NDOLA Central PF member of parliament Emmanuel Mulenga says he can make donations of up to K50,000 cash because he owns a mine.

But Kapiri Mposhi UPND member of parliament Stanley Kakubo says members of the public should not be duped by the donations being made by the ruling party.

On Saturday, PF members led by secretary general Davies Mwila raised a total of K401,000 cash for the Ndola Catholic Church towards educational programs.

Among the donations made, Mulenga gave K50,000 cash.

When asked about his source of wealth, Mulenga said he was called ‘easy money’ because he owned a mine.

“Is this the first time I am giving in Ndola Central? Even before I became a member of parliament, I used to give to churches. In fact, I have even built churches. I am a businessman and I own mines. In Ndola, I am called easy money, because I own mines. And when going to parliament I did not go without money, I went to parliament with money. Even when I was an ordinary individual, I used to give more than K50,000, even when I was a back bencher, I used to give. And even after leaving politics, I will still give because I am Christian who believes in the Bible and the principles of the Bible. The Bible says blessed is the hand that gives. It is very important to give to churches,” said Mulenga.

And in a separate interview, Kakubo said there were various institutions that were under funded, yet the PF members were giving huge donations.

“With regard to the money being donated by the PF, you see, our people should not be duped by these donations. There is no country that has ever developed because the party has been making scanty donations, there is no country that can develop like that. These donations are made by a few Zambians who are in politics, ministers and a few MPs that have been part of the system that has looted this country out of millions of dollars. You can refer to the Financial Intelligence Centre Report. These donations are vindicating what has been discovered by the FIC. These are pockets of people that have benefited from public funds and now they are donating these funds at the expense of developing our country. What we needed was for the PF to do the correct thing, bring the exchange rate down, bring the interest rate down so that our local businesses can begin to do business again,” Kakubo said.

“There are several government departments that are key to our democratic dispensation. Look at the Electoral Common of Zambia! The CEO is already complaining that he has been underfunded. Look at other institutions that are under-funded and yet it appears the ministers are more liquid than the government they are serving! They have the capacity to donate to churches and markets. It is unacceptable that we have few Zambians who are clearly very rich and just because they are part of the PF. What we are supposed to be looking at is how to replace them so that we can replace them with credible leadership.”

He said the PF did not have the mindset of fixing the economy.

“How will these donations reach every corner of the country? It is not practical! Will these donations reach Solwezi, Kaputa? it’s not possible, it’s not practical. Even themselves realize that there is so much starvation in the country such that the dignity of our people has been reduced to politicians giving them donations. What the people of Zambia want is the system of things working. For instance, if you enter the market, marketers need a sustainable plan, what people want are jobs, what people want are factories,” said Kakubo. “They have taken public funds and put them in their pockets and they want to be dishing to the Zambian people as and when they feel like. That is unacceptable! The PF don’t have the mindset of fixing the economy. You can tell by the behavior of ministers; instead of having a mindset of fixing the problems in the country, they have a mindset of consumption and donations and that is not the mindset we can entrust with a proper economic recovery. These people are jokers!”

Several PF members and ministers have in the recent past been donating huge sums of cash to their constituents as gifts ahead of next year’s general election.

Aside from Mulenga’s K50,000 donation, Kwacha PF member of parliament Joseph Malanji donated K140,000 in August this year to St. Peter’s Parish in Ipusukilo Compound in Kitwe for the construction and completion of various infrastructure at the Church.

Malanji, who is also Foreign Affairs Minister, also handed over a brand new luxury Rosa Bus to traders under the National Traders and Marketers Association of Zambia (NATMAZ) in the same area.

In June this year, Lusaka Province Minister Bowman Lusambo also splashed out K400,000 to taxi drivers in Kabushi constituency, among other donations, despite not having any known source of income prior to being elected area member of parliament in 2016.