By SIMON MUNTEMBA
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu says it is only demagogues who do not want to appreciate how the Patriotic Front has transformed the country through infrastructure development.
Mr Lungu said the PF government has in the last 10 years invested heavily in infrastructure development which has seen the transformation of the country through roads, bridges, schools, universities, hospitals, among others.
The President said it was a fallacy of unacceptable premises for a known prophet of doom to argue that there was no development to talk about when the country has transformed.
He said this yesterday in Lusaka during the launch of the Patriotic Front 2021 – 2026 manifesto themed, “Making Every Zambian Count”- continuity for a prosperous, peaceful, stable and an all-inclusive Zambia.
He said the PF government has also invested in building hydro-power stations which has seen the reduction in the deficit of electricity.
Mr Lungu said the PF Government remained committed towards debt servicing, stressing that investments were wisely used to invest in infrastructure development which among others saw the energy deficit addressed.
“What this prophet of doom said is referred to as a fallacy of unacceptable premises. This sworn critic of ours attempted to introduce an argument that was premised on a wrong conclusion,” President Lungu said.
Yes, he said, some of the money we used to build infrastructure was borrowed, but didn’t we build infrastructure? We did. Haven’t we transformed the country? We have. This is exactly what demagogues do – for political purposes they sway ordinary people’s minds, using illogical arguments.
He said when Government reduced the power deficit, another critic argued that it is rainfall that has resolved the problem, forgetting that water cannot generate electricity on its own but efforts by the state to build a power station to generate electricity.
President Lungu said the launch of the 2021-2026 manifesto was a new covenant with the Zambian people as a tested and experienced party whose focus was to make every Zambian count further promising better days to come.
He said the new manifesto centred on accelerating economic development which includes easing tax issues by collapsing some taxes into one and strengthening prudent use of resources.
President Lungu said the party would create a stabilisation fund to cushion the economy against unfavuorable fluctuations in metal prices as well as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The President also said the ruling party intends to diversify foreign exchange reserves by prioritising gold as a reserve asset to maximise the benefits from the mineral.
The manifesto also promises to, “Promote entrepreneurship by making affordable loans available to Zambians.
Ensure availability of financial resources for productive sectors of the economy and recapitalise Zambian owned banks and non bank financial institutions to enhance financial inclusions and reduce interest rates.”
And Economic Association of Zambia has welcomed the introduction of the stabilisation fund and the focus on creating a 24 hour economy to increase employment.
EAZ president Lubinda Habaazoka said in a Facebook post, some of the promising highlights include, “collapsing all payroll taxes into one tax is a very good move!
He also welcomed abolishing of road tax as tolling improves as well as the management of the externalisation of foreign exchange.
And President Lungu has pledged to combat corruption through integrity committees in all public institutions.
He directed PF Secretary General, Davies Mwila to give the document to all PF aspiring candidates for the August 12 elections to base their campaign messages on the manifesto.
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