KAlaba Says His Allegiance Is To Zambia & Not Any Person, Party Or Position
HARRY Kalaba has told Zambians that now is the time for them to act and get back their country’s lost identity. And the Bahati PF member of parliament says he cannot keep quiet when Zambians are failing to even secure available contracts and that those who are supposed to stop those habits are looking elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Kalaba says his first allegiance is to Zambia and not any person, party or position.
Speaking during a special interview on KFM radio in Mansa on Saturday, Kalaba who resigned as foreign affairs minister two weeks ago, wondered who the jobs were being created for when the majority of Zambians remained unemployed.
He said it was important for Zambians to take a route that would benefit them.
“The question remains that unless we begin concentrating on the substantives and we reduce on hot talk because talk is cheap, tapali eko tuleya (we’re not destined anywhere). When you look at big contracts in this country, how many Zambians are doing those projects? When you look at the big contracts in various sectors of our economy like the installation of [communication] towers, construction of roads, installation of optic fibre, they are all foreigners. Zambians have got no chance to benefit. If you look at what happens in Rwanda when there is an advert for a contract, for instance to construct a road, they just allow one foreign company to compete in a tender. The rest must be local companies because they understand that protectionism works well in terms of creating wealth for citizens. So, this is what I mean when I say this is your country and go and get it back,” said Kalaba, who alternated between Bemba and English.
“This is your time – stand up and do something. It is important that we take a route which will favour Zambians. [But] the problem we have is that we are comfortable that 60 per cent of contracts will go to foreign companies and then 40 per cent will be shared among locals. If anything, even that 40 per cent, you’ll find that the same foreign companies will open other companies using pseudonyms and at the end of the day, they begin doing all the contracts. But those that should stop those habits are looking elsewhere. Why should it be like that 54 years after independence and you want me to keep quiet? Excuse me!”
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