By GIDEON NYENDWA
THE removal of subsidies will do the nation more harm than good because no doubt transport and prices of most essential commodities will go up, Zambia Republican Party( ZRP) president Wright Musoma has said.
Mr. Musoma said the move by the new dawn government to remove subsidies from fuel was wrong and was likely to do the nation more harm.
He said the excuse by the government that subsidy money was just going into the pockets of former ministers does not even add up.
Mr. Musoma wondered why the government was failing to mention the ministers who were pocketing subsidy money so that they could be prosecuted.
He said as a party they felt it was wrong for the government to call everyone in the previous administration corrupt because of one or two people who could have been corrupt.
Mr. Musoma also said it was wrong and incorrect to say that a lot of people were not benefitting from these subsidies.
He said even if the government employs 30, 000 teachers and 11, 000 health workers, still that number could not be compared to the number of people who benefitted from the subsidies.
Mr. Musoma said Zambia had more than 200, 000 motorists and plus or minus 1, 000, 000 households who benefitted from lower fuel pump prices and electricity which also made transportation and the prices of essential commodities manageable at least for most Zambians.
He said it was against this background, they feel the move by the government does not make both political and economic sense.
Mr. Musoma said the government was just meeting the conditions of the International Monetary Fund.
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