The Patriotic Front government has delivered hell to Zambians instead of the heaven they promised in 2011 where they promised lower taxes, more jobs and more money in people’s pockets, says UPND spokesperson Charles Kakoma.

And Kakoma says the PF should never be taken seriously because they are consistently inconsistent.

In a statement issued to News Diggers! Tuesday, Kakoma said the PF had fallen to the lowest depth and was digging deeper into failure by failing to implement the self-imposed austerity measures announced last month.

“At a time that the PF government is telling Zambians to tighten their belts, the government officials are busy loosening their belts in readiness to get fat. Not long ago, we cast doubt on the seriousness of the Patriotic Front government officials, starting from their leader Edgar Chagwa Lungu, to adhere to their pronounced austerity measures that were announced through Finance Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe. Among the measures that were announced was ‘…reducing expenditures related to both local and foreign travel.’ And we said it will be difficult for Zambians to wholesomely trust the PF leaders because they have proved to be very unreliable over their promises. In 2011, when they were campaigning to assume public office, they promised heaven where there would have been less taxes, more jobs and more money in people’s pockets, but they have delivered hell, literally. Taxes are not any less today eight years since the promise was made. The amount of joblessness in Zambia is growing in leaps and bounds under a regime that promised to create more jobs. The PF have fallen to the lowest depth and they are digging deeper into failure,” Kakoma lamented.

And he stated that the PF should never be taken seriously because they were consistently inconsistent.

“But what is troubling is that these are characters who are not willing to sacrifice together with the masses; they want to live in opulence and luxury at a time of a virtual crisis. They want to live big, drive big, travel big and go merry-making. It seems as if living big, not helping resolve problems of Zambians, is their key performance indicator, by which measure they have scored highly. When we point out these things, it is not out of spite. This is exactly the picture they have painted for themselves, which they project every day. It is troubling, and baffling that this PF government, even before the ink could be dry on the paper their austerity pronouncements were written, the man who purported to have issued them was jumping on the plane to Kenya for a private visit funded by the Zambian taxpayer. They even had the cheek to lie about that visit, telling Zambians that the trip was at the invitation of Kenyan President, His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta. But the man who was said to have invited Mr Lungu was dressed in casual wear, to show how informal it was. We thank the Kenyan authorities for exposing this aimless man,” he recalled.

He expressed dismay over President Lungu’s decision to dispatch five Cabinet Ministers to embark on a Debt Restructuring Programme to China.

“As UPND, we are perturbed yet again to hear that Mr Lungu has decided to send five Cabinet ministers to China to hold discussions with Chinese authorities and financiers on the debts. This is not a wise decision; on one hand, you want to save the little coins for operations and in another, you are sending five Cabinet ministers who will be entitled to allowances, lodging, airfares, upkeep in that country, not to mention people who accompany them on such missions! Yet Zambia has a fully-fledged Embassy in China, which can be delegated to deal with the matter. We advise the PF government to send only the Finance Minister for the undertaking to be assisted by the Embassy staff,” stated Kakoma.

“We are further perturbed that this administration has given a ZAF chopper to Mr. Lungu’s daughter, Tasila, to fly to Choma’s Mbabala area to attend a church function, just for posturing! It was not necessary to fly Tasila to Mbabala in a ZAF chopper when she could have driven to the church event using her own resources. We have also seen Cabinet Ministers flying to go and watch the just-ended World Cup final in Moscow. We will not take PF seriously because they have betrayed even themselves. Zambians expect the PF to be prudent with the resources. As things stand, the PF have become consistently inconsistent and must not be trusted.”