BACK TO THE FARM
…I’ve endorsed Mundubile and Makebi to end HH’s lies – Katotobwe
By Mast Reporter
I’VE joined forces with Brian Mundubile and Makebi Zulu because we must send President Hakainde Hichilema back to his farm for lying to farmers and Zambians, Chanda Katotobwe has declared.
Katotobwe, president of the opposition Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) party, has endorsed National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP) and Tonse-PF Pamodzi Alliance presidential candidate Mundubile and his running mate Zulu for the august 13 general elections saying the overwhelming support the two were receiving countrywide was a clear sign that Zambians were thirsty for change.
“After careful reflection and in the interest of the nation and the greater good, Mr Sean Tembo [independent candidate for Roma Constituency in Lusaka and Tonse founder member] and myself decided to endorse the presidential candidature of my brother Hon Brian Mundubile and his running mate Hon Makebi Zulu,” Katotobwe said.
He was speaking in two separate exclusive interviews with The Mast from Nchelenge and Chifunabuli districts in Luapula Province at the weekend where he was campaigning with Mundubile and Zulu.
“The momentum of the BM8 ticket which we continue to witness across our country leaves little doubt that Zambians want change. The desire for change is real, and the Brian Mundubile–Makebi Zulu ticket has emerged as the rallying point for citizens determined to restore hope, dignity and opportunity,” an enthusiastic Katotobwe said.
He said he and Tembo had decided to endorse Mundubile and Zulu because they believed the country desperately needed honest leadership, which it had lacked in the last five years the United Party for National Development (UPND) had been in government.
Katotobwe contemptuously dismissed Hichilema’s latest promise to vulnerable small-scale farmers that if they deliver maize from this year’s harvest to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA), they will be paid immediately unlike in the past.
He warned the President to stop mocking the farmers on whom his government had inflicted unprecedented anguish in the last five years through long delays in payments and pathetic, discriminatory distribution of farming inputs under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).
“We make this endorsement because Zambia needs leadership committed to restoring economic hope, defending our democratic freedoms, protecting the rights of every citizen and creating opportunities for our people,” Katotobwe said.
“He must refrain from telling the suffering farmers more lies. This is one of the reasons we are sending him back to his farm in August to go and rest and reflect on the suffering he has inflicted on the poor farmers and other citizen of this country,” he said.
Katotobwe reminded the President that during campaigns in 2021, he had promised the farmers that they would be buying one 50kg bag of fertiliser at K250 because the K700 it was costing under the PF government was not affordable for them.
“Has he reduced the price of fertiliser to K250 as he promised the farmers? Isn’t it even more expensive now at the current price of K1,200? He promised them that each one of them would be receiving eights bags of fertiliser under his government but instead, they have been sharing the fertiliser in medas and cups for five years. That’s what happens when you are a liar. You forget the lies you told in the past and shamelessly tell more,” he said.
“Our farmers deserve better support. Our young people deserve jobs. Our entrepreneurs deserve affordable access to capital. Our workers deserve better pay and our pensioners deserve their benefits. Zambia deserves an honest leadership that places it’s people first. That leadership has failed to come from the current administration of Mr Hakainde Hichilema. But I am confident that the leadership that we need can come from president Brian Mundubile.”
The former Luapula member of Parliament joined the increasing number of fellow opposition political heavy weights and eminent citizens who have endorsed Mundubile and Zulu and are vigorously campaigning for their victory.
These include former minister Chishimba Kambwili, Liberal Party president Sakwiba Sikota, Exodus Party (EP) president and until recently Citizens First (CF) presidential running mate Moses Mawere, People’s Alliance for Change (PAC) president Andyford Banda, Council of Elders (CoE) member Prince Akashambatwa Mbukusita-Lewanika, activist Mulenga Kapwepwe and many others.
Katotobwe appealed to members of PeP, his supporters and all Zambians to vote for Mundubile on August 13 to make the change they wanted a reality.
