Kwacha difficulties a blessing – Sakala

THE devaluation of the Zambia kwacha against major convertible currencies should be viewed as a blessing in disguise as it will serve as an eye opener to the nation, says opposition Zambia Direct Democracy Movement (ZDDM) President Edwin Sakala.

He said the depreciation of the kwacha should be viewed as a lesson to Government and the nation at large.
Mr Sakala said the nation had always been careless with the little foreign currency it had been making by spending it on importing goods and services which could be produced locally.
In an interview , Mr Sakala said the foreign currency which Zambia was realising was not being used locally.

 
He said it was wrong for the nation to be importing products such as dog food, toothpaste and macaroni.
“If only we could be producing some of the products on our own, we could create employment for our youths and help save the Kwacha from depreciating,” Mr Sakala said.
He observed that a lot of unnecessary products were being imported in Zambia without any restrictions.
Mr Sakala called on government come up with deliberate policies aimed at restricting the importation of unnecessary products which could be produced by Zambians.

He said coming up with import restrictions was one of the ways which would help Zambia’s economic growth.
“There is need for the country to have control over what is being imported in order to help revive Zambia’s economy,” Mr Sakala said.
He said Zambians have been very careless in spending whatever little money they had been making hence the current economic challenges today.
Mr Sakala said the current economic situation should make Zambians realise that there was somewhere were things were not being done correctly.

He said instead of importing salaula, there was need to promote and increase cotton production and establish clothes production industries in the country.
“As ZDDM, this situation which we are going through is a blessing in the disguise because it will up to be more careful whenever we are dealing with our economy,” Mr Sakala said.