Government’s decision to ambush mobile money operators is unfair and in bad faith, they are legitimate businesses

By Sean Tembo – PeP President

Mobile money booths are legitimate businesses that pay council levies as well as contribute tax to ZRA through excise duty and income tax. Mobile money booth owners are bonafide citizens of Zambia who are entitled to the protections of the Constitution and other laws of the land. Mobile money booths have conducted their businesses uninterrupted across the country for more than 20 years now;

If the current Government has decided on a change in policy and did not want Mobile money booth operators to operate along the streets, as indicated by the Local Government Minister, the Mobile Money Booth operators deserved to be given adequate notice of not less than 6 months so that they can adjust their businesses accordingly.

The key issue here is not how legitimate or not the reasons advanced by Government for removing mobile money booth operators are, but rather the failure by Government to give these people any notice. The government’s decision to ambush mobile money operators is unfair and in bad faith and is aimed at disrupting and possibly killing the legal businesses of mobile money operators. This will add to the already high unemployment and poverty levels across the country.

As bonafide citizens of the Republic of Zambia who conduct a legal business which contributes to the tax pool of the nation, mobile money operators are entitled to fair treatment by Government, but they have received none in this instance. There is no question that Government is more powerful than the mobile money operators since it controls the police and the armed forces, however, it is wrong for Government to abuse its powerful position to abuse the rights of a particular grouping of its citizens. As Head of State, President Hakainde Hichilema is accountable for the actions of his Ministers and the current abuse of Mobile money operators should be put squarely on his head.

It is also evident here that President Hakainde Hichilema’s Government has double standards and treats poor and vulnerable citizens like mobile money operators more harshly compared to rich citizens such as those who have built mansions in forest 27. President Hakainde Hichilema only uses poor people to amaze votes during elections, otherwise, he is repulsed by their sight. It is foolish for the poor people of Zambia to continue aligning themselves, supporting and voting for this rich man who has no heart for them.

A man who sees people’s source of livelihood as dirt. A man who believes that poor people deserve no notice. A man who is embarrassed by the sight of poor citizens, and instead of helping them, decides to get rid of them instead. A man who ascended to the highest office of the land through the support and votes of poor people, but has since abandoned and betrayed them. A double-faced man who preaches one thing and does the exact opposite

Indeed, a Government which mistreats its poor and vulnerable citizens is a cruel Government which must be voted out at the earliest opportunity. Given his evident cruelty, Hakainde Hichilema does not deserve to be given another term in office by the citizens of this nation, most of whom are poor and vulnerable.

You cannot treat Zambians the same way you treat your cattle sir.