Former special assistant to the president for policy and project implementation Jack Kalala says it is shameful and outrageous for PF vice-president Given Lubinda to defend the misdeeds of his party.

And Kalala says PF should be remorseful instead of defending their “pathetic” performance.

Commenting on Lubinda’s remarks that it was “extremely childish” for the Finance Minister to argue that the debt contracted by his government was an economic blunder because it boosted economic growth, Kalala said Lubinda’s justification of his party’s borrowing was illogical.

“Mr Given Lubinda’s justification and defence of the PF’s imprudent borrowing is not only illogical and revolting but also a mark of perilous lack of understanding of economic and development issues. It is shameful and outrageous of him to open his mouth to defend the inglorious misdeeds of their inept and corrupt regime. The PF regime will go down in the history of Zambia as a failed call and it is unsoundness of mind for anyone to have the guts to defend the undefendable rot. It is required and expected of a sensible and reasonable human being to do things rationally and according to acceptable human norms,” he said.

And Kalala said the PF should be remorseful instead of defending their “pathetic” performance.

“What is outrageous about this cabal of thieves is that instead of showing remorse, they have the impunity and audacity to defend their misdeeds and pathetic performance. During their rule, the inflation rate increased to more than 24 percent, the exchange rate went up to more than K23 to a dollar; the growth rate plummeted to negative percent, the worst in the history of our country. Unemployment among the youths is extremely high as the PF created none; instead of creating jobs and opportunities for the youths, the PF regime turned them into instruments of brutality against innocent citizens,” he said.

“The PF regime behaved like an irresponsible drunkard father who spent all his earnings on beer and still considered himself to be a role-model excellent father. The PF regime’s borrowing, just like the cost of their projects, is scandalous and nothing to be proud of. The best Mr Lubinda should do is if he has any moral virtue is to show remorse and keep quiet instead of mocking Zambians with his hollow and wild praises of the fiendish PF.”

Kalala said the loans contracted by the former ruling party would be a huge burden on the nation if not properly managed.

“Similarly, borrowing by the state for well-considered and planned development projects is in order and commendable. But borrowing recklessly and inconsiderately is unwise and folly as it negates the country’s economic ability to develop and brings uncalled for suffering on the people. If not properly managed, the loans that the PF regime contracted, with little to show off, will be a huge burden to the nation for a long time to come. Since the borrowed money was irrationally and recklessly wasted, instead of putting it to good use, the nation risks being plunged into a bottomless pit of poverty and misery. It should be recalled that the PF regime immediately upon getting into power obtained Euro-bonds for which they had no plans,” he said.

“It should be noted that Euro-bonds are an expensive source of funding. Unfortunately, thereafter, they continued with their insatiable appetite for impulsive borrowing and spending sprees on projects that added little value to the socio-economic development of Zambia. They should have instead prudently invested the money in revenue generating projects such as value addition to copper and other resources.”

Kalala said prudent investment of the borrowed money would have generated revenue to repay the loans.

“Investing the borrowed money in viable economic ventures would have created jobs and business opportunities for the people and eventually wealth for the nation. In addition, the prudent investment of the borrowed money would have generated revenue to repay the loans. Investing in economic ventures such as fish farming on our lakes and rivers, growing of soya beans and other commercial crops would have generated a lot of money for development and to improve the standard of living of the people. It does not require rocket science to understand this. All it requires is simple logic and common sense. But the likes of President Lungu, Given Lubinda and their PF cabal of criminals did not have the least capacity to understand this. They were told but did not pay attention due to lack of understanding of economic issues, common sense and national interest,” said Kalala.

“Zambia has enough resources to create wealth for building roads and other infrastructures without borrowing. The country should not continue to export raw copper but should aim at value addition. Zambia should fully exploit its agriculture potential and add value to the produce for the local and export market. Zambia should leverage its potential in various sectors to develop and create wealth for its people like Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and other countries did. This is what the PF regime that Mr Lubinda is irrationally defending had failed to do. Instead, they engaged in enriching themselves and abusing their power.”