PF Planning Fuel Price Hike Warns Bwalya

UPND presidential spokesperson Anthony Bwalya has warned that the PF is expected to hike fuel pump prices of fuel by a minimum of 20% to K21.14 per litre should they win the August elections.

According to Bwalya, “this is because the regime has lost the ability to import fuel and now heavily reliant on OMCs to land the commodity.”

“But with the Kwacha in turmoil, OMCs have complained of a spike in the landing costs for the finished product,” he explains.

He therefore claims under the PF a fuel pump price hike is to be expected, but describes it as “an assault on our collective welfare.”

Bwalya goes on to say the PF does not care about the impact of such a hike on ordinary Zambians “because they own a sizeable fleet which is currently and actively engaged in the moving of finished fuel from port to various parts of the country. So, even if the pump price goes up, they shall continue making huge profits while Zambians suffer.”

The UPND presidential spokesperson goes on to say that if the UPND Alliance is elected into office they will seek to deliver a reduction of at least K2 to around K15 per litre.

According to Bwalya, this will be achieved by restoring government's ability to import crude oil via TAZAMA for processing at Indeni, which he says will cut out not only unnecessary commission costs to middlemen but also reduce on the port to pump associated costs. He notes that this is crucial in protecting jobs at both TAZAMA Pipelines and Indeni.

Bwalya says the reduction will also be supported under a UPND government by tackling of the problem of corruption in the procurement and distribution processes.

“The Zambia we want is possible,” he concludes.