LUSAKA - UPND National Management Committee member Mulambo Haimbe says the opposition has finally revealed its true agenda after National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP) running mate Makebi Zulu said the party would take Zambians back to how they lived during former President Edgar Lungu's administration.
Mr. Haimbe said Mr. Zulu's remarks were the first honest campaign message the opposition had given Zambians since the official campaign period began.
According to Mr. Haimbe, when Mr. Zulu said, "We will take you back to living the way you did under Lungu if we win," he unintentionally reminded citizens of an era they had deliberately voted to leave behind.
He argued that going "back" would mean returning to the 2020 debt default, when Zambia became the first African country to default on its external debt during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Haimbe further claimed that it would also mean returning to a rapidly depreciating kwacha, high inflation, the mysterious gassing incidents that spread fear among communities, and the re-emergence of political cadres controlling markets and bus stations.
He added that such a return would also revive what he described as an era marked by the closure of independent media houses, corruption scandals involving the alleged 48 houses, expired medicines in hospitals, frozen public sector recruitment, and the absence of free education and student meal allowances.
"The PF/Tonse Alliance has now told Zambians, in its own words, which road it offers. Zambians will hear it not as a promise, but as a threat," Mr. Haimbe said.
He contrasted this with what he described as the achievements of President Hakainde Hichilema's administration, including the introduction of free education, the recruitment of more than 50,000 teachers and health workers, increased Constituency Development Fund (CDF) allocations, expansion of the Social Cash Transfer programme, and the restructuring of Zambia's external debt.
While acknowledging that Zambians have faced difficult economic conditions, partly due to the country's worst drought in decades, Mr. Haimbe said the nation was making progress and should not reverse the gains achieved.
He urged voters to support continued development under the UPND when they cast their ballots in the August 13 general election.