Mwali refutes claims PF govt has mismanaged Zambia

Transport, Works, Supply and Communications Deputy Minister, Mutaba Mwali says it would be naïve of anybody of a sound mind to attribute the current problems in the country to economic mismanagement by the Patriotic Front Government.

The Minister made the remarks today when he paid a courtesy call on Zambia’s High Commissioner to Malawi Mrs. Salome Mwananshiku in Lilongwe.

Dr. Mwali says there is need for everybody to admit that the country is facing challenges, but that these problems are not peculiar to Zambia.

He says Zambia is affected by the downturn in China’s economy given that it is among the biggest players and most of Zambia’s copper exports go to that country.

He highlighted the sharp decline in the value of most convertible currencies against the US dollar, the drop in the price of copper on the international market and the power deficit as some of the challenges the country is grappling with.

Dr Mwali attributed the power deficit to Zambia’s over dependence on the same energy source over the years and last year’s poor rainfall pattern which saw the water levels reduce in the Kariba Dam and other rivers in the country.

Dr. Mwali wondered how the drop in the currency or the falling copper prices could be attributed to the government’s mismanagement when many other copper producing countries were feeling the effects of the slump.

And Dr. Mwali said he is in Malawi to attend a one-day meeting under the auspices of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) over the development of water transport in the region.

The Minister said the meeting involving Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique seeks to look at the results of a feasibility study that was commissioned over the navigability of the Shire Zambezi Waterway.

This is according to a statement issued by First Secretary for Press at Zambia’s High Commission to Malawi, Chansa Kabwela.