JACK Kalala says the suffering of the Zambian people does not bother President Edgar Lungu and is never discussed in the PF Cabinet meeting.
Responding to President Lungu’s claim that people are living well, Kalala said the “regrettable statement” demonstrates that the President and his ministers are totally oblivious of the sad reality prevailing in the country.
He said President Lungu’s utterances go to show that the people’s hard life is not on the PF government’s menu.
“When commissioning one of the humps being heaped on some of the Lusaka roads, President Lungu is reported to have claimed that there’s money in the economy and people are living well. Of course President Lungu, his ministers and their surrogates are living well and opulently,” Kalala noted. “They have everything they need in life. They think everyone else in the country is living like them. Regrettably, it is not the case. People are suffering. The cost of living is extremely high. People are struggling to survive and there are no jobs and other opportunities for them.”
He said the Head of State does not give a damn as long as he is eating and living well.
Kalala lamented that President Lungu does not care when people are going hungry as long as his stomach is full and the next meals are granted.
“He does not care that there are no medicines and other requisites in hospitals as long as his health is taken care of. He does not care that many youths are roaming the streets without jobs; their welfare does not concern him. Instead, he uses them as tools of brutality against his political opponents,” he said.
Kalala noted that because the State provides everything for him, President Lungu has become insensitive to the needs of the people.
He said when President Lungu is reminded that people are suffering and hurting, he gets upset instead of becoming concerned.
Kalala insisted that President Lungu is a wrong person to be a national leader.
“He has no heart for the people. Their suffering means nothing to him. Of late President Lungu has been making statements showing that he has no concern for the socio-economic plight of the citizens. The majority of Zambians, especially those in urban areas, can hardly afford a decent meal a day. The cost of living is extremely high. The inflation has increased to more than 22 per cent; the kwacha has depreciated to K23 to one dollar. Prices of goods have skyrocketed. These and other factors have negatively impacted on the quality of life,” Kalala said. “The hospitals have no basic medicines, equipment and other requisites; people are dying in large numbers of treatable diseases. Many people are jobless and without means of survival. It is inconsiderate and insensitive for the President to make claims implying that all is well in the country.”
He said Zambia is a country of abundant resources but paradoxically its citizens are very poor because of inept and unscrupulous leaders like President Lungu and his surrogates.
Kalala said instead of working to develop the country for the common good and to improve the standard of living of citizens, greedy leaders have worked to enrich themselves and to fatten their bank accounts.
“With impunity they openly claim that they steal to live better tomorrow. They even have the audacity to go about flaunting bundles of money with impunity where millions are struggling to survive and can hardly afford basic needs in their homes,” he said.
Kalala lamented that millions of young people have finished school but are aimlessly roaming the streets without jobs.
He also noted that highly qualified young people have resorted to doing casual menial jobs with some of them turning themselves into street vendors to barely earn a living because the President and his cohort of ministers have failed to create an enabling environment for job creation.
“These young people cannot fulfil their life dreams and cannot contribute to the socio-economic development of their country because the PF leaders have failed to provide effective leadership. Zambia is suffering from a leadership crisis,” said Kalala.