By Merlyn Mwanza
Rwanda can manage to subsidise because they were not ruled by a den of thieves, in the same manner Zambia was under the PF, says Colonel Panji Kaunda.
And Colonel Panji said President Hakainde Hichilema and his administration must be commended for what they have achieved in only seven months of being in office, under what he described as extremely difficult conditions, rather than just focusing on the negatives.
Speaking with Daily Revelation on the backlash against especially the K9 increment in fuel prices since the UPND administration assumed office eight months ago, Col Panji said he would not judge the performance of a new government based on the months they have been in office, but over the course of the mandate they have been given, saying people must be alive to some of the major problems that have made it tough to fulfill other campaign promises.
He said in view of the Russia-Ukraine war which has affected almost all the countries across the globe, President Hichilema was also in the midst of addressing the huge debt mountain left behind by the former ruling PF, through initiatives such as engaging the IMF for a bailout package.
He said there were many positives to point to in just these eights months as the country has seen increased allocation towards the CDF, whose impact he said will be felt in communities, and that right now 41,200 job placements in health and education sector were being filled.
“Why don’t we praise him for what he has done rather than focusing on the negative? I am not going to judge any government in eight months,” Col Panji said. But put to him that he started hammering former president Edgar Lungu three years before his term ended, Col Panji said president Lungu’s governance trajectory was already known when he started hammering him.
He said the achievements scored by the UPND thus far, reminded him of some of the successes UNIP scored during the reign of his father Dr Kenneth Kaunda when most of Zambia’s trade routes where closed for supporting the liberation movements.
Col Panji said this time called for innovation that while the government could not immediately fulfill their promise to reduce fertilizer prices to K250, farmers must engage into cheaper sources such as the organic system he was practicing at his farm of producing bio fertilizer from locally sourced products involving manure and other substances.
Several Zambians have suggested that several countries including Rwanda, South Africa and the United States have introduced subsidies or suspended certain taxation to cushion the burden on the people because of the high oil prices, Col Panji said there was no money in Zambia to do the same, saying just because others were doing it did not imply that it should be done here as economic, social and political circumstances differ.
“Rwanda wasn’t ruled by a den of thieves. In Rwanda if you steal they will cut your head off. They have a thriving economy. Rwanda has been the number one performing country in Africa, or among the most performing. South Africa has a big economy,” Col Panji said. “Let’s live by the truth that things will be extremely difficult. We can’t go back to the days of subsidies because there is no money.”
Asked on his previous statements that former president Lungu wasn’t the humble man he portrayed himself to be outwardly, even likening him to a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and if he views President Hichilema to be honest in the manner he conducts his affairs, Col Panji said people should not judge President Hichilema based on his eight months in office, but that for Lungu he was in office for years and therefore people could easily make their judgements on him.
