STOP BLAMING PF, SP TELLS UPND

STOP BLAMING PF, SP TELLS UPND

…the ruling party has the mandate to deliver on its promises and improve people’s lives says Dr Cosmas Musumali

KITWE, Monday, November 27, 2023 —— THE UPND government should stop blaming the Patriotic Front (PF) for its failure to deliver on its promises but should instead own up and take responsibility for the harsh economic times they have subjected Zambians to.

Socialist Party (SP) General Secretary Cosmas Musumali said it is absurd for the UPND government to continue using the PF as a scapegoat for its own failures, adding that the ruling party should go and tell Zambians that it underestimated the governance challenges.

“When the UPND and President Hakainde Hichilema formed government, they blamed the PF for all sorts of things. Yes, they had a good scapegoat, but two years down the line, they cannot continue using the PF as its scapegoat,” Dr Musumali said.

He observed that there is growing anger and frustration among Zambians because of the economic miseries they have been subjected to with no hope that things would be better, cheaper and easier as was promised by the UPND in opposition.

“In fact, the more they use the PF as their scapegoat, the more ridiculous they sound and the more they make Zambians angry,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Musumali said Zambians had lost hope in the UPND government because it had proved to be a clueless, arrogant and without empathy while corruption scandals were increasing among senior and high-ranking government and party officials.

He said at a press briefing in kitchen that the poverty and hunger, which had resulted into increasing smuggling which has seen the Zambia National Service (ZNS) kill innocent people on suspicion that they were smugglers.

And Dr Musumali said the chaotic macroeconomics was a manmade problem which should be blamed on the UPND government and its leadership and not on the PF that left office more than two years ago.

“People are not happy with the UPND government. I can tell you that there is growing, discontent, anger and frustration among Zambians because of the chaotic macroeconomics and also the corruption in the distribution.

“From the beginning, we told the UPND government to stop dealing with corrupt fertiliser companies but they have continued. Corruption in the procurement of fertiliser has led to the culture of farmers sharing inputs in now the famous medas (tins). How do you expect a farmer to produce a bumper harvest from a meda?

“The incidents where the Zambia Defence Forces have clashed with smugglers resulting into people’s lives being lost is not good” Dr Musumali said.

He said it was sad that President Hakainde Hichilema had been quiet amidst of such unfortunate developments.

The SP GS and First Vice-President has told Government to call for an indaba to share ideas on how the debt restructuring process can be addressed in order to improve the economy of the country.

Dr Musumali said the government should consider dialoguing with opposition political parties and other stakeholders so see how best the debt restructuring agenda could amicably be resolved for the betterment of the country.
[ Daily Nation Zambia]