Kalomo Central UPND member of parliament Harry Kamboni says the governance system is rotten and that is why there is rampant misuse of donor funds.

Meanwhile, Mbabala UPND member of parliament Ephraim Belemu says President Edgar Lungu’s speech to Parliament last week was a very strange speech because what the PF is doing today does not correlate with vision 2030.

Debating President Lungu’s address to Parliament, Wednesday, Kamboni charged that Zambia was being led by a group of leaders with no vision.

“Social cash transfer is here in the report, its a very painful situation. People who steal from orphans, people who steal from widows, poor people, those are very bad people. They don’t deserve to be in leadership in any country. But in this report, there was no mention, we were told social cash transfer is going on very well. As an MP I was being asked by my people ‘when are we getting our pay’? And then we are told in this report ‘everything is rosy’, what am I supposed to believe because in a report you must write challenges as a President of the country, and good directions, solutions and hope for the nation. But when you simply praise yourself on things that are not correct, then citizens, you confuse them, they wonder what kind of leadership they have. Zambians are now fed up, I’m sure the PF government is an expired government,” Kamboni said.

“The donors have withdrawn their aid to Zambia because of corruption and the kwacha as I’m talking, it has lost value because of the donors withdrawing. The news is all over, the world now knows and other countries are following suit. Ministry of Education misappropriated funds and the donors withdrew this year, March. They left the Ministry of Education, no one was punished. Now they shifted from Ministry of Education they went to social cash transfer hoping their money will be utilized properly. Now again, money has been misappropriated and it had to take the President to fire somebody. The President is not the one who is supposed to say ‘fire that one’. When you hear something being directed by the President it means the system is rotten because a system on its own should be able to arrest everybody else.”

He said people who steal public funds should not only be fired but jailed.

“People who misappropriate public funds must not only be fired but they must be taken to jail. It is not enough to just demote them, it is not enough. They must go to court all of them. We want them to be accountable. We want all those who misappropriated funds from the Ministry of Education to been punished now, thats when people are going to learn,” said Kamboni.

Meanwhile, Mbabala UPND member of parliament Ephraim Belemu said President Lungu’s speech to Parliament last week was strange because PF come into power on the platform of transforming Zambia in 90 days, but now they were talking about vision 2030.

He observed that what the PF was doing today was not correlating with vision 2030.

“It’s a very strange speech because there are things that are not adding up. For a party that came into power on the platform of transforming this nation in 90 days, from nowhere to turn round and talk about 2030 which is another 12 years from now, is very strange. Even when that happens, at least what they are doing today, what they are doing tomorrow should be correlating. They should be leading us somehow to 2030. Their activities must be saying so. As we speak today, there is no relationship with what they are doing and what they are telling us that ‘in 2030 there will be a glorious land somewhere in Zambia’. How are we going to get to 2030 if the small businesses have been taken over by the Chinese? Land and factors of production are going in the hands of Chinese?” Belemu wondered.

“You seem to be telling us that Zambians will have good water but only in 2030. Zambians will have good education, good agriculture, good health facilities but only in 2030. That there will be employment then [but] in the meantime anyone who is not employed today must wait for 2030? That’s the contradiction. That is why I’m saying, in this speech there is something that is not adding up. This is bad news. There is no good report here.”

He said everyone should be involved in choosing Zambia’s relations and not just few individuals in PF.

“Listen to us. We are giving very brotherly and friendly advice. This is our country all of us. We must be involved in choosing who should be a friend of Zambia not one, two, three, four individuals sitting in a corner and saying ‘this one will be our friend because he has got eyes like this’. Now the funds that are being withdrawn or withheld by donors, can’t you do something as a government to redeem this country? The case of social cash transfer is not the only fund that has been withdrawn by donors. What we are calling if is a complete overhaul, complete prosecution and complete return of every money, donor or local, that has been abused or not properly used in this country,” said Belemu.