By A Political analyst –

EVEN before the ink on the above subject that appeared on this page last week could run dry, a politician who is claiming to have all solutions for the problems of Zambia has continued going round the country making outrageous claims on how he will improve the welfare of all Zambians.
The man was recently quoted in one of the tabloids as saying he could fix Zambia’s economy.
I laughed at the far-fetched claims and thought of warning my fellow Zambians knowing for sure the damage some of these pronouncements can have on the unschooled.
In a poorly articulated statement, our good man failed to explain the panacea for fixing the Zambian economy since what is true is that even world leaders have tried without success to escape the challenges that have downgraded the economic status of the world and by extension, Zambia.
For Zambia, among the challenges include the falling copper prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME), and the resultant rising costs of food the world-over.
Note that throughout his political career, our good man looks down on anyone who has not done economics meaning it is only him who has the keys to Zambia’s political and economical advancement.
I say this considering that sometime back in 2014, our good man pledged to reduce the cost of mealie-meal if he was elected president of Zambia in last year’s presidential elections.
Speaking at Comet ground in Kabwe when he addressed a public rally our good man extended his promises to addressing poverty, unemployment, high cost of living and improving education and health delivery.
He concluded his feel-good promises by announcing that he was the best person to move the country forward in terms of good leadership.
It is surprising to note that the man and his cronies have deliberately chosen to ignore the good things President Edgar Lungu and the PF government are doing to improve the economy.
While this man is shadow boxing by promising heaven on earth, President Lungu is delivering the much-needed development in all areas of human endeavour like education, health, agriculture, women empowerment, job creation and providing a constitution that will stand the test of time.
In short President Lungu and his party have not failed Zambians as our good man has chosen to believe in order to mislead the citizenry and seek cheap political mileage.
I have also observed a common trend among our politicians standing on the podium speaking as individuals instead of sitting round a table and offer meaningful debates on what they can do for the country.
I say this after noticing that the rantings on improving the economy overnight can only be challenged if better qualified economists debate with our economical messiah to expose his unworkable theories.
We need a situation like in the one pertaining in the United States of America where those vying for political power are brought together at one forum to debate for people to scrutinise their theories.
I am calling on MISA, the Press clubs or any organisation that values sensible debate to bring these politicians at a round table so that they can debate their fairy tale concepts and be challenged on how workable they are.
Fortunately, because of our good man’s consistence in telling lies on what he is going to do for the country, he has succeeded in failing to inspire confidence in the majority of enlightened Zambians since many are tired of his chanting on economic solutions.
Since this man only has a first degree in Economics, we feel people like him and those who have better qualifications in the subject cannot solve the economical situation in the country.
I feel it is high time Zambians were saved from political promises going by the lies and rhetoric our politicians are making.
Promising heaven on earth as election campaign crowds ignorantly clap without asking for practical methodology of how these politicians will turn Zambia into the famed George Orwell’s ‘sugar-candy mountain’ come 2016 is treasonous.
People should also note that unlike President Lungu, most of these opposition politicians are stinking rich and live in obscene luxury as the common people in Zambia in general live in abject poverty and are consumed by pity and complacency.
Apparently, nobody cares for their plight as the president who is walking the talk and hails from Chawama meaning he knows poverty first hand.
Coming back to our good man, he has even ignored what his former member the Katuba Member of Parliament Jonas Shakafuswa said when he advised Zambians not to be swayed by politicians promising to deliver “heaven on earth” if elected in the August 11 general elections.
Mr Shakafuswa said the challenges the country is facing are beyond an individual and political grouping but requires the effort of every Zambian.
They say it is easier said than done. Look at Nigeria where citizens wrongly condemned the former head of state Jonathan Goodluck for failure to address the Boko Haram problem.
The issue was majorly responsible for Goodluck losing elections and stepping down for Muhammad Buhari who promised to sort our Boko Haram in a record time.
Today as you read this, Boko Haram is still very much part of Nigeria and killing people and causing fear among the citizens.
Political promises are just that empty pledges that cannot be fulfilled since the people who make them are desperate to get in power by any means necessary.
We are calling on our economical and political messiah to come down to earth since he is flying so high and has become divorced from reality.
He should also learn from what the late Frederick Chiluba said when he asked the would-be electorate if they were ready to sacrifice.
As a political analyst who has followed Zambian politics, I have friends in the media, legal fraternity and members of the opposition who have all agreed that what our good man is promising the electorate is well out of this world.
Our politicians in this country have become killers though the only difference is that while killers use weapons like knives, guns, charms our opposition leaders are ‘killing’ people with sweet words promising them heaven on earth, milk and honey despite deep within themselves they know this can never be fulfilled.