Rainbow Party statement on fuel price increase

FUEL PRICES INCREASE: A SIGN OF TOUGHER TIMES AHEAD

Zambians should brace themselves for more suffering under the PF government and the increase in fuel prices is just a tip of the iceberg.

It is a pity that a party that was voted on a campaign of lower prices, lower taxes, more jobs and more money in people’s pockets should instead be the one fuelling higher prices, higher taxes, no jobs and no money in people’s pockets.

The truth is that President Edgar Lungu and the PF do not have the capacity to the country, let alone address the complex socioeconomic challenges being faced today. The increase in fuel prices will soon trigger a chain reaction across all economic sectors and soon all commodities will be priced beyond the reach of ordinary Zambians, who are already battling abject poverty. It is now clear that the reduction in fuel prices right before the elections was just meant to win elections. It amounts to the worst form of electoral corruption.

The high cost of fuel in this country is not a matter that is only occasioned by the volatility of the kwacha, but fuel in Zambia is a commodity at the centre of a complex web of corruption and profiteering in which the main actors include government officials, middlemen, and other corrupt players. That is why the Rainbow Party insists that the government releases the report of the commission of inquiry which was chaired by Comrade Wynter Kabimba to probe the procurement of oil in the country.

To make matters worse, the PF has entered a dangerous union with the MMD, a party that the Zambian people rejected in 2011 after it ran one of the most corrupt governments in Africa. This is a party that subjected our people to some of the worst poverty and inequality in the history of the country through its mindless, zealous, indiscriminate and self-interested pursuit of neoliberal policies. It goes without saying, therefore, that a union between a clueless PF and a corrupt MMD can only condemn the country’s hopes of a better life to a summary execution.

But this situation does not worry President Lungu and the PF because their preoccupation is to enrich themselves and share the country’s resources amongst themselves. They have no interest in the welfare of Zambians. While the economy is going down the drain, President Lungu and the PF are busy scheming on how to revive their fading political fortunes and chances of being in government beyond 2016.

Fortunately, Zambians have learnt a bitter lesson and will never again vote for a party that rides a populist tide such as the PF, but are ready and willing to vote for the Rainbow Party, which puts the ordinary people at the centre of its social and economic programme.

Issued by:
Goodson Banda
Rainbow Party Spokesperson