SOCIALIST PARTY (ZAMBIA) PRESS STATEMENT
Dear friends from the media, the Fourth Estate, as the year 2022 comes to a close, we have called you so that through you we can update the Zambian people about the progress our party has been making. Some people may wonder why we wish to give the Zambian public a kind of progress report instead of giving it only to our members, who are interested parties.
Our response is simple. The Socialist Party Zambia is a movement by the people and for the people. It is a people party. It was formed for the people of Zambia as an alternative government, a government in waiting inspired by socialist values of equity, honesty, humility, and solidarity. As an alternative government, the Socialist Party Zambia and all opposition political parties are expected to champion the public good of providing checks and balances. This entails promoting transparency and accountability in the conduct of public affairs.
Against this background, it is clear that Zambians are major stakeholders in political parties, and the Socialist Party Zambia, to be specific. This is not only because the existence of opposition political parties makes multiparty democracy work in Zambia, but because we are major players in the governance system in terms of keeping the government and state institutions in check.
We therefore wish to report that the Socialist Party Zambia under the leadership of Comrade Dr Fred M’membe has made tremendous progress in growing the membership base. The party has been implementing a robust programme of membership mobilisation throughout the country with a lot of attention paid to recruitment and the training of leaders at various levels. The party has been well received and we believe that come the end of 2023, the party will have been transformed into a formidable political force.
The Socialist Party Zambia has been participating in by-elections in a manner that has sent a clear signal that we deserve to be taken seriously. This is despite the hostile political environment during the by-elections that we have experienced and witnessed so far.
Zambians have seen for themselves the violence and manipulation that the ruling United Party for National Development, UPND, has sponsored and encouraged. Our party has been a victim of this violence, intimidation and manipulation by the UPND, the worst been the attack on our campaign centre in Luangwa. Our vehicles were badly damaged and our innocent members locked up by the police for more than six days without charge.
As Dr Fred M’membe has repeatedly said, we love our country and we want it to succeed, with or without us. Despite all the challenges and violence directed at us, our party has not relented and we will never relent. We have a duty to ourselves and our country to make it a better place. We will continue to participate in by-elections and to play our role of providing checks and balances and speaking for the Zambian people.
We have alerted Zambians about the self-serving laws of Mr Hichilema’s government, such as the Securities (Amendment) Bill No.23 of 2022. We have also condemned the sacrificing of Zambia’s independence and sovereignty in exchange for selfish commercial interests by those in government who have chosen to hire themselves out as puppets of foreign powers and interests.
The Socialist Party Zambia has opposed the giving of tax holidays to mining companies thereby depriving our country of a fair share of our God-given resources. With the price of copper being high, we are losing a lot of money, which could have made a huge difference to the lives of our people.
In this vein, our party has condemned the contracting of a loan from the International Monetary Fund, IMF, when the government could have raised the money from the mines had they not made the reckless and selfish decision to offer senseless tax holidays.
Our leader Dr Fred M’membe has provided strong and timely condemnation of the tribalism of the UPND government as revealed in the appointments, with people from only three regions of the country sharing all the key government ministries and state institutions. This has been accompanied by ruthless victimisation of civil servants from other regions under the guise of being members of the former ruling party.
The Socialist Party has constantly reminded Mr Hichilema to honour his election promises. He needs to honour his word! Not all politicians are liars, but those who do not keep their word should be reminded and exposed. He promised to lower the cost of living but the cost of living has skyrocketed. They tried to manipulate the inflation rates, but this is no longer possible. Our people can’t afford medicines when given a prescription to go and buy them from chemists. The price of fuel is constantly on the rise contrary to the promise by Mr Hichilema to lower it using a formula that made rounds when he was campaigning ahead of the August 2021 general elections.
Our party has exposed the UPND government for having no discernible plan to grow the economy and strengthen the value of the Kwacha. As such, the Kwacha has been losing its value contrary to the popular promise that it would appreciate within hours of Mr Hichilema being sworn in. The list of shameless lies and failures is endless, but allow me to touch on the issue of fertiliser.
Mr Hichilema and his inept team again failed lamentably to deliver fertiliser to our people. In an attempt to conceal their corruption, they badly mismanaged FISP. They created confusion in the procurement process to facilitate single sourcing. In the end, our people who rely on FISP have been left hopeless and desperate by our so-called new dawn government. What really is new about UPND? The lies never end. Mr Hichilema informed the nation that under his administration, farmers would be getting eight bags of fertiliser each instead of the previous six. But the cooperatives have been getting less allocations of fertiliser, forcing them to share it using the popular measuring cane called meda.
Further, President Hichilema promised to reduce the price of fertiliser to K250, but the opposite has happened, with D-Compound fertiliser fetching K1,250 or more. This scenario has angered and depressed our people who thought Mr Hichilema was genuine. He really is fixing ordinary Zambians on this matter, and many similar matters. The Socialist Party Zambia has stood in solidarity with the people of Zambia, especially the poor and vulnerable.
Therefore, we wish to assure our people that our leader Comrade Dr Fred M’membe and the entire Socialist Party Zambia will continue to speak for them. We will continue to expose the lies and manipulation of the UPND government and their evil plans to favour mining companies and other multinationals at the expense of ordinary Zambians.
Against this background, we oppose the evil plan to convert the 20 percent shares Zambia has in First Quantum Mine (FQM) into a 3 percent loyalty tax. This plan defies common sense. The government has been saying that Zambia will be getting more money by asking for a lower percentage. This argument flies in the face of reason because the reality is different. As Socialist Party Zambia we urge all stakeholders to oppose this transaction and other such transactions, which are being devised as a clean way to steal from the Zambian people by capitalists who don’t care about our suffering masses.
Our people will not enjoy this festive season. There will be no Happy Christmas and Happy New Year because the cost of mealie meal is too high already, let alone the cost of other food stuffs, such as fish, chicken, meat and even vegetables. We will be in the dark because of the planned long hours of load shedding. Moreover, the price of fuel is likely to go up again and people will fail to get on the bus or drive their vehicles to attend family gatherings. Many of our people will continue to die of depression as a result of a careless government.
Zambians can see for themselves that Mr Hichilema lied to them and that he has no clear direction for this country. And instead of showing humility, UPND has responded with a kind of arrogance that we have never before witnessed in this country. You fail your own people and later to tell them “fimba upoke” or “mulenya mwalalapila”. This is not the way to lead!
Going into the New Year, we fear that the UPND government will become more insecure, brutal, and violent. It will restrict the democratic space to stop opposition groups from mobilising, thereby violating our rights to assemble, associate, and move freely. It will heighten abuse of the police and arrest those with dissenting views. We will see more destruction of our key state institutions by appointing partisan people, whose agenda will be to frustrate genuine criticism and demands for transparency and accountability. We will also see growing corruption within its own ranks.
We call on all Zambians to struggle with us for what is right. We have only one Zambia and one country we love. Standing on the side will not change things or make this country better. We are stronger together. Join us in the fight for a just, fair and equitable Zambia.
God bless Mother Zambia.
Frank Bwalya,
Party Spokesperson,
SOCIALIST PARTY ZAMBIA
Monday, December 12, 2022.
KITWE