By 
Socialist Party leader, Dr. Fred M’membe, has argued that Zambia did not need “toothless inflation targets” but policies that directly addressed the real cost of living.
M’membe said repeated official announcements of falling inflation remained detached from the lived realities of ordinary citizens.
In a statement issued in Lusaka on Monday, M’membe said celebrating headline figures while households struggled under rising expenses was not only tone-deaf but insulting.
He noted that while the Bank of Zambia Governor, Dr. Denny Kalyalya, may reassure boardrooms with projections of inflation settling between six and eight per cent, such declarations carry no meaning in homes, markets, and workplaces.
“Inflation is not an abstract statistic but the daily struggle to afford mealie meal, transport, rent, electricity, school requirements, and healthcare,” M’membe stated.
He added that when electricity tariffs rose sharply and fuel prices remained high, claims that inflation was dropping became a cruel joke.
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The Socialist Party President further noted that one could proclaim declining inflation while simultaneously justifying massive electricity tariff hikes.
“Power is a foundational input across the economy, affecting manufacturing, mining, agriculture, transport, services, and households,” M’membe said.
He warned that when electricity becomes unaffordable, production costs escalate, jobs are threatened, and prices inevitably rise.
M’membe argued that expecting commodity prices to fall in such an environment was either economic illiteracy or deliberate deception.
He insisted that if inflation were genuinely easing, Zambians would experience it through stable prices and improved purchasing power.
“Instead, people are cutting meals, defaulting on rent, accumulating debt, and abandoning small enterprises crushed by overheads,” he lamented.
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