PF VP Lubinda gives HH advice on Zambia´s debt
…”we borrowed for production not consumption, get to work stop whining,” Lubinda tells HH.
25.10.21
Mr Given Lubinda, the Vice President of the main opposition party in Zambia, Patriotic Front of PF has scoffed at President Hakainde Hichilema´s desperate attempt to musk his inertia on economic development by blaming the former ruling party on how much it borrowed to develop Zambia.
Mr Lubinda, a respected former legislator and Minister was reacting to a statement the government issued to Bloomberg regarding the extent of the Zambian debt on 21st October which he said needed clarification to the international world and the locals too.
The statement issued by Mr Hichilema´s government provides nothing new about the debt stock that stands at about US$13 billion and yet the Hichilema government makes it appear as if the debt was reckless and yet not according to Mr Lubinda.
“Mr Hichilema as a President of Zambia needs to be reminded yet again that the debt or the money we borrowed went into good use and Mr Hichilema must be grateful about it and not be glib, as the investment of the debt gives him a head start, said Mr Lubinda.
He said the PF government under President Lungu borrowed money for the following, among many others:
• To build 8 public universities in various provinces
• To build 650 health posts (490 done to date) that are reducing mortality and maternal deaths in Zambia today
. To build 14, 000 class rooms
• To build 8000 kms of roads around the country in order to make communication and business efficient
• To erect communication towers which actually enabled Mr HH to communicate with the youth and win him a one term election
• To increase electricity generation capacity and supply from a meagre 1,700 MW in 2011 when we took over from MMD to 3250 MW when we left office in August 2021
• To increase agriculture capacity through programmes such as FSIP in order to enhance food security
• To build international airports that make Zambia a hub for regional and continental trade
• Zambia now has three medical universities because of the PF
. To build specialist and ultra modern general hospitals in districts that hitherto did not have rural health centers
. To build maize sheds across the country and ended the perennial wastage of crop due to rain, which has happened this year after 10 years
Mr Lubinda said President Hichilema should be grateful that he is starting off on a sound footing of good infrastructure which he must build on instead of crying every day as though he is still in the opposition.
“We borrowed for production, we did not borrow for consumption and Mr Hichilema must stop trying to get local and international pity via a bad debt campaign, he is looking cheap and desperate and yet his problems are just beginning,” said Mr Lubinda.
The PF VP said, “whether he (Hichilema) likes it or not, we are bouncing back in office in 2026 because Mr Hichilema and his people will not live up to their “over promising”. We are coming back and we will win, just watch this space.”
Mr Lubinda urged President Hichilema to “Stop blaming and start working.”
Farmers are waiting for 12 bags of fertiliser today and at the price of K250, where is Mr Hichilema?
• The 2020 to 2021 bumper harvest is rotting where is Mr Hichilema?
• The 2.8 million are still waiting on him regarding his numerous campaign promises. It is time for him to show them what he can do. Need he be reminded that the people did not vote for him to use state resources and state authority to demonize the previous government, they voted for him because he made them believe that he had a better agenda than the other parties for Zambia. The sooner he got down to delivering on his promises the better.
ISSUED BY HON: GIVEN LUBINDA, VP of the Patriotic Front of Zambia.