State of the Nation address by FDD President Edith Nawakwi
Ladies and gentlemen of the press, we meet here today at a time when our country has reached an irreversible economic crisis under the Patriotic Front leadership.
The crisis is now being felt in every home as you fill that brazier with your little charcoal; it is being felt as a young mother gives birth on the floor of a dark clinic; it is being felt on that bus as you try to negotiate a bus fare with the conductor; it is being felt in the evening as you turn on your television set and watch the useless news from ZNBC.
The reason for this crisis is that we have no leadership. And I want to clearly state that leadership is not about individuals; leadership is about the collective. The collective that we have in the Patriotic Front Government cannot direct, inspire and assist us secure the future of our country.
Four years ago when the Patriotic Front took office, a bag of mealie meal was K35, today it is K75. When the PF took office, the exchange rate was K4.9 to a dollar, today it is over K12 to a dollar. When they took office, the bus fare from Kalingalinga to town was K2.8, today it is K5.
Four years ago when the Patriotic Front took office, a bag of mealie meal was K35, today it is K75. When the PF took office, the exchange rate was K4.9 to a dollar, today it is over K12 to a dollar. When they took office, the bus fare from Kalingalinga to town was K2.8, today it is K5.
We are all feeling the absence of leadership in this country. This country has no leader. We have no President.
President Edgar Lungu’s solution to our economic crisis is a prayer meeting to ask God to intervene. But the Word of God in Second Thessalonians Chapter 3 verses 10 and 11 is very clear: a lazy man does not deserve to eat. James chapter 2 verse 14 teaches us that faith without action is dead. Even Jesus, in Matthew chapter 17 verses 26 to 27 when he was confronted by the tax collectors he did not fall on his knees and prayed that the tax collectors go away, he acted. He sent Peter to go to the sea to catch a fish and out of its mouth get the coin to pay the tax collectors to avoid trouble.
[pullquote]The current economic crisis is self inflicted; it was deliberate and calculated in an extremely patriarchal partisan manner[/pullquote]
Who is our Peter today? We don’t have a Simon Peter here. It is therefore important for each one of us to take it upon oneself to be that Simon Peter that this country desperately needs. You have the sacred duty to choose a party or a group of political parties that have the vision and ability to end this crisis and lift this country out of the mess that the Patriotic Front has plunged us in.
Yes, it is important to pray, but in our prayer we must be very clear about what we ask God to do for us. God will not come down from heaven and put mealie meal in our homes. God will not come down from heaven and end load shedding.
God will not come down from heaven and put mealie meal in our homes. God will not come down from heaven and end load shedding.
God has done a lot for us. He has blessed us with all the natural resources any country can dream of. That is why the Chinese, the Lebanese, the Rwandese are all flocking to Zambia because we are a blessed nation.
If Edgar Lungu is calling for a prayer meeting to ask God to reveal to us who amongst us should take over as our leader, I ask all of you to go to that prayer meeting. But if President Edgar Lungu wants us to ask God to end load shedding, I ask you to all shun that prayer meeting because it is a mockery to God. God has no technology. He gave us land, He gave us water, He gave us minerals and He instructed us to conquer the earth. He gave us the ability to produce electricity from the sun, the wind and the water.
If Edgar Lungu is calling for a prayer meeting to ask God to reveal to us who amongst us should take over as our leader, I ask all of you to go to that prayer meeting. But if President Edgar Lungu wants us to ask God to end load shedding, I ask you to all shun that prayer meeting because it is a mockery to God.
We have tried from the opposition to raise alarm; we have attempted to reach out to Government in the understanding that even though they are in Government, we are all in leadership. And in that understanding, as a Party, we wanted to inspire a position where national issues are above our petty political affiliations.
Today there is no tribe. We are all Zambians, bred from the same umbilical code.
As a country, where we are now requires that we appreciate that we are all leaders and each one of us has to start thinking about how we are going to get ourselves out of this economic quagmire that has been created by the Patriotic Front.
The current economic crisis is self inflicted; it was deliberate and calculated in an extremely patriarchal partisan manner.
The PF have excluded all of us from being involved in the management of our country. When I say all of us, I mean the student, the teacher, the miner, the maid, the policewoman keeping vigil on the street, all have been excluded. Our understanding as a Party is that leadership is a collective; hence we must all be involved in the governance of our country. And the people who must create that platform of inclusiveness are those in the echelons of power.
Where we are today requires strength, courage and an unwavering resolve to face these economic problems head-on. In fact where we are now is much better than where we were in the 1980s. The 1990s were worse! We can use the lessons of the 1990s and the late 1980s to re-craft the future of our country.
If you recall, in the 1990s copper prices were below 2000 Dollars per ton. Today, the lowest is being quoted at about 6000 Dollars. In 1990 almost all the mines were closed. We never had China; we were depending on foreign traders who could come to Zambia and brokerage traders on our behalf. Today we have the privilege of having mining companies selling copper outside Zambia in any way they want.
The lessons of the 1990s should be an eye opener to all of us that copper will never be a solution to eradicating poverty in Zambia.
Members of the press, we called you here today to tell you that time has come for us as a country to develop a strategy which excludes copper as the main driver in our program of poverty eradication and national development. To do that requires that someone provides leadership and it is clear to all of us that, that leadership cannot come from Edgar Lungu and his Patriotic Front.
The leadership that we need is for someone to understand that our future lies in Agriculture, in Energy and in the sweat that each one pours individually in our households, in our fields, in our laboratories, in our markets, on our rivers. Let us not ever again think that going underground or digging up our motherland to create dump sites and mosquito ponds will wash away our poverty.
To move to that stage we as FDD are suggesting the following:
- The public servants who are charged with the responsibility to think on our behalf should from today onwards know that the solutions for our future will never come from us politicians. Politicians will never ever resolve the issues that have kept us an impoverished lot. I expect from this conference that the public servants at the Ministry of Finance and I am specifically referring to Mr Fredson Yamba who has the track record of having grown up in the Ministry and clearly knows what has to be done; I am referring to the Governor of the Central Bank; I am referring to the Permanent Secretary at Ministry of Commerce, the Permanent Secretary at Ministry of Agriculture and all the trained men and women in the productive sectors of our economy, I am referring to a public servant at ZESCO; am referring to anyone who takes a salary from people’s sweat; anyone who deep inside feels that we should salvage our country, I am pleading with you: find a day this week, sit together and give us the blue print for our future.
- How do we resolve the Energy crisis? You know the answer Mr. Managing Director at ZESCO. The only challenge is that politicians are telling you what do. For once, forget us politicians. Move ahead and do what is right for the country.
- The Governor at Central Bank: Governor, you are educated, you have seen the world, and you have managed Africa on behalf of multilateral institutions. Don’t wait for IMF and the World Bank to bring a noose and tie it around our necks, raise the alarm that we are desperate for help to restructure our Financial and Economic Sectors. You are the only one who can raise the alarm to the IMF and The World Bank. No politician, certainly not our current nominated Member of Parliament Mr. Alexander Chikwanda will raise the alarm, for fear of embarrassment.
- Mr Yamba, you know what has to be done. Austerity measures must not come when we are completely down on our knees. You sure have raised alarm before that there is serious inconsistency in policy pronouncement and policy implementation by the Patriotic Front Government. How consistent should the policy be? You know the answer. None of us in Government and out of Government has the knowledge and experience that you have. Help us! Give us a menu of things we need to do and if we fail to support you to implement that list then blame us as wayward politicians. I believe that even in the naivety of the political leadership of the PF, given your strong position with a clear list of things that must be done to correct this economic situation, they will probably wake up. But for as long as you leave it to those politicians in PF, whose time and perspective is limited, this country will remain a basket case. Greece had the European Bank to fall back on; we have nothing, not even a SADC Bank. We only have the forests to run to.
President Lungu’s collective is saying only Jesus can save us from this economic conundrum as if the Bible in Second Thessalonians chapter 3 verses 10 and 11 is not clear enough that, those who do not work, those who are lazy should not eat.
We need a clear policy direction. You public servants have had prescriptions from politicians for far too long. Prescribe now what has to be done to save Zambia from this economic abyss. Whatever your prescription, it must be a prescription that does not rely on copper as the solution to our economic problems.
It is clear to us as FDD, that PF want the status quo to continue that is why they are not doing much as a Government to make sure that people register to vote in the 2016 general elections.
We are calling upon every Christian, every Muslim, every Buddhist, and every community leader in this country to take up this God given role and inspire your people to realize that choosing the right leaders is a God given duty. When you choose bad leaders you commit sin because when there are bad leaders people suffer.
Just like Moses cried out to the children of Israel in Deuteronomy chapter 1 verse 13 to choose for themselves competent leaders, I beseech you my brethren: go and register as a voter and choose amongst yourselves wise and discerning leaders in the 2016 general elections.
Thank you.
May God bless our country.
Someone needs to explain to EN, what inflation, sick and tired of people talking of mealie meal 10 years ago..
Does Oil prices stay the same?
Price of land
Inflation?
Rise in demand
Increase of population
Work shortage
Drought
Climate change
Can someone help me?
Prices will increase and there is no formula to extrapolate what is acceptable in terms of rise
rhetoric rants on prices of food, are a desperate excursion of a failed politician.
Thanks
BB2014
President Edith Nawakwi you are too carnal,you concentrate too much on the belly,what shall we eat , drink and wear,you don`t mind about your soul and spirit. You so much need the presidency but to tell you the truth, HH is nearer than you.
What God want is, first faith towards Him and second ,good works towards fellow human beings.
On 18th October, we want to show politicians like you that we have stopped depending on EL,HH,pastor Nevers Mumba, Chipimo ,yourself Ms Nawakwi and others, but fully put our confidence in God.
I’m asking questions to which you would do well to provide answers.
You only reconcile & unite when there are at least two opposing sides. So I just want to know the offence/Vice committed & against who & by who. Who is the offender & the offended? Answer me I will be glad to join you in the prayers. Why should I pray to reconcile & unite two sides who source of conflict I am not familiar with?
I am concerned because I am a Zambian & the prayers are for Zambians. Whom did PF offend for them to pray for reconciliation & unity? Otherwise from Ms Nawakwi’s views I conclued PF has mismanaged the economy & now they want forgiveness from us Zambians.
PF just do the right thing & you will win more support. Even Mwanawasa I believe lost 2Mazoka did the right thing in his 1st 5yrs such that by…
I am concerned because I am a Zambian & the prayers are for Zambians. Whom did PF offend for them to pray for reconciliation & unity? Otherwise from Ms Nawakwi’s views I conclude PF has mismanaged the economy & now they want forgiveness from us Zambians.
PF just do the right thing & you will win more support. Even Mwanawasa I believe lost 2Mazoka did the right thing in his 1st 5yrs such that by 2006 he did not need Chiluba’s support to win. PF was walloped despite holding mammoth rallies: 1,170,000 Votes MMD to 820,000 Votes PF. As usual off course they cried foul despite the gap being over 300,000 votes compared to his narrow win over RB of only 170,000 votes.
Yes Edith we will do this, 2016 is even too far to allow PF torment our relatives. Even HH agree and humbled with your insight. We do it, I mean ACT, starting tomorrow.
This dull corrupt government has failed and it’s simple to understand . We aren’t dull like Fake ministers and dull president , why chicken out for a BBC interview, how will investors come to Zambia . Load shedding, useless currency , corruption, velonce, no freedom of press .
David in the bible once was weeping and crying out to God for help and He told them to stop the weeping,get up and go and fight for your wives and children. We Zambians have been praying day in day out but our hearts are still corrupt and evil.Its time to work and stop this weeping.Stop this bribery,waste of public resources and selling our resources and land to outsiders who exploit us. This thing of investors is not something we should applaud blindly.They come to make money not give us money.
Food for thought. There are validities in this discourse, if we put our prejudiced as to said aside.
Mushota you want someone to help you? I can. Mushota your are stu.pid and irrational. Are you really an MBA and Ph.D kindda hyper. What are you on about? PF has been in power briefly and Lungu has been for under a year and there have been such a drastic fall the economic standing of the country. That’s what Nawakwi is saying and she is also suggesting possible solutions to the country’s problems. Even in the UK where you are the price rise is gradually. The price rises in Zambia even if it’s about mealie meal, it’s astonishing in terms on the the levels. Zambia is spiralling out of control and things need to be arrested. Nawakwi has points and she needs to be listened to.
Nawakwi, Shikapwasha, Niza Phiri have refused to join the so called prayers for the country. Does that make them satanists? God forbid. Not at all. As HH has said he is not against GENUINE prayers and reconciliation. The key word is GENUINE. Shikapwasha says to PF confess your sins before going for prayers. Niza Phiri adds that ” breathing Holy Ghost fire will not scare the kwacha into single digits”.
The Bible is clear God is not mocked. Read about Zacchaeus in the Bible “Luke 19: 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
Useless, why are you even wating time to pray. EN is right, god ,if there is one, gave us all the very best. It made us human beings who can think,we have natural resources etc. why are you mocking this deity with prayer when the answer he gave you thousands of years ago. Just work. stop wasting time and using cheap propaganda of prayer knowing that the zambian is docile and is pacified by the thought of jesus christ and christianity. People are waking up,you cant fool us anymore with this interventionist god!!!! this is the age of aquarius. Long gone is the age of pisces. we are in the age of profound information gains, we have opened our third eye and we can see clearly now.
Useless, why are you even wasting time to pray. EN is right, god ,if there is one, gave us all the very best. It made us human beings who can think,we have natural resources etc. why are you mocking this deity with prayer when the answer he gave you thousands of years ago. Just work. stop wasting time and using cheap propaganda of prayer knowing that the zambian is docile and is pacified by the thought of jesus christ and christianity. People are waking up,you cant fool us anymore with this interventionist god!!!! this is the age of aquarius. Long gone is the age of pisces. we are in the age of profound information gains, we have opened our third eye and we can see clearly now.
What are you talking about? I mock god everyday!
Work up people, there is no GOD. The bible has bound your minds by telling you that ‘a fool in his heart there is no GOD.’ I say, that is a mind-numbing statement by a numb-minded person to make more people numb-minded like him.
If I am wrong, GoD is there, may he cure Kanshimbs Chimbwili of buffoonery, now. See! Chimbwili is still a buffoon. There is no God!
I have a serious problem in this country. The bible says “PRAY WITHOUT CEASING”. The President has asked the citizens to pray for RECONCILIATION, FORGIVENESS AND PEACE. Where has the prayer for ending load shading come from? Secondly, the bible in Proverbs 127:1 says “UNLESS THE LORD BUILDS THE HOUSE, THE BUILDERS LABOR IN VAIN. UNLESS THE LORD WATCHES OVER THE CITY, THE GUARDS STAND WATCH IN VAIN”. Yes we are all supposed to be hard working. However, hard work without the Lord on our side we build in Vain. That is the call of prayers being made now. That is my contribution
Miya, just to refresh your mind. It seems you have forgotten:
“His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu has proclaimed Sunday, 18th October 2015 as the day of Repentance, Prayer and Fasting throughout the country.
The Head of State stated that this declaration follows the overwhelming requests that ordinary citizens and the clergy from all denominations have made for this special day to be set apart for Repentance, Prayer and Fasting country wide.
The President stated that the decision was inevitable in view of the many challenges that the country was faced with among them: socio-economic; disrespect for elders and a near absence of civility in discourse; high unemployment levels among the youth and high poverty levels, Kwacha depreciation including load shedding due to the power…
Sorry its Psalm 127:1. My apologies.
Lungu’s PF is like a drunkard parent who spends his wages drinking in bars with prostitutes and listening /sponsoring live music. Then he returns to his poverty /hunger striken home penniless. He then asks his family to go to church so that God can drop a bags of mealie meal from heaven. God helps those who help themselves. Viva Nawakwi Viva HH!
useless prayers, let the hypocrites attend
Well spoken. I, too, believe the learned civil servants have the answers but politicians don’t want to listen because those solutions will be unpopular and will cost them votes. But at this point, it should no longer be about winning elections but saving the nation. I can assure the PF that, even though the solutions will be painful, in the long run they will save the nation and a grateful people will vote for them. Stand up and be counted!
TELL THEM MAMA EDITH. EDGAR IS INCOMPETENT PERIOD. I REPEAT EDGAR IS INCOMPETENT AND LAZY (SLEEPING ON DUTY). WHAT MAMA EDITH IS SAYING IS IN LINE WITH HH AND EVERY SENSIBLE ZAMBIAN OUT THERE. YOU CANNOT STUDY FOR AN EXAM AND PRAY TO HELP YOU SOLVE AN EXAM QUESTION DURING THE EXAM. IT DOES NOT WORK LIKE THAT. WE HAVE TO BE RESPONSIBLE, WE HAVE TO DO THE RIGHT THINGS FOR OUR PEOPLE. LOOK AT THE CORRUPTION IN THIS GOVERNMENT TODAY. THAT IS ONE OF THE SOURCES OF ECONOMIC COLLAPSE. THE OTHER IS INCOMPETENT CADRES IN GOVERNANCE POSITIONS. THESE ARE THE FIRST THINGS EDGAR SHOULD START FIGHTING. SECOND IS SELLING OUR COUNTRY TO FOREIGNERS – THIS HAS TO STOP. LASTLY, ITS TIME WE INVEST IN OUR OWN PEOPLE NOT CHINESE CONTRACTORS ETC.
First, the churches and not PF should have been in the forefront of organizing the day of national prayer. This would have depoliticized the event. Second, the president should have extended an invitation to meet all opposition leaders before the day of prayer. This would have provided an opportunity for the opposition to directly raise their concerns with him and for him to also seek their opinions on governance issues. As it stands, the calls for national prayer have degenerated into political debates underpinned by varying interpretations (including misinterpretations) of the bible which border on judging others, calling people satanists and telling people they need repentance.
I cannot applaud this comment enough.
@ Harvey:Good Suggestion/(afterthought for Lungu’s political advisors). However, prayerrful men and women have a SENSE OF DISCERNMENT which guides them to initiate calls for national prayers. They can pray and discern whether it is meaningful to call for prayer or whether holding the bull by its horns by raising their voices (being combative) for the sake of the voiceless is more meaningful. Can any man of the cloth worth his salt call for prayers with these power drunk, foul-mouthed, gun totting, corrupt, arrogant, wasteful, intoxicated crew of Lungu, Kaizer, Chama, Kambwili,mumbi phiri, Frank Bwalya et al. Do they know the suffering of the people or even care about them (poor people) other than winning the next elections and enjoying the ride on the gravy train?
In nutshell, true men and women of the cloth are not and will not be a branch of Chagwa’s PF or (any politcal party for that matter, UPND and FDD included). So their call for prayer should/will not be dictated by the political posturing/PR needs of any political party or govt but rather to the service of man on earth & thus they will be putting into practice the Lord’s prayer: (THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN).QED!
MEANT TO SAY YOU CANNOT GO TO AN EXAM WITHOUT STUDY AND EXPECT GOD TO HELP YOU
Exactly.Actually God is going to ask you as what you have in your hand like He asked Moses. YOU are in this mess because of corruption. God hates a corrupt nation. A nation that persecutes, tamples and extort the poor.
These prayers will only be meaningful if they will be about taming the tongue of Kambwili and beseeching our merciful God to pour wisdom on our care-free leaders.
We will vote for Lungu because he is a poor man and he understands peoples problems. He doesn’t hide his drinking and he is a very humble man. Besides the late president left the man in charge which is an indicator of the confidence MCS had in him. He has also promised to continue where MCS left.
Where in the world does humbleness or poverty qualify one to the presidency? What legacy did MCS leave for people to want lungu to continue? Should our individual judgement be based on what the unschooled MCS wanted?
Shame on you Zambians
#Eshu
This is the kind of mediocrity thinking which has led the country to where it is now. Drop this primitive way of thinking especially when it comes to important national issues such as voting wisely. Lungu is not a humble man, he is a Leopard in a sheep’s skin, in short, he is an hypocrite and that is why he ascended to the PF readership through the use of pangas.
I am with you Eshu… meant, majority of the voters should avoid the kind of thinking you alluded to in your first paragraph above….
Say “I will vote…” You have no mandate to speak for anyone. Stop acting like I will do your bidding……
As for me, I won’t vote PF because madness is doing the same thing and expecting different results! Am normal
@Eshu, the epitome of the 1d!ocy of PF supporters was to trust Sata’s judgement on Edgar Lungu in the first place. How could any sane person with functioning faculties trust Sata’s judgement. There was enough evidence that Sata was a dysfunctional muppet. Here was a man who wud appoint a person at 08hrs in the morning and fire him at 16hrs in the afternoon. A man whose judgement in a multi-tribal country, have half the composition of cabinet from his village, a man who prophesied to be fighter for the poor but hiked his salary 4 times in 2 years! A man whose solution to a lean cabinet was to have multiple D/Ministers as a cost saving measure etc. And because he gave Lungu 2 or more Ministries to run, they all chorused together that ewo ba Sata batushila!!! But with such a consistent…
what has edgar done in secrecy that he want to be delivered from his body.
i think you shouldn’t go there, because really, everyone has done something in secret that they wouldn’t want to be disclosed, and i mean every single one has, and that is you included.
The call to civil servants is spot on. We need to have a professional civil service that is not dependent on politicians. We have seen countries that change politicians so often but because they have a strong civil service consistency is never disrupted.
Look at the chaos at electoral commission of zambia, all that is created by pros waiting to be told what to do by politicians.
That is why, by extension, we should have a cabinet thats outside parliament. While one may argue that these will be de facto politicians, there not worrying about the next election will place them closer to professional civil servants.They will also be mindful of the oversight role of parliament.
Faith with works is a Bit Mormon! Truly no man can get to heaven by earning it through works. Faith and a good effort whilst placing your trust in Christ to complete your weakness through confession and totally depending on him will do.
Mixing religious teaching for secular purposes will get you into hell first class Honourable Nawakwi. I second Mushota on her analysis. Nawakwi
Is far from grasping that win, because of her repetitive dialog.
Good article with sense of humor. Let us not misplace our roles. We are feeling it anyway.
If the same was issued by HH most of you could have been hallucinating by now just because he is Tonga
You voted unwisely and then you want God to supernaturally sort out your mess. Being docile and passing the responsibility to God won’t help.
Zambians wise up and vote with your brains next time. Don’t be too emotional, be wise. Theirs a place for religion.
Lungu is simply passing his responsibility or rather blame to God for his governments failures.
I respect the viewpoint of Miss Nawakwi, but beg to differ on her reasoning that all politicians do the wrong things, and technocrats the right things. A closer look will show that some fairly good politician is coached and spoilt by the corrupt among our technocrats. There must also be a change of mindset in some of our top civil servants.
You can have politicians summoning the clergy, to order them to hold this and that.The clergy are the ones who need to summon politicians, they are the ones close to the people. People are beaten, shot, asked to pay bribes, govt coffers are looted, then the same people want to call the oppressed for national prayers! 2 Chronicles 20 gives me a lot of inspiration, Look at a wise King Jehoshaphat did. Such is true leadership. These are prayers in vain, period!
I meant to say ‘ you can not have politicians ‘…
Zambians, we are suffering bcoz we think, we are clever than God, we are talking too much. tiye nazo. we will feel the punch.
Another sober and fact-based statement from yet another opposition party, with the national interest at heart. This is impressive, especially if the language used is untainted with demeaning or even derogatives. This is what our current challenge calls for, objective contributions. Thanks ba Edith
“solutions for our future will never come from us politicians”. Is everyone in the civil service listening? This has always been our mistake in Zambia. Politics first; professionalism last.
This is what leadership means, good message and Bravo!!