FORMER PF secretary general Davies Mwila says things were bad during PF’s tenure but the people are now making comparisons and realising that the UPND government has made them worse.
Responding to Infrastructure, Housing, and Urban Development Minister Charles Milupi’s comment that he had not seen the infrastructure development which the previous government boasted about whilst in power, Mwila said Milupi needed to see a doctor because he had an eye problem.
“Ask the Minister of infrastructure, which office he is using now. That building was built by the PF government. Where is Gary Nkombo operating from? That new building was also built by us. Ask Jack Mwiimbu where he is operating from. Just those three buildings, it is PF who built them. We have not even come to the fly-over bridges, who did those? Maybe he has not passed through Kabwata and Chalala areas to see how we have worked on the roads. Maybe he has not. He should open his eyes and if he is not able to see, let him see the doctor. I think he has a problem with sight and he cannot see properly and he must be directed. You know power is going to their heads,” he said.
“That is why they have even started forcing people to drink kachasu because power is going to their head. At the rate at which they are moving, they have been in power for eight months and you will see by the end of the year. First and foremost, they do not want anyone to be talking and I have said that this government will be more brutal than UNIP. UNIP was just a one party state but these will be more brutal than UNIP. How do you arrest someone, take him to Solwezi where that case did not even happen? They are now in a dilemma and cannot decide where to take Nakacinda. They do not know whether it should be Solwezi magistrate court or Lusaka. They are failing to make a decision because there was no need to take him to Solwezi. They are just wasting taxpayers’ money.”
Mwila said the UPND needed to swallow their pride and recognise what PF had done.
“So you can tell honourable Milupi if he has not seen the infrastructure, I will be in Lusaka I can direct and show him. We built modern buildings but they cannot see them. Anyway, Bishop Alick Banda said they have no shame. They are talking about Kazungula Bridge and saying it is the people of Zambia, which people of Zambia? It is us who initiated. They are not even ashamed and even take visitors there showing that this is what the Zambian people have done. Yes, it is the Zambian people through the PF government. If anything is done now, it is the UPND government. Because they have done literally nothing, they have nothing to show the people of Zambia. The people of Zambia are now making comparisons. This is why people are now saying ‘we want change’,” said Mwila.
“People have seen that yes things were bad in our government but this one is worse. This is not to insult people but they used to say that under the PF government abantu balenya amenshi but now balenya imilopa (people were excreting water but now they are excreting blood). People cannot survive because the cost of living is high. That is why people are now running to brew kachasu so that they can survive and feed their children. We appreciate the removal of cadres but they have not given the youths the jobs that were promised. This is why there is too much crime. Let them swallow the pride and say that our friends did this and we are going to do that. Those are advanced politics. That is what they do in the UK and America. It is a continuation.”