10 YEARS RUINS ADDRESSED IN LESS THAN 2YEARS – WHEN UKA SPEAKS YOU WOULD THINK THEY ARE TALKING OF ANOTHER HH WHO HAS RULED FOR MORE THAN 10 YEARS :
ECL SAYS HH WOULD AVOID MISTAKES IF HE COULD CONSULT ECL . WHO SHOULD CONSULT WHO BETWEEN ECL AND HH ?
By Mark Simuuwe
During the UKA rally held in Kitwe yesterday , Former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu(ECL) said President Hakainde Hichilema (HH) would avoid making mistakes which ECL made if he could get advice from ECL .
Perhaps the question is , who should consult who ? Let us perhaps reflect on the following comparisons to answer ECL’s claims :
1. Who should consult who between ECL who scrapped off students meal allowances and HH who reinstated them and extended them to seven more universities? Today , ECL claims you cannot have free education without eating yet he removed the same meal allowances that bring food for students.
2. Who should consult who between ECL who failed to pay Council workers salary arrears for 7-15 months and HH who has cleared the arrears and is paying on time ?
3. Who should consult the other between ECL who closed KCM by liquidation sending more than 9000 workers into joblessness , and HH who is revamping mines with Mopani coming back , together with Shaft 28 in Luanshya ?
4. Who should consult who between ECL who closed media houses like Prime TV , Radio Lutanda , Kafue radio , the PostNewspaper , among other media in Zambia and HH who has allowed for media freedom ?
5. Who should consult who between ECL who failed to recruit youths and HH who has recruited over 39,000 teachers in only two years , over 14,000 health workers in less than 2 years , over 4500 defence recruits in two years , over 1,500 local government workers , over 2,800 cooperatives receiving grants for empowerment in less than 2years , among many other recruitments ?
6. Who should consult who between ECL who left Zambia highly indebted by accruing about $31billion and HH who has restructured the debt and so far paid just last year over K23billion ?ECL could not even manage to pursuade the IMF or World Bank on debt contraction and restructuring .
7. Who should consult who between ECL who caused so much bloodshed in the country by killing citizens like Nsama Nsama , Mapenzi Chibulo , Joseph Kaunda , and leaving others moving with bullets in their bodies like Masani , and broken limbs and HH who has managed to call for peace and co-existence ?
8. Who should consult who between ECL who failed to pay suppliers of drugs and medical supplies a sum of k400 million and HH who has paid K400 million under the framework of domestic debt dismantling strategy- 2022-2026?
9. Who should consult who between ECL who destroyed Kwacha from K5 to K22 by messing up the mines which reduced copper production and HH who is now revamping mines so that Kwacha loss can begin to be addressed ?
10. Who should consult who between ECL’s most corrupt government of controversial fire tenders , ambulances, inflated laptop price supplies , 3000 ghost workers , stolen Social Cash transfer which made the UK to withdraw support from Zambia and HH who has inspired confidence among funders and we have began receiving funding again from the UK ?
11. Who should consult who between ECL who made the European Union Stop funding Zambia’s budget due to rampant corruption and HH who has made the EU begin funding Zambia’s budget effective around 2022?
12. Who should consult who between ECL who brought solar milling plants which are now a waste of money and are white elephants then ECL didn’t know what to do with three Chinese donated milling plants and HH who has revamped the ZNS and is using ZNS to address mealie meal challenges and has so far pushed to get 10 more milling plants under ZNS ?
13. Who should be consulted between ECL who abandoned projects that Micheal Sata started and HH who came and completed over 120 secondary Schools that Micheal Sata started and also completed the Kafue Hydro-power station that ECL abandoned?
14. Who should consult who between ECL who caused over $700 million owed to Oil Marketing Companies and HH who has started paying Oil Marketing Companies?
15. Who should consult who between ECL who made carders move with unregistered guns terrorizing whoever was found in opposition party regalia and HH who has allowed citizens to move in any party regalia and stopped gun culture ?
16. Who should consult who between ECL who made supermarkets begin closing at Malls and leaving the country due to collapsing economy , and HH who has attracted more investment by attracting more jobs in the private sector e.g manufacturing sector alone has so far recruited over 13,900 workers .
17. Who should consult who between ECL who closed Indeni indefinitely and HH who has reopened it and recalled all workers ?
18. Who should consult who between ECL who made carders collect levies in markets and bus stations and HH who stopped carders from taking over local authorities’ work ?
19. Who should consult who between ECL who divided the country on ethnic grounds and fired in national interest over 2000 citizens on ethnic grounds and HH who has recalled them and formed balanced cabinet , recruited youths across the country without discrimination ?
20. Who should consult who between ECL who destroyed the economy’s GDP by making economy grow in negatives making the country today
Suffer economically as a consequence of his bad leadership and HH who is trying to revamp mines and create more jobs so as to ensure citizens have means of survival ?
21. Who is supposed to consult the other between ECL who failed to pay University Lecturers on time and HH who is paying on time ?
22. Who Should consult who between ECL who took inflation to over 22 % and HH who brought it between 9-12.5 percent ?
23. Who should consult who between ECL who made Zambia the worst democracy and HH who, according to the V-Dem report and the Afro-barometer made Zambia topping as the most democratizing state in Africa and in the world ?
24. Who should consult who between ECL who charged parents to have their children go to school and write exams and HH who has brought free education and is paying for exams for all school pupils in the country?
25. Who should consult who between ECL who wanted to build Lusaka -Ndola Dual Carriageway at $1.2billion borrowed money , and HH who is building the same road at $650 million through PPP without borrowing ?
26. Who should consult who between ECL who imposed employment freeze and wage freeze and HH who is recruiting youths in thousands ?
27. Who should consult who between ECL who saw nothing valuable in Farm blocks and HH who has reopened farm blocks under ZNS across the country to increase food production ?
28. Who should consult who between ECL whose economy was growing in negatives and HH whose economy is growing at above 2percent GDP?
29. Who should consult who between ECL who led a country in which his close associates acquired UKWA bags of money whose source they can’t justify and HH who has ensured such money is recovered to the people of Zambia ?
30. Who should consult the other between ECL who declared about K2million in 2015 and a year later declared over k22 million and HH who has been consistent and made money before he became president ?
31.Who should consult who between ECL who was failing to pay K1.6million CDF and HH who has taken it to K30.6 million and it is benefiting thousands of citizens through empowerment , skills training and building of classroom blocks , health posts , police stations and roads across the country without discrimination?
32 . Who should consult who between ECL who allocated K42million to CEEC and only paid less than k10million in 2021 and HH who has allocated over k350 million to CEEC ?
33. Who should consult who between ECL who failed to pay retirees and HH who introduced NAPSA Partial Withdrawal and paid so many retirees in less than 2 years ?
The list of comparisons is endless . UKA were addressing concerns which are remaining to be addressed by UPND on the checklist and they struggled to raise issues .
Citizens must check the space !
However , it should be noted that during the UKA rally , our colleagues did not only fail to attract a massive rally , but they failed to explain to the people what solutions they have in case by chance they formed government. Further , our UKA colleagues did not realize that they were talking to miners who have gotten back their jobs in Mopani after ECL sent them into joblessness. They did not realize that they were addressing Kitwe Council retirees who have been paid their dues after the UPND New Dawn Government revamped Mopani mine . They did not realize that they were talking to recruited youths who are now health workers and teachers . They did not realize that they were addressing marketeers who have gotten market booster loans which they never accessed under the PF leadership . We would like to urge our opposition colleagues to tell citizens what solutions they have to loadshedding, and cost of living and not wasting people’s time .
The challenge we have is that we do not have a credible opposition to provide checks and balances with solutions. What we have a jokers and political conmen who had time to run the country but corruptly destroyed the country . Zambians must remain alert remember that we are experiencing few challenges which were caused by ECL and his and the UPND shall address them the same way they have addressed free education and other sectors .