Africa-Press – Zambia. Challenges UPND to stop talking about PF now that their hyped budget is operational . Monday, January,4,2021(SmartEagles) The Patriotic Front (PF) has predicted that the year 2022 will be very tough for the country and has urged Zambians to brace themselves for a difficult year.
Speaking at a media briefing in Lusaka today, Patrotic Front Vice President Given Lubinda said that this year will be filled with numerous social, economic and political hardships owing to wha he termed as misdirected policy measures that the UPND government is pursuing.
Mr. Lubinda urged Zambians to remain steadfast in their resolve to make Zambia a much better country to live in. And Mr. Lubinda advised the UPND government to deliver on its campaign promises to the people of Zambia now that the long awaited and highly sang about new dawn 2022 budget become operational on 1st January 2022.
“Government yesterday announced the release of K960 million for payment to farmers who supplied maize under the 2020/2021 farming season to the FRA,” Mr. Lubinda said.
“We are disappointed to noted that this money is coming so late in the season that farmers will not be able to utilize to invest for the 2021/2022 farming season,” he added. Mr Lubinda said that what was worse is that the amount falls short of paying all the farmers who waited for so long for their money.
He has challenged the government to release all the money owed to farmers and local suppliers without any delay since the country is now in the long awaited and much publised new dawn budget.
Meanwhile, Mr. Lubinda has said that the UPND government’s move to convert the CDF into a vehicle through which decentralization is to be implemented will change the intentions of both the CDF and decentralization policy.
He said that the management of CDF is meant to be less bearucratic whereas the decentralization involves a complex structure and expertise drawn from more than 25 government departments only at DDCC level.
Mr. Lubinda said that the attempt to bring the CDF under a process similar to the decentralization implementation plan flies straight in the teeth of the CDF Act and must be stopped.
He stated that PF MPS highlighted this challenge in their debates adding that the party has since joined them in calling for the separation of the two concepts.
The PF Vice President said that he regrets that this has now resulted in the implementing Ministry to engage in protracted debates with MPs on how to design guidelines.
“You come up with a plan but u don’t have guidelines on how to implement the plan; you say we going to give 25.7 million to every constituency to use as CDF but you don’t know how to use it,” Hon. Lubinda said.
“You have allocated in the plan but you don’t know how to use it; this reminds me of “Chimbwi no plan” he added.
Mr. Lubinda said it is unfortunate that the UPND promised to give each constituency over 25 million Kwacha to use as CDF and yet they don’t know how that money will be spent.
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