Sun, 25 Jun 2017 10:13:58 +0000
By BENNIE MNDANDO
CALLS by United Progressive Party (UPP) leader Saviour Chishimba for a forensic audit of the Ministry of Finance after the minister’s mistake on the figures on the country’s debt is petty, outrageous, and frivolous and should not be entertained, Wright Musoma has charged.
During the state of the economy address in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Finance Minister Felix Mutati said Zambia’s external debt had swelled to US$17 billion by May 2017 from US$ 6.9 billion in December 2016, instead of US$7.2 billion.
Dr. Chishimba then demanded for an immediate forensic audit of the Ministry of Finance saying his party had been vindicated by the revelation made by the minister that Zambia’s external debt now stood at US$17.2 billion adding that the attempt to amend the figures by the minister were part of the usual PF deceptions.
“Whereas some of the debts are still being serviced, we are afraid to note that the larger part of the debt will be due for commencement of servicing by 2021 and our nation will, overtime, repay over US$50 billion when more debts and interest payments are included. It’s clear that the PF regime has made debt contraction the official economic policy. This is a suicide vest that the economy has been clothed with,”
“Over US$ 5 billion has been plundered by the corrupt few politicians and public officers in the PF Government and nearly all these public funds have been repatriated into off shore accounts. This means that more than 50% of the debt has been pocketed by the corrupt few through corrupt public contracts,” Dr. Chishimba said.
But Mr. Musoma described Dr. Chishimba as a lone-ranger practicing petty politics devoid of truth but hell-bent on mudslinging, name-calling and baseless accusations on perceived enemies.
He advised Dr. Chishimba to countercheck what he said before he embarrassed himself as no single politician had made a fortune for himself by peddling lies.
He said the path taken by Dr. Chishimba was disastrous and could shorten his political lifespan as people would stop taking him seriously for being petty.
“If Dr. Chishimba believes that was not a mistake but the correct state of affairs, why doesn’t he bring out the truth and let the Zambians know the amount of the debt they owe lending institutions? This kind of pettiness does not buy a fortune for anyone politically. Unfortunately, my brother has decided to take politics that way without learning how certain people who made the same mistakes became a laughing stock,” Mr. Musoma said.
