By Isaac Zulu
Foreign Affairs minister Stanley Kakubo has charged that the PF members criticising the UPND government for effecting an upwards adjustment to the fuel pump prices are hypocrites, because they did not want to tell the Zambian people the truth about how much fuel was costing per barrel on the international market.
Speaking in his Kapiri Mposhi constituency, Kakubo explained that the money that will be saved from the removal of subsidies would be channeled towards the improvement of social sectors such as education and health.
He said that part money would go towards the supplimenting public schools financial resources so that the UPND government’s policy on the provision of free education is actualised.
Kakubo justified the increment in fuel pump prices.
He explained that the fuel pump prices were supposed to be adjusted upwards about three years ago, but the PF government opted to continue subsidising the commodity, while on the hand continued borrowing without even servicing the said debt.
He told Kapiri Mposhi residents that, as a result, the country accrued a debt which he said now stands at US$477 million.
“That is hypocrisy at its highest level,” Kakubo said.
He stressed that President Hakainde Hichilema has been compelled to make certain decisions that “might be seen to be harsh but will in the near future be beneficial to all Zambians,” adding that the current “Head of State is determined to achieving the UPND government’s economic transformational agenda.”
Kakubo further charged that the government mismanaged the Farmer Input Support Programme.
He said under the PF administration the procurement and distribution of farming inputs was characterised with corruption, which he said contributed to farmers facing challenges in accessing fertiliser and seed.
The UPND Kapiri Mposhi area member of parliament stated that the PF government used to inflate the prices of fertiliser at procurement stage, which he said only benefited middle men who were mostly officials that were serving in the PF government.
Kakubo said while the price of imported fertiliser was costing US$450 per metric tonne, the Patriot Front administration inflated the price of fertiliser to US$1,200 per metric tonne.
“The whole programme was characterised with corruption. And the people who were paying the price are the end users, who are the farmers,” said Kakubo.
Kakubo also attributed the delayed payment of monies to farmers that supplied maize to the Food Reserve Agency to the Patriot Front government’s failure to factor in the funds to go towards paying farmers that supplied maize and other farming produce to the FRA.
“The delayed payment of money to our farmers should not be blamed on the UPND government. This was the Patriot Front government’s making. The Patriot Front government did not include funding in the 2021 that should have been channeled towards paying farmers who supplied maize to the Food Reserve Agency,” said Kakubo.
The parliamentarian was speaking when he addressed residents in his constituency on Thursday.
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