“It is not the cares of today, but the cares of tomorrow that weigh a man down because for the need of today, we have corresponding strength given, while for tomorrow, we are told to trust.” A plain truth of everyday life is encapsulated in this wisdom quote.

The word “trust” is not worthy of our Dr humble President Edgar Lungu. Instead of more money in our pockets, the money is going into the pockets of the PF leadership and their foul weather friends and business cronies. Dr humble President and his Patriotic Front have betrayed the values that make Zambia proud.

When time comes for the President to face the nation and account, he demonstrates nothing other than an admission that he is presiding over a deep fake state. Morality, it seems, is the job only for priests and not the President or his Ministers who have become courtiers, dispensing flattery in gravelly tones on every word spoken by one Edgar Lungu.

The political and economic report card since Dr Lungu took office is hardly of straight As, it has been straight D’s. One would expect a little more seriousness in how the President plans to put up an economic recovery plan, but not this President.

On climate change, President Lungu spent a lot of time reminding us all on the devastating effects of this phenomenon. He then went on to provide “two solutions” to mitigate some of the climate change effects. Like a Czar, he directed, without even considering the practical and cost implications, that the Ministry of Energy, from midnight 14th September 2019, should prioritize power supply to hospitals and health centers, and further that the Ministry of Energy prioritize energy supply to our water systems.

But the response from his own Minister of Energy on the ZNBC Sunday night interview was that “it is too expensive to do this; it might be cheaper to buy generator sets.” So, who is trying to fool who here? Welcome to reality Dr Good Governance president.

On the economy, again the President unbelievably and exclusively blamed adverse weather conditions and climate change for the reduced economic growth and said that our fiscal space must continue to grow and this can be achieved by ensuring macroeconomic stability and maintaining debt within sustainable levels. What?

What on Earth has the PF been doing since they assumed office in 2011, other than spend, spend and spend? Spending on luxury procurement of things like the presidential jets, accumulating debt and foreign travel! Belt tightening, we are told, is not for Dr humble Lungu; it’s for everyone else. Is this how a President who cares for his people is supposed to behave? No!

The President should face the people and provide answers. Other than what is disclosed in the budget under State House, people want to know the Presidential expenses incurred during local and foreign trips paid for by the Cabinet Office. Why are they not subject to disclosure? After all its public money! This lacuna has to be addressed. This is where the mischief lies. This is the real source of abuse of public funds; it is the cause of the economic malaise that we face. Stop blaming everything on climate change.

And we must mention that the true absurdity of President Lungu’s economic management is the non-discretionary spending at 50.1% and debt repayment at 40%, leaving only 9.9% discretionary spending. This has been going on for a long time, and despite this alarming scenario, this president still thought that it was very important to spend over US$135 million for a presidential jet so that he can continue frequenting overseas destinations.

For a man who lived with us in the dust of Chawama compound, this is quite a lift. Public resources must be appearing like manna from heaven in the President’s eyes. This is the only man who can be working in a silo, whilst he is trying to dismantle other silos.

On corruption President Lungu said: “I will not relent on the fight against corruption. I will not stand and see greedy citizens destroy the good fiber of our nation”. Honestly Bwana Lungu, you know that the greedy people are your colleagues and friends that you associate with, so there is no need to look any further.

Like an orchestra without a conductor, President Lungu’s government is in disarray; it has lost direction. Words only do not suffice. Edgar Lungu and his PF are living in a state of absurdity. The very recent weeks have shown that the fishy smell of corruption has grown even stronger over State House itself. As KBF said, “the Presidency has been soiled”.