ZAMBIANS QUESTION THE 'PROMISED LAND' AS ECONOMIC WOES PERSIST - The Zambian Observer
ZAMBIANS QUESTION THE ‘PROMISED LAND’ AS ECONOMIC WOES PERSIST
Lusaka… Tuesday March 25, 2025
Four years after Zambia’s leadership promised a “land of milk and honey,” citizens are expressing disappointment over unfulfilled pledges.
Lumezi Member of Parliament, Hon. Munir Zulu, has voiced concerns, comparing the nation’s experience to the biblical Israelites’ struggles on their journey to the Promised Land.
Hon Zulu recalled the promises made before August 16, 2021, when then opposition UPND President Hakainde Hichilema assured citizens that the local currency, which was then trading at K17 to $1, would reach a single-digit exchange rate.
Additionally, Zambians were told that a 25kg bag of mealie meal would drop from K110 to K50, a 50kg bag of fertilizer would be reduced from K600 to K300, and fuel prices would decrease from K16 to K11 per liter.
Other commitments included eradicating load-shedding within a week, ensuring government institutions operated independently, and cracking down on corruption by sidelining officials under investigation.
Citizens were also promised that infrastructure projects would be executed with transparency and at a lower cost.
However, Zulu pointed out that as of 2025, the economic situation has worsened.
Mealie meal now costs K400 per 25kg bag, fuel has risen to K36 per liter, and fertilizer prices have soared to K1,200.
Load-shedding remains a persistent issue, and government officials suspected of corruption are either defended or transferred to other ministries instead of being investigated independently.
Concerns over governance have also emerged, with claims that the three arms of government have been compromised.
Hon Zulu stated that law enforcement agencies now require approval before pursuing high-profile corruption cases.
Furthermore, instead of large-scale infrastructure projects, the government has reportedly focused on building toilets.
He also criticized the rise of tribalism, regionalism, and authoritarian tendencies, noting that even staunch supporters of the administration have begun to acknowledge the hardships.
One citizen remarked, “When this Moses of today made those promises, we were blinded. Now we have learned the hard way that it was better to be oppressed by cadres than to be t0rtured by the economy.”
