I ‘ll reduce the cost of living – HH

HH waves at the crowd

Main opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema has promised to lower the cost of living when he wins the Zambia election next week.

Hichilema the candidate for the UPND says the cost of living has increased during the reign of the PF.

Hichilema or HH as he is commonly referred to says:

“Under the PF the price of many basic items has increased in a short space of time, from mealie meal to soap. Today, our people can buy far less with the money in their pockets.

This is because of the PF’s failed policies. Neglect of agriculture, high levels of government borrowing and chipantepante policymaking have combined to break the economy.

In government the UPND will lower the cost of living through several means.

Firstly we will lower the cost of living by bringing down the price of farming inputs. Today corruption means Zambia pays too much for fertiliser. UPND will put an end to this.

Secondly, we will oversee an increase in local produce by supporting value-addition industries. We want to be producing finished products here in Zambia, not exporting raw goods only to import them again. This will lower prices by cutting out huge transport costs and tariffs.

Thirdly, we will support local businesses to become more competitive. Making it easier to access credit, reducing the time it takes to get permits and the requirement to renew licenses will help businesses cut costs and therefore prices.

Finally, a UPND government will award contracts transparently to end corruption and lower prices. We will give these contracts to local firms so that we have local seamstresses making uniforms for our schools and local carpenters making furniture for our government offices.

There is a lot of work ahead of us but the UPND is ready to get to work moving Zambia forward again.”