Here is why Mr Mundubile’s campaign promises are lies dressed as generosity

IN our editorial opinion yesterday, we tried to remind people of how politicians during this period say everything that they imagine would please the people, just in order to win votes. We reminded voters about the 2021 election campaign promises that the UPND made and how some of those promises proved impossible to fulfil when […]

IN our editorial opinion yesterday, we tried to remind people of how politicians during this period say everything that they imagine would please the people, just in order to win votes. We reminded voters about the 2021 election campaign promises that the UPND made and how some of those promises proved impossible to fulfil when the party was given an opportunity to govern. We went further to list at least 10 of the key promises that the opposition NRPUP has made so far in this election. Today we would like to zero in on just three of these election promises and demonstrate what we mean when we say, they are deliberately lying with the intention of deceiving voters.

1. If we win, there will be no thieves in our government:
How is this possible? First of all, there is a difference between saying there will be no sacred cows in our government and saying there won’t be any thief in our government. There is no country on earth where there is zero crime in government. Even countries like Japan, Singapore, and Iceland which have extremely low crime rates have recorded public sector corruption and abuse of power. That’s why each one of them has built a prison. But our “incoming” president wants voters to believe that once he wins, Zambia will turn into heaven.

Now, let’s imagine, that Mr Mundubile is talking about keeping no sacred cow in his government. We find it very bizarre that this man who would tolerate no thief in his administration has also promised his supporters that his first assignment when elected will be to release from prison those former PF ministers who were found guilty of theft. On this promise alone, one can tell that he is lying. In his mind, theft is only theft if it has been committed by people who are not his friends. Such a leader is dangerous and voters must not trust his words.

2. He says if elected he will extend student meal allowances to other universities to ensure that they suit the living realities among Zambians, meaning if the cost of living goes up, he will increase allowances for students. In Zambia we track and calculate the cost of living through two key institutions; the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) that explains the basic needs food basket and the Zambia Statistics Agency that explains inflation. In practical terms, what Mr Mundubile is promising is that every month when inflation goes up, he will give more money to students. When the cost of basic needs increases for people living in Lusaka, as calculated by JCTR, he will also add more money to students allowances. In simple terms, when ERB revises the price of fuel upwards, more money for students, if bus drivers increase fares, more money in the students’ pocket; if Zesco touches the electricity tariffs, ama students ninshi balya bwino. If there is drought and milling companies adjust the cost of unga, Mr Mundubile sends cheques to all public universities to sustain students.

Obviously that is not realistic and we would ask the simple question of where would such money come from. But the more important question is to ask what happened in the previous administration. Since Mr Mundubile has promised to take Zambians back to the way they lived under the Patriotic Front, our duty is to remind students how they lived under that rule.

On 9th March 2016, while announcing the reopening of UNZA and CBU following student unrest, Minister of Higher Education Michael Kaingu told Parliament that government would stop paying meal allowances at both institutions. He argued that meal allowances had become a source of riots and was being abused. Under PF, the solution for unrest caused by hungry students was to remove the little food they had. This was emphasised by the next minister, Professor Nkandu Luo who did not only confirm the removal of meal allowances, but also abolished UNZASU and COBUSU. In her own words, she told Parliament on 30th June 2017 that: “Mr Speaker, I don’t think our institutions should have unions. Unions will take even your last bit of blood.”

It’s needless for us to mention that this professor who abolished meal allowances and killed student unions is Mr Mundubile’s trustee and she is the one who was sent to monitor the printing of ballot papers in Dubai. So, when Mr Mundubile says he will rule like PF and increase student allowances, the same allowances they said caused riots, voters must quickly see the contradiction and detect a lie.

And this immediately takes us to the next promise where the NRPUP leader says if elected, his government will cancel all student loans. Mr Mundubile is saying as long as a graduate does not find a job within two years, that student’s loan would be cancelled. We don’t know if under his regime, students will become so honest to announce that they have gotten a job so that they can miss an opportunity of having their loans cancelled. But at this point, we need someone to inform Mr Mundubile how the Higher Education Loans and Scholarships Board operates. The same loan money that students pay back is used to sponsor the next intake of students. If you cancel the repayment, but continue giving bursaries, that changes into free education all the way to university. Again we ask, where will the money come from?

3. Mr Mundubile has also promised that his government would empower marketeers with at least an excavator and a small vehicle. Awe, this one we can just leave it here. We are sure it was meant just for laughs on social media. And talking about social media, voters can also laugh some at Mr Mundubile’s belief that Meta, YouTube and TikTok will pay Zambian content creators because he has created a “ministry of digital economy”.

Every single one of these campaign promises is a lie, but Zambians have the right to vote for Mr Mundubile if they wish to measure the depth of a river using both legs. The wise say: “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”