GIVE UPND TIME – MIYANDA

By Jessica Mwansa

JUDGING the performance of the New Dawn Administration based on the two years of being in power may not be fair owing to a number of challenges that Zambia was left by the previous regime such as a staggering foreign debt, governance expert Wesley Miyanda has charged.

Speaking to The Scoop, Mr. Miyanda said it was unfair to evaluate the performance of the United Party for National Development (UPND) Government based on the 24 months in office when the party had a five-year mandate.

“Zambia was plunged into a debt crisis as a result of over-borrowing by the previous administration. However, judging the performance of UPND based on the two years of being in power is not fair. Let us give them enough time,” Mr. Miyanda said.

He said considering the difficult economic situation which was caused by the previous regime, the UPND had performed much better as it had made a lot of strides in addressing the economic hardships.

“President Hakainde Hichilema has performed wonders as evidenced by the introduced deliberate social support programs in increased Constituency Development Funds (CDF) and other empowerment schemes that the New Dawn is rolling out.

“It is an open secret that Zambia was plunged into not only internal debt but also external debt worth billions of dollars which the New Dawn Government inherited as such, any well-meaning Zambian knows that the two years of being in power has been very rough for the New Dawn administration,” he said.

He said despite the opposition leaders only dwelling on the high cost of mealie meal and cost of living which the Government was emphatically addressing, many facets of development had changed in Zambia.

“The increased CDF which the opposition is trying hard to downplay is changing lives of people in communities across the country because the funds have not only benefited business companies, clubs, or cooperatives, but have also helped to spur development in communities across all sectors of human endeavours.

It is good that the UPND administration appreciates the value of education as one of the weapons which can be used to subdue both social and economic challenges at all levels of society,” he said.