LUSAKA Province PF chairman Kennedy Kamba has charged that the privatisation issue will not rest until Hakainde Hichilema is “six feet under”.

And Kamba says the party wants Hichilema to contest the presidential elections even in 2026 because he is a weaker opponent.

Meanwhile, Kamba says civil servants are no longer searching for greener pastures in neighbouring countries because of the attractive packages given to them under President Edgar Lungu’s leadership.

In an interview, Monday, Kamba said Hichilema was the easiest candidate to beat, adding that it might have been difficult for the PF to win the polls if UPND had a different candidate.

“The agenda that our colleagues have is to come and give back the mines to their fellow whites. Just a few days ago, the President revealed that Hakainde Hichilema apart from the US$100,000 he was given by the same people he wants to give the mines, he has even gone further to say that the money is not enough. That they should add another US$300,000 so that it gets to US$400,000. ‘When we win, I will give you back KCM, I will give you back Mopani’. What kind of a leader is that. There is nothing that Hakainde Hichilema can offer to the Zambian people and this is why he is so bitter after losing five times, and he is going to lose for the sixth time. The Zambian people know who Hakainde Hichilema is, he is a kaponya (call boy),” he said.

“We are going to be very happy if Hakainde Hichilema does not retire because he is the easiest candidate to beat. Maybe when UPND gives us another candidate, it might be difficult for us to win. When it comes to Hakainde Hichilema, even if he loses on Thursday in the elections, we want to see him back in 2026 because he is a weaker opponent. He has got a lot of negativity than positivity in terms of popularity to the Zambian people. That issue of the mine will not rest until he goes down six feet in the grave because he has made a lot of families on the Copperbelt suffer. People have got no jobs, children are no longer going to school. We don’t want to say it will be the last nail in the coffin, no! We want to see him on the ballot even in 2026 because he is a weaker opponent.”

And Kamba said civil servants were no longer searching for greener pastures in neighbouring countries because of the attractive packages given to them under President Lungu’s leadership.

“Today the forex we are generating from the mines has not been deposited in the offshore account. The forex is now deposited in our local banks in Zambia which is then strengthening the Kwacha. The President has paid all the miners who were working for KCM their terminal benefits. This is so because of the good policies which President Lungu has implemented, and this can only be attainable under his leadership,” he said.

“We have even gone further as the party in government to help our colleagues in the civil service. When it comes to debt, the President has lessened the burden on civil servants through a debt swap. Today our colleagues in the civil service are enjoying themselves. Civil servants have now stopped trekking to our neighboring countries to search for greener pastures because of the good services and conditions we have given them under President Edgar Lungu. Today our friends; the teachers, nurses are building houses, buying cars because they are getting paid well. We have given them a good package that can not be attracted to neighbouring countries.”

Kamba said PF, being a pro-poor party, remained committed to ensuring that it improved the lives of poor Zambians.

“The PF party is a pro-poor party. It is a party for the poor people of Zambia who are the majority. I am happy that in the past 10 years in which we have been in government, we have delivered development to our poor people of Zambia in compounds like Bauleni, Misisi, George Compound, among others. Those are areas where development was not reaching. Previous governments were concentrating in elite areas like Kabulonga, Woodlands and New Kasama. Today the poor people of Lusaka are proud of the party because it has given them good roads, running water, street lights and we have even gone further to give them title deeds so that they legally own their properties,” said Kamba.

“The other thing I can talk about is that the PF government has delivered in all economic sectors especially the agriculture sector. Our colleagues in 2016 when we just implemented the FISP programme towards elections, they were calling us ‘paya farmer’. Today they have run out of what terms they can use to discredit this government because of the delivery, the good policies of the President in the agriculture sector. In the agriculture sector, we have started exporting cash crops like Maize and Soya beans to our neighbouring countries. The energy sector has been a success too, as you can see there is no load shedding. Today we don’t have a power shortage in the mining sector.”