NEWS: “What If Rupiah Banda’s Economic Trajectory Had Continued?”
Under President Rupiah Banda, Zambia was moving steadily towards becoming a lower-middle-income country. The economy was performing well by global standards, the Kwacha had greater purchasing power, and ordinary citizens could afford considerably more with their incomes.
Shopping in supermarkets was not an extraordinary luxury for many Zambians. I remember that time around 2010, when I entered ShopRite with only one thousand kwacha I would have the bigger trolley full of groceries and be able to buy a can with the little change that would remain, with k350 I would have 60 litres of fuel for my Corolla and many other essential commodities including rentals were very affordable until darkness befell Zambia in 2011.
God put us to the test for the hate of a good leader who had done everything to grow the economy. He cried upon handing over power, and the Zambians mocked him, he knew what mistake we had made and let it go.
Today we are back to the route RB was taking us. But we are about to take ourselves back to where things went wrong again. God forbid we must reject that demon this time around.
The question is: Where did that opportunity go?
Had the economic trajectory under Rupiah Banda continued after the change of government, Zambia could arguably have entered the Hakainde Hichilema era from a much stronger economic position. Instead, the PF administration embarked on reckless borrowing, with much of the borrowed money allegedly mismanaged, misappropriated or invested in projects that failed to generate sufficient economic returns.
The result was economic decline, unsustainable debt, reduced investor confidence and, eventually, Zambia’s sovereign debt default. A country that had been progressing towards a stronger economic status was effectively crippled.
Therefore, when we discuss Zambia’s economic challenges today, we must not only ask what the current government is doing to rebuild the economy. We must also ask:
What would Zambia look like today if the economic discipline and trajectory of the Rupiah Banda era had been maintained instead of being disrupted by the PF’s reckless economic management?
That is the uncomfortable question the opposition must answer.
Your Honourable Diplomat 🙏 Informing the masses.
