UPND slow in resolving critical issues – Sikaile
By Fanny Kalonda
ACTIVIST Sikaile Sikaile says UPND is slow in resolving some critical issues noting that “this affects their overall performance”.
He says updating the nation on important matters should not be a job of the President alone.
“It is now over 18 months since the UPND government began. The change of government in 2021 was a prayer answered by many civil servants who got dismissed on tribal line by the PF. We all saw how senior government officials under the PF preached tribalism in these institutions which ended up to be a nightmare for those who acted in a professional manner,” Sikaile said in a statement. “Those they suspected to be their enemies they flashed them out of the system. The UPND whilst in opposition assured these civil servants that they would be reinstated immediately but majority are still struggling in abject poverty today.”
He said the UPND needs to explain isssues to the public.
“The government should up its communication with the general public. Updating the nation on important matters shouldn’t be a job of the President alone no. Let all streams of the government establish effective communication system to inform the general public regularly of what is going on in their ministries and other parastatal departments. Failure to do so the general public will be feeding on propaganda all the time,” he warned. “Whenever there is an effective communication misinformation is avoided. We appreciate them for controlling thuggery in markets and bus stations. Because at the level things were moving under PF we could have had a minister of defence or home affairs from those thugs who nicknamed themselves as commanders and ‘Americans’.”
Sikaile recalled cadres threatening civil servants in offices.
“Other cases include the Sesheke case that involved three senior officers. One died and one was recalled. The other, assistant superintendent Boniface Lengwe case is not yet determined to date. Boniface Lengwe case is very interesting. He was the man who led the charge on PF cadres in Sesheke. We all know how the Sesheke [violence] was diffused by these professional officers and without their intervention lives were going to be lost including that of the current President Mr Hakainde [Hichilema],” said Sikaile. “The truth of this matter is in the court arguments presented by the two who went to court. We have a lot of civil servants from different ministries who got affected but there is no clear roadmap to have these cases resolved. The government was supposed to appoint an independent board to look into these cases for fair verdict. We will be very grateful to hear the government’s position and progress in this new year as the President promised us that this year it is a year of doing things right.”