Thursday, March 28, 2024

The issue at hand is extremely time-sensitive than focusing on HH

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By Alexander K. Vomo

It is of a concern to us citizens of Zambia to hear that the ruling Patriotic Front government has challenged the US Embassy in Zambia to explain to the nation the sanctions UPND Leader Hakainde Hichilema was discussing in the United States of America on behalf of Zambia. PF Media Director Sunday Chanda says reports of sanctions on Zambia by the US through withholding aid must be explained as the ruling party is not aware of the said sanctions. If someone in the government paid attention to the sanction issue, you would understand that HH did not support any of that, and it was a question asked by a person in the attendance and this should not send the government in a panic mode. This did not come from the US government; how do you expect the US Embassy to help you in finding out what HH and his friends discussed on.

I would like to state that the Woodrow Wilson International Center in the USA is the official memorial to the US 28th president, Woodrow Wilson. More than just a collection of marble pillars and famous quotes, the Center is a living memorial, a gathering place for some of the best and brightest scholars and experts from around the world. Their work is the centerpiece of activity and informs the nation’s public policy debates with nonpartisan and relevant research and information. Democracy is built on the notion of an informed and active citizenry. The Wilson Center is engaged in the global dialogue of ideas. More importantly, the Center provides you with the tools and opportunities to join the national conversation. Woodrow Wilson center is a private entity it does not operate by the federal government of the United States of America.

Mr. Hakainde Hichilema did not go to the USA to meet with the 45th President of the United States of America ( Mr. Donald Trump) neither did he go to meet with US government officials, therefore this is very embarrassing to know that as a government you take petty issues to your head and asking the US Embassy to help you with such that does not help to sort out the issues we are facing as a country. The issue at hand is extremely time-sensitive than focusing on HH. As a government, you have a mandate to fix and worry about the economic crisis we are in right now than what did HH eat for dinner last night or where is he going next for campaign so that we can send the police to block him, all this is Tax payers money going to waste every time HH goes to campaign that you have to leash the police in uniform to block him.

As a government lets worry about how we are going to pay our civil servants, lets worry about how we are going to finish the infrastructures that we already borrowed money for but not finished up to now, lets worry about how we are going to put money in people’s pockets that we promised that if you vote for PF, you will have more money in your pockets in 90 days, up to now people are still waiting for their money in the pockets and this is years ago you promised us. This sounds like what the U.S. government promised African-American people after freedom.

The U.S. government’s first reparations plan to compensate African-Americans for the legacy of slavery was 40 acres and a mule a piece that was Gen. William Sherman’s promise to former slaves shortly after the Civil War ended in 1865. His order set aside land on the Georgia and South Carolina coasts for the settlement of thousands of newly freed families. But the promise was quickly recanted, and the land was taken back, with no other plans for reparations.

Since then, the issue has been revisited time and again by leading civil rights activists. In 1963, for example, Martin Luther King Jr., called Sherman’s promise “a check which has come back marked insufficient funds.” King called instead for “a check that will give (African-Americans) upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.” This is the check that us Zambians are demanding from you in office not the worry and the petty things about HH.
HH can not bring investors to Zambia and invest $25.8 billion dollars in his five years in the office, this is a political talk, for those who understand economics will agree with me that a lot of investors are now skeptical about investing in Zambia because of the political conflicts we are having right now, violence, unstable exchange rate and the bloated loans we have borrowed. The focus for the government should be on how to restore investor’s confidence, as well as strengthening political stability and inclusiveness, should be important areas to help prevent future negative cycles of conflict resurgence and economic shocks.

The government has been borrowing for infrastructure development with no plan on how they are going to pay back. Copper, which constitutes 70 per cent of its exports is not in our hands as a country most of it is owned by investors

Political conflicts and other potential problems that have risen in our country are the issues we have to focus on as a government. Right now our debt credit rating by Standard & Poor, Moody’s, Fitch and DBRS is very low we are at Caa2 with negative outlook this means that we are at substantial risks of defaulting our loans from IMF/World Bank as well as the Chinese Banks if we don’t work hard in building our economy back before these loans are due for payments by 2022.

The econometric analysis suggests that political conflict has a profound negative effect on the number of foreign direct investment (FDI) projects and, even more significantly, on their value. A reduction in political conflict and a return to political stability often result in improved economic performance. Conversely, economic growth and development are essential to reduce the risk of conflict.

These issues that slower economic growth could impact a country ability to repay its debts. The government has been borrowing for infrastructure development with no plan on how they are going to pay back. Copper, which constitutes 70 per cent of its exports is not in our hands as a country most of it is owned by investors, one of the reasons it will be hard to pay back what we owe, because we do not have a parastatal company that would generate that kind of money to put aside for repaying our loans. Not even ZRA collections can help pay these debts, there is little that is collected on imports by ZRA, if you go to the border post of our country you will see how those customs officers are living a lavish lifestyle with the money that is supposed to go in government coffers.

Plans to refinance these loans to cut the cost of debt service, will be the biggest mistake and refinancing will be extremely costly.

28 COMMENTS

    • By Monday after extended holidays Zambia’s debt will be 35 billion dollars…..what a Lazy Country….35 billion dollars with nothing to show for…on 15 hrs of no electricity…thanks Lungu and PF bandits

    • Citizenship is a higher and modern form of identity than membership of a tribe. Wht will u do with a Phiri who tells you he is a Chewa from Malawi? Do u grant him Zambian citizenship because of that? Grow up. The world is changing.

    • Has load shedding finished? How much is 25kg meal? $30 billion debt? Corruption everywere? Never gave power to the speaker? Never says anything about the economy? Violence ? Know work for the youth? Mr lungu please please say anything about the economy please. Holidays every week. since riggged elections.

    • PF is Mr Bandits … PF Mr corruption.. PF is load shedding… PF is Mr violence… PF is 25kg meal is k180 … PF is Mr rigging… PF is never say anything about economy… PF is Mr airport traving every day..

  1. PF cannot stop focusing on perceived threats to their hold on power. That is the folly of having small minds especially if you know that you actually lost the last elections and only scrapped through by 1% even though all government machinery was used including Ministers still being in office. The proof that PF lost is simple. HH advocated for people to vote NO on the referendum and they did. PF did not care about the outcome of the referendum and so focused their energies on rigging the presidential elections. Logic demands that if people followed HH’s direction to vote no on the referendum, then automatically they would have voted ‘YES’ to HH on the ballot. Lungu knows he lost and that is why he is an insecure spineless little [email protected].

    • @1.5 Skylab and 4.1 Analyzer does someone have to be a Mwansa or Mumbi to be a Zambian? we have so many different names in Zambia a lot may not sound the way you want them to be but that does not make someone not a Zambian. Alexander Kakokota Vomo is a Zambian, he is a Sichivula, a Mambwe by tribe from chief Nsokolo, village Zombe. He is a Mbala Mafia i know him very, a son of an ex miner grew up in Mufulira. There is a lot of Vomo families in the copperbelt. Does that answer your question. This guy owns a lot of businesses in Zambia and has Zambians working for him, he is concern for his Tax money, should you not be concern too when you know that the country is being plundered?

  2. Lunacy starts with the misrepresentation of facts, Hichilema wasn’t a guest of the US Government so Sunday Chanda is a lunatic and so is the one paying him. PF has no foreign policy. The only policy is that Sata despised China and praised Taiwan but later changed and embraced China so much that he even rests in a Chinese made mausoleum

  3. For real why focus on one HH and forget about the rest of Zambia sure. Its like HH is making some people have sleepless nights. Some have even failed to focus on their own ways of doing things like dating new girlfriends. When we hear HH is about to donate this and that all you see is over a thousand Police using only K650,000 (so they say) just to block him. Does this make any sense. What are you afraid of. Ndipo we shall see skeletons in peoples closets come 2021. Looking forward to what some people are hiding. We shall see!!!!
    Disaster!!!

  4. PF SHOULD FIND AN ELIGIBLE CANDIDATE FOR 2021 SO THAT AFTER THEY LOOSE CAN TAKE ONE POSITIVE THING AND AVOID THE DREAMERS MORE JAIL TIME.

  5. “HH can not bring investors to Zambia and invest $25.8 billion dollars in his five years in the office”
    Edgar Lungu and the PF have borrowed $16 billion between 2011 and 2018 . According to Bwalya Ngandu,the PF plan to borrow another $2.5 billion in 2020. By the end of 2020, Zambias debt will be $21 billion.
    THIS IS NOT POLITICAL TALK.THE PF DID IT BUT IN A WRONG WAY PUTTING ZAMBIA IN A DEBT CRISIS.

  6. People are in denial in zambia following PF blindly. The fact is that if we owed $7 billion before 2005 and couldn’t pay it back only paid $3 billion and the remaining $4 billion was cancelled, can someone tell me how you are going to pay back more than $11 billion back when you don’t even have any Parastatal company that would generate this kind of money to pay back.

  7. @JACOB
    Insulting His Exellency Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu won’t solve a thing my dear, just respect yourself and think of sensible things and find another alternative way of finding money.
    @DUDE LOVE
    One thing is for sure here it’s not about “Knowing that the Big man has lost” NO! it’s about where HE Lay’s His worries and faith, which is God! THE GOD OF ISRAEL AND THE GOD OF JOB
    @JONNY
    Actually Mr Jonny you really need deliverance!! Open your eyes Don’t let people use you.

  8. These people from chipata are something else. my girl friend from there most probably a relative to makebi zulu, asked me to take her out for loadshading can you imagine?

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