UPND acting Spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa says the August polls are not a time for “trial and error” leadership, urging citizens to rally behind President Hakainde Hichilema.
Speaking in an interview, Mweetwa claimed that the failure by the Tonse Alliance to field candidates in some constituencies was an indication that they were not ready to govern.
“Mundubile’s alliance hasn’t fielded candidates in more than 30 per cent of this country, they are only competing in 70 per cent of the seats, that should tell you that they are not ready. And the people who are thinking about the way this election is likely to go should have that information in mind. I’m campaigning in Choma. Choma district, for instance, has three constituencies, Choma South, Choma Central, and Mbabala constituency, zero candidates for Tonse alliance. Just like almost the entire province, almost the entire Central, Western, North-Western, and many parts of the country. So people should not view one or two rallies and say, ‘let’s talk about rallies’,” he said.
And commenting on various promises made by Brian Mundubile, Mweetwa said the opposition leader had the chance to implement such promises when his party was in power.
“Making statements is one thing, doing things is another. Clearly, you can see that it’s trial and error, and this is not the time to try and error on the leadership of a country. Because the country has made so many strides in the direction of progress. If you recall where Mundubile and team left the country in 2021, negative 2 per cent GDP growth rate with a crippling unsustainable debt where they were borrowing all and sundry and without investing properly the money that they were borrowing. They left the mines on their knees, and the agricultural sector was in tatters. Don’t even mention the payment of council workers because council workers would go six, eight, 10 months unpaid. National Housing Authority workers, these stories are known. Retirees would be singing outside the Ministry of Justice there for two months without being attended to, and all those people now have been paid,” he said.
“So, let us not talk about promises, they already had an opportunity to occasion what they are saying they can do but did not. We, as serious citizens, shall not listen to political jokes of Mundubile and Makebi Zulu… They will say things that they actually don’t believe in. If it were a new political party with new leaders, maybe one would even take them seriously. But for all well-meaning and serious Zambians, they are not going to take that team seriously. That’s a team of drama and without capacity. The election is going on eventless, no violence. Do you think Zambians can vote for that bunch of people who had turned this country into a citadel of violence? This time, you would have been working with fear, even you, journalists, were scared of doing your job. So, such people, do you think that they should be giving us sleepless nights? No. But again, it is in the hands of citizens, but I don’t think that citizens have easily forgotten”.
Mweetwa said the August elections were meant to consolidate the gains attained by the UPND.
“Well, for the citizens, the ordinary citizens, the choice is obvious. Not because it is an option, no, but because of the delivery, the performance, the governance records, the stability, and the reputation that President HH has brought this country. Look at the economy. As Zambians, we should stop joking, because, number one, to wrestle a country from the jaws of violent people like those in the previous administration is not easy. And it had to take men and women of valour, men and women of stamina, men and women and youth who were ready to sacrifice. Because wrestling power from that administration risked life, and many people died. So now that we are enjoying this freedom, we should not play around games and start even considering the same people who are behaving like crocodiles. As if now, they have repented, they’ve become saints,” said Mweetwa.
“Zambia has become a global icon of peace and governance and you have a leadership in place that has gotten the country from the doldrums of political and economic obscurity. And then you want to bring jokers and begin to parade them as an alternative, come on. This is a serious time for Zambia to reflect and not take chances. I know that there are some people who may not have been involved either in wrestling for power from these violent and divisive people, or who may not have been paying attention because they were not victims of the same, but this is no ordinary election. This is an election to consolidate on the gains that have this far been attained by President HH. And we should never, as Zambians, take this for granted. Because if those people were to come back, who is going to wrestle power from them? If they ever come back, but they are not coming back, I can assure you, we are on the ground”.
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