File: RB with Lungu during campaigns
Munali Aspiring Member of Parliament in the 2016 elections Niza Phiri says President Edgar Lungu should stop following former president Rupiah Banda’s legacy because he may lose elections just like him did in 2011.
Banda lost elections after serving for two and half years.
Here is what Phiri said:
There is no amount of politics that can hide the fact that we are facing a serious economic debacle as a country. What makes it worse however, is how the head of state is responding to challenges we face as a country.firstly The president seems to have shut his ears to sound advice the way RB did. And it cost him an election. It is evident from his appointments that the head of state is determined to push ahead with his wishes despite a divergent public perception. It is clear that many Zambians do not support the appointment of Dora Siliya and Bishop Chomba as Minister and permanent Secretary respectively , to the most sensitive ministry this year. But the head of state is determined to push forward anyway.
Secondly, the president seems to be more concerned about politics, than he is about development, he seems to be doing more party work than government work. The PF government seem to be in full throttle campaign mode at the expense of governments responsibility.
Further, the president seems to have sidelined original founder pf members, like Miles Sampa, who supposedly carried with them, the vision of the patriotic front and has chosen to surround himself with a lot of individuals zambians have rejected. It is the same way RB Chose to do away with mwanawasas MMD, and he faced the consequences.
Today, every single person in zambia is complaining about commodity prices, but the head of state hasn’t taken any decisive action or given a roadmap on how the government intends to arrest the situation. There are problems every where you look, but all we hear is politicking.
As a former Secretary General of the copperbelt institutions team, it sadens me to note, what has become of a party we struggled so hard to put in power under the leadership of The late Michael Sata. We hope the head of state takes some time to listen to us the ordinary citizens, because we have suffered alot. He is doing the same exact things that cost RB an election, and if he does not change course, the same fate awaits him