National Democratic Congress (NDC) national youth chairperson Charles Kabwita says it will be a miracle if the ruling PF gets a mere 20 per cent of the national vote in the 2021 general election.

And Kabwita says members of parliament who will chose to stand on the PF ticket at the next general elections will be committing political suicide.

In an interview, Kabwita argued that it would be a miracle if the ruling PF managed to garner a mere 20 per cent of the national vote in the August 2021 general election on account of their failure to properly manage the country’s economy.

“If President Edgar Lungu and the PF will even manage to get 20 per cent of the vote in 2021, then it will be a miracle! The people of Zambia are so upset, but are speaking a lot in their hearts. And (according) to the samples that I took, if any member of parliament will wish to stand on the Patriotic Front, it will be suicide! The PF has been rated to be one of the poorest political parties in terms of delivering to the people of Zambia when compared to the expectations that they pumped into the people of Zambia during the 2015 and 2016 elections. There is so much poverty in this country; youths have no employment and this is why criminal acts have also accelerated because youths have nothing to do in this country,” Kabwita lamented.

He said Zambians had already suffered and that asking them to find expensive alternative sources of energy was a mockery.

“Electricity is the engine of any economy that wants to succeed. We have leaders who have not taken keen interest in ensuring that, as a country, we mitigate the load shedding management. And if my government will say those hair salons and barber-men should find other alternatives by purchasing inverters or generators… it’s an excellent mockery because a barber-man cannot afford to buy an inverter and batteries in order for him to sustain his business. And their start-up capital is very small and this government does not in any way empower the youths. As Zambians, we are already suffering and that suffering has increased because of load shedding. So, my appeal to the Minister of Energy (Mathew Nkhuwa) is to pull up his socks and step up his plans of ensuring that this load shedding is mitigated as quickly as possible,” he urged.

Kabwita further said government should stop lying to Zambians on the country’s worsening load shedding schedule, which had been maintained at around 15 hours per day without power.

“I also want to appeal to government to stop lying to the people of Zambia and to stop giving conflicting statements on the management of load shedding. Today, they will tell us that power will go for 15 hours, but when you get home, you find that for 17 (hours), you still do not have electricity,” he complained.

Kabwita also said that there was no genuine reconciliation if the PF continued to treat its political opponents badly, like Harry Kalaba’s Democratic Party.

“In this country, we have the police who disrupt political rallies, what is happening? Where is the reconciliation (which) they are talking about? Two days ago, you were in Lusaka and all over the country praying and fasting, you want to pray, fast and reconcile with me (and) yet you cannot allow me to walk freely in my country? You can’t allow Harry Kalaba to hold his meetings freely and you send police on him? That is very unfortunate, especially to a young democracy like ours. So, my appeal to President Edgar Lungu is that he should stop mocking God. Let this prayer and fasting stand its test and culminate into reconciliation between PF and other opposition political parties as well as other stakeholders,” he added.

Meanwhile, Kabwita appealed to Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo to disarm and remove cadres from all bus stations and markets.

“And my last appeal to Kampyongo is to remove the youths whom they have kept in the (bus) stations. These youths have become so violent! Youths are now carrying guns. Who is controlling (them)? Who is giving them these guns? Why have you allowed cadres to be controlling the markets and bus stops? That is the job of the local authority. This culture of carrying guns, I think has only escalated under the PF administration and under Kampyongo. I pray that one day, my brother Kampyongo will instruct the police to disarm the cadres. This culture, if not managed, it will translate into something bad. There will be total chaos in this country,” cautioned Kabwita.