By Daily Revelation Reporter
Failure is causing UPND to panic, says Constitutional lawyer John Sangw.
And Sangwa says he never thought things would get worse than they were before UPND took over power.
Featuring on Radio Phoenix’s ‘Let the People talk ‘ program, Sangwa said the UPND government has committed a lot of crazy mistakes and he is disappointed that it has failed to do the right thing after
taking over power, at an opportune time where the country was coming from 27 years of one party rule and 30 years of multiparty system.
He said UPND could have simply picked from what worked under the one party system and the multiparty system.
“I don’t know how one can fail in the manner they are failing,” he said.
Sangwa said he no longer has hope that things will get better under the UPND, as a number of things which he never anticipated have happened.
“No I don’t have hope. A number of things have happened which I never anticipated. I am just one of the millions of Zambians that were very hopeful. I never thought things would get worse than they were. Of course people have argued differently, but the expectations were very high but unfortunately those expectations have not been met, and I think this government has made mistakes and some of those mistakes we should call them possibly I mean I don’t even know how to describe some of them. Crazy things that they have done,” Sangwa said.
On the cost of living, Sangwa said the most pressing challenge was to address economic challenges.
Asked on calls by Zambians for the re-introduction of subsidies on essential goods, Sangwa said the cost of reforms could not be at the destruction of the same people the reforms were intended for.
He said people must not be sacrificed in any way from the reforms being carried as that was irresponsible governing.
He urged the UPND government to be truthful to Zambians on why they could not effect certain things rather than sustaining lies.
“They lie when there is no need to lie,” he said, adding that it was too late for UPND to manage expectations from Zambians as all they were doing was perpetuating a fiction.
He wondered how President Hakainde Hichilema and his government could claim to be successful when the Kwacha was going wayward in the same manner it was during the PF.
Sangwa stressed that UPND should not use others as scapegoats as they were elected in government and it is their responsibility to address national matters.
He said it should worry those in government that even former Edgar Lungu has returned to politics, stressing that the sense of panic in the UPND has been brought about because of the sense of failure.
When asked that the President complained that officials were not effecting his orders like the Inspector of Police, Sangwa said there was no way the Inspector General can go against the President, reasoning that maybe some people are double tongued where they say something in public and do the very opposite in private.
And Sangwa described as bogus the statutory instrument issued by Home affairs minister Jack Mwiimbu on controlling political parties.
He said it was an illegal SI which does not even have power to regulate parties as there has to be an act of Parliament to do that.
He also condemned National Assembly Speaker Nelly Mutti for recognising Mafinga Member of Parliament Robert Chabinga as leader of opposition without following the procedure provided for in the Constitution.
He said the leader of the opposition is supposed to be elected by an opposition political party with the highest number of members.