Kantanshi Independent member of parliament Anthony Mumba says the abuse of public funds by those in government positions must come to an end in 2019 if Zambia is to develop.

And Mumba says the only way the PF will survive an election defeat in 2021 is by delivering on the campaign promises made.

In an interview, Mumba said thieving government officials must be named and shamed in order to instil fear in other would-be wrong doers.

“Let me thank the Minister of Finance for agreeing with me that we need to come up with the framework of naming and shaming the Ministries that continue to embezzle funds, that continue to misapply funds because that’s the only way that others who will be given an opportunity to serve in those offices will be fearing. Because fear is the beginning of wisdom. When you start to fear that these are public funds, they belong to the people of Zambia, then you are going to see change of attitude,’ Mumba said.

“Look at what happened at the Ministry of Community Development where those people who were supposed to distribute Social Cash Transfer money. The old, to the lame, the underprivileged could not access the money simply because of what happened at ZamPost, the paying point. That was irresponsible! We go to Ministry of General Education, this is where the development of any country starts from, you go and embezzle funds, and this is money given to you by donors because they believe in you, they see that you are striving to try and achieve something for your country, they give you money, you embezzle. You go to Ministry of Transport and Communication, you find the draggers that are meant to remove weeds from our rivers for the smooth flow of water, you find a company has been paid US$9 million without following tender procedure, and someone is still out there on the street.”

He said it was important that culprits were dealt with firmly and removed from the government.

“So, those who have been given these positions by President [Edgar] Lungu must do the correct thing. So, in 2019, it is important, let’s get rid of these bad vices. Because if we do that, we are going to ensure that we have drugs in hospitals, which are not overpriced, we have infrastructures that is not overpriced and there will be no attacks on the Treasury. What we need to deal with is the greed,” Mumba demanded.

And Mumba who is otherwise a PF-aligned Independent MP, said the ruling party needed to deliver its campaign promises if it were to survive a possible 2021 election defeat.

“The PF must up its game because what they are up against is the people of Zambia, who put them in government; the people who believed in lower taxes; the people that believed in more money in their pockets; the people who believed that business would be flowing for SMEs, that’s what they need to put in order. And this goes back to those who have been put in government offices to ensure that they turn this around; protect jobs in the mining sector, ensuring that the tourism sector also benefits the local people. The PF has an opportunity in 2019 to sort itself out in terms of how it prepares itself for 2021,” advised Mumba.