By CHINOYI CHIPULU
Golden Party President Jackson Silavwe says the increment of fuel prices will bring poverty and economic hardships to the Zambian people.
Mr Silavwe said the increment of pump prices will have an effect on cost of essential goods and services with prices in transport, electricity , food and other essentials expected to increase soon.
Last night the Energy Regulation Board announced the increment of fuel pumps prices by K4.54 for Petrol and K4.68 for Diesel.
This means 1 litre of petrol will now be bought at K26.50 from K21.96 while diesel will now be at K26.22 from K21.54.
In a statement released Mr Silavwe noted that although the upward fuel price revision is influenced in part by the war in Ukraine, the New Dawn Government’s local response has been non-existent even before the war in Europe.
“The upward revision of fuel pump prices by K4+ announced by ERB will further sentence more of our people into the abyss of poverty and economic hardships.
“The argument that ‘nothing can be done’ is an attempt by those running away from critical thinking, unless of course the ‘non reaction mode’ is a calculative move to achieve a predetermined objective,” he said.
He said President Hakainde Hichilema must address the Nation and announce homegrown alternative interventions to stablise the economy and markets in both the short, medium and long term.
“Today, more Zambians will not afford mealie meal, cooking oil, rent, transport, and more students will drop out of colleges and universities. For local businesses, production will be reduced, expansion restricted, small and medium size businesses will close, more employees will lose their jobs, operational costs will escalate and reduce income.
“On the social side, crime and prostitution will increase, more organised criminal gangs will spring up in compounds, more marriages and families will break, quality of life will go down, increase in orphans and street kids,” he said.
Mr Silavwe said among the local interventions, President Hichilema and the new dawn administration must give people more spending power to meet the high cost of living and reduce the cost of doing business for local businesses.
