By Charles Tembo in Mpongwe
IT IS true that some people are crying that we have over-borrowed, says presidential affairs minister Freedom Sikazwe.
Sikazwe said President Edgar Lungu had donated a bus to Mpongwe Secondary School because pupils sang a song that praised his work.
He said the PF inherited a bad economy and poor infrastructure which forced the government to borrow.
Sikazwe said this in Mpongwe when he handed over the 72-seater bus on behalf of President Lungu to Mpongwe Boarding School on Wednesday.
“It was that song that the pupils sang. After the meeting I remained to listen to the song. That same song is what has produced the bus. The President said if these children can appreciate what this government has done then they mean well. When other parents cannot appreciate. We need to appreciate people when they are alive. I want to stand here as a proud member of the PF, proud member of the government and President Lungu. The man means well,” said Sikazwe. “… It is true that some people are crying that we have over-borrowed. There was pressure that we had as government to try and change things. We inherited a very bad economy because of the infrastructure. If we had maintained the same status quo of having the fears of borrowing, today this country would have been a mess.”
He said it was shocking that people were complaining that the government had over borrowed when they have seen what the borrowed money has been used for.
Sikazwe said the government has improved infrastructure in the country.
“A poor parent is that one who goes and borrows and misuses, but speaking of this government when we say we are borrowing to improve on the infrastructure…If a parent borrows to build a house, where is the problem?” Sikazwe asked.
He said Zambians should not be misled because President Lungu means well for the country.
“The last time the President heard the song that was done by the pupils, where they highlighted and appreciated the projects government had done, he was impressed and as a way of appreciating the pupils he procured a bus for them,” Sikazwe said.
And Copperbelt Province Minister Japhen Mwakalombe said President Lungu means well for the Zambian people.
Mwakalombe said this was why the people of Zambia should continue to give President Lungu a chance to govern the country beyond 2021.