HH BLIND TO SUFFERING
… Chungu warns of doom if Hichilema is re-elected
-
Giving him a fresh mandate will be inviting more pain and suffering
-
Zambians should not relent in stopping any form of dictatorship
By Tony Nkhoma
PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema has become blind to the suffering of the people who elected him and giving him a fresh mandate in next year’s general elections is inviting more pain, former Luanshya member of Parliament Steven Chungu has said.
Chungu, a former Government Chief Whip, said Hichilema cannot win the 2026 general elections because he had deliberately inflicted economic pain on the majority of Zambians.
In an interview with The Mast, Chungu said the suffering that Zambians were experiencing under the leadership of Hichilema were unbearable.
“You only have one chance to remove President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND next year. Don’t waste your chance, don’t gamble again, as was the case in 2021, or else serious problems will continue in this country,” Chungu said.
Chungu said Hichilema had betrayed the people of Zambia, and allowing him to go for another term of office would be endorsing poverty, lies, and unemployment, coupled with regional divisions.
He said Hichilema had bulldozed all governance systems by giving himself more power and making it difficult for Zambians to participate in the governance of the country.
“Whatever the Zambian people can say today, Hichilema cannot listen to them. Whatever Zambians suggest, Hichilema cannot heed; he is not a team player. But that one day and next year Zambians will use their voters’ card and speak loudly. They will have to use that card. They will speak loud enough for them to be heard, and that voice will be a change in the government,” he said.
Chungu said Zambians were ready than ever before to kick out the UPND next year.
“The powers of the Zambian people have been taken away, and left only for that one person. So, it is up to the Zambian people again to make that decision on that one day,” he said.
Chungu appealed to Zambians not to relent but continue believing in themselves by stopping any form of dictatorship.
“So, I am only appealing to the people to use that one day because that is all they have to change things for the better, because where we are going, there’s no economic indicator that is suggesting that one day we may come out of this problem that we are facing. It will never happen under Hichilema,” Chungu said.
He said Zambian workers were in debt because of poor conditions of service.
“Look at the workers of this country, you find that the workers today in Zambia are in trouble. They have remained indebted. They live in debt. The worker in Zambia survives on a vicious cycle because at every point they borrow, and the only money that they take home is nothing because they’re highly indebted, and this is not the Zambia we want,” he said.
Chungu said the prices of essential commodities were skyrocketing daily, making it difficult for people to manage.
“Workers are left to continue borrowing. So, it’s up to that worker again to make that decision because he only has one day to make that decision. I’m not talking about civil servants alone. I’m talking about workers countrywide from all the sectors,” he said.
Chungu said Hichilema had reduced the country to total darkness by giving power to neighbouring countries at the expense of the poor majority Zambians.
He said Hichilema had no solution to the harsh economic conditions that the majority of Zambians were going through.
“We have been reduced to almost a dark country. We’ve been reduced to the days of the Stone Age, when we never had power. That’s what we’ve been reduced to under Hichilema, and this is not troubling for him as long as he has power at his community house,” he said.
Chungu said Hichilema’s trips were only beneficial to himself and his close allies.
He accused Hichilema of lying to Zambians that his trips were meant to address the energy challenges the country was facing when, in fact not.
Chung questioned what economic benefits five hours of electricity each day would bring to the majority Zambians, particularly the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
“Your five hours will come at midnight when you are sleeping. What benefit are you having from those five hours? But your units are being knocked down. 24 hours you’re sleeping,” Chungu said.
