By Dr Tuesday Bwalya
There is no political party in Zambia’s history that perpetuated lawlessness, mismanagement, and tribalism than the Patriotic Front (PF).
The PF under the stewardship of Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu worked very hard to sink the economy through corruption and looting of public financial resources. Misrule flourished during the seven (7) year rule of the PF government under Mr Lungu. According to the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), in 2020 and 2021, Zambia was ranked 117 in terms of being corrupt out of the 180 countries surveyed in the world. This is the highest ranking in the history of Zambia.
The PF and Mr Lungu showed no interest in fighting corruption and pretended not to have evidence. Corruption was nurtured at all levels of government and cost Zambia a lot of financial resources. For example, a huge amount of money (US $33 million) meant to build universities in Luapula and Northern Provinces has been reported missing. The PF former ministers and their surrogates have failed to explain where and how the $33 million was spent. Under Mr Lungu and the PF government, fire trucks made in 1996 were bought at $1 million each. This is another example of PF’s looting of public resources through procurement. Furthermore, procurement of various goods and services in public was characterised by over-pricing and total disregard of the procurement procedures.
Under the leadership of President Hakainde Hichilema (HH), the country has invigorated the fight against corruption and other vices. There is a clear and greater will to fight corruption and other schemes meant to loot public financial resources. Many cases of corruption and looting of public resources that are in the courts of law exemplify this. Other cases are being investigated. I acknowledge that there are some challenges in the fight against corruption and general pilfering of public resources emanating from the judiciary and the law enforcement agencies such as the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). I trust this is being addressed and so the fight against corruption will begin to bear fruits.
On political violence, Zambians will remember the PF as being a brutal and violent party. The PF cadres were armed to the teeth to brutalise the opposition political party officials and cadres. Ordinary citizens also bear the brunt of the PF’s brutality. Many people were killed through political violence and the PF leadership did nothing to stop the senseless killings of our people. Further, under the full watch of Mr Lungu, PF cadres took up markets and bus stations. They ran around and collected money from bus stations and markets, thereby depriving the local authorities of the financial recourses needed to provide services.
Upon assuming power, HH has stopped political violence, which Mr Lungu and PF failed to stop. The Zambia Police Service has been freed to enforce the law in the country. Further, cadres have been told to stop collecting money from bus stations and markets. Local authorities are now in charge and are managing these facilities.
The PF’s incompetence crushed the Zambian economy. The economic growth plummeted to negative three per cent from the six per cent growth that the PF found. Further, inflation in July 2021 stood at 24 per cent. This was ridiculously high considering the poverty levels of our people who could afford essential goods and services. Further, the PF overborrowed and failed to meaningfully invest the money in ventures that could make it easy for the country to pay back the money. The negative economic growth coupled with huge debt stork, corruption, and generally poor management of the economy constrained the PF government from funding social sectors. In this regard, social sectors such as health, education and social safety net suffered.
In hospitals, the PF failed to provide medicines and qualified staff. As a result, many Zambians died due to PF negligence. In the education sector, grants were not sent to schools, colleges, and universities on time. This resulted in delays to pay salaries and compromised the quality of education. The PF government also reduced the number of scholarships to public universities; and without care about vulnerable students, they scrapped off the meal allowance for public university students. Further, the PF government failed to manage social programmes such as the social cash transfer. Beneficiaries of the Social Cash Transfer Scheme were going months and months without getting their money as the PF government had either misapplied the money or did not have the money to pay the people. Due to the PF’s mismanagement of the economy and financial resources, retirees suffered; they were not being paid on time, thus subjecting them to untold misery.
Within a few months of being in office, HH and his government have stabilised the economy. Inflation is now at 10.2 per cent and the government of Zambia has reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a step towards securing a bailout from the Fund. Further, the new dawn government is almost reaching an agreement with major lenders on how to restructure the debt so that some financial resources could be freed up to social sectors to spur economic growth. More importantly, investor confidence has been fostered and many organisations are showing interest in investing in the economy again. With the UPND in government, the medical supply in health facilities is improving and more workers are about to be hired. In the education sector, the new dawn government has been releasing grants to universities and colleges on time, hence, reducing delays in paying salaries in these institutions. The social cash transfer scheme has been improved and payouts have increased; with the lowest-paid beneficiary getting K400 per month, from the K200 which people used to get under the PF regime. Other categories of beneficiaries such as the disabled and visually impaired people are getting as high as K800 per month.
Zambians will also remember but not miss the PF for its tribalism achievements. The PF and Mr Lungu waged a vicious tribal campaign against groups and tribes from Southern, Western, and North-Western provinces. They sought to divide Zambians on tribal lines. To the PF and other hegemonists, only the Bemba-speaking people and their cousins from the Eastern Province should rule this country and occupy influential positions in government. This political hegemony and tribalism was reflected in the manner ministers and other senior government officials were being appointed. The level of tribalism presided over by Mr Lungu and the PF brought shame to well-meaning Zambians and this should never happen again in Zambia. Many people complained against tribalism but the PF and Mr Lungu looked elsewhere and continued to marginalise other tribes when it came to jobs in the public sector.
This tribal crusade was also extended to the political arena. During the run-up to the 2021 general elections, the PF and its propagandists heightened their tribal attacks on the United Party for National Development (UPND) leader, HH when he was in opposition. They paddled many tribal lies against HH in a bid to sway Zambians from voting for him and the UPND. Unfortunately, even some of our chiefs were recruited and became part of the choir to sing tribal songs against HH and the UPND.
Having highlighted a few autocracies committed by the PF in government, no well-meaning Zambian could miss the PF and Mr Lungu. There is nothing to miss in the PF government. Those few Zambians who claim that they miss the PF are those who profited from the lawlessness, corruption, and looting of national resources engineered and implemented by the PF government. There are many signs in the economy (stabilised exchange rate and reduced inflation), which are indicating that HH and the new dawn government are on the right track to repairing the economy. I am very optimistic that once Zambia receives the bailout package from the IMF, the economy will be on firm footing and Zambians will begin seeing a reduction in the prices of goods and services. As I conclude, I wish to encourage Zambians to exercise a bit more patience with the new dawn government as it resuscitates the economy.
Disclaimer: views expressed in this article do not represent the University of Zambia or the University of Zambia Lecturers and Researchers’ Union (UNZALARU), but are purely the author’s opinion. Send comment to: +260 974 352804