Kondwani Nankhumwa punches holes in Lazarus Chakwera’s promises
Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa Tuesday described President Lazarus Chakwera’s State of the Nation Address as practically void for failing to link his four-year plan to promises he delivered during the campaign period.
Nankhumwa faulted Chakwera for, among other things, failing to report about progress made in creating one million jobs, the provision of grants to the elderly and the disbursement of loans to the youth through the K70 billion basket.
Nankhumwa said the past 10 months have been characterised by loss of jobs and economic failure.
He said theft and corruption had taken charge, with Chakwera failing to take decisive action on squanderers of K6.2 billion meant for Covid national response.
Nankhumwa said was also sad to note that the President was not interested in auditing the other K17.5 billion Covid response chunk due to inadequate resources.
“It won’t make sense for the President to audit the K6.5 billion and not K17.5 billion because there is no money. It needs to be audited and money has to be found for the task,” he said
He said the Minister of Finance should release a detailed report of Covid funds expenditure for the citizenry to appreciate how the monies were being utilised.
Nankhumwa further faulted the Executive for applying a lackadaisical approach to economic growth strategies.
“For the past months, the government has over-borrowed and foreign reserves are dwindling. Prices of commodities have gone up. The government must find ways of managing the resources. Covid has affected the economy but what if it stays for the next 10 years?” he queried.
He also indicated that fuel price rises had defeated the purpose of providing a K100, 000 tax-free bracket due to sharp rises in consumer goods.
The Leader of Opposition in Parliament further faulted implementation of the Affordable Inputs Programme, saying the programme was not a lasting solution to the problem of food insecurity in the country.
