debt situation, Hon Kalaba has requested that the Minister of Finance issues a statement and advises the nation what the status of the Bond holders is and what the available options are for Zambia owing to the standoff with bondholders.

“We would also like to request that the Minister advises the nation on the country’s total debt position and what percentage of GDP that is. In the same spirit, we would like to know how many local contractors government has paid since the UPND took over and what proportion of that debt is represented in the nation’s total debt stock? It is our understanding that the debt owed to local contractors is being serviced based on patronage and that most contractors have actually lost money as they have been paying some known members of the UPND in order for them to facilitate release of payments from Treasury,” he said.