By ROGERS KALERO
OPPOSITION politicians must be honest and state the effects of COVID-19 on the Zambian economy, Kankoyo Member of Parliament (MP) Brian Mushimba has said.
He said the opposition had been unfairly accusing the Patriotic Front (PF) Government of having mismanaged the economy when in actual fact COVID-19 and other factors has had a telling effect on the economy.
Dr Mushimba, who is also High Education Minister, noted that the opposition leaders had been misleading Zambians that the economic shocks the country was facing was due to the mismanagement.
In an interview in Kitwe yesterday, Dr Mushimba said the opposition politicians especially those from UPND had embarked on a well-calculated propaganda and malice to create an impression that the PF was not a caring Government,
“Pandemics come and disrupt the normal way of living many times. COVID 19 has done just that. It has disrupted the ability of Government to raise resources. With diminished resource mobilization, many sectors have been impacted.
“But we are not alone. Even bigger economies are suffering. What we must do is just to level with the people the way President Lungu has been doing, explaining the issues and the plan to get to a better place,” Dr Mushimba said
Dr Mushimba said the economic recovery plan that was launched, spoke about restoring the economy back to its normal space post COVID-19
“So people see this and acknowledge the difficulties and will stick with a trusted leader in times of turbulence to get across the bridge to the finish line,” he added.
And Dr Mushimba said the biggest reason why PF will win again was for continuity of the many development projects being worked on and others in planning.
“We have houses to paint now that we have good roads. We have empowerment for our youths now that we have registered cooperatives for them. We have students to educate. We have our parents to mobilize and empower.
“We want Kankoyo to have a sustainable path and ability to feed itself and be prosperous in its own right. We have shown commitment, ability and dedication to the cause. People have seen this,” he said.
