Whoever wrote Hichilema’s parley speech is an enemy of Zambians says Mpundu

Whoever wrote Hichilema’s parley speech is an enemy of Zambians says Mpundu

DESPITE President Hakainde Hichilema announcing government’s short and long term solutions to end load shedding in his speech at parliament last Friday, Nkana Member of Parliament Binwell Mpundu says the energy issue was not tackled efficiently.

Reacting to the Presidential speech in the august house, Mpundu noted that whoever wrote the speech for President Hichilema is an enemy of the Zambian people.

He said the President did not give out solutions instead, only lamented over the cause of load shedding which is the drought.

Mpundu said during President Hichilema’s time in opposition,he gave Zambians all the solutions on load shedding and wondered where those solutions had gone.

“Whoever wrote that speech for the President is an enemy of the Zambian people. Had we allowed the President to speak as a man we have known over the years, a man who has presented himself with solutions, that speech would have been completely different.”

“Madam speaker, where I come from, we say, when an elephant dies the story in the village is that elephant. And the elephant in the room in as far as this country is concerned today is the energy crisis. If you look at this speech on page 10 and 11,  the President speaks to the energy crisis. Sadly, the President laments over the challenge of drought as being the reason over the challenge we have today.”

“The fact today is that the people in the communities are in despair. Contrary to the statement given by so many government officials that we are having 21 hours of load shedding,” lamented Mpundu.

He stated that there are communities that are going through five days without power and could not even do their businesses.

“If the government presented itself as promised they would have invested in power.
We should stop hiding in the name of drought and climate change as a reason for the energy crisis. It is the leadership that is wrong. How do you continue exporting 500 megawatts of power when your people are going for days without power, your companies are closing down, your small businesses are shutting down, patients are dying in hospitals but you are exporting power,” he said.

“Three years down the line, had the UPND been serious they would have invested in alternative sources of power like solar power plants that take only seven to 10 months to be constructed.”

By Catherine Pule

Kalemba, September 21, 2024