By Chinoyi Chipulu
Citizens First (CF) leader Harry Kalaba says people have resorted to looking for funeral houses to find a meal on account of the high levels of poverty, which he said the UPND administration has failed to address
And Kalaba said the UPND government was going to lose elections countrywide because they had failed to govern.
Speaking on Radio Christian Voice on a radio program dubbed Chatback, Kalaba said the UPND has achieved nothing in the country since being voted into power.
He said the only thing the UPND government had done was to polarise the country.
Kalaba said Zambians had never seen the poverty levels the country was currently experiencing hence some people had resorted to go to funeral houses in order to have meals because of the high cost of living.
“Zambians have never seen the kind of loadshedding the country is currently experiencing today. President Hakainde Hichilema was writing formulas on the board, now where is that formula to reduce the price of fuel? He said he was going to deal with middlemen, what is happening now because middlemen are still bringing products. He promised to reduce the price of fertilizer but it’s not true,” he said.
Kalaba said people were not affording to have daily meals in their homes because the government had prioritised foreigners at the expense of local Zambians.
“These people you see going to funerals, some don’t go to mourn, they just want to eat because they cannot afford. They go with their children carrying lunch boxes in order to eat because they are suffering. Government has given tax holidays to foreigners but are failing to help Zambians,” he said.
“They promised a lot of things, I wasn’t speaking for them, bakalamba balya (they are adults) they spoke for themselves. Zambians voted for them because they promised us of better living conditions but today they keep on blaming the previous regime .”
He said the UPND was living in denial on the challenges Zambians were facing on the economic front.
“The current regime has to come to terms that Zambians are suffering and there is need to look into their plight. UPND should implement polices that will respond to household economics,” he said.
And Kalaba said the recent by-elections the UPND had managed to win were not a true reflection of what was obtaining on the ground.
He said most of the elections had been characterised by vote buying.
“UPND is going to lose elections countrywide. The spirit governing general elections and by-elections are different. Let them celebrate now, they are going to cry in 2026. In general elections, people evaluate leaders. Let them cheat themselves that they are popular. How can you be popular when the price of mealie meal is K400,” he said.
