ACTING PF president Given Lubinda says the UPND government is making electricity unattainable for the poor.

Meanwhile, PF member Geofrey Bwamba Mwamba says he will never rejoin UPND.

At a media briefing, Thursday, Lubinda expressed disappointment in Zesco’s intention to hike connection fees by over 500 per cent.

“This government has decided that they are going to increase connection fees in low density areas by 600 percent. A connection of a single phase has increased from K769 to K4,600. That is a 589 percent increase. In a country where the majority have no access to power, a country where there was a government until August 2021 which invested heavily in power generation. Edgar Chagwa Lungu and his team were investing in power generation to make sure that power is affordable to the Zambian people. Now they are even making it unattainable for the poor,” he said.

And Lubinda said Tourism permanent secretary Evans Muhanga’s decision to cancel safari concessions will soon haunt him.

“By the way, young permanent secretary at the Ministry of Tourism, be careful my young brother. I want to remind you that you are walking a path that others before you walked. I want to remind PS Muhanga of the Sylvia Masebo tribunal. Sylvia Masebo calls the cancellation of safari concessions. The matter was taken to a tribunal. We have seen that Attorney General Kabesha Mulilo rendered an opinion as chief legal advisor of this government which he delivered to the President proposing to the President that don’t cancel these safari concessions because they were duly awarded,” he said.

“Muhanga, because his Minister said only foreigners and non indigenous Zambians are participating, therefore we are going to cancel these concessions, Muhanga, don’t be the one whose fingers are burnt. My suggestion to you is let the ones who decide be in the forefront, they must not hide behind you because I can assure you that when you are taken to court, they will not come to your defense. Back off. You cannot interfere with contracts that were duly and legally awarded, you do that at your own peril.”

He also said the number of PF leaders who were being harassed had increased.

“The list of the members of PF who have been harassed has increased from the last time that we met when they were 38 and now the number has gone beyond 56. In our next press briefing, Professor Nkandu Luo who has been assigned the responsibility of compiling this shall be invited to speak to this so that you can see the kind of harassment that we are undergoing. Inform the country that PF is still as alive and active as it was even before the 12th August, 2021 elections,” said Lubinda, who also expressed sadness over the theft of KBN TV equipment.

Meanwhile, when asked if he was going to rejoin UPND, GBM vowed that he would never rejoin his former party.

“The problem with us Zambians is that we like to act on speculation and rumors. You all know where you can find GBM, you know his number. But my simple answer is that I have no intention to go back to UPND whatsoever. I have not forgotten what I went through in the UPND party during the four years that I was vice-president. So I will never go back to UPND. I have no intention and I will never ever do it. I joined PF, a party that I helped to form the government in 2011. So I belong to where I should belong. I will be here forever and ever amen,” said Mwamba.