By Chinoyi Chipulu
Former Ndola Pastors Fellowship chairperson Reverend Chilekwa Mulenga says the UPND have disappointed the expectations of the Zambian people for failing to fulfil the promises they made before coming into power.
And Reverend Mulenga said from a score card of 10, he gave the UPND a three as they had failed to deliver on their promises to the Zambian people.
Rev Mulenga wondered how the UPND which came into power to improve the living conditions thought it could be given another five-year mandate when its overall performance was below that of the previous regime.
Rev Mulenga told Daily Revelation in an interview that It was foreseeable that majority voters in Zambia shall firmly hold the UPND to account for their campaign promises come August 2026.
He said the conditions for the poor had not improved but worsened as people were suffering under a grinding UPND driven economy.
Rev Mulenga said poverty levels were high in Zambia with inflation rate predicated to rise above the 17% mark.
He said UPND’s greatest opposition remained the majority voters in Zambia, who were hungry and angry.
“They lied, making an untrue statement with intent to deceive or to create a false impression about something like they will fix it. Unga (mealie-meal), petrol, Njala (hunger) and Dollar. These are a number of promises which have not been fulfilled four years down the line,” he said.
He said during the elections, electorates would compare UPND’s words versus their works, promises vs products and their graphs vs reality on the ground.
“Holy Scripture in the book of Luke says, “If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? Why should the people trust the UPND with another five-year term?”
Rev Mulenga said UPND administration should not be blaming the previous administrations, but their campaign promises which they made consciously, upon which the people voted for them.
“Basically it shall be UPND vs the people whom they promised to lower the cost of living and doing business,” he said.
He said the people of Zambia hoped for substantial change under the current administration, not a mere change of colours from green to red which had not satisfied majority citizens.
Rev Mulenga questioned when it was going to be 14:00 hours for the kwacha to gain against the dollar as per promise.
“On behalf of the majority Zambians who braved the cold to go and vote for President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND in 2021, we ask when the kwacha would drop to a single-digit rate,” he said.
He said the UPND found the Kwacha at K19 in August 2021, but it was now at K29
He wondered when the UPND was going to remove the middle men to reduce the pump price of fuel and when the price of mealie-meal would reduce to an affordable price.
“The promise was to reduce the price to a bag of mealie meal to K50, for a 25kg bag. They found the price of mealie meal at K139 which was now at K408. What about loadshedding and how do one explain the export of electricity while Zambians are switched off with businesses collapsing, and yet they increased the tariffs,” he said.
Rev Mulenga said while the UPND had scored in a few areas, their negatives outweighed their positives.
He said on a scale of 1 to 10, UPND had scored 3 which was below the pass mark.
“Reality on the ground suggests that the UPND either lied or have failed the Zambians. How does one explain the current hardships Zambians are facing under an administration that promised plenty but has delivered peanuts?” he asked.
Rev Mulenga said corruption was more rampant under the UPND and divisions in the country had deepened.
