By Macphelsson Mutale
“When we pointed out that the systems had collapsed and the economy was dying, the same people who are crying the loudest today, insulted and mocked us.
The PF collapsed this country’s economy and made deliberate poor economic choices that only served their selfish interests.
The PF in their own Wisdom, because they were so desperate to win an election, they continued to sink this country into a deep and dark sinkhole that will take a long time for us to get out of.
When the global oil prices were going up and there was genuine need for a fuel price increase, the PF in collusion with the ERB board of the time, decided to play cheap politics and kick the cane down the road.
They decided to suspend VAT, Exercise Duty and even arm twisted the hands of the transporters to forego their transportation surcharge.
We have said time and again that the real price of fuel should have been above K26. The SADC region average price (without factoring in VAT and other taxes) is $1.1.
In Zimbabwe and South Africa petrol is going for $1.40 and $1.19 respectively while here in Zambia petrol has been trading at $0.98.
The cane that we have been kicking down the road has to be picked up. President HH and his team are biting the bullet and making a wise decision that we may not appreciate in the short term but is beneficial for the recovery of the economy.
Yes prices of commodities might go up, yes the cost of living in general might go up, but postponing the inevitable will only land us in bigger problems.
Consistently we have said that the mess that we had gotten our economy into, will take years to reverse. Even with the prudent policies of the UPND government won’t be a magic bullet.
It will take us another 8-10 years of steady policies to get back pre- PF growth rates averaging 7% per annum.
The 3 years of IMF will set a tone for our sustained economic recovery. The times will be tough, we need to be all disciplined and resilient, but I believe we will together pull through the storm.
We all need to embrace reality and start living the truth. Zambia currently owes fuel suppliers in excess of $400 million. If we continue on this trajectory, before long, we won’t even afford to bring in any fuel.
There is no better time to implement this increment than now. It will help us to get into the new year with straight priorities.
Only those who want to live a lie will blame the government for this move. The PF brought us here and left us stranded. It’s time to start rebuilding and this is one of the cornerstones of that rebuilding.
Maybe you need to ask yourself a question, had the PF won the elections, deep down your heart, do you think they were going to maintain the current fuel prices? The answer is a categorical NO.”