THE NEW DAWN ADMINISTRATION SHOULD FULFILL THE CAMPAIGN PROMISES

THE year 2022 has just begun for the new dawn government to fulfill the campaign promises as it embarks on using its budget. The new administration promised a lot of things prior to the August 12 general election.

The United Party for National Development (UPND) promised to revive the ailing economy, reduce the price of fuel, reduce electricity tariffs, create employment opportunities in all sectors of the economy and provide free education from Grade One to tertiary level.

However, the UPND government has departed from some of the campaign promises by doing the opposite. The increment of the price of fuel, the imminent upward adjustment of the electricity tariffs, failure to reduce the price of mealie meal, our staple food to K50 per 25kg and the failure to reduce the price of fertiliser from K750 to K250 are some of the campaign promises the new dawn administration has failed to fulfill.

President Hakainde Hichilema promised that he would address these immediately after he was voted into office. What is obviously clear is that the way President Hichilema perceived things when he was in the opposition is different from this time when he is now in government.

Moving forward, the new dawn administration should actualise the campaign promises during the tenure of office.

In the event that it fails to fulfill the campaign promises, the ruling party risks losing the general election in 2026.

In this regard, the ruling UPND should not take people for granted by departing from their campaign promises.

The opposition should also continue on the trajectory of offering checks and balances to the ruling party. This will ensure that the ruling party does the right thing in the governance of the country’s affairs for the well being of the people.