UPND HAS DENTED ZAMBIA’S REPUTATION….they didn’t come to fix the economy, they came to loot says Dr M’membe

UPND HAS DENTED ZAMBIA’S REPUTATION

….they didn’t come to fix the economy, they came to loot says Dr M’membe

Lusaka… Wednesday May 21, 2025 – Socialist Party (SP) President Dr Fred M’membe says the UPND administration has dented Zambia’s reputation for stealing money and drugs meant for the people.

Dr. M’membe says the UPND did not come to fix the economy but that they came to loot public resources.

Speaking when he featured on the ‘Socialist Hour’ on Hot FM Radio in Lusaka today, Dr. M’membe said Zambia is a country which records budget deficits and relies on donor funding to bridge the gap.

“It is embarrassing, it is a dent on the country’s reputation. The whole world knows that in Zambia they can steal drugs, steal money meant for drugs and let their people die. This is the country where every year it has a budget deficit and that deficit has to be plugged by donors or corporating partners. You go and steal money that is meant to save lives of your people, you send people to early graves because of your corruption and call yourselves leaders? What cruelty can be more than that,” he questioned.

“How can a human being who claims to be a leader do such a thing? They have been stealing money meant for the health services of our people for the last four years. The death rate is growing. Today every village or compound you go to, there is a funeral. It’s very difficult these days to spend a week without attending a funeral. You have a funeral to attend to every day. The reason is poor provision of heath care to our people.”

The SP leader further disclosed that the same people in power can manage to fly their relatives and friends out of the country for treatment whilst majority of our people can’t afford.

“But the same people who are stealing that money are in a position to fly to other countries to seek medical attention. Their friends and relatives they send them away to places like India and South Africa. Yet the majority of our people are dying. They have no access to simple medicines, they have stolen them. It is not the opposition saying they are thieves, it’s people who helped them come to power are the ones saying they can’t give them more money because they are thieves. And they say they came to fight corruption, what corruption are they fighting. Instead of corruption reducing, it has multiplied. And the other thing that has multiplied it’s excuses, everyday they have got excuses. They didn’t come to fix Zambia, they came to loot and loot with a much cleaner accent,” he added.

“They have showed you graphs and PowerPoints but beyond that how have the lives of our people changed? They can’t even declare what they own because they are dealing with the government and channeling the resources to their businesses. Today they are literally trying to own everything. Whenever you see them interested in any business activities, know that they have an interest in it. All what you need to know is go and check who is running the company and the accounts department.”

Speaking at the same Programme, UKA Chairperson Sakwiba Sikota said carderism is back in markets and bus stations.

“They (UPND) have been claiming that cadres are no longer an issue, if you go to the market you will be told by marketeers that cadres are back, if you go to the bus stations, it’s the same thing. You didn’t see the UPND flags which are flying everywhere in markets and bus stations. The UPND have bought new materials just after introducing the new bank notes. Even at courts, they are deploying cadres. Just recently, they brought cadres at court when we were there,” he said.