 And I'm happy that you are all here because I'll take a bit of time because of the silent issues we are raising, so please be patient with us. One, leadership accountability. Ladies and gentlemen, after being in office for almost two years, the UPND government has demonstrated this more failure in the running of government. What we have seen is a clear lack of a coherent strategy that is premised on a coagulent plan intended to emancipate the people of Zambia from the shackles of poverty and starvation. In the last 21 months of the UPND government, we have seen a leadership that is in denial and is busy seeking to blame the previous government for everything that they have failed to achieve while seeking to take credit for the projects that were either initiated or completed The president has over the last 21 months failed to meet with China, which is the leading lender to Zambia, resulting in a stalemate in the restructure of the country's debt, where Zambia has traditionally taken a non-aligned approach in the way we deal with countries. Our president or the current government has taken a leaning that has resulted in the country taking the risk of being a pawn in the bigger chase of the western proxy wars. We have seen how the president has taken so much asides of the western world. And even now he has even missed the Sadiq Troika summit happening in Namibia because he wanted to be in Scotland, he wanted to be in France. Zambia, as you may want to know, is the incoming chair of the Sadiq Troika organ on politics, defense and security. And the president has opted to abandon that role and find himself in London, find himself in France, find himself in Scotland, all in the interest of Muzungwankon. We recognize the efforts being made by President Sirio Ramamposa who abandoned whatever he was doing to go and attend the outgoing chair of the Sadiq Troika. And he went to attend that very important meeting. We have got a lot of issues happening in our region. But because our president doesn't care, he preferred to be seen in Paris with Emmanuel Macron. He preferred to be seen in London and take pictures, selfies, typical of him, the king. And he preferred to be in Scotland and send you pictures that we have now arrived in Scotland. The president forgets that this country has a very historical bond with members of the Sadiq community. And that Zambia was never a country to be informed, where a country that was always consulted on matters happening in the region. The president has brought shame to us within the Sadiq family by his behavior of wanting to prove at all costs that is more important for him to be in the Western corridors than being in the Sadiq corridors. We are in trouble for those of you who are doubting that this president of ours has never taken matters seriously. Now you are seeing for yourselves. Two, the president's lack of transparency. A citizen's face we are concerned with the president's lack of transparency that has manifested itself with his continued refusal to declare his assets in line with the talents of good governance. It is our founded view that in so doing he has created an opportunity to amass illicit wealth without anyone questioning how he amassed that wealth. It is important that as head of state he learns to lead by example and that shows people that he stands for transparency rather than just talking the talk. He is talking about corruption but he has not told us how much he himself is worth. It is a requirement under the umbrella of our constitution for the president to declare his assets. He has refused to do that. For what reason has he refused? Other than the reason of being crooked. We are also concerned that the continued use of his private residence poses a risk to the presidency as only state house and state lodge were made with the full features and systems that are secure enough to protect the head of state. His continued use of his private residence is not just an inconvenience to the residents who are stopped every time he is moving to and from but also poses a security challenge as his handlers have to deal with a role that was not specifically made to manage the movement of the president. How many people will his motorcade or himself queue along that place for him to move out from there? People are dying every other day as he is there and the president had refused. He thought this nation that he was going to ensure that even if he remains in that house of his no particular features are going to be done using government resources towards where he is staying. Can the president tell us why is it that an helipad has been created at his residence? Because there is a helipad which is already at state house. Why is the president creating another helipad? The helicopter goes and picks him from there, takes him wherever it is taking him. Why is he doing that? Why has the president forced the Zambia Electric Corporation, Zesco, to put a substation at his house, New Kasama? When the president already knows that Zesco has already installed capacity there at state house, why has he done that? So I think it is high time and as we talk, the president has even done a road for himself to the exclusion of everybody else. He has of course neighbors living in there have benefited. But who told the president that he is the only one who needs a good road in this country? Who told him that? So all these exercises he is doing are not only rights but they show that the president is not committed to good governance and he keeps on getting away with things like this and those who are supporting him keep on looking at these matters as being trivial. These matters cannot be trivial. When you have a head of state getting all states infrastructure towards his residence these are jokes of the highest standard and the president must be called out for who he is. More importantly, we are concerned that the president who wants the world to believe that he is an accountable leader has allowed for excessive cost to be incurred in upgrading security features as well as doing the road to his private residence. This is tantamount to defrauding the people of Zambia. Three, with the draw of ministerial vehicles. The decision by the president to direct that new vehicles that were procured for ministers be returned is not just hypocritical but a clear demonstration of poor leadership. There is no justification for the disposal of vehicles for ministers while you maintain a fleet of new cars that have been procured under your office. Is that what you call frugality? Where you get from your colleagues and then you remain with new fleet? Have some measure of respect for your colleagues you are saving government with. Have some respect. Here, the MCCs will be ministers in the next very few years. I will not just want everything good for myself and then them I am telling them no, these vehicles have surrendered them to Alebsen Mumba and such using me. And why should he go and denounce his ministers in the marketplace? Why didn't he discuss that with cabinet? First of all, I want to tell you that I've been a cabinet minister for eight years and understand how the procurement of vehicles is done. No vehicle will be procured before a cabinet sits. Cabinet decides to approve those large expenditure before it goes to the public procurement authority. So when the president is telling you that those vehicles which were bought under my reign should be sold he is playing jokes with you because he is the one who approved that but because he knew there was a coronation happening he wanted to do some popular statements so that he can show how frugal he is in the management of these countries resources. Just jokes. The president is not serious. His face looks serious. But yes, the president is a joker. He's not serious. Have some minimal respect for the colleagues you are saving government with. Don't make them look like they are not serious and only you, you are the only one who is serious. You don't do that. Honestly, you don't do that. So a few questions may need to be asked that may help the president in his decision over these ministerial vehicles. We know who procured the Gulf Street. Can the president tell us or tell the nation who procured those ministerial vehicles and how they arrived at that decision. Let him tell us. Making cheap statements like the way he was making in opposition was easy. Now he is in government he can't pretend he didn't know how those vehicles were procured. At what price were they procured and at what price would they be disposed of. It is common knowledge that the moment a car gets out of a showroom it automatically depreciates. We demand to know who in the first place authorised the procurement of the ministerial vehicles and what the justification of selling them off and thereby allowing the country to lose hard and taxpayer's money. Our view is that if the president is serious about saving costs he should consider cutting down on his international trips. After all, it is highly unlikely that the MOUs has been signing and will yield results in the remaining eight months of his term. And in fact now has even changed the slogan and is no longer using MOUs after we exposed them. Now he is saying we are going to and do rigidities on the debt structure around the debt. It is not even clear when he is talking just around those debt structure issues we will be working with. He is not clear about what he wants to achieve for this country. So let him not waste our time. The country would better be saved if he spent his time and effort listening to the people's cries and addressing their concerns as is expected of one that gave a litany of promises as he did. Four, political intolerance diminishing democratic space. The UPND was voted into office on the promise of a level playing field and promotion of the rule of law. We have noticed with dismay an increase in targeted attacks against perceived political opponents of the ruling party. I am a victim myself speaking to you. I am a victim. You wake up in the morning and you find the DEC, the anti-corruption commission, the police, they go surrounded your residence as if you are a common criminal. For an offence they can just go to jail. But that is how we are being treated in this country. And nobody is raising these serious breaches. This so-called democracy is doing in this country. The actions that we saw at President Edgar Lungu's house is not just unprecedented but something that should be condemned by all well-meaning examples. President Lungu served this country as head of state and chief of the armed forces and deserves to be given the respect that that position deserves. In a similar fashion President Ichilama himself will be expected to enjoy his retirement peacefully. Colleagues, peacefully after the 2026 elections and should not expect any harassment or intimidation from anyone. I'm not just defining anything about the president and how the police went there. All I'm saying is that why didn't they just send a call out for the former first lady to go to the police and make your day be bright as the members of the press. Was there need for that Hala Balu that we saw there? A war in a teacup crying wolf in front of a puppy and that's what we are celebrating honest as a country 59 is after independence you take pride in humiliating a wife to your friend, a colleague himself, how can he feel if we targeted his wife at some point and just began isolating him at his residence it's not you we are looking for it's your wife we are looking for just minimum respect even if you see that there are issues we want to pursue we are not saying don't pursue them just follow the law and follow it with a bit of decency don't do things as if we are we owe it to you Mr. Kain you don't own this country they have been presidents before you that's why you are the 7th being a signatory to the many human rights protocols one would expect to seek equity and balance if we are to retain the respect due to us ladies and gentlemen attacks on perceived enemies of the ruling party must come to an end and people must be guaranteed their rights and freedoms as enshrined in the Zambian constitution it's also worth mentioning that the use of institutions of governance to harass and intimidate opponents must come to an end as it has no room in a 21st century political environment the case of Mrs. Mumbipiri is one that made very sad reading simply because she was former deputy secretary general of the former ruling party we shouldn't do that 5. NAPSA partial with withdrawal we are concerned in the citizens first with the decision that government has taken to allow for the partial withdrawal of people's social security contribution through NAPSA while the movement seems popular now our concerns stems from the fact that as a responsible party that seeks to secure the warfare of the citizens of Zambia we are alive to the fact that one has a better resilience to weather the challenges of life when they are still young and in gainful employment than when they are in return this solution does not address the cost of living neither does it bring to an end the ills and challenges that citizens are faced with today a responsible government does not use cookie cutter solutions to address strategic challenges it seeks to address the challenges through a lasting solution such as creating employment so that parents do not have to look after their children who are in their fates and parties prioritising zambian companies and allocation of contracts and ensure timely payment when dealing with zambians it is my expectation that those in government know that as soon as people do a partial withdrawal on their pension that money will be exhausted within a month our take seriously on this is that everybody has been apologising this in the corners citizens first we are saying we brought out a very good suggestion to this country and the people of you who are in the civil service as well as in quasi government institutions we had said we are going to do a debt swap the former government tried to get that idea from us which is in our manifesto they got it from us tried to implement it towards the elections so they can gain popularity as well it didn't see the day of light as soon as these people came they stopped the debt swap we are the architects and we are telling you don't allow people to begin eating in their investments and you want us to clap for you for people eating in their investments what should have happened to members of the press in the various localities where you are what should have happened to civil servants what should have happened to those in quasi government institutions is that government should have procured the debt from the civil servants and then begin using that debt to make the civil servants those in quasi government institutions begin paying in some way or at the other by having prolonged man working hours as opposed to work for 7 hours you work for 9 hours you begin paying slowly towards the debt that government has bought from you through liquidating of your live days these are the plans that we have ourselves we are not just talking the talk so when you wake up in the morning and say no partial with the draw some of us have never been for this because what we need is to see work creation we need to see Zambian suppliers paid they are not being paid we need to see Zambian businessmen and women being given businesses not getting people from wherever to go and begin doing issues with Mopani we need Zambian auditors to go in Mopani contract them then money will remain in this economy but now there is a liquidity squeeze in the economy as a result people cannot spend because if you cannot have the money it means you cannot go to the saloon if you cannot go to the saloon means the saloon let it cannot buy air time if the saloon let it cannot buy air time it means she cannot buy vegetables from those selling tomatoes and those selling tomatoes it means they will go home hungry it's a vicious cycle but it's as simple as all that but our colleagues thought it's a brakatabra and if you have been doubting what happened there ladies and gentlemen our view is that this solution of partial withdrawal was a premature solution meant to jumpstart the economy but what the proponents of the plan overlooked is that for the bulk of those who collected 20% that money will go to support consumption and very little if any will go towards production because the 20% is meant to to be invested but you asked most of those who are getting the money it was my 17 others my 4,000 quarcher my 3,000 my 10,000 how will they invest that money in this same economy of ours 6. preference of foreign firms and entities our president and his government have perfected the arts and the preference of supporting foreigners at the expense of Zambian citizens this is evidenced by this government's preference to give preferential treatment to foreign entities at the expense of Zambian owned businesses no law contractors are being paid under the UP and the government and this has resulted in a significant contraction in our economy it's a non fact that the quarcher will continue to face significant shocks for as long as government continues to give business opportunities to foreigners to the exclusion of indigenous Zambians while citizens are subjected to some of the highest taxes on the continent they are found prudent to give tax breaks and concessions to foreign mining houses who do not even declare the correct amount of taxable revenue Mopani and KCM we are concerned that almost two years from the time the UP and the took over government they have failed to address the issues surrounding Mopani and KCM what we have heard the promises and scandals that seem to point in the direction of government's lack of a solution to address the challenge of the two mining houses an assurance was made that strategic partners were the first quarter, 2023 but clearly we are almost halfway through the second half of the year ladies and gentlemen the people of the copper belt are heavily dependent on the two mines and any disruption in the operations of the two mines will have a significant impact on the warfare of the citizens on the copper belt the president must begin taking the people of the copper belt seriously he should stop those jokes of going to the copper belt to take selfies and lift the copper belt Chirabomboy was there recently all that the president was busy doing was getting selfies and lifting that camera guy and lifting the camera guy I think the president needs for once the president needs for once to take the people of the copper belt he told us before he won elections that he had several investors lining up to investments in the copper mines the same was said for more money but because the president has a hidden agenda of wanting to bring back the data to run the affairs of the copper mines he tells you and I that no one is willing to go and invest in there because the matter is in court and so therefore the hands of the government are tied the president will have to go back to the same investors that everybody has been talking about that is his plan because we know his relationship with Vendat and we are watching the president don't think we are not watching you sir we are watching you cost of living the UPND government has continued to inflict untoward hardship on the citizens of this country owing to their haphazard way of doing things recently the country has experienced a threat of starvation owing to increased price of essential commodities in Zambia while the campaign messages they gave resonated well with the people of Zambia and cause them to move in their thousands it is of great concern that the leadership has failed to meet their campaign promises resulting in many families barely managing to meet their basic necessities of life and this story I am talking about is not far from even new members of the press this is what you hear you all know that cooking oil is not good you all know that cooking oil is not good you all know that these people are talking in the talk are not working in the talk and that they are good at speeches rather than practical solutions it is unacceptable for the price of minimum to be fetching as high as 300 Kwacha in some parts of the country simply because those in government were reckless enough to refuse to listen to guidance that we provided them to prioritize strategic reserves and avoid exporting mails to neighboring countries we told the president go and check your facts we told the president don't give export payments for mails and he said we are supposed to do business mails will be taken as a business his minister of agriculture went to parliament he slayed the house that even if we didn't firm the whole of this season there was enough mails to feed the whole country we are being vindicated as always 20% of people are not partial with the drug 59 years after independence it is unacceptable that we can be failing to feed our citizens and yet we are endowed with so much water and arable land women and youth disengagement the citizens first is concerned that the UPND government has paid nothing but lip service to issues concerning women and youths while women and youths have the capacity to drive economic development it is sad that they have not given the opportunity to participate in the economic activities of the country under this government we have seen the women and youths continue to languish and engage in illicit vices that in most instances have put their lives at risk owing to lack of employment opportunities it is important for those in government to appreciate that as a country we have made commitments to increase women representation in governance and the UPND government seems to have taken us back following the gains we made under the previous government we have also been left wondering what happened to the youths that should have been recruited after to beef up the defence forces ladies and gentlemen as a part the CAF appreciates the value that women and youths play in any progressive economy and is against this background that will continue to advocate for the welfare of women and youths in Zambia and the role they play in economic development and national building our position as a party is not just to employ women and youths as policy makers but rather seek to empower them as partners in development by giving them an opportunity to participate in the country's development agenda we are the only ones who have been talking about serious women emancipation as a part we are the only ones telling you how women are being empowered in Ethiopia as opposed to women here here is just leave service just leave service will go practical in demonstrating that the youths and the women have a chance by having us in government ten indian recapitalization as the country exposed to global shocks that seem to have the potential to make commodity prices it is important to have some form of strategic reserve that would save as a cushion in times of higher price it is for this reason that the founding fathers decided to set up to save as a strategic reserve and help cushion the country against price volatility the current situation we have where oil marketing companies or MCs are buying the finished petroleum has laid to a spike in the price of LPG resulting in an increase in the level of deforestation as not everyone can afford the high gas prices we are also concerned that as government moves out of the petroleum space what will happen to millions of dollars that were spent in building the strategic reserve tanks across different provinces a lot of man was put our recommendation as citizens first is that we need a predictable pricing system and to achieve that indian must be recapitalized with a carbon hydrocrack in store so that indian becomes a fully fledged refiner this issue must be treated with the agency it desires we can't have ARRB ARRB every morning every month and they are coming to your television stations telling you that they have increased by one quarter what is not serious as a country 59 years after independence we can be reviewing our fuel prices every month and you say you have got a working government my jokes are 11 retirement in national interest the citizens first is concerned and very concerned that while in opposition the UPND assured all those that were retired in national interest to consider themselves as being on leave as they would be reinstated immediately the UPND formed government much as we appreciate their instalment of those that were retired there has been heightened effort of retiring those that are coming from other parts of the country that are not perceived to be members of the ruling party the DAPO standard demonstrated by this government is likely to find tribal division especially among men and women in uniform who formed the majority of those that are being retired on frivolous reasons we are there for calling out government to come clean and put to a stop the actions of firing retiring people in national unit as it is not just painful but an immoral act 12 agriculture sector management we are concerned that this government has failed the people of Zambia in the management of agriculture sector the evidence of their failure is manifesting itself in the price of maize today besides their promise to reduce the price of fertilizer during the campaigns the UPND have not just failed to meet their commitment but are now asking farmers to make arrangements to collect inputs the governments decide to manage costs we feel this is unacceptable as agriculture is far reaching ramifications that border on national welfare and food security when we form government and I am saying when not if when we form government we will ensure that we prioritize provision of agriculture inputs to all rural posts as well as provide sufficient agriculture extension officers who will support their farmers to ensure that they start working towards agriculture mechanization 13 public order act the citizens first as observed with concern the continued escalation of violence in the country being perpetrated by UPND cadres especially during by elections attacks have been made on innocent citizens who belong to other parties we have over the last couple of by elections witness and escalation of violence being perpetrated against members of the opposition especially in areas that are perceived to be opposition strongholds we have also seen an increase in police intimidation hiding under the guise of the public order act during by elections the ruling party on the other hand do not require to make any notification to the police for them to have any public gathering at all these are things that Mr. Kain he told us like the many bogus promises he was giving us that he was going to deal with the public order act as soon as this war to defend the question of this country he doesn't even talk about it he doesn't talk about it because it is working for his good this is the problem that we have with our principal leaders like Mr. Kain the IGM he had an opportunity to make a difference and he decides not to make a difference he decides to begin playing the same tired games others were playing shame on him shame we are calling on the police command to ensure that they carry out their duties professionally under pre-hand or violent guidance regardless of what party they belong to it is our view as citizens first that Zambia should seek to have a professional police service if the image of this country is to be sustained in the region and beyond the current situation where the police is failing to bring to book the perpetrators of violence or indeed being used by the ruling party to set the political scores with their perceived enemies in the opposition is an affront to the image of Zambia which is a secondary to many human rights conventions and protocols 14 tribal and regional division in our country I would like to call upon the head of state to turn down on tribal sentiments that are meant to portray the previous government as being extremely tribal when he is not different himself we have noticed with concern that government is not making any effort to heal the tribal divide and bring about unity among citizens we are more divided than we were before and all this is being done under the watch of the new dawn government deliberate steps must be employed to bring us together we need to bridge the divide we are there for calling for more action and less lip service in addressing the issues of tribalism and the regionalism that has potential to negatively impact the nation the citizens first is calling for more action to be taken by the highest office in the land to heal the divide and not the rhetoric that people are exposed to that is devoid of any tangible evidence it is our view that all political parties must set aside any form of territorialism that are based on tribe I don't have the right to go to the northern bloc and use my coming from the northern region as an advantage as a leader I should be ashamed and all those who want to be talking along those lines my colleagues you know how we talk know that I have all such kind of things because some of us are coming from very complicated families where in your own house this one from that region that one from that region and you can't afford to be careless on a matter as sensitive as this we are one people and that's what we should insist on it is our view that we'd like to reiterate our position that when the citizen first forms government we will ensure that tribalism is criminalized and anyone found guilty of practicing tribalism or using language that is meant to divide people based on tribe or region who face the full measure of the law we have examples we should not allow ourselves to be divided over simple things 15 our commitment and solution for the better zombie the citizens first will continue to provide checks and balances with a view to enhance the levels of accountability in government who also call out airing officers who are contributing to poor performance in the running of government including the president where he is found wanting as a progressive party with a pragmatic leadership team very pragmatic leadership team here do you see them and those of you who have been saying how to colorize alone am I alone sir am I jealous if I'm white you know you work alone you know who is team here is Mr.Liveson here is Mr.Chim here is Mr.Majorom Mr.Manyando is here so how am I working alone we are not like them them they told you that you have got a beautiful government you see what I will appoint you see the level of government I will appoint when he appointed Mr.Majorom Mr.Majorom we also expect that the president to demonstrate leadership to travel to China to meet with the Chinese president so the issue of data structuring can be addressed by this largest lender to Zambia he should stop these jokes of going to see the UN Secretary General to talk about the date of Zambia we don't borrow any money from the UN, from other nations ffen s to talk about how much do we owe ferns.                             m  y e is beating about the bush.                                                  What is he doing with that jet going to France, Paris, instead of him going to Beijing? Let him swallow his pride and know that we are in trouble as a country. But he doesn't seem to understand the agency of these issues. Finally, we would like to call upon the people of Zambia to join us so that together we can address the voices that we have just highlighted. I am supremely confident that we need to work together and put the interest of Zambia ahead of our personal interests. And ambitions if we are to remedy the use that this country is currently facing. That's why we have said ourselves that we have opened our arms even to other political parties that are progressive to work with us going in the 2026 elections. Because we know that there is strength in numbers. And we know that we will not be shy to acknowledge that we need our colleagues in the opposition to work with us. Neither will we be shy to admit that it might be a tough order. It might be very difficult for us to win clean those elections in 2026 if we don't hold hands with our colleagues from other progressive parties. So we are not dreaming. Don't think we are just joking or we are trying here to play games. We know what we want. We know how far we have gone. We know how deep we should go. And therefore we understand our limitations and also appreciate our strengths. So we will look for the strengths in our colleagues in the other opposition parties. Just as they will look for strengths in our party. So that we can come together and defeat this UPND. That is full of stories, nothing but stories. And I know that Zambians want us to do that. I call upon the youth, the women and men from all walks of life. That will bring about the emancipation of our citizens. The current government is seeking to reverse our democratic gains and take us back to a one party state. We are therefore very grateful that we will not compromise the judiciary, the electoral commission of Zambia, as well as the use of the security wings to suppress citizens and intimidate citizens so that they do not take any active role in the affairs of the nation. I thank you.