Former Governor supports subsidy removal

Former Governor during the United National Independence Party (UNIP) regime Lembani Zulu has praised the Patriotic Front (PF) government for removing subsidies on maize and fuel.

Mr. Zulu said the removal of subsidies on the two commodities should be supported by all well meaning Zambians because it will benefit the majority of the people in the country.

He told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka that subsidies never benefited the vulnerable people in Zambia but only profited the rich.

He said the rural people never enjoyed the fruits of subsidies on maize and fuel.

Mr. Zulu stated that people that were criticizing government should be realistic by looking at the long benefit of subsidy removal.

The former governor has since advised government not to rescind its decision on removing subsidies because doing so would disadvantage the poor Zambians.

Mr. Zulu noted that Zambians should not always blame government on some of the decisions it is making but should wait patiently for the benefits.

Of late, there has been a heated debate by some concerned stakeholders, including civil society organizations on government’s decision to remove maize and fuel subsidies.

But the PF administration contended that the removal of the subsidies was meant to facilitate equal share of the national resources among Zambians.