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The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has faulted the UPND government’s decision to return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for another loan programme, arguing that the move places Zambia on a path toward deeper debt, harsher austerity and the erosion of economic sovereignty.
Reuters reported on January 8, 2026, that the Zambian government had quietly resolved to replace the current IMF Extended Credit Facility with a new programme—without informing citizens who would bear the brunt of its conditions—according to EFF party leader Kasonde Mwenda.
In a statement issued in Lusaka, Mwenda described the government’s decision as “nothing short of economic betrayal.”
He said Zambians were already familiar with the effects of IMF-backed reforms, pointing to electricity shortages, crippling load-shedding, austerity measures that burden the poor and working class, shrinking public services, and a rising cost of living.
“Instead of developing Zambia, the UPND administration has chosen to govern Zambia on behalf of Washington, foreign creditors, and multinational mining interests,” Mwenda stated.
He noted that under IMF pressure, the government enacted Statutory Instrument No. 47, waiving the export tax on copper concentrate—effectively giving away Zambia’s mineral wealth “for nothing,” even as global copper prices surge.
Mwenda argued that the measure had yielded no meaningful benefits for citizens, saying there had been “no price relief, jobs, [or] empowerment,” alleging that “this is not economic reform but economic colonization.”
“Now, Zambians are being dragged into another five-year IMF programme, meaning more debt starting this year, deeper austerity, further surrender of our minerals and national policy, and a future of permanent dependency and poverty,” he said.
Mwenda warned that worse suffering lied ahead if the government’s approach was not halted.
He said President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND had demonstrated that they allegedly lack an independent development vision for the country, insisting that their solution to every national challenge was to “hand the country to the IMF.”
“We therefore call upon Zambians to reject this cycle of suffering and deception and to never again make the mistake of re-electing the UPND in this year’s General Elections,” Mwenda said.
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