Party leader, Silumbe, slams Hichilema administration, likens U.S. aid withdrawal to ‘death sentence’

Leadership Movement (LM) leader, Richard Silumbe, has launched a scathing attack on President Hakainde Hichilema, accusing him of poor leadership in the health, energy, mining, and agriculture sectors.

Silumbe claimed that President Hichilema’s leadership failures had contributed to worsening hunger in the country and a lack of meaningful public consultation on critical national issues.

Speaking at a media briefing in Lusaka on Friday, Silumbe criticized the government’s handling of the constitutional amendment process, alleging that the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) often sought to use stakeholders as mere rubber stamps.

“When others refuse to agree with them, they resort to name-calling and labeling critics as Patriotic Front (PF) sympathizers in a bid to discredit them,” Silumbe said.

He cited the recent statement by the United States Embassy in Zambia regarding alleged corruption and the withdrawal of $50 million in health support, as confirmation of long-standing concerns raised by opposition leaders.

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“What’s even more disappointing is that the U.S. Ambassador engaged government officials and the President’s office directly on these issues, but they opted for a simplistic approach instead of addressing the root cause,” he said.

Silumbe expressed concern over what he described as national suffering under UPND’s watch, citing high costs of living, persistent hunger, load-shedding, fuel price hikes, and slow development.

“The withdrawal of aid by the U.S. is a death sentence for many Zambians. This government should be ashamed. In fact, a reasonable leader would resign over such failures—just as he would fire any erring minister,” he said.

Silumbe added that LM had repeatedly offered advice to the government, including proposals to establish a nuclear power plant to mitigate load-shedding and to authorize the Zambia National Service (ZNS) to mine gold as a revenue measure—advice which he said was ignored.

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