OUR BORROWING WAS BETTER, THERE WERE NO CONDITIONALITIES – FORMER PF SG MWILA
FORMER PF secretary general Davies Mwila says UPND should swallow their pride and tell citizens that there is no money in the country, hence incidences like drug shortages.
And Mwila says PF’s way of borrowing was better because theirs had no conditionalities attached.
Meanwhile, Mwila says vacancies at certain government institutions are because President Hakainde Hichilema is the only one who makes appointments and wants to run the country like his own business.
ZAMMSA Director General Billy Mweetwa recently admitted that there was a shortage of some drugs in certain health facilities, attributing this to poor supply by local suppliers.
Commenting on this in an interview, Mwila said the UPND should swallow their pride and tell Zambians that there was no money.
“My brother, my friend, they are not serious. They used to stand on an anti hill that we have shortages of drugs in hospitals, you remember? It was a song. Now look at what is prevailing now, there are no drugs in hospitals, they just have to swallow their pride and tell the Zambian people that there is no money. That is what they don’t want to tell the Zambian people because they promised too many things to the Zambian people. So for them to come out and say ‘ok guys, yes we promised you too many things but we can’t manage’ they are failing to do that,” he said.
“President Hakainde Hichilema and his lieutenants, they should come out and tell the Zambian people that there is no money, even when we were in government we didn’t have enough money. When we were borrowing they were laughing at us, we borrowed, we built the schools, we built the hospitals. All the recruitments that they are boasting about, it is because of the schools and the hospitals and the clinics that we built.”
Mwila wondered if the UPND government would build any road in its 5-year term.
And Mwila said PF’s way of borrowing was better.
“We also borrowed money and we worked on the roads. You ask them if really in their term of office, the five years, they will work on any road in Zambia. It’s now one year one month, ask them if they have even approved any tender [or] where they are working or tarring a road, nowhere. Kalabo-Sikongo, it’s still the same, Sioma-Shang’ombo it’s still the same. Livingstone-Sesheke it is still the way we left those roads, Musaila-Kasaba in Luapula it’s still the same, you go to Chama-Matumbo it’s the same, Chipata-Vubwi road, I can mention too many roads they are not going to manage to do any road in their five-year term because there is no enough money,” Mwila said.
“They used to laugh at us that we are borrowing, the money that is coming from IMF is it free or a loan? It’s a loan, and us we are better off because the money that we were borrowing there were no conditionalities. Them, the IMF money there are too many conditions. One, they have to remove subsidies on the tariffs and fuel- everything they have to remove subsidies. What that means is that there [will be] increases in commodities, fuel, everything will go up and it is the Zambian people who will pay the price. We have told the Zambian people that these are not serious people, these are liars, they have been lying, let them swallow their pride and tell the Zambian people that we lied to you, yes, let them calm down.”
Meanwhile, Mwila said vacancies at certain government institutions were because President Hichilema was the one who did everything.
“You know the reason? Everything is done by the President, ask the ministers they will tell you that even appointing the board members at ERB it’s the President who has to come up with the names. The ministers and the permanent secretaries propose the names to the President [that] these are the names we want then the President will say okay remove this one, okay let’s do this but then it’s not the ministers who are doing that it is the President himself. If they want to pay anyone maybe from Local Government, they [will] have to get instructions from State House. That’s where the problem is coming from, he wants to run the country like a farm or a shop or his own business, no! He has to delegate some of the works, that’s why we have the problem, they can’t appoint because they are waiting for the President,” said Mwila.
Credit: News Diggers