Voting for HH would be suicidal, says Sean Tembo

By PETER SICHALI VOTING UPND and its president Mr Hakainde Hichilema into power will be a disaster, Patriots for Economic Progress leader, Sean Tembo has said. Mr Tembo said Mr Hichilema’s questionable conduct when this nation gave him an opportunity during the privatisation process was warning enough not to entrust him with power. “Those who cannot be trusted in small things cannot be trusted in big things,” he said. Mr Tembo said Mr Hichilema failed to acquit himself properly during the privatisation process and instead of putting the interests of the nation first, he put the interests of his pockets first. He said it was unreasonable for any genuine Zambian to expect that the man who put the interests of his pockets above the interests of the nation would suddenly have a change of heart if elected President. He said there was no doubt that a HH presidency would be disastrous for the nation. Mr Tembo said voting for UPND should not be an option because it did not have a plan for the country. He said the proposals for turning around the Zambian economy that have so far been proposed by the UPND leader lack substance. “For example, his proposal to borrow about US$3 billion from the International Monitory Fund (IMF) and put this country on an IMF package, as his first order of business if elected President, will only plunge this already heavily indebted country into more debt, as well as take away our sovereignty and place it in the hands of the IMF,” Mr Tembo said. He said the UPND’s proposal to subsidise the cost of production as a solution to the ever increasing prices, was untenable because the Treasury currently has no money to meet debt repayment obligations. “So where would Mr Hichilema get the money to subsidise the cost of production in the entire economy? Besides, we tried subsidies in the KK era and they failed. They are simply not sustainable. Mr Tembo advised Zambians to be wary of the so-called political leaders who have mushroomed. “After they stole enough money to start their own political parties, they today want to portray themselves as saviours. “We know that they are former thieves because their so-called businesses only thrive while they are serving in Government, and when they are no longer in Government their businesses crumble and they become overnight paupers,” Mr Tembo said.