FORMER Minister of Finance Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane says the election of NRPUP president Brian Mundubile will reverse the economic gains attained by UPND. In an interview, Thursday, Dr Musokotwane said the UPND government had brought a lot of positive changes since coming into office. “The government has brought a lot of positive changes since it […]

FORMER Minister of Finance Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane says the election of NRPUP president Brian Mundubile will reverse the economic gains attained by UPND.

In an interview, Thursday, Dr Musokotwane said the UPND government had brought a lot of positive changes since coming into office.

“The government has brought a lot of positive changes since it came into office. There were a lot of problems that this government inherited. Some of those problems include the excessive debt that was there. That debt brought so many problems, like an unstable exchange rate that kept rising. There was also an inability to fund many important things, like education, because money had to be used for debt servicing. Beyond the economy, there were serious governance problems and lawlessness, where violence was the order of the day. In the markets, as you recall, people had no freedom to do business because of cadres roaming all over the place and extracting money from traders. Their cadres were out of control and the previous leadership could not restrain them. That is why I am saying, if these people come back the country will just slide back and economic gains and developments will be reversed,” he said.

“The positive thing that we have done is bringing the debt under control because of debt restructuring. With debt restructuring, it means that we are now able to service our debt and still have money left to do important things. That is why free education is possible because of debt restructuring. That is also why, through CDF and a lot of projects in the rural areas, there is a lot of infrastructure going on. In the rural areas we are putting up schools, clinics, teachers’ houses, and water for communities. All these are possible because of debt restructuring. We now have fiscal space. The money that was previously going to pay unsustainable debt is now being redirected to services that directly benefit the people. This is how we are able to fund developments while still meeting our obligations”.

Further, Dr Musokotwane said the UPND was not happy with the current unemployment levels.

“I agree that challenges still remain. Politicians say things that are meant to market themselves and tarnish the image of the other group. Yes, we are not happy with the level of employment that is out there. But you must also realize that the level of employment under PF was even worse. We have made improvements in the number of jobs available. We must also protect the investment environment. For those who plan to come to Zambia, Zambians and foreigners alike, they will simply say this kind of behavior is not suitable for doing business. Why should I open a factory, a mine, or a hotel? Before, every day people were coming and saying, ‘We have been sent by the party, give us K20,000, give us K6,000’. And you see the results: they get beaten. If anyone wants to come to invest, that environment must not return,” said Dr Musokotwane.