President Edgar Lungu should give up his office if he has nothing to do because he is a time-waster and careless spender, says People’s Party president Mike Mulongoti.

And PAC leader Andyford Banda says it’s a waste of resources for President Lungu to travel to Turkey barely one month after announcing austerity measures.

Commenting on President Lungu’s trip to Turkey to attend the inauguration ceremony of his counterpart, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which was scheduled, Monday, in the capital, Ankara, Mulongoti charged that President Lungu was a time-waster and a very careless spender.

“He is a time-waster and a very careless spender! Not long ago he went to play in Kenya; that is unacceptable. There is no need for him to go there at all. Is President [Donald] Trump going to attend that inauguration? That is the question we should ask ourselves. America is a richer country [but] they are not sending President Trump to go and attend. What’s so special about us going to Turkey? No way, he is just a time-waster,” Mulongoti told News Diggers! in an interview.

He charged that if President Lungu had nothing to do in Zambia, he could give up his office because the money spent on the trip could be ploughed back into the economy.

“He must stick to what he says. The problem with him is that he pronounces things, why doesn’t he want to adhere to them? So, my view is this, let him not waste our money! If he has nothing else to do here in Zambia, let him give up the office. There is so much to do here. People are starving, people have no employment. That money he wants to waste going there can be ploughed into the economy, can be ploughed into medicines, into fuel. He should not travel! Let him stay here. We want him to stay home no matter how hot it is. One day, he will find there is no job here. People of Zambia would have taken back his job,” Mulongoti cautioned.

And Banda said it was a waste of resources for the President to travel to Turkey.

“What we know is that government did put in place austerity measures just about two weeks ago. And the relationship between Turkey and Zambia, really, there is nothing happening apart from seeing a number of Turkish people coming to Zambia to make blocks and pavers, things that can be done by Zambians. We have not seen the value or relationship between Zambia and Turkey for the President to travel all the way, under the circumstances where the country is going through financial difficulties. There are other inaugurations that we feel the President can attend; the Turkish inauguration doesn’t add value to this country! It’s a waste of money because there is no emergency. So we feel it’s a waste of money for the President to attend that inauguration,” Banda said.

He encouraged citizens not to vote for PF in the July 26 Lusaka Mayoral by-election to help them focus on improving the economy.

“We would like to appeal to the people of Lusaka to give the PF the signal that it’s high-time leaders stopped taking people for granted! The reason why the PF can do things as they wish is because they think they can always win an election. So, this mayoral election is an opportunity to demonstrate to the PF and its leadership that power belongs to the people. Once PF loses this election, they can even stop making unnecessary trips to inaugurations and focus on what they are supposed to do, which is improving the economy and the lives of Zambians,” said Banda.

President Lungu was among five other African Heads of State and other world leaders invited to attend President Erdogan’s inauguration ceremony.