Former Patriotic Front (PF) Luanshya Member of Parliament Steve Chungu has charged that President Hakainde Hichilema does not have a good cabinet that meets the aspirations of the Zambian people.
Mr. Chungu, the former Government Chief Whip, said most of the cabinet ministers and their portfolios in the New Dawn government are under performing.
He said some people believe President Hichilema has made ministers lack political track record and experience.
“I don’t know the members of the cabinet. I don’t know the Ministers. I don’t remember seeing them when I served as Member of Parliament during my time in Parliament. I can’t remember seeing any of those guys, knowing where they are coming from. I do not know them. There is no political track record, apart from Honourable Elijah Muchima (Lands Minister), Honourable Garry Nkombo (Local Government Minister), Honourable Douglas Siakalima (Education Minister), Honourable Cornelius Mweetwa (Southern Province Minister) those are the people are worked with in my ten year term as Member of Parliament. Just a few of them, the rest of them I don’t know. I am just also getting this information from the Zambian people that they are very disappointed with the team under President Hakainde Hichilema. His cabinet is not performing according to the expectations of the people because many of our sectors, many of the ministries they have put up, like the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises; I don’t know why it is there and what it is doing,” Mr. Chungu said.
He questioned the performance of Energy Minister Peter Kapala and his Infrastructure colleague Charles Milupi.
“There is another ministry called Green Economy, I don’t know what it is doing. I don’t know what it has done in the last one year, five months. There is nothing to talk about. Provincial Ministers, I think the only one I have heard of having his name on the ground, talking about things that are making sense is Cornelius Mweetwa for Southern Province, Credo Nanjuwa from Central Province. The other ministers are mute. There is nothing coming from them. So President Hichilema does not have a good team. He does not have a good team. Look at the Energy Minister (Peter Kapala), the Minister of Infrastructure (Charles Milupi), when he came in we heard a lot that we will do this and that. He was all over the country checking on roads, condemning this and that, they (PF) should have done better but it’s now seventeen months but nothing has happened. Even the Ndola-Lusaka Road they promised that it will be worked on but as we speak the contractor is not on site,” Mr. Chungu said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Chungu said if President Hichilema was a tough leader he would have fired Agriculture Minister Reuben Mtolo Phiri for mishandling the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).
Late distribution of inputs characterised the 2022 FISP with President Hichilema acknowledging that the programme was not implemented well this season.
“Zambia will be much worse than in 2022 and I can give you reasons as to why. Our crop production will be very bad in this country. Going by the FISP programme that was mishandled. By now if it was those tough Presidents, the man under the Ministry of Agriculture (Reuben Mtolo Phiri) could have lost his job because first and foremost the Zambian people had complained over the manner in which they were procuring fertiliser. They floated tenders for fertiliser procurement but cancelled them but engaged other people and bought the fertiliser at a much higher price. Fertiliser under the PF was $1000 per tonne. In the 2021 season they went and bought fertiliser at $1,400 per tonne and continued rising these figures and we were also being told to say they have saved $3,000,000 under the FISP programme. How possible is that? Because they have bought fertiliser at a much higher price. Yes they have saved because they did not give fertiliser to all beneficiaries . They reduced the number of beneficiaries. Is that something they can be proud of and say they have managed to save money? You punish people and then go in public to say we have saved money,” Mr. Chungu said.
Wise words from one of the few former PF law maker who has a cute sense of observation since the New Dawn government came to power. All PF members should emulate Mr Chungu’s accurate sense of judgement and critique with evidence to be credible. Anyway, ACC can not come for Mr Steven Chungu because he is a clean man. Others even in their old age the law will visit them and go to jail. Take heed, self appeasement is folly as thieves go in one by one and jointly.
Steven read my comments before Christmas, he just added names.
Even Mutati ministry doesn’t make sense.
Indeed, Zambia needs just 7 ministries and 6 ministers.
What he needs to do as I have stated countless times is ..he needs to reshuffle and now do away with alliance members…Felix Mutati and Charles Milupi let them go and consolidate their parties. Get rid of empty suits like the Minster of Information, Minister of Mines. You can not have ministers in the same position for 2 years as leaders rarely get it right.
Even he himself knows. That’s why you hear him lecturing his appointees publicly. That is but his lamenting. Those lectures should be done indoors and those incompetent appointees must be fired or if he wants them give them his unwanted salary. They can’t be doing nothing on our tax and be occupying our offices.
These PF chaps think noise making and yapping is working. Should one qualify to be in cabinet because he is known by a nonentity like Chungu, should that be the yard stick for an appointment? And for Zambia to develop, all the old politicians should not come anywhere near cabinet, we need new blood like what HH has done. The direction so far is okay, teething problems are normal
These are chaps who have been sitting on various commitees accruing allowances since 2016 and shout hear hear hear everyday and drinking in Parliament Motel.
The problem of awarding cadres with Ministerial position….it is indeed a Chipante pante Government…no direction
Remember what the President said when making these appointments and he took long to making these appointments by lying to Zambian people that he had to do thorough consultations and he wanted to do things differently from the previous regime.Our President is a Fraud
If Steve Chungu was so sharp minded /wise why didn’t he critique his own PF ruling regime like this when they were underperforming for 10yrs? I do sense insincerity .
It took HH more than 9 months to assemble a bunch of wankers…all was Cadre appointments no wonder he can’t fire them…or else that will be the beginning of the end for HH…..that the problem when you appoint cadres
It’s difficult to know whether it’s him or his ministers who are in a wrong job. Surely how can the more than twenty ministers be inept? There must be something terribly wrong somewhere. There’s one who I can confidently point out as useless and that one is Elisha Matambo
The biggest problem is Hichilema himself as the appointing authority. The criteria he used to choose his appointees is the problem. He didn’t choose them because he believed that they would perform but that they’d satisfy his tribalism. He was looking for tribal representatives even if the were idyots. And his bad choices don’t end there. Look at what’s happening at the UPND Secretariat where he’s put Mr & Mrs. What’s coming out of there is very embarrassing. I hear he doesn’t entertain advice but Zambians will show him what they think in August 2026
Cabinet can and will never be formed by names known by Chungu. This shows the reason why PF lamentably failed in government
At the rate things are going in the country. i think PF despite going through a lot of challenges performed better than UPND. UPND must find a better way to govern, when you take up a position, in many circumstances, you inherit challenges, talking about PF failures wont take us anyway, fix them as per campaign promise,
What commenters here don’t know about Steven Chungu is that he was not appointed minister by Lungu because of his openness. This resulted in not being adopted in the 2021 elections. An unprincipled person would have joined Upnd for adoption but he didn’t.
Not everyone who is critical of HH is an enemy… they mean well for him and if he listens he can succeed.
In the corporate world, when a company fails to perform, the buck stops on the CEO who gets fired by the Board. HH has allowed this under-performing culture by ministers, because he is the *enabler by failing to show leadership skills. Surely how can he keep the Information Minister, Mines Minister, Agriculture, Minister Health Minister in their jobs. On the other hand, he seems to like weak ministers because he can control, bully them with fear. All dictators like weak and compromised cabinet members. Because it gives them power to control them. They all worship HH instead of putting duty first for nation.
We have a bloated government…thats a lot of expenditure….HH needs to trim his Cabinet into half