MUNDUBILE ADVISES BALLY TO SWALLOW THE “HUMBLE PIE, GO TO CHINA
….as he warns Zambians to prepare for harsh times ahead if the President fails to do so
Lusaka… Friday, February 17, 2023 (Smart Eagles)
Swallow the humble pie, go to China, PF presidential candidate Hon Brian Mundubile advises President Hakainde Hichilema amid the economic crisis the country is faced with.
Hon Mundubile has advised Zambians to brace themselves to harder economic challenges ahead if the Head of State fails to go to China.
The lawmaker said when he and other PF MPs addressed the media today at Parliament that government should have been very polite to China in the process of debt restructuring.
“So going forward, we want to advise the New Dawn Government that they swallow the humble pie, go to China, advise the President to go to China and confer with his counterpart so that we can get some debt restructuring and put our economy back on track, in the absence of which we should all prepare for a harsh economy, we should prepare for harsh times ahead,” he said.
“In this particular process of restructuring debt… they should have been very polite to China. Because China’s debt is about 30% of the total debt stock. And clearly, if they were any wiser, it was very important for them to engage more meaningfully with the Chinese government. The President has done over 30 trips; he has not yet gone to China. We wonder why our President of Zambia does not want to respect the fact that China is a very good friend of Zambia and we need China for our development.”
Hon Mundubile explained that China is an all-weather friend to Zambia.
He highlighted a number of projects that Zambia has been able to erect with the help of the Chinese government.
The lawmaker noted that there is panic in the Ministry of Finance, because they were hoping that by now, they would have restructured the debt.
“But we told them that China is an all-weather friend to us. From historical time, even at times when everybody else abandoned us, China came on board. It was very expensive for us to transport goods and services back in the days during the apartheid regime. China came on board and assisted us to construct the TAZARA Rail Line,” he said.
“Look around yourself, whether you’re driving to Kabwe you’re going to see this stadium, that was the help of the Chinese government. If you’re flying out of the country you’re going to see the beautiful airport. It was with the assistance of the Chinese government.”