ADD president Charles Milupi has charged that the statement by Southern Province Minister Edify Hamukale that ‘PF has indeed put more money in people’s pockets’ is an hallucination because the ruling party has reduced even the little that Zambians had.

And Milupi has urged leaders to make well thought out statements as opposed to saying things to please their appointing authorities.

On Wednesday, Hamukale said when debating President Edgar Lungu’s address to Parliament that the Patriotic Front has indeed put more money in people’s pockets as can be seen from the value of properties in Zambia going up as a result of tarred roads.

But in an interview with News Diggers! Milupi said the statement was ridiculous and the minister was deliberately hallucinating for the benefit of those who appointed him.

“That’s an absolutely ridiculous statement to be made by someone who ought to know better. The minister is deliberately hallucinating for the benefit of those who appointed him. The value of rentals is reflective of the state of economy. Whether people can afford or not afford. If he just carries out a very quick research, he will find that most people who have properties, whether they are on a tarred road or not, they have difficulties getting tenants in those properties. Even if they are able to get tenants the amount of rentals that they are able to demand has drastically reduced. Whether the property is on a tarred road or not, what rent you can get is whether those people have sufficient resources to get to afford the rentals,” he said.

Milupi insisted that the country’s economy was in a crisis at the moment.

“Because of what PF has done to the economy, driven down the economy, and this is serious, there’s no way we can bury our heads in the sand. Our economy is in a crisis at the moment. We are an over borrowed nation, we have seen movements in our Kwacha going the wrong way, people in formal employments have drastically reduced, even if those with the best degrees, college diplomas, they are failing to get employment. So I don’t know what this minister is talking about. They must be careful,” he said.

And Milupi urged leaders to make well thought out statements as opposed to saying things just to please their appointing authorities.

He said PF had actually reduced the little that Zambians had in their pockets since they came into power.

“We expect our leaders to make well thought out statements. Not statements meant to please the appointing authority, which is what that statement is all about. PF from 2011, even though they promised that there will be more money in people’s pockets, in practical terms, we have seen them reduce even the little that was already in the pockets. Remember they promised lower taxes also, but we have seen the proliferation of so many taxes,” he said.

“Let us look at the crisis that is facing this nation. In the midst of this crisis, where the money is not there, we are failing to pay civil servants on time, we are failing to pay retirees, it’s a wonder that under those circumstances, we still have a government that has continued with their expenditure rate, we still have a President that still goes to New York in a private plane. [John] Magufuli who is doing very well in Tanzania, goes on a commercial plane.”

Meanwhile Milupi observed that government always pushed for what they wanted regardless of its impact on the treasury.

“The salaries were increased (for President Lungu and other officials). And those are constitutional office holders. They were already very well-paid and they go to increase their salaries. Civil servant salaries have not increased. So there’s a disconnect in this country between reality and what these people want. They are so insensitive to what’s happening in this country that they push ahead for what they want regardless of its impact on the treasury,” said Milupi.