By Patson Chilemba
Southern Province minister Cornelius Mweetwa says the UPND has had to oblige with the IMF bailout programme, as they are simply walking the road paved by PF for the Zambian people.
And Mweetwa has expressed confidence that UPND will retain the Kabwata seat, but that it will still be a win-win situation if the party were to lose it also.
Mweetwa also said all the ministers, except two, are new to the system and people should therefore expect teething problems, when asked on the complaints against Information minister and chief government spokesperson Chushi Kasanda.
Speaking with Daily Revelation, Mweetwa was asked why President Hakainde Hichilema is increasing the price of fuel when he promised to reduce prices of essential commodities over several public statements and Facebook postings, Mweetwa agreed that the President did indeed promise to do that.
“And an election promise is fulfilled and upheld and judged upon over a mandate of five years. This particular hike is a temporary which is as a result of Zambia’s international debt. This increase has been necessitated as a requirement for Zambia to qualify for IMF bailout package, because PF left a debt which has become unsustainable,” Mweetwa said. “So the debt that PF created is what has caused the fuel hike. Of course now for us as a country to qualify for debt service suspension initiative, which has been agreed upon by creditors there has been an undertaking that the Zambian government commit with the IMF to remove subsidies, and the removal of subsidies has had a consequential effect of the rise in fuel price.”
Mweetwa said it was that bailout funding which will resuscitate the economy, saying the government did not intend to use fuel as one of the measures, but it is coming as requirement to meet international obligations so that creditors do not call for their debt at once.
“We have had to oblige because this is not our own making. We are simply walking the road that PF paved for the people of zambia,” Mweetwa said.
And Mweetwa said he had no doubt that given the performance of the ruling UPND thus far, Kabwata will be a clear victory.
“There is no doubt about that. It will be a date stamp of affirmation that the people of Kabwata are happy that the country has returned to normalcy in terms of rule of law, governance, that now there is no more political violence. There is no cadreism, that marketeers in Kabwata are not paying levies to individuals who are pocketing the money, that there is no hostile take over of bus stops by cadres,” Mweetwa, who is also UPND spokesperson, said. “Really that we are returning to governance through approved institutions of governance, and not kangaroo administrations of cartels of thugs and criminals under the Patriotic Front, sponsored by the Patriotic Front.”
Mweetwa said the then ruling PF was blaming violence on the opposition when called upon to address the problem, when all that was required was “a president who understands the mandate, who can just say no political violence in accordance with the law, and that if you are involved in criminality you are on your own.”
He said the “low hanging fruits have already been harvested” in the past four months, except on issues to do with corruption and the economy which he said could not be tacked overnight. He said the 2022 budget has incorporated the appointment of 30,000 teachers and 11,000 health workers and increased the budgetary allocation towards CDF from K1.6 million to K25.7 million.
“This government has performed in the last four months and I think it is fair to say that Kabwata will be a good test ground to be able to gauge, for me, the stamp of authority of legitimacy that the people would want to endorse on this government,” Mweetwa said. “Now we are not taking people for granted, if they voted another way again that will still be a win-win situation for the ruling party because it will give them an opportunity to hear the views from the silent. So we expect Kabwata to be a good outcome.”
On the complaints over Kasanda’s performance as chief government spokesperson with others of the view that she should be replaced by someone more effective, Mweetwa said there was no genuine information gap people were complaining about.
“The issue which is there is that this is a new government and most of its ministers, except for two, are new ministers and we are all still learning the ropes in our new portfolios and therefore we do expect teething problems,” Mweetwa said. “There is something that I think needs to be corrected, which I find anomalous that when some people want some information they want to call on the chief government spokesperson. I think that the chief government spokesperson naturally speaks on government policy and government position.”
He said ministers were spokespeople in their own rights over the matters concerning their ministries and therefore the job of speaking for government and defending government position could not be left to one person, saying he was happy with Kasanda’s performance.
“This far for me I am happy with her performance and people should understand that it was extremely crucial for this government to front a female face in the wake of fewer members of parliament, few women parliamentarians succeeding to be elected at parliament,” said Mweetwa. “We need to exemplify the fact that in Zambia, under the new damn administration, women are still participating. I think that is very important for women to see themselves through the lenses of government spokesperson and be seen to be at the helm of the leadership of this country.”
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