PF CREATED POVERTY
…Tonse’s claim of caring for the poor is false – Musokotwane
THE claim by the opposition Tonse-PF Pamodzi Alliance that it will uplift the lives of poor Zambians is a lie because the Patriotic Front (PF) of which it is an offshoot brought only poverty in the 10 years of its rule, Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane has said.
Dr Musokotwane, the former minister of finance, described the Tonse-PF Pamodzi Alliance as an offshoot of the PF which was making false promises to win votes in the August 13 general elections.
“The Tonse Alliance leadership claims their priority is to uplift the lives of the Zambian poor rather than focus on what they call meaningless statistics that claim to report development. They criticise the UPND for not prioritising the poor,” he said.
“It is therefore not surprising when they make such a false claim of caring for the poor when they achieved the opposite during their 10 years rule. They seriously hurt the poor while at the same time some of them became very wealthy in mysterious ways,” Dr Musokotwane said.
He said the conduct of the PF while it was in government disadvantaged the lives of the poor, not just then but also going into the next generations.
“PF is vividly remembered for destroying jobs especially in the mining sector. The key mining companies like KCM, Mopani, First Quantum and Barrick were either closing or on the way to closure. Mining cities became ghost towns, unleashing unprecedented poverty,” Dr Musokotwane said.
“Which poor people were the PF taking care of when they were closing the mines. Or, is it simply a lack of understanding on their part that closing mines enhances poverty rather than generate prosperity?” he wondered.
Dr Musokotwane said to address the chaos left by the PF government, the UPND government had long taken measures not only to re-open the mines but also to secure more investment for expanded production.
He cited the mining towns which were back to life under the UPND government as miners and contractors had begun to spend again.
He promised that in the next five years more new mines would open as a result of vigorous explorations that were currently underway.
“Indeed opening new industries where jobs and businesses are created is the correct way to help to reduce poverty. Not the PF idea of fighting poverty by closing mines and failing to encourage the setting up of new industries,” Dr Musokotwane said.
He said his year’s maize harvest of close to five million tonnes, a record since independence, was a clear proof that many farmers would earn more and reduce poverty.
On manufacturing, Dr Musokotwane said Zambia was now an exporter of fertilisers to the region while Mulungushi Textiles in Kabwe was back to life.
“Can the PF Tonse tell the nation which new mines or industries they opened in their 10 years of rule? In a country where the population of young people is rapidly rising and looking for jobs in large numbers, how can anyone dream of caring for the poor after spending a decade without any tangible achievement in opening a mine or any other serious industry?” he said.
Tonse seemed to think poverty would be tackled by mere declarations.
“This beats all logic and clearly demonstrates that they have no clue about what to do in government. For UPND, continuing to push for more industries in our country is an important part of fighting poverty,” Dr Musokotwane said.
On education, he said since coming into office the UPND had taken bold measures including free education for every child to reach high school and enhanced bursaries and meal allowances for poor children at tertiary educational facilities.
A large number of teachers had been recruited to reduce shortages.
Dr Musokotwane said during the drought of 2019 few people benefited from organised relief food because of the poor administration and corruption that saw priority being given to PF party officials.
“In the 2024 drought relief intervention, the UPND government gained national and international recognition for outstanding relief operations through enhanced Social Cash Transfer, Cash for Work and reverse maize sales at FRA buying depots. This was a practical demonstration of caring for the poor which was never seen during the PF administration,” he said. – UPND Media
