Govt. reiterates ban on subsidies

Justice Minister Winter Kabimba has reiterated government’s stand on the removal of subsidies.

Mr. Kabimba says government will not bow to pressure to  remove the  subsidies on both fuel and maize. 

ZANIS reports that the Justice minister said this when he featured on  a Zambia National Broadcasting cooperation (ZNBC) television program, dubbed Sunday Interview.

Mr. Kabimba said government will not be sidetracked from making prudent financial decisions by members of the public who were misinterpreting policies.

The Justice minister ,  who is also ruling Patriotic Front Secretary General ,  said  government’s removal of subsidies is a positive economic move which should be seen as temporal setback but whose benefits will be appreciated in the long term.

He added that according to the ministry of finance, government will gain over KR300 million every month from the removal of subsidies on fuel alone which will be used in driving the nation to economic reliance.

Mr. Kabimba also noted that the PF has not diverted from its manifesto and maintained that all the programmes that government is pursing are enshrined in the party manifesto.

He further regretted that many people have not endeavored to read and understand the PF manifesto as it stands as a policy framework for government operations.

Last week, several stakeholders including the civil society attacked government for going ahead to remove subsidies on fuel.

The parties demanded that government should rescind its position. In the same cause a n umber of varsity students namely Copperbelt, Mulungushi and University of Zambia were arrested for breaching public piece.