Load shedding not returning, assures VEEP

VICE-President Mutale Nalumango has assured the country that load shedding will not return despite indications of an unfavourable rainfall pattern in the coming season. And Vice-President Nalumango says the UPND is confident that President Hakainde Hichilema will win Thursday’s…

VICE-President Mutale Nalumango has assured the country that load shedding will not return despite indications of an unfavourable rainfall pattern in the coming season.

And Vice-President Nalumango says the UPND is confident that President Hakainde Hichilema will win Thursday’s election, describing a victory by NRPUP candidate Brian Mundubile as “the most unlikely event”.

Speaking on the the newsroom! Mind Your Business Podcast, Vice-President Nalumango said the assurance that there would be no load shedding was not political or due to the elections, but that the UPND government had expanded the energy mix to provide electricity.

“Load shedding was not a new thing in this government. We came, we found there wasn’t so much [done]. For me, I like to admit, we were a little slow to implement what we had planned as a party on how we are going to deal with the issues of electricity and load shedding. We have run as fast as any caring government will do to find a mix of how to provide electricity. Forget about load shedding. Once again, I will say with conviction, all things being equal, unless somebody higher than human comes with some interference or intervention, what I am saying to the Zambians is that the issue of electricity is gone. Hakainde has seen that hydropower generation cannot suffice for the growing population, for the growing industry, it can’t suffice,” she said.

“There is no load shedding today, there will be no load shedding tomorrow for a long time, because of the policy that has been developed to ensure that there are different ways of generating power for our country. Now we have solar. Basically, every province is going to have more power than they need. I am talking about 10,000 megawatts of power, that is the intention. This is where the Zambian people can have confidence in the leadership of Hakainde Hichilema and his team because this 10,000 megawatts intended to be produced is not for local consumption only, it will cater for everything, we will have excess exports. Zambians, you can trust me on this one, no load shedding. This is not a political or electoral issue, it is a developmental matter”.

When asked whether her earlier statement that President Hichilema would accept defeat was because they thought Mundubile had the numbers, Vice-President Nalumango responded in the negative, adding that it was unlikely that the opposition leader would win the election.

“No way! I would say, like they say in a plane, you know when you get into a plane they will say ‘in an unlikely event’, because they know that it (plane crash) won’t happen. So, I am saying in the unlikely event, and this one is the most unlikely event, that Mundubile can get more votes, we are democrats. But believe you me, it won’t happen and therefore we don’t even have that discussion. I don’t think I should be telling my President, he is a democrat, if we lose, are you going [to accept defeat]? We are not going to lose, we are winning, just wait and see, the young men will grow up,” the Vice-President said.

When asked to comment on the promises Mundubile was making, like the cancellation of student loans, Vice-President Nalumango described his promises as “dreams”.

“They couldn’t even give meal allowances, now what are they talking about? You know this is just dreaming. My son Mundubile, grow up, young man. You can’t do such. You don’t just wake up and say we will cancel loans. Have they even done the assessment? Do you know the figures? What is it that you are basing it on? Populist ideas, come on, that is a lie. He has to have the statistics to be able to say, how do we do it? The loan repayment should be dependent on what the person does after. It is so good that it is unrealistic. Stop lying to the people. I think let them enjoy lying because winning is most unlikely for him, so he can afford to lie because there will be no accountability for him,” Vice-President Nalumango said.

When further asked to comment on Makebi Zulu’s remarks that they will take the country back to how it was run under Edgar Lungu, Vice-President Nalumango questioned whether Zambians wanted to go back to “pangas”.

“To the beatings? Is that taking care [of the people]? To the pangas? Is that taking care? To the corruption? Is that taking care? To having money that you have not worked for and dishing out on the street, is that taking care? Do you know the real situation on the ground? To bring back Zambia when we have stabilised, when the indicators are showing that this economy is growing, you want to come and bring it down. No wonder you talk about reserves as unnecessary, you don’t understand reserves. So, if Mundubile, you are just promising things, no wonder I heard somewhere that he promised a property that belongs to somebody [else], that you were going to give cadres, who does that? What confidence are you putting into investors that we need? Stop pronouncing things. The investors also know that you are saying these things because you know there will be no accountability from you because you are not going to win. We are winning. Zambians know. They understand the social cash transfer, the growing economy, the jobs that are being created,” said Vice-President Nalumango.

“Mundubile and your brother Makebi Zulu, it is good you are trying, that is democracy, but don’t say things that are not realistic, that are not doable. Accept, it’s okay. Since you are not coming [into power] this time around, you can do those things. You will continue to get real situations. Next time you try, you should be able to do better”.