FORMER Minister of Tourism and Arts Ronald Chitotela says the PF will concentrate on human-centred development if voted back into power.

And Chitotela has accused the UPND of being a propaganda party which believes in its own lies.

In an interview, Chitotela said Zambia will be among the top five tourist destinations in Africa if the PF is re-elected.

“PF’s mandate in 2021 to 2026 is human-centred development because we have invested in a number of social and economic developments that spur growth in the nation and now it (PF) is investing in human capital. If you read our manifesto now, it is ‘every Zambian counts, leaving no one behind’, in simple translation it is human-centred development. When we talk about human-centred development, it is investing in the people, investing in projects that spur growth both at an individual, district and national level,” Chitotela said.

“We will invest in the manufacturing industry. We will invest in trade, we will provide for market linkages, we will facilitate the market so that Zambia becomes the net exporter of goods and services to the region. Zambia with the blessing that we have started experiencing of COVID-19 reducing and heightened vaccination systems, will be among the top five tourist destinations in Africa.”

And commenting on remarks by UPND secretary general Batuke Imenda that UPND was destined to win Thursday’s general elections because the party had a verifiable and authentic database of 4.7 million dedicated voters, Chitolela said UPND was a propaganda party.

“Look, I can tell you how best to describe UPND, UPND is a propaganda party that creates their own propaganda and believes in their own propaganda. That is how best you can describe them. That is self-deception. You create propaganda and you believe in your own propaganda, it is self-deception on them, wait! My advice to the Zambian people is that UPND is not a political party, it is a propaganda movement that creates its own propaganda and believes in its propaganda, which is self-deception and self-destruction. You know how many people have registered in their perceived strongholds which are no longer their strongholds because you know how well PF is doing in Western Province,” said Chitotela.

“You know how well PF is doing in North-Western province, you know even in Southern Province we will get at least not less than two seats as PF. If things don’t work, we are likely to get one seat. You saw his Excellency the President in Choma. Us, we believe in groundwork. We have former members of parliaments in Southern Province who are working, we have individuals, we have chiefs, we have individuals of strong personalities that are interacting with people on daily basis. Let our friends believe in their created database and they are going to wake up to the rude shock! What they are doing is trying to confuse Zambians. They are preparing ground for them to dispute the election. They are preparing a ground for them to petition the election and that is propaganda. That is why the best way you can describe them is that they are a propaganda movement. It creates its own propaganda and believes its propaganda.”