Former foreign affairs minister Harry Kalaba says Zambians are suffering for electing the PF government.

And Kalaba has charged that ministers have taken over the role of permanent secretaries in order to abuse public resources.

Speaking when he featured on UNZA Radio’s Lusaka star radio magazine program yesterday, expressed said the PF was mortgaging the country.

“What is happening now in this country should never be allowed because this country is slowed being mortgaged. This country is being mortgaged slowly but surely. We are losing this country from our hands. We are losing it. Zambians are no longer in charge of their own destiny. Zambians can only sit and be spectators, that’s all they can do. And All we can do ourselves is watch and fold our arms. I’m saying I’m not going to be part of that. I will stand up with Zambians to fight this battle. My roads should be reason enough to tell people that I tried and my efforts were thwarted so I resigned,” Kalaba said.

“And now we are making our people suffer for having elected the PF government. Or people now have become beggars in their own country. Our people now are suffering in their own country because a leadership that was elected has betrayed our people. Everything that Michael Sata stood for when he was President of this country has been betrayed. Micheal Sata rode on the bedrock of the poor people in this country. But everybody that did not agree with Michael Sata’s Presidency has found themselves in the drivers seat today and they have ganged up against the people that put Michael Sata in office. I feel terribly bad, I feel hurt. I feel injured. That’s why I resigned because I cannot continue sleeping in comfort when our people that put us in office continue wallowing in that kind of poverty.”

The former minister said if he was a power hungry politician as some people allege, he would have easily sharpened his bootlicking skills.

‘You will find that when you are good, even your fellow employees start getting Jealousy of you. And they start twisting things. That is the Africa we know. That is the Zambia we have developed. Anybody who seem to bring progressive ideas must be brought down, anybody that wants to do something progressive must be shot down. Take for instance my resignation, some people have not even made an attempt to investigate why did Harry Kalaba resign,” he said.

“They have just said Harry Kalaba is power hungry. Harry Kalaba wants to be President. Harry Kalaba is not patient. I’m here to tell them and I’m telling them that it is not for those to judge me. If I were power hungry as they put it, I would not have resigned. I would have just sharpened my tools of bootlicking. But for me even if people said yes you stood a better chance of becoming president when you were in PF than what you have done, I would rather not be a President, than be a president that is not siding with the masses. I knew very well that if I stayed in the PF and I continued bootlicking and being with everybody, it would be easier for me.”

Meanwhile Kalaba charged that Ministers were taking over the role of permanent secretaries.

“It is just politicians of nowadays that we see are busy chasing the roles of permanent secretaries. Because issues of money are supposed to be done by permanent secretaries. For me when I was a minister I understood my role. A minister it is policy. The day-to-day running of administration of the ministry is the permanent secretaries and his directors. But the permanent secretary is at liberty to always ensure that the minister is in the know. But a minister should not take over the roles of the permanent secretaries. What we are seeing today is that minister are taking over the roles of permanent secretaries. Me I was a civil servant. I understand the roles of a civil servant just as I understand the roles of a politician. That is what I’m doing now,” said Kalaba.