By Daily Revelation Reporter
FDD leader Edith Nawakwi says the rapid depreciation of the Kwacha, ever increasing fuel prices and the economic battering Zambians are encountering can only be described as witchcraft and not economics.
Speaking with Daily Revelation on the Kwacha which has depreciated by over 20 percent against the United States Dollar in just four months, starting it’s slippery slope from October 17, 2022 and the ever increasing high fuel (petrol price increased by K1.30 today) and mealie meal prices among other excruciating problems, Nawakwi said the economic problems the country is going through were beyond President Hichilema’s capacity to address, saying he was more used to “cattle economics” than getting the country out of the economic hole it was in.
“This is not economics. This is witchcraft. Abene balandile ati K5 if he was elected. Katwishi efyo baifisha ku K20 to US$1,” Nawakwi said, adding that even with the increased repo rate of 9.5 percent from 9 percent has already seen an escalation in lending rates, saying she had already received notice that her own rate will increase by 2.5 percent. “If you are predicting that the Kwacha must be K5 to the US$ and it refuses to go to that level and you say you are an economic engineer and you go to Washington and say ‘watch my lips and see what will happen by June’ and it fails to happen. There is no God’s hand. It’s just Satan’s hand because God wants Zambians to prosper.
“So it’s only the merchants of Satan who want Zambians to suffer. Those people in Washington are not looking at the poor mother on the streets.”
Nawakwi said the President was boasting that he has reduced inflation to single digits, but “you can’t provide water even with single digit when you don’t have money.
“They are telling us everything is going well but it seems there are merchants of Satan who are making things go a wrong way. Someone increases the reserve ratio, increases the price of fuel, you don’t understand where they learnt economics,” Nawakwi said. “The economics I learnt you call this is stagflation, the economy is not moving. It’s like stagnant water. Stagnant water is dirty. What my economics I learnt says is that we are in deep trouble and no solution in sight with Denny Kalyalya at the Bank of Zambia, Situmbeko Musokotwane at Finance and supervised by the President. There is no end in sight.”
Nawakwi urged President Hichilema to immediately call the commercial farmers and urge them to plant winter maize by giving them incentives in form of free electricity, free seed and free fertilizer.
She said another step should be taken to “quarantine” all the precious stones being exported by private companies.
“Otherwise the way he’s going around angry with no solution is not helping. We can’t have a President who has no solution. They have failed. It’s like a cake that has failed to rise. Nachiflopa chi cake,” said Nawakwi. “So the President doesn’t know what he’s doing. This is Mr Fix it without a tool box.”
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