Launch Speech by Charles Chanda United Prosperous and Peaceful Zambia (UPPZ PRESIDENT)

By Charles Chanda, United Prosperous and Peaceful Zambia (UPPZ) President

Tuesday, October 25, 2016 · Pretoria, South Africa

Distinguished guests, friends from the media fraternity, ladies and gentlemen. I count this as a great honor to lead an organization which is about to shape the political field of our nation though being in its infancy stage

Today is a historic day in the history of our nation. We are standing up as expressed in our nation Anthem “Stand and sing of Zambia Proud and Free”.

Future generation will remember that on this historic day, we stood up against all odds to raise up a voice that will preserve land and not just any type of land but prime land that has been handed over into the hands of foreigners who are now putting up the garment of a Zambian.

We shall be remembered as men and women who realized the importance of restoring the lost dignity and authority of our men and women in uniforms in the hands of political cadres on whom their leaders have no say nor authority. It has now reached a point where our men in uniform are being beaten by cadres inside state house.

This day will be remembered by the children of miners as a day the nation realized the sacrifices of their parents, some who have died and buried under ground with a coffin.

This day will be remembered as a day a novice in politics raised a voice against the non-performance of two very important institutions namely the Bank of Zambia and the Zambia Revenue Authority which has led to Zambia being a borrower whilst feeding other nations.

United Prosperous Peaceful Zambia (UPPZ) President Charles Chanda launched the party on Tuesday, October 25, 2016 Pretoria, South Africa

This day will be remembered as a day the nation was reminded that we have.

INDEPENDENCE BUT NOT INDEPENDENT!

Ladies and gentlemen may I answer the question that many are asking as to why form a political party barely two months after the election?

Our country is at a cross road and the future uncertain. We are coming from a very hating and hurting election that has produced victims and victors of almost equal in size. By so saying I am implying that one group has won whilst the other groups lost. We have a challenge to bring the nation together and hence we have seen the importance of occupying the position of unifier.

1. Our first goal is to Unite the Nation. Our party will be a home of the over seventy three tribes without the manifestation of remorse. We shall boldly stand and sing of Zambia proud and free.

 

2. We have an economy that needs to be fixed and we have a plan that is needed. You ask why our economy is limping.

2.1 WE HAVE AN UNDER PERFORMING CENTRAL BANK AND TAX COLLECTION ORGAN

Zambia is a consuming country and hence buying and selling is the main sector of our economy

The primary function of the Reserve Bank is to protect the value of our currency. In discharging this role, it takes responsibility for:

• Ensuring that the kwacha, banking and financial system as a whole is sound, meets the requirements of the community and keeps abreast of international developments;
• Assisting the Zambian government, as well as other members of the economic community of southern Africa, with data relevant to the formulation and implementation of macroeconomic policy; and
• Informing the Zambian community and all stakeholders abroad about monetary policy and the Zambian economic situation.

In view of the above, I have observed that our Central Bank is not doing their work with all professionalism.

BOZ has no data on how much dollars leak through our porous borders. BOZ has put a regulation that has been there for years that the limit of US dollars one can transact per day is an equivalent of $1000. This is never followed as one can change as much as you wish in Bureau without receipt. Business men and women give bureaus millions to keep and be changing gradually and our Central Bank with its entire intelligent Economics graduates just seat in those nice air conditioned offices.

More than half of the money that is transacted especially by foreigners is not banked and the big question is how do people balance their books and have bank reconciliation? How can you have audited financial statements when some money is exchanged into foreign currency without documentation?

WHY NOT REMOVE THE LIMIT AS IT IS A USELESS ACADEMIC POLICY AND EXERCISE WHICH HAS NEVER ASSISTED. ALLOW PEOPLE TO CHANGE AS MUCH AS THEY HAVE BEEN SO THAT YOU CAN HAVE DATA AT LEAST AND NOT THOSE FAKE RETURNS THAT ARE SENT. THERE IS NOT ONE BUREAU IN THE WHOLE COUNTRY THAT SENDS CORRECT DATA TO BOZ.

2.2 ZRA IS NOT DOING ITS JOB

A lot of foreigners and indigenous Zambians doing business in our country do not pay correct Tax and some do not even pay at all. They do not charge VAT and most of them have continued using hand written receipts

3. LAND CRISIS

When it comes to land management, we have five classes of Zambians

1. Zambian Indians
2. Zambian Lebanese
3. Zambian Chinese
4. Zambian Politicians
5. Ordinary Zambian

Ordinary Zambians are last on the list and no wonder they have no land and not to talk about prime land. We want Zambians to reclaim their position. A time is coming when Zambians will be proud and free. As Zambians we do not need the state to build houses for us, give land which is our heritage and we shall be okay.

4. EDUCATIONAL CRISIS

We want all those who have failed and dropped out of school to go back to school. How can you cope with grade 7 and 9 failures?

5. CARE FOR THE MINERS AND THEIR FAMILIES

Business of transportation of copper must be given to the miners so that they can use it to educate their children.

RESTORATION OF MORALS

6. RESTORATION OF OUR MORAL AND FAMILY VALUES! Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Introduce a subject for grades 1-9 called Cultural, Moral and Religious Studies.

This subject will be tested and examined at school and taught in homes, churches and other faith based worship centers. This will make every child from grade 1-9 to look for a place of worship with the view of receiving instructions. There will be an examine written in grade nine and learners will be given two certificates, exam certificate and a certificate of attendance from the place where the learner received instructions for the past nine years.

The two certificates must accompany the grade 12 school certificate when applying to any institution of higher learning. If we can shape our children then we succeed in shaping the destiny of our nation. Just imagine having the over 5 million learners attending churches and other faith based organisation for nine years. This will impact our nation positively.

7. HAVE A SOCIETY WITHOUT VIOLENT CADRES Whilst not infringing in anyone’s right as expressed in the Bill of Rights, I will labour to ensure that all political organization have disciplined, well behaved and well informed followers that understand the manifesto for their parties.

 

Every political Party is supposed to have followers that can be groomed into future leaders. If you consider the situation our country is facing, most political parties gather unemployed youths who have not gone beyond grade nine and are easily rewarded with money for liquor.

Can you produce future national leaders from such? We now have a grade 12 clause if one has to contest in any election which means education should be a priority for every serious political movement.

MAKE EDUCATION A PRIORITY

8.1 Provide bursaries to deserving learners especially those from rural areas.

8.2 Protect the girl child in rural areas by transferring and sponsoring those who excel well at grade nine level to government boarding schools in urban areas. This is to bring an end to the brain drain the nation is experiencing as a result of early childhood marriages.

8.3 Provide educational loans to qualifying tertiary students. 8.4 Introduce a back to school campaign for all drop outs

8.4 Give an opportunity to those who fail.

8.5 Open Vocational schools for learners who cannot cope with formal school

9. INTRODUCE URBAN RENEWAL PROGRAMME

Will rebuild compounds by introducing three story decent housing structures. This will help create space especially with the scarcity of land that the nation is experiencing.

10 MODERNIZE MARKETS  UPPZ will modernize markets so that they have the standard that Malls have. Most of our people have been depending on selling in markets to take care of their families and so taking malls in compounds is not development as it will surely eat into the household income and increase poverty. Most of these mall are foreign owned and hence not good for the development of our nation.

11. SUPPORT SMALL SCALE BUSINESSMEN AND WOMEN

Encourage small scale businessmen and women to form associations so that government can find solutions to the challenges they face. In my first five years in government I want to give opportunities to small businessmen and women who are have never done business with government but are compliant with our Tax laws.

12. TRANSPORT SECTOR

12.1 Private Transporters Minibus Operators will be given days to operate so that we can decongest our cities. People will be given a limit to how many buses and taxis they can have

 

 

Zambia’s Former First Republican Dr. Kenneth David Buchizya Kaunda with Zambia Airways in the background

12.2 Air Transport Re-introduce Zambia Airways. Will introduce an incentive to all Zambians that buy things abroad for sale. The money they spend on the ticket will be used as a rebate when paying what is due to Zambia Revenue Authority. By so doing our national airline will always be having clients and this will promote small business owners and encourage them to expand. If government has been able to give tax rebates to Shoprite, Pick n Pay and other foreign owned businesses, why can’t we do the same to our very own people citizens whom we have failed to provide jobs with?

12.3 Public Transport Will re-introduce public transport that will be managed by the council

12.4 Commercial Transport in the Mining Sector. Will regulator how many trucks people who are outside the mining sector can own so that we can empower and make the miners to have a cut into the income that comes through this sector. The pension scheme of the mines will be given the power to control the transport sector as they are the main players in the mining industries who unfortunately get a raw deal.

12.5 Commercial Transport in the Agricultural Sector Will encourage the youths in each province to form cooperative sand assist them to be financed so that they acquire trucks that will be used in the transporting of maize. Greediness by most politicians has seen them acquire trucks in hundreds so that they are the only ones benefiting from government contracts. I will bring this to a stop and all those politicians who are dreaming of importing trucks must think twice as they will not have business

13. MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

13.1 It is a shame that as a country, 51 years after independence, we can fail to convert our own maize into corn flex and have to import them. I will set up a Ministry to deal specifically with Manufacturing and Industrial Development. We have to convert our raw materials into finished products so that we have value for money from what God has endowed us with.

This country is rich but unfortunately we are making rich nations and their citizens richer whilst our own people are becoming poorer every day. We cannot be attracting investors who come into the country to open restaurants and beginning to cook nshima for us! We need skilled investors who can help our nation become a great competitor with powerful nations of the world. We will not accept to be a Salaula dumping site for clothes and motor vehicles. How can we allow our noble citizens to be buying underwear that other people have worn before?

14. LEAD THE NATION TO HARD WORK AND ELIMINATE LAZY TENDENCIES

 

We will regulate liquor selling hours and places. Liquor will only be sold after working hours (17:30-2230) and only in designated places. This is to make people look for what to do and also make parents especially fathers to create time to be with their children. Most children do not see their dads and this has impacted negatively on the social life of the society.

15. INCREASING THE TAX BASE STRATEGY OF THE UPPZ

Get the informal sector to participate positively in the economy and also contribute to the fiscal policy Give a Relief to East Targets and Introduce More players Give a relief to civil servants who are heavily taxed because of the failure by ZRA to have more players I the team of tax payers. Civil servants are the easy targets because Government is the employer. In our government, relief is coming for all civil servants.

Tighten Security Control on Money Leaks out of the Economy Put measures in place that will make it mandatory for foreigners not to make Zambia a heaven. Most foreigners and children of people with foreign origin do not bank money and hence one wonders what kind of accounting we practice in our country. How are you going to have audited financial statements that are submitted to ZRA when you omit Bank reconciliations?

Investors change foreign exchange in Bureaus at will and Bank of Zambia despite being aware of the practice where people with huge amounts change money and are given a receipt of $1000, has so far done nothing and this has created a serious problem in the economy. It’s one of the reasons that has led us to be having a rate of our currency that is not realistic.

Bureaus are the best black markets that we have that have the blessing of the central Bank. Because of this weakness, money leaks out of our economy with any tracy. Remove Unnecessary Restrictions Foreign Exchange Remove unnecessary restrictions in money exchange and we shall be able to catch tax evaders. Let the Bureaus change as much as possible so that we can have a clear picture of all economic activities.

Introduce Incentives to all Cross Border Traders The country’s revenue collection at most borders leaves so much to be desired. It has opened doors of corruption and this is why ZRA keeps on rotating their staff, a method that has destroyed families and affected the upbringing of children. The solution is not transferring workers but put in place policies that will also affect the payers and not just the collectors.

We are raising a generation of liars as people have to lie about the prices they bought their products with the view of paying less Tax. Let us have all these traders register with ZRA and give then a tax free period of three months on condition that they give full declaration. After the expiry of the tax free period, it will be possible to have a clear indication of values. Allow them to pay for one get one free tax free.