By Isaac Zulu
Mwenya Musenge says just because ZNBC board member Dante Saunders is able to throw some leftover foods in his dustbin from his appointment does not mean that every person in Zambia is enjoying life, saying President Hakainde Hichilema must simply apologise to Zambians for the failed campaign promises.
In an interview, Musenge, who is also former Chimwemwe member of parliament, has recounted that similar sentiments were used by the MMD government to an extent that “Zambians should tighten their belts and the people bought into that idea” but what followed was privatisation of parastatal companies, which never improved the lives of majority Zambians.
He said that Saunders should stop asking Zambians to endure the pain because that is annoying the electorate.
“Ba Dante Saunders is our elder brother and we respect him. However, he should be reminded that people are suffering, and they are stressed. The fact that he is enjoying the money and entitlements that come with his appointment he is able to throw some leftover foods in the dust bin does not mean that every person in Zambia is leading a comfortable life. He should not be telling people to be sleeping on an empty stomach,” Musenge said. “If you remember very well, when the MMD came into power they told the Zambian people to tighten their belts. But what followed was a disaster. They embarked on the privatisation of parastatal companies. And those are in the current government benefited a lot from the privatisation exercise through the management buyer arrangement. While the initial objective of privatisation was that foreign investors should be encouraged to venture into the running of companies in Zambia, the people that were in the forefront of giving technical advice at that time benefited more. Therefore, I would urge all Zambians not to buy into this idea of enduring the pain.”
Musenge said that the UPND lied to the Zambian people in order to ascend to power, saying it is only prudent that President Hichilema apologises to the Zambian people for failing to honour his campaign promises.
“This UPND government promised a lot of things to the electorate. They promised that they will reduce the price of fertiliser to K250, they promised to reduce mealie meal price to K50 and ensure that the price of fuel goes down. But they have been in government for 16 months, and yet all these campaign promises have not been actualised,” said Musenge. “From the signal we are getting on the ground is that people are unhappy with the unfulfilled promises by the UPND regime. And the earlier they realise that the better. And it is only prudent for the current Head of State, who is respectable, to apologise for failing to honour the UPND government’s campaign promises.”
