Dora shedding crocodile tears over foreigners doing jobs meant for Zambians, says MweetwaBy Natalie Ngosa on September 5, 2018

FacebookTwitterWhatsAppEmailPinterestShare0
CORNELIUS Mweetwa says information minister Dora Siliya exposed the PF government’s ignorance when she lamented on ZNBC’s Sunday Interview programme the number of foreigners taking up businesses meant for the locals.
Mweetwa yesterday said Zambians should rise up and reclaim their country, which was slowly being auctioned by the PF government.

“I watched that [Dora Siliya] interview with a deep-seated sense of disbelief and shock that a minister, a chief government spokesperson would have the guts to say that. She exposed the ignorance of her government as to what is going on one hand; on the other hand, honourable Siliya’s behaviour amounted to shading crocodile tears. There is no way she can pretend she is not aware, [that] her government is not aware of what is going on in Zambia. Now, it is Zambia for China under the leadership of PF. Zambia has been auctioned. Look at all the pieces of land that government is grabbing from institutions of learning for instance and ask who are they giving that land? Who are the contractors? Is she not aware of all those things?” Mweetwa asked.

“What is supposed to happen is that we are supposed to have a situation where when these foreigners come…we are not saying that they shouldn’t come…but when they come, they should come and partner with Zambians…Zambians owning the local resource base and foreigners bringing in foreign direct investment (FDI) in order to exploit or develop the latent local resource. But this is not the case. What is happening is that Zambia is being auctioned. Wherever you go, using her own words, Zambia has been turned into a construction site. But who is constructing? It is Chinese. It is all these people getting chunks of land from the government and constructing everywhere. Chinese and others are the ones constructing shops and office space and Zambian companies are now renting.”

Mweetwa said the PF should not pretend that they did not know what was happening in the country.
“Who owns Zambia now? I shudder to think of what Zambia we shall have in 50 years. I think this will end up to be China…it could be an extension of a Chinese province. You saw what happened last year when this PF government through their arm of Zambia Police, they even inaugurated the Chinese as police officers…from investors to police officers. This is a new form of economic terror and economic colonialism. So, if Zambians were to make another mistake in 2021 to return PF, I am sure that we will be auctioning the country further to the Chinese and those who are benefitting from Chinese invasion of Zambia are now playing games to pretend they don’t know what is happening,” said Mweetwa.
“It is unacceptable…look at the issue of NRDC, wasn’t she [Siliya] the Minister of Agriculture when NRDC was being taken away and given to Chinese or whoever it was given to? So, I think that time has come for Zambians to demand the end of hypocrisy from their leaders. It is hypocritical to pretend that PF are not aware that the Chinese are now involved in the selling of chickens, block-making, driving caterpillar vehicles and other trucks…simple jobs that should have been beneficial jobs to local people…jobs that do not require specialised expertise…there is no control…there is no supervision and then today someone say ‘I am not aware’. They are aware, it’s just that they are the beneficiaries of this kind of mischief. I think that in 2021, Zambians must once again work together and ensure that we reclaim our country. We can’t sit idle and watch our land go. Zambians, those who vote, the majority of them are renting because there is no land.”

On Sunday, Siliya lamented the number of foreigners taking up businesses meant for the locals.
“All of us Zambians must begin to look at wealth creation with new eyes. If you look at the airlines coming into Zambia, Emirates, South African Airways, it’s full of foreigners coming to Zambia because they believe that something wonderful is happening here. They see the opportunity because you cannot externalise the profit before you see an opportunity. They can see that there is an opportunity here because every day we are seeing shopping malls being constructed even at this moment when other people are saying there is a crisis. Other people are coming to Zambia and making a decision that there is money to be made here. When people are constructing malls, it means that there is liquidity and they admit that people will be buying something. If we are going to support the economy, we have to get into manufacturing and we have to give chance to Zambians through the banking sector…why should it be easy for a foreigner to get a loan and impossible for a Zambian? Why should foreign contractors be paid first than Zambians? The people that deny Zambians business are Zambians. We all need to look at Zambia with new eyes and make Zambia first. Let us make Zambia first and give chance to Zambians. The policies are there…” Siliya said.

Asked how Zambians could be first when they were being displaced everywhere by the Chinese and the government was watching, Siliya said: “The President is not everywhere to see what is happening. There is local leadership there…I have said it many times because I have seen it myself. Just a month ago, I was with honourable [Nkandu] Luo and we were in Mtendere and I did see it myself. We have been discussing this matter. It is Zambians who are displacing other Zambians. When these foreigners get these marketing licences to trade in markets…in Councils we have leadership which we elect. We must become interested. We are not blaming anyone but we should continue to engage each other. We must change our mind-set and begin to demand that business is not just for other people. The Minister of Local Government (Vincent Mwale) pronounced recently that he was going to look at all these issues and involving stakeholders in the councils to find how these foreigners are getting licences for barbershops, salons…he can’t be everywhere so he cannot know what is happening everywhere. This is why it is important for local leadership to ensure that what belongs to Zambians is given to Zambians. I have been speaking to Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo and they are making great strides to ensure that our Immigration Department, again using technology so that we don’t lose tract of people who are coming here and end up staying and working here.”