Dear Editor,
WONDERS in Zambia will never end when it comes to politics and the governance system under the new dawn administration.
This is with reference to the recent pronouncement by President Hakainde Hichilema on the government’s intention to sell the VX vehicles. This move sounds good in rhetorical terms but, this is a political circus and an appeasement to the general citizenry.
The VX vehicles being used by the government officials notably the Cabinet Ministers are said to be too expensive to maintain. Hence, the decision to sell them and ultimately buy cheaper ones.
The question is, when were these vehicles bought? Secondly, who authorised the buying of the said vehicles? The vehicles earmarked for selling were bought after the United Party for National Development (UPND) formed government. The authorisation of the buying of the vehicles was by some of the officials in the administration.
President Hichilema when he was in opposition promised among other things, doing away with the Cabinet Ministers using expensive vehicles such as the VX. But, what happened when UPND formed government is the opposite of what he promised.
The UPND government knew in the first place that the intended vehicles to buy were too expensive to maintain. The mistake was already made by the UPND government through extravagant spending of financial resources on the VX vehicles. The best thing to do is for the UPND government to admit the blunder that was made.
It should heed the Bemba proverb, “insoni ebuntu,” which means that a person should feel ashamed of the wrong deeds.
In the same vein, the UPND government should feel ashamed by departing from one of the party’s campaign promises.
Everything said and done, the intention by the government to sell the VX vehicles is a political circus and an appeasement to the people. It is high time the UPND government admitted the blunder of buying the expensive vehicles for the government officials.
ELEMIYA PHIRI,
Lusaka.
