Zambia can only prosper if PF is replaced with a credible government- HH

UPND president Hakainde Hichilema has called on Zambians to vote wisely in the 2021 elections and replace the PF government which he says has brought untold suffering to citizens.

In his message to mark the New Year, Hichilema said 2021 is the Year of Change for all Zambians. He added that the year is a defining moment where citizens should ensure that they take charge of the country and put it back on track towards becoming prosperous country by 2030 where all Zambians will benefit.

He said if managed well, Zambia can afford cheap fuel, can afford cheap mealie meal, can have a low exchange rate, but because of the current mismanagement of resources the country has yielded the opposite results putting the economy out of balance.

Read his full statement below:

Happy New Year 2021

Fellow Zambians, 2021 is the Year of Change for all of us. It is a defining moment where we ensure that we take charge of the country and put it back on track towards becoming prosperous country by 2030 where all Zambians will benefit.

While the years from 2001 – 2008 saw the country take an upward trajectory on all fronts, the years thereafter till now have negated the progress we made previously.

Inflation is back to double digits; the exchange rate is at its highest in the history of Zambia; GDP growth is now in negative; the cost of living is high and still increasing; and Zambia’s debt is unsustainable, forcing the country to default after over thirty years of being a global citizen in good standing with its creditors.

In reality, Zambia can afford cheap fuel, we can afford cheap mealie meal, we can have a low exchange rate, but the current mismanagement has yielded the opposite results putting the economy out of balance.

If we want to address these challenges, 2021 presents us with a real opportunity to create jobs, have a functional healthcare system, have our children in school, afford a minimum of three meals per day. This will happen only if we all turn out to vote out the current Government which has put us in this mess.

They promised to create jobs, but they have failed. They promised to improve healthcare, but patients have to buy their own medicine because the Government cannot provide this basic human necessity.

They promised education for all, but just in November, thousands of students were stopped from writing exams on account of having failed to pay tuition fees. The list of broken promises they made is endless, but we have an opportunity to now kick them out and replace them with a credible Government.

On the Governance score, they have failed terribly. In 2020 alone many lives have been lost. They have resorted to killing innocent Zambians for the crime of exercising their constitutional right to protest and assemble.

We should all remember Joseph Kaunda and Nsama Nsama, fathers and breadwinners who needlessly lost their lives. We should not forget the innocent schoolboy Frank Mugala, gunned down by overzealous police, who’s Commander in Chief opts to keep quiet while citizens are killed.

This alone must move us in numbers to vote in 2021 and change the course of this country forever. May I appeal to us all to take personal interest in the matter of elections in 2021. Go out there and sell our message of hope.

Have a Prosperous New Year and God Bless.

HH aka Bally