UPND is still strong and ready to form Govt-Mwashingwele
By Staff Reporter
OPPOSITION United Party for National Development (UPND) says it is still strong on the ground and poised to form the next government despite a rise in induced defections and by-elections upsets suffered at the hands of the PF since 2016.
UPND deputy national spokesperson Patricia Mwashingwele says it would be folly of anyone to suggest that the UPND was on its knees using recently held elections as the yardstick.
Mwashingwele said the performance of the UPND in the elections such as the Lusaka mayoral and Chilanga parliamentary elections should send warning shots to the PF that not everything is rosy on the ground.
“We all saw how extravagant the PF were in the last elections. We all witnessed the amounts of money that the PF used in those elections. But the outcome was different. As a party we performed exceptionally well against an extravagant ruling party,” she said.
Mwashingwele assured that things were different in a general election as resources were not concentrated in one area as seen in the last elections.
“Our members should know that the party is intact and still strong as the people’s choice and all we are asking is that each one plays their role in mobilising. Zambia’s hopes lie in the UPND and it’s leadership and it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that is achieved before the country completely goes on its knees owing to the poor leadership of the PF,” said Mwashingwele
She said the continued introduction of taxes on an already overtaxed population was a seriously indictment on the capacity by the PF to provide for the citizens.
“We have had all these taxes which include withholding and borehole taxes. And now a poor young entrepreneur will be taxed further for making internet calls with its international business connections. This will completely suffocate the growth of, especially the SME sector as well as the development of the ICT sector which at the moment is too insignificant to support any economic growth,” she said.
Meanwhile, Mwashingwele said the PF has very little understanding of agriculture production costs hence its failure to factor it when announcing the crop marketing prices.
“The cost of production is too high for a farmer and any price below K 100 per 50Kg bag of maize is not good enough for the farmers as that is killing the sector. Where do they get the capital for the next farming season?. This PF is playing with people’s lives and they don’t care since they don’t understand the sector,” added Mwashingwele.
