Maravi

Rupiah misleading Zambians, says HH

Rupiah misleading Zambians, says HH
Written by Joseph Mwenda
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 6:20:14 PM

OPPOSITION UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has said President Rupiah Banda is misleading Zambians in the diaspora by saying mine companies in the country had remained functional despite the global economic crisis.

Commenting on Banda’s address to Zambians living in New York on Tuesday, where he said only Luanshya Copper Mine had been closed due to the global recession, Hichilema argued that the President’s speech was a sign that he did not comprehend issues happening in the country.

The President is misleading people in America and that goes to show that he does not comprehend issues at hand because of his laissez-faire attitude,” he said.

“It was not only Luanshya Copper Mine that closed, Albidon mines in Kafue closed operation as well as Bwanamkubwa Mine on the Copperbelt.”

Hichilema said more than 10, 000 jobs were lost due to the closure of the mine companies and said the country was far from recovering from the job losses.

“We are talking about job losses in the mine companies, what about the mine suppliers, what about the mine contractors? All those put together, we will be talking about over 10, 000 job loses and we are nowhere near recovering from that,” Hichilema said.

He said it was unfortunate that the President was not giving the correct picture of the situation in the country to Americans and Zambians living in that country.

“He is misleading Americans and Zambians who should help us recover from this crisis we are facing, what kind of leadership is that?” Hichilema wondered.

“I would like to remind the Zambians in the diaspora that they have a president who has a laissez-faire attitude and he is lowering the integrity of the presidency,” he said.

He said it was not the first time that President Banda had been telling lies.

“That’s what he does, he lies, he has lied about the sale of ZAMTEL and he is not telling the truth about his argument with the NCC chairman (Chifumu Banda) over the mandate to extend the constitution review process.

President Banda told Zambians living in New York that the country’s economy was doing well because of the sound policies implemented by late president Mwanawasa in the past eight years.

He further said although the country was affected by the global economic crisis, it managed to keep companies and industries running.

President Banda said only Luanshya Copper Mine was closed for a short time and that it had since been re-opened, with 1,500 people getting back their jobs.

He said copper prices that went down by about 70 per cent had started rising, giving hope for better economic performance.

President Banda is today expected to make his maiden speech to the 64th General Assembly of the United Nations whose theme is “effective responses to the global crisis”

Labels: HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, LCM, LUANSHYA COPPER MINES, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 5:05 PM