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Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) president, Sean Tembo, says President Hakainde Hichilema, has created a false belief that Zambia can only develop through handouts and favours from western countries.
Tembo said President Hichilema’s default mentality is not to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), or facilitate partnerships between Zambian and foreign companies or develop foreign markets for Zambian products, but to beg for donor assistance.
This is according to PeP leader in a statement issued in Lusaka on Tuesday.
“The thing about trading in sympathy and handouts, is that whoever gives you assistance, will own you and can make you dance to their tune whenever they feel like.
“While President Hichilema might think the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are his friends, the same IMF end up compelling him to give tax holidays and also relinquish future dividends in western-based mining companies operating in Zambia such as First Quantum Minerals (FQM),” Tembo said.
He said for a country that is endowed with so much natural resources, an abundance of arable land, stable climate and fresh water to undertake any agricultural endeavor, it was very painful that the country’s stock-in-trade should be sympathy.
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“We are blessed with huge tourism potential that includes exotic lakes such as Kariba, Mweru, Tanganyika, Bangweulu, well-stocked game parks, central location in the region to be a transport hub, etcetera,” Tembo said.
He said the country had an abundance of mineral wealth including base metals such as copper, cobalt and manganese as well as precious metals such as gold, silver and emeralds, among others.
“And yet, the only thing that President Hakainde Hichilema and his cabinet see fit to offer to the outside world is sympathy? Tipempako thandizo? Tulelombako ubwafwilisho?,” Tembo said.
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