Roan member of parliament Chishimba Kambwili says the move by government to reintroduce Zambia Airways will be a waste of money and a hive of corruption.

Speaking at his residence in Luanshya, Kambwili said the PF government kuwayawayafye (was not serious) as it had its priorities misplaced.

“What we said when Mr Sata was alive is that let’s find a flag carrier to run the whole thing and return shares. They can bring the aeroplanes and paint them in the Zambian colours as a flag carrier because creating a national airline will be a loss making venture under the current circumstances,” Kambwili said.

“Isho indeke balefwaya ukushita [those planes they want to buy] money can go to immediate pressing needs but nici kuwayawayafye.

He said it was unwise for the government to be thinking about creating a national airline when airlines such as British Airways and South African Airways with bigger economies were struggling to survive.

Kambwili also said some government officials were eager to see the national airline project take off because they wanted to get commissions from the procurement process.

The former chief government spokesperson also said the construction of the new Ndola airport was a misplaced priority.

“If I was president of this country, I will make agriculture my first priority with a bias towards value addition. Take a look at Mpongwe, it is a town today because of agriculture,” said Kambwili.

“Imagine if you take the millions of dollars going into that airport construction and pump into more agricultural districts on the Copperblet what will happen? It’s lack of priorities. I land at Ndola airport each time I am flying from Addis Ababa, Nairobi or Johannesburg, there is nothing wrong with it.”