Kindly hand over the mantle of leadership to us the energetic and remove yourself from the equation, aspiring 2021 presidential candidate Kelvin Bwalya Fube (KBF) has appealed to President Edgar Lungu.

Speaking at his book launch titled “Zambia must prosper II” at Taj Pamodzi Hotel, Tuesday, Fube also urged the PF government to remove its pride and arrogance and begin to address the breakdown of rule of law.

“To the leadership of the party, the Patriotic Front, I humbly ask you to put aside your pride and your arrogance and consider the suffering of the majority of the Zambian people. Zambia must prosper, Zambia comes first! We must address governance and the rule of law. Part of the reasons why so many things seem to have gone wrong is because we have disregarded governance as a very good proposition, and [we have allowed] the breakdown of the rule of law. We have weakened our institutions of governance. We have destroyed our belief in our law enforcement organs; we are labelled now as a corrupt government because the rule of law as seemingly from them; the rise of the untouchables, thuggery, shielded by corrupt decisions and happenings under which law enforcement will sit and watch helplessly must stop,” Fube demanded.

He urged President Lungu to step aside and allow other presidential hopefuls to contest for the Republican Presidency.

The Lusaka-based lawyer and PF campaign strategist also insisted that he would contest the 2021 presidential race.

“I wish to restate, ladies and gentlemen, that I am running for president! However, I am appealing to the leadership of the entire Patriotic Front to begin addressing the issues that I have alluded to, amongst others. To my President, Edgar Chagwa Lungu I have a few words: ‘please take heed and reflect on our history as a political party. Recently, Mr President, you confessed that you had been lied to by some people in your team’ [and] I could not agree more that balamibepa bakateka (they lie to you, Mr President),” Fube said.

“Let me be clear, Mr President, you have done your best for our party and our country. You cannot do beyond your best, kindly hand over the mantle of leadership to us! Mr President, I make this honest appeal to you as your young brother and I am saying this from the bottom of my heart: [that] let us do the fighting for you. Remove yourself from this equation. And if you remove yourself from the equation, the opposition will be lost, they will have nothing to hit, let them shoot at us, and I am prepared to fight on your behalf. What is becoming clear by the day is that Zambia needs a new face, a new voice and a brand new vision!”

He said government ministries claiming to have created so much employment must apologize for failing the youths.

“Job creation is a complex matter that requires well thought-out implementation strategies. It is not just a matter of this and that ministry standing up and claiming: ‘we have created so many jobs;’ [but] what jobs have you created? We must be able to show what kind of jobs we have created and those jobs must be permanent, quality jobs for our people. Currently, only 14.2 per cent of employed Zambians are in taxable employment. In Zambia must prosper 2, I have argued how we can create over 500,000 quality jobs annually. We as a party have failed our youths. This is true and we must apologize,” he argued.

“We have failed, but I am telling you now that I have solutions. In Zambia Must Prosper 2, I demonstrate how possible it is to organize the informal sector for effective national development. We have failed to run the agricultural sector productively. We do not seem to appreciate the business ethics involved in this sector. We must, therefore, realign our agricultural policies to attain the maximum productivity. I have argued in my book that at least an individual farmer must at least cultivate 10 hectares and at least contribute US $25,000 annually to the GDP to be considered productive.”

Fube further said politicians in the current government must stop getting salaries first and begin by paying civil servants.

“The hard-working formally employed Zambians are not getting their salaries! Why are we insulting our people whom we have contracted to work, but are failing to pay them? I strongly suggest that the politicians in the current government must stop getting their salaries first. They (should) begin to pay those people who have not been paid. After that, when they have paid the outstanding salaries, then they must start getting half-salaries so that they pay all the arrears for all the civil servants who have retired. That is leadership. They must pay all these regardless of when and under which government these outstanding payments became due. That is how leadership works,” he argued.

And Fube echoed complaints by many Zambians about the choking tax burden in the country.

“The tax burden on the hard-working people of Zambia is unreasonable, unfair and choking! The only way to sustainably increase our tax revenue is by sustainably improving the welfare of our economy and radically increasing our tax base. What is worth noting is that it is those in the lower ranks who are more vulnerable every time a company suffers. Those at the top, the bosses, will most of the time survive and their lifestyle will continue,” observed Fube.