BARNABAS ZULU
ZAMBIANS will not make the mistake of getting into a second experiment with the UPND after the first has disastrously failed to produce the results of reduced cost of living, lower cost of mealie meal and fuel but has instead doubled the economic miseries of Zambians, Brian Mundubile has said.
Mr Mundubile says there shall be no second term for President Hakainde Hichilema because for the last four years, he has only managed to double the cost of living and should therefore not seek re-election but should consider retiring with honour.
Mr Mundubile, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament said in an interview yesterday that President Hichilema had not been ready when he assumed public office in 2021 and that his administration had neglected the majority Zambians wallowing in poverty and squalor.
“Many Zambians are surprised because when he said he wants to double the economy, what does he mean? The ones who are winning the debate are those suggesting that everything will be double the price of what it is today because that is the only thing he has proven to be capable of…moving things from one price to double the price,” Mundubile said.
He acknowledged that while the President may be putting in effort, his outcomes were showing results lamentable failure and that asking for a second was being unfair to himself (President Hichilema) and to Zambians in general.
“If he says he is working hard, we believe it. If working hard means flying out of the country so many times, going everywhere without a structured pattern…we agree. But there has been no output, no deliverable,” he said.
He added that even basic tasks such as importing maize have become problematic, with the UPND government importing maize from Tanzania at 40 percent above the market price.
“They will import maize at 40 percent higher than the market price, and that maize doesn’t come. Before we even talk about Mopani the mingalato that has happened… in the Ndola-Lusaka dual carriageway, in the Indeni fuel procurement, in the export of electricity… they have failed,” he said.
Mr Mundubile criticized the President Hichilema’s transition from private to public service, claiming the head of State misunderstood the nature of governing the country.
“He didn’t understand the assignment of managing a country. In the private sector, it’s about profit. But in public service, it’s about the greatest happiness for the greatest number.”
He urged President Hichilema to prepare for retirement.
“We cannot experiment twice. Once beaten, twice shy. There is no credential he can present that will compel Zambians to vote for him again.
Second term for President Hichilema is definitely a no…no,no,no.
The only thing he has managed to double is the suffering of the majority poor Zambians and they are not having him to continue beyond 2026,” Mr Mundubile said.
