Presidential Hopefuls Not Giving Hope -Kyambalesa

The current crop of presidential hopefuls is not giving the Zambian electorate any new hope, says US-based academician Professor Henry Kyambalesa.
And Prof Kyambalesa says Zambians are tired of being promised “the heavens and the earth”, but only to be told later that resources are not adequate to meet the development needs of the country. Commenting on the campaigns going on ahead of the January 20, 2015 presidential election, Prof Kyambalesa observed that there wasn’t a major difference between the promises made by previous presidential contestants and those being made now.
“One obvious difference among the contestants, though, has tended to revolve around their ideological inclinations – that is, whether their intention has been to deliver on their promises through socialist initiatives or by means of free-market principles,” he said. “Over the years, I have noticed one common tendency among all contestants; that is, their failure to apprise potential voters of the sources of funds for implementing contemplated national policies, projects and programmes.
In this regard, I mean sources of funds other than the regular and traditional government revenues.” Prof Kyambalesa challenged the presidential candidates to provide a summary of the sources of the funds they would need in fulfilling their promises. “In this regard, I mean sources of funds that will supplement existing and traditional sources of government revenue, and sources that do not include loans or aid from our country’s development partners,” he said.
“People are tired of being promised the heavens and the earth, but only to be told later that resources are not adequate to meet the development needs of our country.” Prof Kyambalesa noted that Zambia could not continue relying heavily on donor funds to fund its development. “What will happen if some of our development partners decide to withdraw their support if and when we pursue socioeconomic policies that will not be consistent with their expectations?” wondered Prof Kyambalesa. “Besides, many of our development projects are financed through reckless acquisition of loans.
Future generations will, no doubt, judge us harshly for leaving them with unsustainable levels of bilateral, multilateral and commercial debts for them to settle.”