The United Party for National Development (UPND) President Hakainde Hichilema has said that the increase in food inflation in Zambia is not a result of economic sabotage by business people.
In a statement released by the UPND media team, Mr Hichilema said that the increase in prices is due to people running the country who have no clue on what is happening to the economy because they spend most of their time persecuting opponents and dishing out printed Kwacha.
Below is the full statement
In 2011 Zambia had a debt of US$1.1bn, the exchange rate to the dollar was K7, the inflation rate was 6%, today the debt is over US$15bn, the exchange rate is K22 inflation is 22.2%. These are signs of a badly managed economy, yet our colleagues in government claim that the increase in the prices of goods and services is economic sabotage by business people.
We are not surprised with such statements because these people have no clue on what is happening to the economy because they spend most of their time persecuting opponents and dishing out printed Kwacha.
This is a leadership that never accepts responsibility for anything but blames all the misfortunes on imaginary conspiracies.
They first blamed climate change, then blamed COVID 19, blamed some of us for all their failures to manage the economy.
For some time now, we have been advising them against reckless borrowing, reckless expenditure, stop corruption and all the bad vices, but their response has been that we are bitter and jealous.
The real saboteurs of our economy are the PF leaders who are recklessly looting from the government treasury. They now have more money than the Zambian government.
That is the reason why under our Government, priority number one will be to fix the haemorrhaging economy by restructuring the debt. This will stabilise the exchange rate, reduce inflation and increase economic activity which will in turn create jobs. This is what economic management means not hallucinations about imaginary sabotage.
High inflation has been Lungu’s weapon of mass destruction.Not even one economic indicator has ever been positive during his entire tenure.
TRUE TRUE TRUE WELL SAID
SO SPREAD THE NEWS TO THOSE WHO DONT KNOW HOW THE ECONOMY WORKS
AND LETS MAKE ZAMBIA GREAT AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rupiah Banda and MMD left us a healthy economy with very positive stats then came PF and ruined it all.PF has never been accountable.
So debt restructuring depends on HH only it does not depend on the debtors also?. Mr Fix will fix it with vague languages on economic development.
Using correct economic terms does not translate into a developing or solving economic problems.
“…That is the reason why under our Government, priority number one will be to fix the haemorrhaging economy by restructuring the debt. This will stabilise the exchange rate, reduce inflation and increase economic activity which will in turn create jobs….” Just like that??? What about the IMF program and debt you want to put the country on???
in grade 8 someone asked our teacher why we learn history, teacher response was : so that we don’t make the same mistakes people in the past made.
NAZI germany blamed the jews for their failures.
Communists in the 70s cambodia blamed those in academia
list is endless and it common among communists to always put the blame on others for their failures.
UNIP blamed smugglers, remember the famous song smuggler wapwisha ubunga?
Tell us something we don’t know! Tired of hearing this one regurgitate the same text book phrases and terminologies week in, week out.
VILLAGERS ARENT EDUCATED CONSIDERING THE POOR QUALITY OF EDUCATION THEY RECEIVE
SO TEXT BOOK PHRASES HAVE TO AIRED TO GET INTO SOME THICK HEADS
I have this very strange feeling that the PF has printed money and are throwing it onto the market via their cronies and cadres. This is not good at all — at all.
This is why HH cannot win the Presidency of Zambia. There is a very big difference between FACTS and DELIVERY. Literate people will understand, they will read between the lines, but there are more than 60% of Zambians who are illiterate. They do not understand what inflation, national debt or exchange rate is. I hear educated Zambian politicians talking about the US dollar etc. Look at Zimbabwe, the economy completely collapsed but the late Morgan Tsivangirai could never communicate better than Sir Dr Robert G Mugabe. Politics is not about knowing, it is about communication. This post by HH is just lacklustre. I would urge HH to read books on EFFECTIVE SPEAKING, RHETORIC AND ORATORY. Please HH, we NEED you to win in August, but I fear that you may lose again. Get a speech writer.
The guilty are quick to respond. What investigation has hh done to rule out sabotage? F00lish cow
Mbuzi ndiwe who is fond of insulting others.
The economy can be fixed be fixed with proper planning by investing resources into SMEs a nd reduce consumption. The PF has run down the economy because of heavy borrowing and instead of investing productive sectors of the economy to create wealth they invested into infrastructure such as public housing projects which does not grow the economy. If PF government invested even US$2.Billion from the chunk of loans contracted this would have made a difference in terms of growing the economy and govt collecting taxes which were going to be invested in infrastructure projects in a phased manner over a period of time. Now we have put up infrastructure but has shrunk the economy. No money to service the loans or repair the infrastructure.
U cannot manage a properly functioning economy without some level of Economic and Financial Literacy. HH and his Economic thinkers in UPND have demonstrated that they have a Vision and what it takes to turnaround a sick Economy such as this one. ECL and PF have ruined our Economy and our lives for the last 10 years. On August 12, 2021 all right thinking Citizens must vote wisely if they want change in their lives. A continuation of PF and ECL Chipante pante way of doing things will send us all to early graves. The writing is on the wall.
HAHA we now using COW an improvement I guess
Hyperinflation soon. Zambia will be like Old Zimbabwe. We will be buying bread with a wheelbarrow of Kwachas due to too much printing of Kwacha for presidential & economic empowerment even to churches. Incompetence at it’s best when you claim you have no clue & think it’s sabotage.
Isnt it evident that ever since the PF took over, the country is on a downward economic trajectory. All economic indicators that MMD left in positive are now negative. This is a no contest.
Aba nabo……HH too much kusabaila…i have lost interest in Zambian Politicians
Then don’t blogg here, here we are discussing Zambian politicians. We are discussing how PF has run down the economy with excuse after excuse to the extent that excuses have run out and they are now just dishing out money fueling inflation which is at a record high of 22%
ECL doesn’t understand the causes of Food Inflation. Does ECL have Economic Advisers? They should tell him basic economics. We can see hoards of PF Cadres dishing out plenty of money to buy Votes . Where is this Money coming from? Doesn’t ECL understand that excessive printing of money is highly inflationary? At the rate Money Supply is growing and by the Election Day on August 12, 2021 prices of goods and services will have skyrocketed due to hyperinflation. ECL is shooting himself in the foot. High food prices cause riots and possible removal of an elected Govt. Does ECL know what he is doing? Time will tell.
Lungu , lungu ,
Remember the winning formulae
just knock off 2 zeros from the kwacha to the dollar,
make some songs so they dance
…….and also dont forget to do some dancing yourself on stage..
Chapwa…….
Ohhh and the obligatory call to day of national prayers….
Ahhhh….game over, you are in again for another 5 years
and you will have some breathing space until the Zambians wake up again ……
THE SAINT, I agree with your observation 100%. HH needs a political language or skill which he may not have. In that case, a speech writer is needed for him so that he or she can be able to fuse in rhetoric and make his speach politically appealing to the masses.
Those saying HH should use a language everybody would understand are missing the point. Language or jargons dont have anything to do with the bad economy or improving the economy, it all depends on the person on the drivers seat in government. surely there is always something that can be done to improve our ailing economy but am sure the PF like to keep Zambians poor so that they can dish out stolen money to woo people to vote for them.
Mere lip service won’t help the economy. You need to have a viable plan to reform economy. The PF government is currently taking all the measures to revive economy and the fruits are already visible.
How would you restructure the debts? Any plan or roadmap for that? Orit would get restructured just because you are saying? Why would the lenders believe you? This is the fantasy you have been living on for so many years. By the way, can you take efforts to explain how it would work out, stabilizing economy, creating jobs just with restructuring of debts!
We are not surprised with such statements because these people have no clue on what is happening to the economy because they spend most of their time persecuting opponents and dishing out printed Kwacha….. Ok. You too appear clueless about the state of economy. Your fairy tale solutions are nothing but laughable.
Correct. The blind followers of HH don’t realise this. They think he is some magician who would fix everything overnight.
This is a leadership that never accepts responsibility for anything but blames all the misfortunes on imaginary conspiracies…. Have you ever accepted responsibility of anything? This is the mediocrity of highest order.
When did you advise the government on economic issues? I never read it anywhere, not on your paid media. You are lying through teeth. Let’s agree for the sake of it that government rejected your advice. Who is stopping you from telling the nation about it now? Why are you not publishing a paper on your idea of economic revolution? I am talking about concrete plans and not just tall talks.
This is the most hilarious statement on economy one would ever come across. Dear HH, we are talking about the economy and not some petty issue. The way you are talking, reminds me of a classmate in grade 8 who would be in forefront to answer the question no matter he didn’t know the answer. He would try to act smart and would end up being a laughing stock. Your behaviour reminds me of that boy.
Like your leader, you too are copying slogans from others. HH copies the ideas from President Edgar Lungu, you copy slogans from Donald Trump, for Zambian Trump! Great going.
HH should have just hit the nail on head in that statement.
ECL and the PF are printing money which they are physically dishing out to cadres.
This is what is driving the inflation up.
I must appreciate one thing. You have learnt the economic terminology and key words and use them perfectly. That’s all you know about economy. What is the team of experts doing? Why are you still not able to come with a viable plan for economic revolution?
IT APPEARS IF YOUR HANDS ARE IN THE PF POCKETS ITS A THRIVING ECONOMY WITH BOOMING INFRASTRUCTURE
AND A BLESSED COUNTRY TO BE IN…….. HOWEVER i CANT SEEM TO FIND A PF POCKET BIG ENOUGH FOR MY HANDS
SO MAYBE IM BITTER AND TWISTED WITH PF FOR NOT SHARING EQUALLY ……
SO ROLL ON AUGUST
MAKE ZAMKBIA GREAT AGAIN
How many people on ground can relate to you and your ideas? They seem to be far away from reality. If you think, response to your social media posts is indeed the support of Zambian people, then congratulations to you for becoming Social Media Head of State!
It is unfortunate that in Zambia everyone is an expert in everything except to work for their country and to develop it for everyone to enjoy relatively good life. When Tabo Mbeki was president in South Africa at one point he felt there was somthing wrong n the economy. A probe was instituted and it was found that some “Bank ” had coluded and illegally taken out Billions of cash money out of the country. The bank was charged. Later on some companies were found to have been coluding on price fixing and had fixed prices to unreasonable levels. The companies Identified after investigations where charged. So it is not far fetched to speculate that their could be some kind of manipulation of prices of some items any where including Zambia. So a thorough investigation is important for any…
..So it is not far fetched to speculate that their could be some kind of manipulation of prices of some items any where including Zambia. So a thorough investigation is important for any normal country. For HH to come out the way he has done in the media, it is unfortunate that a prospective candidate hoping to solve complex economic problems would react the way he has done using the kind of language he has chosen. It is unfortunate. I do not know the kind of a leader we would have if he were to win the presidency of our great nation like ours, surfice to say that his language among other things does not befit a prospective presidential candidate of integrity. It is not long ago when we walk up to a rude awakening of the prounouncements of HH in nortehrn province. His impression is that…
.. His impression is that all the northerners can insult without a conscience. Pretty much like what some Americans think of Africa; dark continent, no road and no nothing. My one cent advise to HH, behave, talk and write like a prospective presidential candidate otherwise you may have already flown past plot one.
Breaking news all those who will vote upnd will catch covid
Surely Mr Hichilema you can still give an advise to Govt or even criticise without being sarcastic in your writing. remember, this far Lungu has beaten you several times not only in the ballot box but in the kind of Language he uses. But you Mr. HH, you go all out like a Kaponya and use all sorts of words. Including the recent one in the Northern Province. Mr Hichilema, you need to start building for yourself an integrity that matches the office you have failed to attain for five times and perhaps still counting. Reflect on your language. We all know you have a bone to chew with the incumbent but please our young people at UNZA and elsewhere read these things what kind of a society are you promoting? wish you all the best in your campaigns and the best choice of the Zambian people will…
Reflect on your language. We all know you have a bone to chew with the incumbent but please our young people at UNZA and elsewhere read these things what kind of a society are you promoting? wish you all the best in your campaigns and the best choice of the Zambian people will go to plot one after August 2021.
@Maurizzio
You are 100% correct….i ceased to be Zambian since 1998 and i dont even know what am doing on this Lusaka Times
you are right President HH, They are shamelessly printing out money to fund their campaigns.
The illiterates are aware something is wrong by the government,in my area there are no medicines even malaria drugs.The government in charge is PF.
In Zimbabwe you’ve chosen to ignore Mugabes brutality on opposition,in fair elections the Zimbabwe opposition would have won.
I don’t support HH nor UPND but the continuous harassment of UPND is bad.If PF is popular why fishing for offenses meant to jail HH?Muchelekas case of armed robbery was shameful and it was rightly withdrawn but this was after much emotional suffering to him and his family.
You can’t dish money at markets and expect prices to remain stable…
It is fair to say it is sabotage by business people. Who are these business people? List starts with: Lusambo, Malaji, Chilufya Chitalu, etc. the president must talk to them- I am told they drink Jameson together so it should be easy to address sabotage issues.