The amount of energy that we are spending yearning for change should be the same amount of energy that we must spend to search for a sustainable vision for Zambia. Hence, we applaud News Diggers for this initiative of giving key political parties the platform to spell out their visions. We also expect News Diggers readers to take this initiative seriously not as a battle of political parties but a process to search for the truth.

In order to have the right leaders, we must first understand their true intentions. Many people seek political positions for various motives. Others are in politics to supplement their success from other avenues of life and believe they must usurp power to put icing on the cake. Others are envious of their colleagues who have acquired power and privilege, and want to be like them. Others still, out of bitterness or past misunderstanding, seek political opportunity so that they can mete out revenge on their political opponents. Others are chancers while the majority are just in the wrong lane.

Our motivation to form PAC was out of a sheer belief that apart from abuse of resources, the country was and is still under utilising its resources and opportunities. We knew then and we still know now that we have the vision that would stir this country to greater heights. We knew that a PAC government would do more to implement policies that would support small businesses, create jobs and create an entrepreneurial ecosystem that would support economic opportunity and growth. PAC will utilise Zambia’s geographical location where we are surrounded by a population of over 200 million people to create sustainable opportunities for local people and make it a trade centre in the region. A PAC government will be so innovative in ensuring that the natural resources that are untapped are utilised to generate more revenues for the country. A PAC government will do more to entrust our resources in the hands of local people.

Now more than ever, we need a new leadership that has a profound belief in the potential of this country. We must break a system that supports a few individuals and create a system that supports everyone. The big-contract syndrome will be done away with under a PAC government. All jobs that do not require special skills must be shared and done by Zambians. We must understand that for our economy to get back on track, our people must have disposable income to spend within the economy so that businesses can thrive.

The PAC leadership did not have any political background. Zero name recognition. People’s Alliance for Change (PAC) was born out of a firm belief that the country was in desperate need of a total overhaul in its political leadership. The crisis of then, which is still a crisis of today is lack of a selfless and determined leadership that would bring a new vision to stir our country Zambia to greater heights.

Around August 2015, at the height of one of the worst economic era of this nation evidenced by load shedding, depreciation of the kwacha, fuel hikes and many other challenges our people faced, we realised that the leaders we had, which are unfortunately still the ones managing the country today, could not inspire our country to greater heights by rising above the challenges to provide hope for the future.

It was evident that there was no clear road map in a number of areas that needed urgent attention such as the rise in unemployment, lack of a support base for small businesses, robust agro policy, innovation in the tourism sector and a general concern to move with the demands of our time. Coupled with that, the mismanagement of public resources and a sense of no care were scaling up. We realised that the challenges our country was facing did not arise from lack of opportunities or resources but a deep crisis in leadership.

We also noticed that the opposition political parties did not offer a clear vision for the country in order for our people to have a clear alternative that would stir the country to greater heights. In desperation for numbers, opposition political parties were busy recycling people who had failed. It became clear that even if they were to form government, no real change would occur. Like Sir Albert Einstein said, “We can’t solve problems using the same kind of thinking that created them”. Our politics became so polarised that only a change in the way we relate and do our politics was the only way to salvage our country and this needed a new set of new-generation politicians.

True to our belief, the situation has actually worsened today on the political and economic scene. It’s like we were prophets who foresaw the future. After scrutinising the political landscape, we concluded that we had one clear choice and from then onwards we needed to pursue an alliance with the people that would bring about change. Hence, we called ourselves the People’s Alliance for Change (PAC).

As PAC, we still believe in the same ideologies that we started with; that the country is in dire need of a paradigm shift in its leadership. The leadership mantle must be passed on to a new generation in order to stir the country to the next level. Our politics must change.

All this will be impossible to achieve with institutions that have been infected with corruption and gross mismanagement. Thus, we will need to restructure operations of government and the Anti -Corruption Commission in order to move with time and achieve our intended results.

We have a vision to share with you and in this vision we want you to practically see yourselves in our plans. We want you to see how you will get various opportunities from being employed to running small businesses. Follow us as we go with you on this journey.

Andyford Mayele Banda
President
People’s Alliance for Change (PAC)