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The Edgar Lungu-led Patriotic Front (PF) has cautioned President Hakainde Hichilema against making what it described as arrogant and insensitive public remarks on Zambia’s economic situation.
PF Chairperson for Information and Publicity, Emmanuel Mwamba, claimed that President Hichilema’s reluctance to apologize for his mistakes was fueling public discontent.
In a statement issued in Lusaka on Sunday, Mwamba alleged that the President’s approach was exacerbating the country’s economic and social crises, making him his own worst enemy.
“President Hakainde, through his insensitive and careless remarks, shows a profound disconnect from the suffering of the people. His approach risks inciting social unrest or a popular uprising against himself,” Mwamba stated.
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He added that Zambians were struggling to accept that President Hichilema would fail to deliver on his many campaign promises, while being overwhelmed by new ones.
Mwamba cited several statements he considered insensitive, such as the President’s suggestion for Zambians without electricity to invest in solar equipment.
“To the unemployed, he labels them lazy and advises hard work, dismissing any expectation of handouts. But how can citizens work hard without jobs or economic opportunities?” Mwamba questioned.
He further noted that smallholder farmers, struggling with a lack of farming inputs and food shortages due to crop failures, were simply told to grow more food by the President.
Mwamba also highlighted Vice President W.K. Mutale Nalumango’s suggestion for Zambians to consider alternatives like kandolo and roller meal as substitutes for bread and breakfast mealie-meal amid rising costs.
Mwamba urged President Hichilema to learn from history, referencing the French Revolution’s infamous “Let them eat cake” anecdote attributed to Marie-Antoinette.
He explained that the Queen’s response, when told her starving subjects had no bread, symbolised the disconnection of governing leaders from the struggles of the masses.
“Like Marie-Antoinette, President Hichilema’s remarks suggest a profound obliviousness to the daily conditions and suffering of Zambians,” Mwamba concluded.
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