CHIEF government spokesperson Chushi Kasanda says it is unfair for people to judge UPND harshly only seven months after getting into office, arguing that it has actually done much more than PF did in 10 years.

Reacting to former Lusaka Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu’s comment that he was not impressed because the pace at which everything was being done was insufficient, Kasanda wondered what else people expected from UPND because as far as she was concerned, the party’s record was unprecedented.

“I think it would be unfair to judge the government, whether it is the UPND or any government to come. It would be unfortunate to judge the government in seven months. I do not know what else is expected from our government to do in seven months. I think some of the things we have done are unprecedented. I think it would be unfair to judge the government, whether it is the UPND or any government to come. I think some of the things we have done are unprecedented,” Kasanda said.

“If you look at the CDF, from K1.6 which was erratic to K25.7 million, I think that is a great achievement. That money is going to benefit all the Zambians because everybody belongs to a constituency. We have been complaining about not having enough doctors and teachers, and we said we will employ them. I think we are at 90% and we are about to conclude the process. We are at 90% right now about to conclude the process meaning we are going to employ. So what else do people want?”

Kasanda said people lacked patience and were quick to criticise the UPND government.

“Maybe we need to engage Bishop Mpundu and find out from him. Maybe you could engage him on our behalf as media and find out what it is that they are expecting us to do within these seven months. There is so much we have done that the previous regime failed to do so much in 10 years and people are complaining about seven months? I think that is unfair and I think there is lack of patience. People need to pay attention when pronouncements are being made in order to understand what the government is doing,” she said.

“I think they are very quick to criticise. I seem to disagree with that. The reason I think is that we are all Zambians. By virtue of us being Zambians, we know how the government operates and everybody knows how the government operates in one way or another. Besides that, we had the UPND manifesto and that is the government’s manifesto. So we knew what we were getting ourselves into.”

Kasanda said government had already delivered on one of its promises by restoring the rule of law.

“Yes, there could be some unforeseen circumstances in one or two issues but I do not think that can determine our failure to deliver to the people of Zambia. We know the anxiety that people have at the moment, especially looking at the fact that we came from a brutal and corrupt regime. That is why we are trying to restore the rule of law,” said Kasanda.

“The rule of law cannot be restored in a day. That is something that is gradual and I think we have done that. By virtue of us removing those cadres, I am sure people are walking the streets freely now. That is the rule of law we are talking about. We have begun to fight corruption and we have begun the recovery of assets. That means we are restoring the rule of law.”