By Patson Chilemba
High cost of living is not a phenomenon peculiar to Zambia alone, says former first lady Dr Christine Kaseba.
And Dr Kaseba said the party her late husband founded and later formed government will rise above the waters, arguing that those in PF are adults who will sort themselves out.
Asked by Daily Revelation media on the fact that Zambians are right now not having the easiest of times, with skyrocketing mealie meal and fuel prices, weakening Kwacha, high cost of living and the general hopelessness affecting many homes, Dr Kaseba said she is returning from the far more developed France where she served as an ambassador and saw first-hand how the cost of living was skyrocketing in that country.
“All I can say
Patson is the fact that I have just come from France. The cost of living jumped up. So I think it’s not a phenomenon that is just particular to Zambia. Almost everyone it’s a global thing, prices are going up. You don’t hear so much but prices are going up,” Dr. Kaseba said. “But what I have been impressed with is the adaptation by many of the Zambians. I have seen so many entrepreneurs coming up, people selling nshima from cars. People selling their produce from cars.”
Dr Kaseba said she felt what would be ideal given the situation, is to take advantage of the willingness of entrepreneurs by facilitating funding towards them to maintain and help them grow their businesses.
“Can we facilitate their growth and we know that facilitation of the growth will come from availing funding readily, or payments readily. If we can be able to create a fund to be able to say this fund is going to be able to ensure immediate relief to these small scale, media and small scales entrepreneurs … it’s these same entrepreneurs, these same marketerrs who are actually driving the economy everywhere including Zambia,” Dr. Kaseba said, adding that they need to be paid immediately upon providing their services.
When asked on the quarrels within the PF threatening to tear the party her late husband Michael Sata formed 23 years ago and managed to get elected into office in 2011, Dr Kaseba described the happenings as simply frictions.
“They say imiti ipalamene taibula kushenkana (two or more people closely associated cannot avoid conflicts) . And also something attractive will always attract maybe admirers. So I think give them time. This is why I am saying I don’t want to comment just now. Give them time, it’s healthy, it’s a democracy. They will sort themselves out. I believe they are adults,” she said.
Asked if she did not fear the party going the same route the former ruling parties, UNIP and MMD went, where they are now mere nonentities on the Zambian political scene after leaving office, Dr Kaseba said anything is possible.
“But as I said I think they are more just testing waters and I am sure they will rise above the waters. That’s why sometimes it might be too early to comment,” she said.
And Dr Kaseba encouraged the media to embrace investigative reporting, saying there were so many stories to capture in Zambia from different perspectives despite there being too much preoccupation on politics.
“I know that’s what probably sells the papers but there are many stories that can still be able to sell. We need to know what’s going on in Zambia. So my advice is increase, make your stories more diverse and relevant to the Zambian people,” Dr Kaseba said. “So I can only wish you success and good luck.
Asked on what was preoccupying her now that she was back in Zambia following her stint in the Foreign Service, Dr Kaseba said she was spending most of her time bathing, massaging her grandchildren and taking care of them.
“First ladies are human beings, First ladies are Zambians at the most. And then you don’t forget the values that were passed on by parents or elders. And this is also important. It was nice to see the concept of values in Parliament. These are some of our traditional values that we need to uphold and teach so that our children can grow with them. There are so many things that we can do,” said Dr Kaseba, adding that this was why she argued about many perspectives that newspapers can cover apart from politics.
She said it was so exciting having to take care of her grandchildren, saying “they are so innocent that when you look after them they will give you that children laugh and smiles.”
