Friday, March 29, 2024

HH wants to know Measures Government is implementing help Zambians

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Hakainde Hichilema
Hakainde Hichilema

UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has challenged the PF government to tell the nation what actions it is implementing to lessen the burden on the people which has came about as a result of the county’s broken economy.

In a statement, Mr Hichilema said more and more analysts including international organizations are confirming what has already been established as major challenges afflicting the county’s economy but that the PF government seems to be clueless as to what mitigating measures to put in place.

He said there is reason for the PF government to continue waiting in putting up remedial measures to avert the continued detoriation of the county’s economy saying if your business is running a loss but you want to survive then you do not wait a month.

Below is the statement issued by the UPND President.

OFFICIAL STATEMENT

Planning for Economic Growth and Prosperity

As the weeks go by and our President remains silent on what action he intends to take to fix our broken economy, more and more analysis and confirmation of our challenges comes from all quarters. The most recent projections include figures from the UK’s Economist Intelligence Unit that estimate real GDP growth will stand at just 2.8% in 2016 – the lowest level since 1998. Yet to date no one seems to be clear on the programme of action proposed by our government to tackle the slow down and reduce its negative impacts on the people, or if indeed there is any such plan.

We have all been rehearsing and dissecting the economic problems we are facing as a nation for some time now – they are no great mystery, and the important ones have been established, including power shortages, high inflation rates of over 20%, policy uncertainty and lack of confidence, prohibitive interest rates, lack of diversification and an education sector not well matched to the labour market demand. What we in the UPND are trying to say in reaction to this is that we can drive our own solutions. Together we can fix our economy and get Zambia back on track.

If your business is running a loss but you want to survive then you do not wait a month, a year or even longer to take action, but you identify the reasons for that loss and weigh up what you can do to address the situation. For example, if you are not selling enough fritters to make any profit you may decide that you need to reposition your stall to attract more passers-by, or perhaps you need to check the competition and vary your recipe to stand out with customers. What we have failed to see from the PF and President Lungu when it comes to managing the economy is anything beyond an occasional acknowledgement that business is not good today, this has been going on for too long now and talk needs to re-focus on solutions.

What we continue to call for is an urgent weighing up of the options open to us, and the launch of a decisive plan of action, timeline for delivery and expected results, as well as the names of those to be held accountable for implementation.

When resources are limited, as they are in our case, then planning becomes particularly important because prioritisation is the key to making sure a little investment will go a long way. These investments must go into areas that will have positive multiplier effects, and the plan must be made with an understanding of which areas we should tackle first that will then put us in a better position to tackle other problems thereafter.

Looking at the various economic challenges we face it is clear to us in the UPND that a big focus on supporting Zambian businesses to become competitive and grow is of primary importance. By supporting our Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) we can oversee accelerated job creation and by bringing inflation down then we reduce pressure on interest rates and can subsequently look to reduce these to the further benefit of business. Support must start with a clear and simple regulatory environment that is easy to understand and that keeps start-up and permit costs low. It must be followed with education and training initiatives and complemented with improved access to finance.

More broadly, policy certainty and confidence is an area that requires very little monetary investment by government, only vision, consultation and ultimately decisiveness.

Reforming our education system to better prepare and train students for jobs and business can also be achieved largely through consultation and collaboration with teaching professionals and industry. In the 21st Century we can also take advantage of the great advances in technology that enable us to deliver new tools and resources quickly to wide and remote areas, such as electronic textbooks and e-Readers. This is an area we want to invest in by cutting back on wasteful expenditures, such as frequent international trips with large delegations and endless by-elections.

Another area for investment, alongside local industry, has to be power. Investors have been pulling back from Zambia because of uncertainty and the continual changing of the goal posts by government. If we can confidently and decisively engage industry to tell them what projects we want to see, what incentives they can expect and reassure them of the stability of the terms of contract and rules of operation then investment will follow.

If the PF expects another five years in office then we must ask what is their plan and why have we never heard of it to date? We cannot continue to set ourselves up for failure by allowing uncertainty and external factors to overrun us without taking any action in response. What will be done today, tomorrow and the day after? If we want economic growth and prosperity then together we must take control of the reins of the economy and get Zambia moving forward.

Hakainde Hichilema
UPND President

65 COMMENTS

  1. What measures has PF put in place? on
    1. Exchange rate
    2. Raising Inflation
    3. Loadshedding
    4. Mealie meal shortages
    5. Fuel shortages and high pump prices
    6. Raising poverty levels
    7. Raising debt now at $8billion acquired in 4 years
    8. Visionlessness
    9. Violent cadres etc?

    • H.H, faka pressure!! These sleeping airheads must try and justify their continued stay at State House. Can’t wait for August 11th 2016. VIVA HH…VIVA UPND!

    • The visionless PF have nothing to offer apart from confusion & violence.
      Remember that Lungu said that he had NO VISIBILITY hence the people will never know PFs plans. They have nothing, ZERO!
      130 days left for voting the bandits of PF. Otherwise 3 weeks left to the PF sunami as parley will be dissolved.
      Even the chatterbox & bandits of Davies Chama & Kambwili are now mute, leaving Frank Bwalya & Mumbi Phiri to be singing the uncoordinated chorus of Donchi Kubeba.
      All eyes on HH & viva forward to UPND.
      Vote Wisely.
      The Skeleton Key
      ~206~

    • This HH is a joke.

      You want measures, why don’t you ask your UPND Members of Parliament. They will tell you what measures are there.

      Your MP’S are among the people that are implementing measures together with PF and MMD as law makers.

      That’s happens when you get addicted to boycotting everything the government puts forward.

      Can someone give HH Government Gazette so that he knows what cooking in the country.

      I guess the question is – When will we hear about your measures to improve people’s lives. You have never proposed any single measure. But just being full of shooting down every thing.

      Oh’ We forgot! You promised to bring Anglo America back. A company that is now reducing it’s global work force by 55%.

    • That is very difficulty language etc for PF. And it is too long article for the PF cabinet to concentrate. HH sometimes should just write in vernacular language to help out the PF.

    • Us we don’t care about these measures because they don’t affect our now rich families. What we are only concerned now is winning the august election because if we don’t win, iwe wine HH ukatukakisha pantu indalama isha chita disappear in the name of unprecedented infrastructure development as you will soon see for yourself once in plot 1 is just too much.

    • The problem is PF ministers like Kambwili are preoccupied on how to win elections be it bye or tripartite elections every time. The next thing they do is to buy their own plots and build. No time to plan or articulate why this has failed and what should we do next.

    • The Grammar used by HH cannot be understood by PF illiterate Kaponyas. He needs to dilute his words to that of teaching grade ones thats when PF cadres will see sense in what he says. As at now illiterate PF cadres thinks the economy is not broken and there are no hardships brought by this PF Government.

    • I truly think this article from HH is simple to understand and to the point. Some points though are more of a long term basis. Either way, he is giving government something to work with or start with. If only every Zambian would work as one to fix these economic challenges. I pray and hope PF has an ace up on their sleeve.

    • The problem is not HH offering solutions. He has been offering solutions for a long time even predicting the very problems we are facing long before they became evident. The problem is the capacity of our leaders, especially ECL to understand and implement them. They have no capacity whatsoever. Its just chipante pante government. For now the first solution is to bring in a new government which has capacity to understand the complex world we live in. Otherwise no matter what solution is provided so long as its chagwa at the helm, the country will continue kugwa.

    • XFactor and Lazi HH has offered more than 7 solutions in this statement.If you are dull just accept and resign or you want to voted out maybe we should impeach you like Zuma before 11th Augast,2016.VIVA HH.Bauze bakawala aba.

  2. Zero measures. Government is just trying to see how to cheat Zambians into voting for them again. I know no sane person who will vote for PF this year.

  3. my president just help Lungu run the country for now till August when we kick him out. it is now more than clear that UPND is the ruling opposition party because it is offering solutions to the problems we are facing. HH mpaka litente mpaka litente mpaka litulike!!

    • They will be arresting HH for spreading malicious information about FRA exporting maize when in actual fact not. Watch out!

    • PF campaign strategy – Donchi kubeba reloaded:

      A. Obtusification: Lying that Lungu is not to blame for all economic ills and that it is Global….that Zambians should endure suffering like Zimbabweans whilst Lungu luxuriates in riches and body weight increase like the hogs of Animal Farm Oswells satire.
      B. Falsification / Smear campaign: Accuse HH of sattanism, mason, privatisation
      C. Tribalism: Demeaning other tribes that they cannot challenge Muchinga Bemba PF failure. Label all Non-Muchinga PF Bembas as Tonga and insult them as one. Wako ni Wako RB-Dora-Lungu-Mumbi Phiri chaiwo
      D. Violence through Police and PF militias.
      E. Blackout HH from public media.
      F. Stop HH from campaigning.
      G. Enhanced corruption using increased borrowings to bribe PF taxi drivers and marketeers

  4. Comment:insteady of u asking wht the pf wil do,tel us wht plans u have to solve these prblems sir.u ar nt in the position to ask bt we do,provide answers nt question.

    • Even if he told you …you think your PF will implement any ..they can’t see beyond roads. Besides as a citizen not in government he is also outlining his expectations from his leaders.

  5. This man shocks. All the things he is mentioning are being undertaken. Say something we don’t know or just shut up.

    • @7 Economist. Do you mean to say that there are measures being undertaken? Then it means these measures are not working, seeing the suffering we are going thru? Maybe it is time we brought in someone else who knows what he is doing?
      Viva HH!!!

  6. The Best Friend to HH is one Valentine Chitalu. He has been very quiet and you may think he does not even exist. Guess why they are best buddies. I rest my case.

    • @Smiley

      It would appear you know something of the erstwhile ZPA CEO, Valentine Chitalu who by the way is my ‘young’ brother and his alleged association with one HH.

      If you are sincere, tell the Lungu government to publish a dossier of the privatization of the parastatals and in particular the names of the liquidators of INDECO and ZIMCO. These two holding companies controlled the whole economy. If you are a lawyer you will know the case of Mbazima and Others Joint Liquidators of Zimco Limited (In Liquidation) v Vera (SCZ No. 6 of 2001).

      The big fishes of privatization were the Bemba cabal of Sokota, Mtine, Mazombwe, F Kaunda, Kabwe, etc. Do you know origins of Investrust?

      I speak from a position of intimate knowledge of privatization.

  7. PF is sorting out the issues one by one. And remember Edgar Lungu is humble unlike you. He believes in prayer (unlike you) to sort out this mess. Hidi Hamin (HH), just waiting for you impending defeat so that Garry Nkombo can take over UPND in September.

    • Stop there iwe chi kudos.Which humble president who stole the victory from Sampa by raising Pangas in the air,He has no shame stealing from a poor widow when he was in law practice and now he stealing from us by increasing his salary when all of us are hard hit by poverty.Which humble is Edgar Lungu the one who was warning his opponents that he break them like a brick.Shat up Kudos people are very annoyed with the state of the economy iwe uleti kwangala.

    • Sata driven PF beat HH by just 27 000 votes. Sata-PF is gone and buried and has been replace by corrupt RB-wako ni wako-Lungu na Dora PF; kumawa concoction which Bemba tribalist are riding on.

      However, the Kasama Bembas have not realized that they cant trust the Muchinga led group of Chewe PF cadres who is rebelling from mwine lubemba. Change has also blown in the very north of the North. Winds of change!!

      Lungu warned everyone that he had no vision and true to his confession he has run the boat aground; the economy has gone under. High prices o everything, inflation, borrowings, plus mealie meal shortages!! He is surviving by using Police State methods of brutal suppression and running murderous militias.

      Campaign strategy: Smear campaign against HH, tribalism, violence, lies…

    • PF campaign strategy:

      A. Obtusfication: deny anything to do with Lungu getting wealthier than even Bank and Oil company owners, economic destruction, unprecedented debt, PF daily violence, fuel prices, mealie meal shortage, load shedding, inflation, slump in GDP
      B. Falsification / Smear campaign: Accuse HH of buying all dollars, mealie meal and privatizing all parastatals (80% of the economy)
      C. Tribalism: Refuse to acknowledge that other tribes other than Tongas can think of challenging PF failure. Therefore label all Non-Muchinga PF Bembas as Tonga and insult them as one.
      D. Mount reign of terror using State Police and PF militias backed by State Police.
      E. Blackout HH from public media and hound all UPND supporters along the line of rail and make the Northern provinces no…

  8. The main measure that PF is implementing in order to help Zambians is excercising caution. This translates as they are being very very very very careful as they firmly bury their collective heads in the sand AKA the Ostrich Strategy (easily confused with cluelessness).

  9. HH is pointing out what areas he reckons need attention and giving an insight as to what should be done. Yet, some people still choose to ignore this and criticize him. Remember, he has no obligation to even offer advise to the PF regime (especially when it reacts by simply calling him ‘bitter’) The PF government is at the helm and should be ‘seen’ to be doing something concrete about the overarching issues of inflation, interest rates, energy, agriculture and productivity in general. Even the useless Tayali has asked Lungu to hold a press briefing and tell the nation what the PF’s policy direction is.

  10. ….its a two sided sword…its either PF tells Zambians what they think they are doing to alleviate poverty or Zambians will tell PF of what they think of them on 11th August

  11. UPND has been the best example of what an opposition government must be like, ask them what their plan is if they want another 5 years, coz we need solutions now not thiese personal attacks we hav been seeing. I cant wait for UPND party to form government and manage the country better. Go UPND go!! We know u hav the skills and abilities.

    • You are talking about ‘parallel budget’ and ‘shadow cabinet’..? (Including UPND manifesto?)
      These might just help us see how good UPND as a PARTY is…
      ( I am also here not talking about ‘kainde)

  12. Do the measures include curbing the queuing at shoprites by people sending money which one of your members deceived you that it was meali meal they were buying, when no picture showed anyone coming out of shoprite with a bag of meali meal or any truck offloading meali meal. By the way sir why have you not condemned maize and meali meal smugglers to date? The reason is simple, just like the arrangement of borrowing kwacha from banks to wipe out dollars affected the exchange rate so is the meali meal issue. We know sir what you are doing to make PF unpopular. I hope your team will have enough money to pay back the banks they borrowed moneys from to wipe out the dollar so that they can have their collaterals back. As the exchange is improving and the bank rates at 40+ %, you have been beaten…

    • Then your government are imbiciles if they know HH is doing this to them and can not take him to court and win the case. That would be a case of economic sabotage. But because they know that this is just rhetoric, meant for cheating gullible voters. They can not take HH to court because they are simply the ones that have failed the Zambians.

  13. Your team borrowed the kwacha at 20+% now its 40+% and with the kwacha appreciating they will loose on all fronts. If they don’t change the dollars now, if the exchange rate just goes below 10 sir you know the problems you will have put in those who participated in putting the kwacha under pressure. People you will see next year how banks will be grabbing these properties because they borrowed not to invest in business but to wipe out the dollar and hold. Now what they are holding is slowly loosing value. One day UPND will rule Zambia but not from 2016. This year is EL WINNING. 2021 If you organize your team properly sir you may win.

    • PF campaign strategy – Donchi kubeba reloaded:

      B. Falsification / Smear campaign: Accuse HH of buying all dollars, mealie meal and privatizing all parastatals (80% of the economy)
      C. Tribalism: Refuse to acknowledge that other tribes other than Tongas can think of challenging PF failure. Therefore label all Non-Muchinga PF Bembas as Tonga and insult them as one.
      D. Mount reign of terror using State Police and PF militias backed by State Police.
      E. Blackout HH from public media and hound all UPND supporters along the line of rail and make the Northern provinces no go zones.
      F. Prevent free campaigns by HH by harassing him using State Police and PF militias.

  14. HH has raised important issues and has also outlined some solutions.All we are hearing from PF cadres and Mumbi Phiri are just insults and violence.PF thinks it owns all Bembas and Nyanjas,so much that they feel even if the economy is bad they can still win because they are the majority.We want to let them know that UPND is for all Zambians now.UPND will this year filled MPS and councilors throught Zambia.We shall who is strong.Zambians have resolved to kick out this group of thieves using tribalism to hang to power ,when they agenda is to feed their families only.They don’t care of us poor people.

    • It is your English which is extremely poor, sir! Please take care of that, mbicana mbicana, one day you will be there..!

    • Iwe Kasama resident UPND have not recieved a single applicatin for MPs in some constituencies in Luapula province how can they win an election? You are dreaming and dreaming is free.

  15. Even a simple opposition leader such as President Mulyokela can easily crumble this PF economy by just smuggling the whole stock of maize because we are in a country where the President does not even know which Minister is suppose to control smuggling,in the olden days this word smuggling was only known to be happening along the borders but this time even in the capital city of Lusaka smuggling is taking place,Surprisingly no reshuffles in the ministries because the President doesn’t know where to start from. He is indeed vision-less.The crime rate has gone so high

  16. Let the Supreme Leader HH of the UPND go to the Ministry of Finance where he will find qualified economists and accountants who are intellectuals in their fields and they will explain to him what the Government of Zambia has done and is still doing over his concerns…So instead of politicking on this online media let the Supreme Leader visit those civil servants at the ministry who apparently are more knowledgeably and qualified than him…

  17. Indeed PF needs to give confidence of what it is doing In order to reassure citizens that there is light at the end of the tunnel in terms of jobs, mealie meal, poverty, crime, accidents, electricity etc. now PF govt has started counting maize bags to see how many are in the country yet they were saying there is enough maize

  18. HH, you have vindicated me!Am always saying I wait for the day when EL will explain what he is doing about the situation and what he intends to do in the future.For those of you who think life is ok,check the exchange rate again.Try and figure out for how long it has been messed up and if you don’t what to believe just say even South is going through the same,like they say to console
    your self.PF has lamentably failed.

  19. HH is educated but he is not learned. Educated people acquire knowledge only while learned people apply knowledge acquired to advance society. In basic economics we know that national income is a function of consumption, government expenditure, taxes, investment and net exports (Y=C+G+I+X-M). For example, in HH’s empty statement, he has again failed to provide a shadow budget because he doesn’t know what he is talking about. In a shadow budget he would for example tell the voters where he will get money to employ more teachers. Given what negatives his own blog (ZWD) publishes on Zambia HH in particular and UPND are actually destroying the investor confidence left in Zambia.

  20. When a blind man leads blind people, they will all fall into a ditch and perish. This is what is happening to those blind pf supporters who are still supporting Lungu. They will all fall into a ditch and perish on 11/08/2016.

  21. There is a plan for those who have cared to read the NDps and MTP and those who see the Monetary Police Decisions by Bank of Zambia in the shot term to moderate the parity conditions

    HH should see that China will be a source of volatility in global markets for the time to come over 30 years If a country like Zambia is inclined towards commodities exports to china it has to reorient Its not strange for Gov. to sing the diversification from copper to such alternatives like agro and skilling’s

    Again when you duel on the parity conditions HH has outlined and look at the potential being shaped in view of the volatility then you realise that…

  22. that within climatic challenges affecting portfolios Zambia is rebalancing We can do a further analysis of parity conditions relative to others When your friends have attempted complement and see the limitations genuinely

    30 years from now China will be the source of GLOBAL Volatility affecting all markets and Zambia so far has performed fairly well

    For instance look at todays performance of the Nikkei or Topix Check the reaction of markets in German and Us

    Even the IMF have acknowledged that markets have become extremely sensitive to the economic signals coming from China Its prudent that you exercise macro prudential decisions in view of that Which our…

  23. colleagues are striving to without sending wrong mixed messages The above analysis is at various with Zambia’s Global Prospects even as underscored by IMF and World Bank themselves Its overly opportunistic without fundamentals from which to develop from missing the Smart Beta and alpha in Zambia’s fortunes

    If you have the Chinese Yuan emerging as a force in global currency war you still go ahead and write that poor analysis on currencies without understanding the current pressures on the dollar and others not necessary commodity driven When you read the global financial stability you will see that FX volatility global will only increase with Chinas…

  24. Sport on pf tel us hw n whn ar u gong to solve these problms u created on yo own due to fleep flopng policies even mulyokela cn do beter

  25. Pwahahahaha! he is alllucinating again. Has HH been around, like in Zambia or planet Jupitor? He wants to engage with ECL but in a rather unusual manner. He is a dull educated individual. Indeed, the questions you are asking online have been asked by your MPs in parley and ably answered by mama Wina. What dagga have been smoking that made sleep all this while? Your theories above are not only academic but deliver basic understanding of economics. One can’t help but wonder if you have advisers. From politcal to economic punduit, this HH is. Yaba!

  26. HH: “If your business is running at a loss but you want to survive then you don’t wait one month, you take action immediately.”
    What HH is saying is exactly what the Mines did to survive, they took the painful step of reducing their labour, retrenchments as you know it. And yet the same HH was condemning Edgar and the PF government for allowing the Mines to take those steps to survive. What kind of economist is this HH who says one thing today and contradicts himself the very next day? To be UPND is a serious illness, like Ebola or Zikas. Wait for my next post….

  27. Last night I challenged HH, his spokesperson Charles Kakoma, and UPND cadres in general to respond to the Post Editorial of Monday 4 April 2016, yesterday. In the editorial, the Post condemns the lack,of principles and integrity exhibited by HH and his party where they have embraced alll sorts of corrupt people into their party, including Guy Scott, GBM, and Sampa. The Post questions HH how he can fight corruption when he has filled the UPND with corrupt people. It also questions HH on his lack of principles and recruiting people who do not share his vision, if he has any. The Post concludes that if Zambians make the mistake of voting HH into power then they are assured of continued corruption and continued plunder of national resources by HH and his corrupt clique.
    HH was literally…

  28. HH was literally dressed down and insulted big time by what he thought were his allies the Post. And to hide his embarrassment, he comes up with this silly statement about his economic prowess. For God’s sake HH, that is what the Post is saying about you, that your statements are just hot air, that at best you are just one of the corrupt people. The Post quotes you to be one of the “birds of a feather that flock together” because they cannot differentiate you from your corrupt friends.
    And Mr HH, if you think that the Post has written the last item about you and your corrupt friends, you better think again. You have give them ammunition by your corrupt association with corrupt people, wait for more……unless of course you give them the running mate position through their surrogate…

  29. …. dressed down and insulted big time by what he thought were his allies the Post. And to hide his embarrassment, he comes up with this silly statement about his economic prowess. For God’s sake HH, that is what the Post is saying about you, that your statements are just hot air, that at best you areAnd Mr HH, if you think that the Post has written the last item about you and your corrupt friends, you better think again. You have give them ammunition by your corrupt association with corrupt people, wait for more……unless of course you give them the running mate position through their surrogate Winter Kabimba…..kikikikikiki…..otherwise Bwana HH you are a gonna as next the Post will put you on their front pages until the day of the elections……oh no! What a way to be finished…

  30. HH, sir, You have give the Post ammunition by your corrupt association with corrupt people, wait for more……unless of course you give them the running mate position through their surrogate Winter Kabimba…..kikikikikiki…..otherwise Bwana HH you are a gonna as next the Post will put you on their front pages until the day of the elections……oh no! What a way to be finished off by the Post, ba HH besu! I challenge UPND cadres to read that editorial, and defend your leader, if you have enough brains or balls to write anything sensible against that editorial. And you thought that the Post had become foolish and become your allies….kikikikikiki…..they are much smarter than your HH.

  31. So what do you say UPND? Do you still believe that HH could be smarter than Fred Mmembe huh? That HH could use the Post huh? No way guys, not an underfive politician!

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