Anybody blaming UPND for load shedding lacks sense – Tayali

UPND Ndola Central aspiring member of Parliament Frank Tayali says anybody blaming the UPND administration for load shedding “lacks sense”. Meanwhile, Tayali says Ndola Central has experienced “remarkable progress” since 2021. Speaking on a Sun FM, yesterday, Tayali said the energy crisis was as a result of years of poor planning and the worst drought […]

UPND Ndola Central aspiring member of Parliament Frank Tayali says anybody blaming the UPND administration for load shedding “lacks sense”.

Meanwhile, Tayali says Ndola Central has experienced “remarkable progress” since 2021.

Speaking on a Sun FM, yesterday, Tayali said the energy crisis was as a result of years of poor planning and the worst drought the country has faced.

Asked about views that a lot of people were blaming UPND for load shedding and that it was government’s responsibility that it lasted long, Tayali responded in the negative.

“No! I am afraid what we went through during that peak of load shedding was a taste of lack of planning. We all know that we suffered the worst drought in living memory. I do recall that when I was minister and I visited Livingstone, during that period the Zambezi had dried up, there were only pockets of water. The Victoria Falls was dry. You could literally walk across the Zambezi from Livingstone into Zimbabwe, that’s how bad it was. We used to take delegations of journalists to actually go and get footage of water levels even at Kariba,” he said.

“When water levels have plummeted, you are not able to operate the machinery and there are five turbines there that generate power. We got to a stage when three of them had to be switched off and the remaining two had to be managed and power only going to critical industries that would continue to turn the wheels of this country’s economy. So anybody blaming the UPND, ninshi uyo takwata amano (that person lacks sense). It was not our fault, it had just fallen upon us. When we were going through this phase, there were no reserves. If we had, they would have worked during that period, during the drought. They left us with debt even in petroleum, we found almost $800 million. I heard from the news that from $800 million it has come to $200 million. This is how prudent the administration of President HH has been. That we sorted the mess that we inherited”.

Tayali said the country was now recovering and reserves were in a better state than before.

“Right now, we are on the verge of picking up as a country. The reserves are looking good, healthier than they had been even in the time of Mwanawasa. Why would a normal thinking Zambian want to disturb what is happening? It means that you do not mean well for Zambia. We must have consensus and ask ourselves if how we lived during the PF was good. If it was okay, we would not have removed them and beaten them by one million votes and this year, it will be more than that. We want politics to be a place where we can exchange ideas and plans to which when the electorate hear, they say, yes that is what we want to go for. We want to impact in a positive and not a negative manner,” Tayali said.

The aspiring MP also called on the people of Ndola Central to judge leaders based on delivery.

“Now people can judge me, not only me, but also those that have held office before. There are previous MPs that held this office and did nothing. People of Ndola Central can weigh on the scale and decide that this is what we want. Tomorrow [today] is about voting for progress and continuity. Is Ndola Central the same as it was in 2021? The obvious answer is no because there has been remarkable and recordable progress. We must vote for people not because they are our tribe mates, that is cheap. Since independence, we must begin to learn from the past, how reckless decisions particularly on voting day can cause the country to go back. Listen carefully to what the politicians are saying and promising,” said Tayali.