Friday, March 29, 2024

Zambia’s economy is fundamentally broken and needs steady hands to fix it-HH

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Hakainde Hichilema
Hakainde Hichilema

The UPND has said that the country’s economy is fundamentally broken and needs steady hands to fix it.

And UPND President Hakainde Hichilema said more people will join the opposition party as they have seen that it is the only viable alternative to the ruling PF.

Speaking when he featured on Radio Phonix’s Let the People Talk Mr Hichilema blamed the current economic challenges that the country is going through to the over borrowing of the PF government.

He said the PF had borrowed over 9billion US Dollars in just 5 years 2billion more than what UNIP borrowed in over 2 and half decades that they were in power.

He said the challenges are not just related to the high cost of living for families but the entire country was living on borrowed money “kaloba” he said escalated under the leadership of President Lungu.

“The country is challenged, it’s not just challenged in terms of high food prices, in terms of electricity shortage, it is not only challenged in terms of us we living on kaloba, the PF government especially under Lungu has borrowed over 9.75 billion US dollars in 4 years more than UNIP did in 27 years.

“When we are challenged economically, like I said before this country’s economy is fundamentally broken, I say so because I understand economics and I understand finances, now when the social fabric of society is broken what does it mean? Unemployment for collage graduates, marketeers cannot feed their families business which she used to then you need to talk about these things as a people,” he said.

Meanwhile Mr Hichilema said he will be meeting more people who will be joining the party from other political parties.

He said the endorsement of DF President Miles Sampa and many others who have already endorsed his candidature was just but the beginning of a political storm taking place in the country.

He said the UPND was growing at faster rate and that people were tired of the poor leadership being offered by the PF government.

He added that the challenges in the mining sector were among the many issues that people were pointing to as examples of how the PF leadership has failed the nation.

He explained that crying over commodity prices was not why the PF was put in office but that it was put there to find solutions to challenges when the country faced them as opposed to blaming everything on external factors.

He said for the 11 years there was a boom in the prices of copper something he said was an opportunity for the country to diversify the economy as commodity prices are recycle which any government should know.

30 COMMENTS

  1. Meanwhile you’re embracing the same corrupt people from PF and MMD who were/are responsible for the current economic situation. People can see through your desperation. MMD and PF have regrouped in UPND.

    • Zambian at large and politicians mostly are corrupt but we need the numbers to make it. We cant throw away all Zambians. Why Zambia is in trouble is due to leadership crisis. If the leader before going to state house is poor and has never proved any success anywhere in his life and career unless success in being appointed minister by a relative, then expect what we are experiencing today. HH as leader will overhaul the whole leadership and political culture in Zambia. A president has enormous power to change every aspect of life unless he doesn’t want in order to become rich like we are seeing now. HH is already did his homework and only wants to serve the nation to prosperity.

    • Which steady hand can fix our Economy? GBM? Banda? Tekere? Shikapwasha? Munkombwe? Meembe and his fellow Cartel whom you are courting?Which hand? tell us. You now sorounded by useless thieves. Let me look at you possible cabinet:

      GBM …..Vice President
      Banda….Minister of finance
      Shikapwasha…Minister of Home affairs
      Scot………..Ministers of Agriculture
      Winter Kabimba……Foreign affairs
      Moreen Mwanawasa…..Health
      Nalumago…………………????
      Nkombo……?????
      Munkombwe…???

      Nothing New here. Only the same old thieves. No hope!!! Liar!! Better we continue with the devil we know.

    • What new thing do you want kanshi? its not about new people its about new strategy from the head itself. If the head is corrupt the entire system is corrupt.

    • we want specific on how, when, what you will do withyour so called ‘steady hands’ to repair our “fundamenally broken down economy”

      We are fed up of mere rhetorical plans coming from you all the time

      Give us substance please HH SC

  2. baletelete hh izulabatamba benangu pa bondx guys.take whoever endorse u since paya farmers r not bn endorsed,even pastor mumba is draging himself to b married by pf.

  3. So what alternatives is this bafoon offering other than just talking about the same old story without being specific?
    Right now, almost all countries are crying including America not because the leaders have failed but that there is global economic slow down.
    Does this HH even realise that the Kwacha is today stronger than the Rand? Let him give specifics other than just yapping that he will fix the economy. When, How? Five Years, Ten Years? HH must know that he is just a desperate man and no one takes him seriously.

    • Are you sure Kwacha is stronger than the Rand? You talk like your Dr Kaingu. How much value to a dollar has the Kwacha lost compared to Rand. No fuel, no mealie meal, no jobs, high inflation rate, useless Kwacha,lawlessness,corrumption-are these we choose leaders for? We are a failed nation.

    • @ECL Zambia….I guess you should go back to the zoo, at Kasanka Wildlife Trust , as you are a clearly failed clone of a chimp mwana.

    • @ECL Zambia’s Choice 2016

      Ok the global economy is slowing but the nations affected are not failing to put even the most basic mealie meal, ubwali pa table. It’s only in Zambia where ba kateka has completely failed to provide even the cheapest and most basic of all staples. What does that tell you? Advise your president to bow down and handover power even before elections and avoid humiliation. People might even respect him for that after all he has already confessed that this job he has been forced to accept is beyond his capability to handle. It would be the honorable thing for him to do. Problems are multiplying exponentially completely confounding his not so sober mind. Things will get worse before he is ousted in August but he can do himself and Zambia a favour by quitting now.

  4. HH you understand nothing at all. You are the most useless pompous and wishful thinking man who is so desperate to get into plot 1. What youre talking about I can challenge any day any time. The fact that you bring UNIP into the fold just goes to show how your economic thinking is stuck in the 20th Century. We are in the 21st Century. We are do radio stations waste time on this non entity who has failed to have free and fair elections in his own party. Let me tell you he feels UPND owes him because of the so called millions he pumped into the party, he wants the money back. The only way to get that money is hold on until he gets into plot one, then milk the entire country before placing blame back to previous governments

    • Lombe you are wrong, HH is not desperate to get into state house but desperate to be head of state so he can undo some of the wrongs by the PF. Look at the lawlessness of the country today. ECL is the one that is desperate to stay in power by trying to instil fear into us to vote for him. You must be one of the people afraid of the aftermath when you lose because of all your plundering.

  5. He is busy praising bitter people full of hate for Ecl that they are endorsing him. Now he is waiting for those without G12 certificate to join his ranks and speed up on insults and bitterness.
    Mines did not retrench workers because of ecl but low comodity price and demand.
    The moment mines boom and start to employ massively you are going to say it’s not Ecl but global boom.

    • According to you nothing is connected….I can’t wait for 11/8 so that the next 5 years will allow a single grain of grey matter to mushroom in your empty head.

  6. Here is a real question for the UPND: what are you going to do, to break away from the policies of the World Bank/IMF, which has the same ownership and therefore interests as Anglo-American De Beers, Rio Tinto, GlencoreXstrata…

    This is how the UPND ended up borrowing $3bn in Eurobonds. Which like Privatisation was invended by the same people/bank.

    How is the UPND going to break away. This is way beyond personalities. This is a systemic problem of not taxing the mines and borrowing in London.

    • Here is the real answer: Vote UPND and you shall see. LT space is too small to cover a National Development Plan.

  7. We are yet to learn to use our heads when dealing with our economy. As at now, we use our bellies and our pockets. Corruption is the food we eat and the air we breathe.

  8. I’m sorry, however if these politician clowns don’t break with the IMF/WB, Zambia will be ready for a military revolution.

  9. Some comments, nichipantepante chabe. Iyo HH has no experience, iyo he’s now embracing MMD, iyo…………….muthafakas

  10. Two points to note.
    1. Surely the economist HH should know that in economics you cannot compare the Us7bn in KK’s 27 years directly to the Us9bn in PF era. Even world currencies do lose value over time. The U.S. dollar now is much weaker than the U.S. dollar of of 1974. It cannot buy the same amount of goods. Ask President Obama, he is still in office.
    2. The GDP of Zambia in 1974 may be the same as the GDP of 2016.
    3. UPND is not the steady hands that we can trust to mend our economy. How on earth would that be with the same thieves that plundered the country.’s wealth and the cartel now forming the decision making top leadership in UpND and lining up for cabinet positions?
    this guy just wants to mislead people that he cares for them, give us a break please!

  11. Please under 5 blaming mine challenges on govt. sure even if you telling grade 1. who doesn’t know that copper prices has been affected worldwide leading to massive loss of jobs. what can you tell us about your close friends anglo american who pruned over close to 100,000 employees??

    Dont fool us, we are brave enough…we know that ecl means very well for our nation and i will prove it to u and yo fellow blind supporters by directing my vote on ecl/pf chabeeeeee…

  12. HH from where I stand, not even you can make any impact. It will have to take a miracle for someone to get positives on the Zambian economy. The devil is useless and cant help. Only a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

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