(3 minutes read)
· Zambia’s new President Hakainde Hichilema said that his country would have zero tolerance to corruption
· This, he said, in his first speech in Parliament and vowed to strengthen anti-corruption efforts in the country
· He assured that his government would devise a mechanism to recover state assets allegedly stolen by the previous regimes
Zambia’s new President Hakainde Hichilema said that his country would have zero tolerance to corruption. This, he said, in his first speech in Parliament and vowed to strengthen anti-corruption efforts in the country. He assured that his government would devise a mechanism to recover state assets allegedly stolen by the previous regimes.
Hichilema said he would strengthen investigative wings agencies and create special courts to hear corruption cases. Importantly, he outlined an economic recovery plan to fix the impacts of unsustainable borrowing and mismanagement. According to him, such reckless macroeconomic management caused copper-rich Zambia to default on its debt last year, the first country in Africa to do so under the impact of Covid-19 pandemic. Hichilema’s vote bank was mostly the young voters. He defeated Edgar Lungu in August 12 polls by a landslide victory of almost one million votes. His victory hailed as a democratic milestone for opposition movements in Africa.
Hichilema , an industrialist, is taking quick steps to boost key sectors like mining, agriculture and tourism, which can kick start the economy and provide gainful employment to many. He is presently working on a bailout plan for the economy in consultation with the International Monetary Fund. In fact the negotiations with the multilateral funding agency-IMF-was started by his predecessor -Lungu – to bail out the economy.
