HH Pledges Quick Action On Economy

United Party for National Development (UPND) President Hakainde Hichilema has pledged quick action to rescue the economy if he is elected to State House in the upcoming August elections.

Hichilema says he plans to reschedule debt immediately after being sworn in. According to the UPND leader, “This measure will immediately release $216 million to the national budget for local expenditure. This measure will also immediately reduce the US$ exchange rate to the Kwacha by as much as K5.”

Meanwhile, UPND Vice-President Mutale Nalumango has accused the PF of sharing development and empowerment projects according to political affiliation. She called on President Lungu to be a Republican President, not a political party President.

“He should sometimes be blind to his political affiliation and be national because if you go down, you will find that projects like youth empowerment favour Patriotic Front members, this is what is happening, PF members are favoured,” Nalumango told listeners tuning in to Capital Talk Radio.

Nalumango also criticised the PF’s approach to managing the economy while in office.

“The basic economic fundamentals were thrown through the window and the impact of such decision making is being felt by our people. It is shocking to note that the outgoing Head of State did not understand what was happening in the country in terms of the economic meltdown until few days ago,” she said.

“Barely three months ago on 13th of December 2020 while being conferred with the status of a free man of the City of Lusaka, President Lungu teased the struggling Zambians when he said ‘I laugh when I hear people saying that the economy is bad. Things are ok and we ought to pat ourselves on the back for the achievements’.”

Nalumango advised the government to focus on fixing the free fall of the currency rather than “encouraging members of your party to distribute cash to citizens in the hope of coercing them for support ahead of the presidential and general elections.”