… says leaders in the UPND Government are more concerned with their personal businesses.
LUSAKA, FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 2024 [SMART EAGLES]
CITIZENS First President Harry Kalaba says leaders in the UPND Government are more concerned with their personal businesses at the expense of Zambians.
Speaking when he featured on Muvi Television last night, Mr. Kalaba said this is the reason why the UPND is pre occupied with giving tax holidays to foreign investors in the mining sector.
He said the money which could have been raised from the mines through taxes could have been used to subsidize essential commodities such as fuel and mealie meal.
Mr. Kalaba said currently Zambians are not getting any benefits from the mines which are the country’s only biggest asset.
” Tax holidays are hurting Zambians, that money could have been used for subsidies and cushion the suffering of Zambians. Mines are the biggest assets that Zambia has and if I was President, I would have made sure Zambians get maximum benefits from the mining sector, right now we have not gotten any maximum benefits,” Mr. Kalaba said.
” We need leadership that will face investors in the eye and tell them that Zambians do not want to be given a bad cheque. The Zambian people even in their poverty deserve to be respected and get the share they need to get on the table of opportunities, but that is not happening because we have our colleagues who have so much interest in their businesses that’s why they can give all these tax holidays, ” the CF leader said.
And Mr. Kalaba castigated the Government for its continued appetite to contract more debt.
He said at the moment Government should be looking at ways of raising domestic revenues instead of rushing to the IMF to borrow more.
” Zambia is making progress to borrow more from the IMF, that’s is not right, why would you aspire to borrow more. What should happen is that we should be looking at ways on how to raise domestic revenues. This is a country that can produce and grow almost everything in the world but we are not taking advantage of that and the problem has been leadership,” Mr. Kalaba said.
“… we need an ambitious leader who is not an average, we have leaders who are fond of having cocktail after cocktail and promise stuff,we need radical leadership and I can d that,” he said.
#SmartEagles2024.
