The Patriotic Front is practising pit latrine politics, says NAREP leader Elias Chipimo.

And Chipimo says Zambians must begin to scrutinise politicians before voting them into office because they don’t change their deeds.

At a media briefing, Tuesday, Chipimo observed that it was unacceptable for the PF to oppress anyone who disagreed with their corruption.

“Our politics is pit latrine politics. You see what happens in these communities when they dig pit latrines? 25 to 40 people will use that pit latrine, when it fills up, they dig somewhere else and in some places, they dig near where they can find an underground stream so that the discharge from that pit latrine is going into that stream. That stream is the very water, when people are digging bore holes or shallow wells, that is being consumed. In other words, the very thing which is causing us harm is what we are perpetrating on a daily basis. Our politics have become like that under the PF where they use the politics to oppress anyone who opposes them, they oppress even their own members who are trying to expose the corruption which they have witnessed and even been apart of within the PF administration. That is pit latrine politics. Our politics is dirty and it is poisoning our people,” Chipimo said.

He recounted some of the things which were going wrong in Zambia.

“We need to turn this cholera crisis not into an opportunity for a selected number of presidential cronies to make even more illicit money for themselves but into an opportunity to make ordinary lives whole again. Instead of wasting precious resources on unjustifiable fire engines and ambulances which could have been purchased from less costly suppliers, we should have put our limited resources into areas that will directly benefit the people and lead to lasting positive change in our communities. We cannot justify a national airline with our current government setup when we routinely flout the law and hold no one connected to the president accountable for their deeds,” Chipimo said.

“The reason Zambian Airways originally went under was not because it would not make profit, it was because there was no accountability for the manner in which it was being run, nothing has changed since that time. In fact, things have even become worse. The lack of accountability is clear when you see the misapplication and misappropriation of funds as set out in the annual Auditor General’s report. The Constitutional Court makes rulings that are consistently ignored by the very government that passed the laws that got the ConCourt into existence. When will the ministers pay back the money which they were ordered to pay back? How can a mere citizen threaten the head of the Judiciary and the Minister of Justice remains silent? The Head of State remains silent?”
He advised President Lungu to make decisions in the interest of the Zambian people.

“President Lungu, do not use the army to terrorise citizens. Use them instead as community partners to build the water and sanitation infrastructure required to put and end to the numerous water borne diseases. Do not stay silent in the face of corruption but set up independent and impartial panels to investigate the corruption in your regime regarding roads, ambulances, fire trucks, medical supplies and other contractual dealings. Do not condone continued plunder of our natural resources by pretending the illicit mukula trade is under control but organise our urban and rural residents to plant trees and protect them for future generations,” Chipimo said.

“Do not allow current and future generations to become permanent beggars by borrowing recklessly and beyond our means but authorise a national debt audit and bring full transparency to the debt procurement process. And finally President Lungu, do not treat street vendors and marketeers like animals but see them as you would your very own children, providing an opportunity for them to achieve their God-given potential.”

And Chipimo challenged Zambians to start scrutinising their leaders.

He said Harry Kalaba and Chishimba Kambwili’s corruption allegations could only be taken seriously if they produced evidence of dirty deals they were involved in.

“What we sometimes wonder about is how individuals that were part and parcel of a system which did the kind things that we are complaining about, after all the fire tenders were not bought after some of these people left leadership, they were done while they were in leadership, we have every reason to assume they knew what was going on, where was their conscious? And how can that give confidence that when the time comes for them to lead again things will be very different?” asked Chipimo.

“Do want more of the same? Or do we want something different? So enough of these stories where you start accusing people who you are part of. Please bring the evidence. But you know what would be even better? Evidence of corruption that even you yourself was involved in. Then we have no reason to doubt because you can say ‘mukwai naine naliyako, nalisunako naine (even me I partook of this)’. Nobody will doubt you…Zambians must know their leaders before they come into power because nothing changes.”