By Daily Revelation Editor
On January 07, 2020, President Hakainde Hichilema then as an opposition leader posted to social media the five urgent matters he felt the PF administration of Edgar Lungu needed to address in the first quarter of that year.
He stated as follows: “There are 5 urgent issues that the PF government must urgently address in the 1st quarter of 2020: Currency depreciation, power deficit, rising cost of living, hunger situation, mitigating a cholera outbreak.”
He ended that post by stating, “We are available to assist with solutions to these.”
Those were very valid observations from the then opposition leader indeed and the very important aspect to note in the whole post was his last sentence where he stated that he was available to assist with solutions to these.
Yesterday marked exactly three years since he made that post, and the matters he raised and said he had solutions for are as real today under his administration as President as they were then.
It goes without saying that Hakainde is today presiding over the worst performing currency in the world, now trading at over K26 to US$1. We can safely say that this depreciation of the local currency started around October 2022, despite sporadic appreciations here and there. This is the reality of his administration.
The rising cost of living is another matter that is reality under Hakainde’s administration in that goods of almost everything have skyrocketed since he assumed office, mainly driven by the now historically high fuel price which at the time he was writing was going for around K16 per liter and now going for K30 per liter. As a result of the high cost of living, the hunger situation in the country has now worsened as more and more people are driven into destitution on account of failing to live up to the very high cost of living in the country.
Also as we write this article, more deaths were reported yesterday from cholera, which has infected many and claimed lives since the outbreak of the pandemic.
It is almost as if Hakainde was posting that statement in anticipation of the realities that will confront his own administration exactly three years later. What a coincidence! No wonder the Holy Bible teaches us that there is power in the tongue.
Proverbs 18:21 states: “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Hakainde is now living the fruit of what he declared three years ago. He stated those issues, we are not just sure if he has any solution to them as he claimed back then, otherwise the Kwacha would not be moving in this autopilot mode for such a long time as it has. The cost of living and price of mealie meal would not be moving along in the same autopilot fashion if he had any solution. Anyway time will tell. But the trajectory the country is moving at is very worrisome and if no urgent remedial measures are put in place, it will be very difficult to recover from such a sad state of affairs the country is in.
We can only urge him and his government to work steadily on providing solutions. This issue of himself, those in his government and sympathisers blaming these matters on the former PF administration will not work. The people already punished the PF, and he will go the same path if he doesn’t right the ship. Blaming the PF for the problems the country is facing will not endear him to Zambians, maybe just a few hardcore supporters who can’t see anything wrong in him.
The starting point for Hakainde is to acknowledge the situation and work stealthily towards addressing the situation. He has his own record now. Zambians will not base their judgments based on what he says about the PF but his own record, which unfortunately is uninspiring right now.
Hakainde owns the problems the country is facing, including those left by the PF. In fact most of the problems he owns them solely. He is the one who increased the price of fuel from around K17 to K30. He is the one that increased the price of mealie meal from around K130 to the highs of K400 in some areas already. The cholera epidemic, rather than stopping it, has shown its ugliness again under his administration. The Kwacha he promised would supersonically appreciate on account of investor confidence in him is now the worst performing currency in the world.
It is actually a waste of Zambian people’s time to blame the previous administration. When Zambians were voting, they were putting in place a people who promised solutions to them and they will base their judgment based on the solutions provided to challenges.
You indicated you had solutions to these issues, please it’s time now to put them into action so that they start making a difference in the lives of Zambians.
Related
By Daily Revelation Editor
On January 07, 2020, President Hakainde Hichilema then as an opposition leader posted to social media the five urgent matters he felt the PF administration of Edgar Lungu needed to address in the first quarter of that year.
He stated as follows: “There are 5 urgent issues that the PF government must urgently address in the 1st quarter of 2020: Currency depreciation, power deficit, rising cost of living, hunger situation, mitigating a cholera outbreak.”
He ended that post by stating, “We are available to assist with solutions to these.”
Those were very valid observations from the then opposition leader indeed and the very important aspect to note in the whole post was his last sentence where he stated that he was available to assist with solutions to these.
Yesterday marked exactly three years since he made that post, and the matters he raised and said he had solutions for are as real today under his administration as President as they were then.
It goes without saying that Hakainde is today presiding over the worst performing currency in the world, now trading at over K26 to US$1. We can safely say that this depreciation of the local currency started around October 2022, despite sporadic appreciations here and there. This is the reality of his administration.
The rising cost of living is another matter that is reality under Hakainde’s administration in that goods of almost everything have skyrocketed since he assumed office, mainly driven by the now historically high fuel price which at the time he was writing was going for around K16 per liter and now going for K30 per liter. As a result of the high cost of living, the hunger situation in the country has now worsened as more and more people are driven into destitution on account of failing to live up to the very high cost of living in the country.
Also as we write this article, more deaths were reported yesterday from cholera, which has infected many and claimed lives since the outbreak of the pandemic.
It is almost as if Hakainde was posting that statement in anticipation of the realities that will confront his own administration exactly three years later. What a coincidence! No wonder the Holy Bible teaches us that there is power in the tongue.
Proverbs 18:21 states: “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Hakainde is now living the fruit of what he declared three years ago. He stated those issues, we are not just sure if he has any solution to them as he claimed back then, otherwise the Kwacha would not be moving in this autopilot mode for such a long time as it has. The cost of living and price of mealie meal would not be moving along in the same autopilot fashion if he had any solution. Anyway time will tell. But the trajectory the country is moving at is very worrisome and if no urgent remedial measures are put in place, it will be very difficult to recover from such a sad state of affairs the country is in.
We can only urge him and his government to work steadily on providing solutions. This issue of himself, those in his government and sympathisers blaming these matters on the former PF administration will not work. The people already punished the PF, and he will go the same path if he doesn’t right the ship. Blaming the PF for the problems the country is facing will not endear him to Zambians, maybe just a few hardcore supporters who can’t see anything wrong in him.
The starting point for Hakainde is to acknowledge the situation and work stealthily towards addressing the situation. He has his own record now. Zambians will not base their judgments based on what he says about the PF but his own record, which unfortunately is uninspiring right now.
Hakainde owns the problems the country is facing, including those left by the PF. In fact most of the problems he owns them solely. He is the one who increased the price of fuel from around K17 to K30. He is the one that increased the price of mealie meal from around K130 to the highs of K400 in some areas already. The cholera epidemic, rather than stopping it, has shown its ugliness again under his administration. The Kwacha he promised would supersonically appreciate on account of investor confidence in him is now the worst performing currency in the world.
It is actually a waste of Zambian people’s time to blame the previous administration. When Zambians were voting, they were putting in place a people who promised solutions to them and they will base their judgment based on the solutions provided to challenges.
You indicated you had solutions to these issues, please it’s time now to put them into action so that they start making a difference in the lives of Zambians.
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