By Daily Revelation Reporter
PF cadres have criticised Dr Brian Mushimba over the short notice given to people to prepare for the reopening of colleges and universities, with one of them calling the move stupid.
And one of the cadres, identified as Kalande, who party members have identified as one who was also involved in the production of campaign tshirts for President Edgar Lungu, has said there is growing discontent among Zambians over the government’s siding with the Chinese investors, exaggerated cost of public projects and the corruption tag associated with the PF.
Kalande also said the PF has made a lot of mistakes, but the UPND does not seem to have a strategy on how to take advantage of the ruling party’s sickness.
Several PF youths have criticised Higher Education minister Dr Brian Mushimba over the short notice given to the parents and students, within which to organise resources and report back to their campuses following the announcement that higher learning institutions would reopen on June 08, 2020. The PF cadres have taken to party blogs to vent their anger at several government mistakes, including the recent threat issued by Lusaka minister Bowman Lusambo to the artists who were expressing views on how to properly run the mining sector.
Following the announcement by Dr Mushimba yesterday, the cadres took to their blogs as usual, with Kalande issuing one of the most elaborate analysis over the matter. His views were posted in several blogs including one associated with Home Affairs minister Stephen Kampyongo’s “Shiwanga’ndu” blog.
Kalande wondered why the party was on a path of self destruction by always creating problems for itself.
“You open a university you give people two days to prepare. Some students are coming from very far places and when they go to universities, University of Zambia, Kwame Nkhrumah University or whatever it is they need transport money, others where they are coming from to go to the university they need more than K300,” Kalande said in the audio obtained by Daily Revelation. “There at the university where they are going there is the issue of preparing for food and also the issue of preparing for money for the boarding house and all those logistics, now which parent under the current economic state can manage to organize that within a day? At least even two weeks could have been better.”
You think every student is coming from a very rich family where the father or the mother is a minister and they have made so much cash. Is that honestly logical?”
Kalande said some students were sponsored by their brothers who are bus drivers, others by their mothers who are marketeer and some by well wishers, and even the Church.
“So this is what I say that I don’t know what type of confusion is this, and why we are behaving as if we are on a path of self destruction. I feel bad sometimes because we have suffered and struggled for this party. Most of the people who are making such irrational decisions they don’t really care,” Kalande said. “Takwabafye each and every time a decision is made we have to go pa social media to clarify, we have to go in blogs to be defending the stance of government. And we wish that job we do of defending, supporting whatever can be done by other people.”
Kalande said there came a time when people have to be realistic over the many mistakes those in government were making.
“For example on an issues like this one, in whose interest can a human rights and good governance activist support such a stupid move? How do you open a university and you give people one day honestly speaking? Is that good and realistic?” he asked.
Kalande said the PF had a huge task in 2021, going by how things were moving, plus analysing the previous election results where the opposition UPND seemed to be making steady progress with each election. He said all the UPND needed was to improve their electoral performance by five percent in Lusaka and the Copperbelt to cancel out the over 100,000 votes difference between President Lungu and Hakainde Hichilema in the last election.
“We have made a lot of mistakes Comrade and inchito naikula. People have started looking at their individual survival…like it happened with Rupiah Banda where some people were saying okay vote for me as MP but for the presidency I don’t know whom you will vote for. And we are few who care for the party, we have made a lot of mistakes we have big issues we have to address before the Zambian people,” Kalande said. “We have (1) growing discontent against some named foreign investors who are perceived as being protected and as the most supreme beings in Zambia than the Zambian people and the voters. We have issues to do with the corruption tag, we have issues to do with citizens discontent against cost exaggeration on public funded projects. We have issues to do with the mismanagement of the universities…high unemployment levels.”
Kalande wondered how he could convince his father who had been waiting for his pension for a long time after having worked at print government media, and three of his siblings, two of them pharmacist graduates from the Evelyn Hone College and a teacher, on why they should vote for the PF.
“So what message do I have at a family level to convince them first?” he asked.
He said the UPND did not have a message and strategy to take advantage of the PF mistakes, but people would vote the party out simply on account of its failures.
“People will merely be voting us out because we are proving not to solve the problems, because if you elect a leader to solve problems and a leader is not solving the problems it means the problem has become a leader and the leader has become a problem. So the work is big,” Kalande said. “I told you that even here on the Copperbelt the only UPND aspiring candidates in constituencies who are known is that lady in Kamfinsa (Kitwe), in Ndola they are less than maybe four and they are not even determined to unseat PF in most constituencies unless if they work with the NDC iyaka Kambwili which is very unlikely kaili the UPND balikwata yalya amano ayakulwila inama before tamulaikata (they like sharing spoils before a meal is prepared).”
He likened the UPND to two people who were about to catch an animal, but before they could catch it they start arguing over which part each one would eat once they have killed it, but in the process of arguing the animal ends up escaping.
“That’s the mentality of UPND they have no strategy and a very good campaign message. They can’t take advantage of that,” said Kalande, adding that PF members must be careful with those that came from the MMD as they would not be affected if the party were to lose an election. “I told you at that restaurant where we were with the minister, so be very careful.”