People’s Alliance for Change (PAC) president Andyford Banda has advised President Edgar Lungu to forget about using his “humble tag” as a prerequisite for winning the 2021 general election, saying Zambians have now woken up to the fact that he is arrogant.

In an interview, Banda said while Zambians may have voted for President Lungu in 2015 because he pretended to be humble, time had now come for the country to finally vote for a visionary leader, who would get the country running again.

Banda was reacting to President Lungu’s remarks in Milenge where he boasted at a rally that he would retain the Presidency in 2021 because he was a humble servant of the people.

“President Lungu must forget about his humble tag’in 2021! Being humble is not a qualification for being a President. In any event, that humbleness is a pretense that we have discovered with time. We have seen the arrogance in every aspect of President Edgar Lungu’s governance style, whether he’s dealing with diplomats, dealing with opposition and even dealing with the people of Zambia, because if President Edgar Lungu was humble, he could have thought through all sorts of things that are happening, such as Bill 10. He could have taken time to listen to each and every person. And a humble person is one that wants to rule at all costs? We have noticed that the PF government and President Edgar Lungu himself want to rule at all costs, which cannot be attributed to a humble person,” Banda said.

“We have seen the arrogance when it comes to dealing with international organizations, such as the IMF, the President said, ‘they can go!’ But today, they are still begging for the IMF. We have seen the arrogance in dealing with cooperating partners that are actually helping millions of Zambians in this country, like the Unites States of America, and we know that even the issues that the American Ambassador, Mr (Daniel) Foote, brought about in his press conference on Monday (last week) was not the issue of imposing homosexuality in this country…it was the issue of arrogance. So, really, the humbleness and Mr Lungu are not together anymore and if it was ever there, it was total pretense.”

Banda further said Zambia required a leader who had a vision for the country.

“Mr Lungu should know that the people of Zambia have woken up. Yes, they may have voted for him because he pretended to be humble that time, but they have seen that vision is more important than being humble. The economy is on its knees and the people of Zambia now want someone who can actually lift the legs on this economy and can ensure that things get moving and people start getting jobs, businesses are running, fuel prices are contained and power cuts are minimized and there is tolerance in dealing with people with divergent views and all that. So, the President should forget about using his ‘humble tag’ in 2021, it’s not going to happen. Zambians know that he’s not humble, he has already damaged his humble image. President Lungu is arrogant and people have seen that in a whole lot of ways and secondly, we have to enlighten the people that being humble does mean a good leader,” said Banda.

“And to be honest, Mr Lungu is not humble, we need to tell people that he’s not humble. So, as PAC, we want to amplify our vision so that the people of Zambia can see that for me to get a job as President in this country, I don’t need to be folding my hands and walking like I am meeting my mother-in-law because Zambians need someone who will explain how they are going to get the job and how they are going to ensure that the good governance system in this country is ensured; that also means listening to the people. Currently, opposition political parties do not have the luxury to campaign freely and we have cried to the ‘humble President,’ but he has not listened and a whole lot of other things that we have tried to advise the PF government on and they have decided to do things in their own way. That is the reason why we are where we are today.”