Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) National Youth Treasurer ?and National Executive Committee (NEC) member Lengwe Cornelius Bwalya has charged that Zambians have been robbed by the Patriotic Front (PF) government.
He said that benefits accrued from the infrastructure development originally started by MMD but hijacked by PF have largely benefited Chinese companies at the expense of indigenous Zambian contractors.
?Mr Bwalya regrets that the loans the PF government has been getting from the Chinese come with many hidden conditionalities such as the Zambian government being forced to engage Chinese firms on the projects under which those loans were collected, thus denying Zambian contractors opportunities to improve their skills and gain financially. He argued that when Chinese firms come to Zambia and many other African countries, they bring with them their own nationals to work on these projects and only employ a handful of Zambian casual workers who are given a merger pay at the end of the month.
“The reality of our people suffering cannot get any more serious than it is right now. That is why as MMD under the leadership of Dr Nevers Sekwila Mumba, we have pledged to appropriately engage the Chinese to allow for massive technology and skills transfer to Zambians,” Mr Bwalya said.
“Zambians will not eat roads. We will not use the roads to buy kapenta, chibwabwa or kalembula. The Zambian people want hard cash in this difficult economy to enable us take care of our families,” a visibly annoyed Mr Bwalya said.
Mr Bwalya who is currently touring the Copperbelt with his team bemoaned the high levels of poverty and anguish that the people on the Copperbelt are going through. He wondered how a thinking, normal government would expect former miners to switch to farming within months of losing their jobs.
“Zambians will not eat roads. We will not use the roads to buy kapenta, chibwabwa or kalembula. The Zambian people want hard cash in this difficult economy to enable us take care of our families,”
“What I am seeing here is a total failure of leadership in the PF government, something that will never happen under the New Hope MMD under Dr. Mumba when we form government after 11th August 2016, and something that never happened under previous MMD leaderships.
“Under Dr Mumba, a seasoned diplomat, former Vice-President and head of business in Parliament, in the same fashion that he negotiated for Barrick-Gold to come and invest $8 billion in Zambia, MMD will negotiate with the various mining firms in the country to re-employ our people. This is a total mess by the PF and the more reason why we have to vote them out of office this August.
“MMD is going to make Zambia great again. I call on all well-meaning Zambians to rise up and stand up for what is right and noble, which is to vote PF and Edgar Lungu out of government and vote for MMD and Dr. Mumba. There is no room for experiments with untested parties and untested candidates. No room to make the mistakes of the past as we did in 2011 as we cannot afford to be deceived by ‘Forward, Forward or Ifintu ni cakuti’ when ifintu nafi lungula. We are being taken back to the UNIP days of a collapsed economy, high unemployment and runaway inflation. We need to bring in Dr Mumba and the MMD which is tried and tested leadership,” said Mr Bwalya.
Iwe zambians will eat roads because of the economic value a road brings to a nation. It’s not true that the local contractors are not benefiting. Ask yourself about those who are abandoning projects after receiving initial payment. Are they not local contractors. And about skills transfer the bringing of solar mills has actually addressed that already and pf is on record encouraging almalgamation of foreign and local contractors . just sale your party without talking about pf because Pf is working and people are seeing the efforts. Talk about how you are going to do things differently not that pf has failed.
Gentlemen be honesty mwe bantu! CAN you compare LUNGU na masushi ya ba minister wakwe to Dr Nevers Mumba? Stop joking imwe’ New Hope mmd is the only party now! Not even tonga party. And ths time you can’t manage to manipulate christians ba kolwe.
What economic benefit in real sense will the Zambian people benefit from them? Read thorough the assertion before you start making conclusions. And talking of local contractors how many hv run away..do you hv statistics to prove that all local contractors run away…it’s either you are too dull or too shallow minded to grasp the article
This morning pf lusakachair was at intercity issueing iphones to cadres with K500 tt in each just to attack mmd on internet’. But bupubafye because everyone now has seen tht Dr Nevers Mumba and newhope mmd is the only genuine party’ not even upnd. Don’t compare ama sushi kuli ba pastor bane! Christian nation! Zambia shallbe saved.
I THOUGHT YOU GUYS WERE GIVEN 20 YEARS. IF OU DID NOT IN 20 YEARS WHAT CONVINCES THE PEOPLE OF ZAMBIA THAT YOU WON’T COME BACK TO STASH YOUR POCKETS THIS TIME ROUND? IFINTU NI PF, IFINTU NI PF.
No Mr Bwalya, no.
Not the MMD in its current state. Maybe a future MMD.
Good day.
@GUNDIXY
I totally agree. maybe Future MMD, not the current one, It is just too unstable and fragmented to allow it to run the country. They need to first sort out their internal wrangles which are far from over. There is a Chituwo camp, Nevers Camp, Mutati camp, Lungwanga camp and of course the mighty RB camp who has a large following in MMD as evidenced by his influence in the 2015 By Elections.
MMD today is a confused party with too many centres of power. This is a divided party and as a nation we don’t want PF confusion reloaded. They have to put their house in order first and speak with one voice first, especially the big guns in the party
I am not MMD but hv carefully followed the the happenings in this one our great party. Such camps are not in existance and when you look at those names,those are people who also vie for the position of President of the party and most if not all hv I’ll feelings against Doc. MMD has fought so many battles and Doc has stood by principle to defend the party and the Presidency and it’s just wise that we give him credit where it’s due. As to MMD winning elections? That I am not sure but if they are organised anything is possible
Nevers Mumba is just using MMD for his desperate personal political ambitions. The same way he abandoned the opposition to join Levy Mwanawasa is the same he will jump ship when an opportunity avails itself. Those that were with him like Dora Siliya and others already saw that this is not a leader who has something to sell, but someone who is after something no matter what it takes. He has no message, just someone desperate for a job. HH articulates what he wants to do, Nawakwi says what is wrong and how it should be done but I have assessed Nevers message as lacking hence my conclusion. He never says anything new, and yet is never short of a message. He comments on anything when others assess what deserves comment and what does not.
What a dull statement. Between Nevers and Dora, who has got a job?
@ Milo Chooka
What a dull answer. What Nevers has to offer? Just remember his constant shifting of position in misplaced hope of having importance. By the way, does Nevers has constituency?
Lol. … lengwe nevers cant inspire confidence in his on party members how can he win any election. …? Mmd under mumba is dead finished
MMD is the party that recklessly privatised our mibes and parastatals leaving our country paralysed forever. How do you sell a mine for $20 million? That sounds like a corrupt sale where mines were undervalued. Not even drogba or beckham cost $20m. Good your party is getting extinct.
PF sure you people can spend all that. K96 000 on ipad phones just to attack mmd nevers mumba on coments? And you say mmd is dead? Muli fipuba! We shall go back to mmd come 2016 elections. Viva new hope.
MMD has strives to better the living standards of our people,lets not have chicken memories. They are not perfect but certainly cnt be compared to what we are seeing now and one wonder,s if there were to remain in office for just another five years what a mess we will hv to deal with
No way! MMD under the current leadership cannot take Zambia anyway! I personally can’t see Nevers Mumba doing it for Zambia! He is not a leader but a pastor! MMD is at a place where they cannot win the next elections.
Where I live not so many people talk about voting for pastor nevers mumba or mmd He is appreciated but not to level of being for.
Stupid bwalya MMD was in power for 20 years they didn’t even build one university. Development was on papers pf government made it practical …..
Bwalya pls MMD sold companies together with hh we have not forgotten.
I am a little bit confused here, suddenly Lengwe Bwalya is MMD Spokesman? What happened to Nakachinda? And if he speaks on behalf of the youths where’s Hon Howard Kunda, The MMD National youth chair? Anyway thats a question no one will ever answer so I will just come up with my own conclusion and say they too have left the Captain of a SHIP that has suddenly lost direction and DESTINATION.The MMD under Nevers Mumba has seen alot of dark clouds, having come out 4th in the presidential by -election and scoring less than the number of voters for a single ward in lusaka, I mean if the election was between nevers and rejected ballot papers, nevers would still come out 4th in that election, how then can he actually convince members of his party that he will deliver the party back to its…