Truth Must Be Told, Hon. Binwell Mpundu Has No Moral Authority to Preach About Fiscal Discipline

Truth Must Be Told, Hon. Binwell Mpundu Has No Moral Authority to Preach About Fiscal Discipline

By ; Tobbius Chilembo Hamunkoyo LLB, 07/07/25

Hon. Binwell Mpundu’s criticism of the UPND government’s fiscal policies is not only misleading but deeply hypocritical. It must be stated clearly that he was part of the previous PF government that brought the country into economic crisis through reckless borrowing, misuse of public funds, and poor financial planning.

He cannot now speak as though he was not involved in creating this economic mess. Truth be told, he has nothing new to offer the Zambian people. The UPND government inherited this crisis and is working tirelessly to fix it through legal and transparent processes.

When the UPND took office, Zambia was already in a debt default position because the PF government had borrowed excessively and failed to pay. This destroyed the country’s credibility with lenders and scared away investors.

The current government had to fight for debt restructuring under the G20 Common Framework, which was not an easy process. Through this restructuring, Zambia managed to push back payment deadlines and reduce the burden, creating space in the national budget for development. Without these efforts, there would be no room to build schools, pay retirees, or fund agriculture. The UPND government made the hard but necessary choices to restore order to public finance.

Hon. Mpundu’s silence during the PF era is deafening. He now complains about borrowing and taxes, yet he never raised his voice when PF carders were literally dancing on money in the streets, building mansions overnight, and looting public resources. Even former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu publicly declared, “ubomba mwibala alya mwibala, but he should not finish the seed”, which implied that those in power could eat from government resources as long as they left something behind.

This statement, made in the public domain, captured the culture of entitlement and abuse that thrived under PF leadership.

Now that the UPND government is trying to clean up that mess, Hon. Mpundu wants to pretend he is on the side of the people. But he fails to explain how public funds were used under PF, or how most of the borrowed money disappeared without any visible results. It is a notorious fact in public finance that when one government misuses borrowed funds, the next government suffers.

Debt repayments remain, projects stall, and ordinary people feel the pressure. This is the situation the UPND government is trying to recover from. It will take years of discipline and reform to cover the gap left behind.

On taxation, Hon. Mpundu is wrong to say that the poor are being punished. The taxes introduced in the supplementary budget are mostly on luxury items, like alcohol, cigarettes, and betting, which do not affect basic goods like mealie meal or medicine.

These taxes are also used worldwide as responsible ways to raise money and promote healthier lifestyles. More importantly, the revenue from these taxes is going into essential services like free education, teacher and health worker recruitment, social protection, and infrastructure development. The new Minimum Alternative Tax ensures big businesses pay their fair share.

On Mufumbwe, we must be careful not to politicize tragedy. The police were responding to illegal and dangerous mining activities, and although some lives were sadly lost, reports show that officers acted under lawful authority.

The Police Act allows for minimum force when public safety is under threat. Investigations are ongoing. Meanwhile, the government is working to formalize youth participation in mining through licensing, training, and cooperatives, unlike the lawless regime that empowered cadres to control mineral sites for political gain. Zambia needs honest leadership rooted in truth, not recycled blame and political drama