Politics in Zambia

Trim Ministerial Positions, Please

2009-12-01T11:36:00Z

The recent massive reshuffles of Permanent Secretaries and government Ministers are a clear indication of President Rupiah Banda’s utmost insensitivity to the expectations of the Zambian people. Instead of trimming his government to make it smaller and more efficient, he seems to be more obsessed with lining up the pockets of his friends, political supporters and sympathizers. It is both irresponsible and inexcusable for Banda to continue to maintain sinecures at public expense while the country drifts further into socio-economic decay and backwardness. In fact, his failure to abolish the positions of Deputy Minister and District Commissioner, and to reduce the size of his Cabinet, defies his own sentiments and the sentiments of the late President Levy Mwanawasa.

In his speech in June 2009, for example, he decried the fact 50% of government’s domestic revenues are spent on 1% of the population, including Ministers, and wondered how provision for roads, hospitals, schools, energy, and defence and security could be met. The late Mwanawasa, too, expressed his misgivings about the bloated government when he revealed that 65% of the national budget was devoted to the sustenance of a bloated state apparatus, and that only a paltry 35% was left for education, agriculture, healthcare, roads and bridges, and so forth.

There is a need to reduce the size of the government to a smaller number of Cabinet portfolios, such as the following:

(a) Education, Training and Sport;

(b) Public Health and Sanitation;

(d) Finance and Revenue;

(e) Commerce and Industry;

(f) Defence and

Security;

(g) Works, Supply and Transport;

(h) Culture and Community

Services;

(i) Justice, Prisons and Immigration; and

(j) Foreign Affairs.

Government functions which cannot be accommodated by these ministries can be delegated to executive government agencies. The savings to be made per year in this regard are enormous, as calculated below using data mainly from the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Emoluments) (Amendment) Act No. 18 of 2008.

1) Permanent Secretary:

K102,866,638 Salary

2) Cabinet Minister:

K75,117,124 Salary

K26,382,673 Special allowance

K26,680,000 Utility allowance

K128,179,797 Total

3) Deputy Minister:

K70,953,196 Salary

K24,107,904 Special allowance

K26,680,000 Utility allowance

K121,741,090 Total

By reducing the number of Cabinet Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Permanent Secretaries for the current 23 government Ministries to 10 Ministries, Zambia would make the following savings:

13 Ministers x K128,179,797 = K1,666,337,361

43 Deputy Ministers x K121,741,090 = K5,194,866,870

13 Permanent Secretaries x K102,866,638 = K1,337,266,294

Total Savings: K8,198,470,525

These savings plus savings from the abolition of the positions of 72 District Commissioners and savings from allocations of automobiles and other assets for affected government officials are enormous.

A radical and fundamental reduction in the size of the national government is the only viable means by which Zambia can ultimately pay off the national debt, reduce taxes and interest rates to stimulate the economy and job creation, and provide adequately for the needs of education, public health, agriculture, public infrastructure, civil servants, civil service retirees, and so forth.

By Henry Kyambalesa

MMD Has Failed to Fight Crime

2009-11-19T11:36:00Z

Current reports by some news sources around the world concerning the unprecedented incidence of crime and xenophobic sentiments in South Africa have got me pondering whether there is anything we can do in Zambia to save ourselves from experiencing a similar situation.

At present, government leaders in Zambia seem to be oblivious to the spate of criminal activities in the country, probably because their families are relatively safe since they are provided with security at public expense. But as the unemployment situation worsens, and as we continue to spill nearly half of the children who enroll in Grades 7 and 9 onto the streets every year, crime is very likely to get out of control and make it difficult for anyone to live, work and/or shop in a safe environment.

Moreover, violence and threats of violence by MMD riff-ruffs against individuals within and outside the MMD party who are perceived to be enemies of President Rupiah Banda and other government leaders have become a serious threat to safety and security in the nation.

So, failure to contain the widespread unemployment, the increasing number of street kids and violence by MMD hooligans and other political thugs is a good reason why it would not be wrong to conclude that the MMD government has failed to address the escalation in crime in the country. Every family and business in Zambia today has been directly or indire ctly affected by robberies, burglaries, van dalism, and other sen seless crimes—but there seems to be little effort by the Ministry of Home Affairs to address the situation.

Let me suggest a few initiatives for addressing the current crime wave in Zambia. Firstly, we need to create a National Crime-Prevention Board and charge it with the responsibility of formulating an effective and efficient national crime-prevention strategy. The Board should be made up of police, pri sons and paramilitary com manding officers, as well as represen tatives of cham bers of commerce and industry, private legal practitioners, and civil rights organizations .

Secondly, we need to seriously consider the prospect of transferring the superintendence over the civil po lice to provincial governments after creating semi-autonomous pro vinces to be administered by elected provincial governors and district mayors—in which case the Ministry of Home Affairs would have to be abolished. Close superintendence over police functions by local gove rnments is more likely to make it possible for police officers to discharge the following duties more effectively: (a) pro tection of life and property; (b) preser vation of peace and prevention of crime; (c) detection and apprehension of law breakers; (d) enforcement of laws and ordinances; (e) safeguarding the rights and freedoms of members of so ciety; and (f) developing sound police-community relations.

The national government should then work with provincial governments th rough the Ministry for Local Government, for example, by allocating adequate financial and material resources to police units in order to enhance their capabilities in terms of communications, transportation, crime-fighting gadgets and equipment, and security cameras for installation in town centers and on major roads and streets.

Thirdly, there is a need to continue with the concept of a Police and Prisons Public Complaints Authority at the district level in order to provide an effective mechanism through which members of the public can be afforded the opportunity to keep the operations and conduct of police and prisons officers in check.

Fourthly, it is important to address the factors that induce criminal activity. Although habitual criminals cannot easily be reformed, creation of adequate jobs by stimulating supply and demand through lower taxes and interest rates can greatly reduce the number of citizens who are likely to engage in criminal activities for the purpose of obtaining financial and/or material resources to meet their basic needs.

We also need to provide for free education, and abolish elimination examinations in Grades 7 and 9. Besides, there is a need for pieces of legislation designed to provide for long jail terms and/or heavy fines for gun-totting.

Fifthly, it would be a good idea to make the training of prisons, corrections, and civil police officers the res pon sibility of the Defence and Secu rity ministry. If such an arrangement can be deemed to be viable, the Lilayi training school could be converted into a Police and Prisons Aca demy designed to prov ide cen tralized, state-of-the-art training for prisons, correc tions and civil police officers. Training costs could be met by the central govern ment, while sti pends and room and board for trainees could be financed by provincial govern ments.

The Academy should also be open for enrolment of trainees spon sored by local security compa nies, and gover nments and security companies in the African Union (AU). Pri vate and foreign govern ment spon sors should meet the full cost of training for their sponso red trainees.

The Academy should also provide for driving lessons to all trainees who would need such training. Selected trainees should be provided with training designed to equip them with skills in operating security helicopters. Eventually, the central government would need to purchase at least 10 helicopters—1 for training purposes at the Academy, and the remaining 9 to be shared among provincial governments for security operations by the civil police. A maintenance facility for the helicopters could be established in Kabwe district.

It is high time we started pursuing radical, comprehensive and realistic policies designed to make it possible for our people to reap the benefits of independence, democracy and economic liberalization within a short period of time. This may sound highly ambitious, but I believe very strongly that we can uplift the majority of our fellow citizens who are currently wallowing in abject poverty through simple, practical and commonsense solutions to the socio-economic problems facing our beloved country.

Funding for these kinds of endeavors can come from savings which can be realized from reducing the number of Cabinet portfolios by merging and/or abolishing some government ministries and agencies, abolishing the positions of Deputy Minister and District Commissioner, reducing the number of foreign missions by having single embassies to cover clusters of countries, and initiating many other cost-cutting measures.

Government revenue would also be enhanced through income taxes on holders of jobs created through lower interest rates and taxes, and the value-added taxes they would pay through purchases of products. These are some of the issues MMD leaders should be contemplating instead of their current obsession with discrediting the UPND-PF pact and enacting legislation designed to regulate NGOs and the private media.

By Henry Kyambalesa

George Kunda in Southern Province

2009-11-17T08:36:00Z

Vice President George Kunda’s visit to Southern Province (reported in the *Zambia Daily Mail* article of November 16, 2009 by Wallen Simwaka entitled “UPND ‘Sold’ to PF) is worrisome, especially that it is designed to sensitize people in the province “about the evils of the pact between Mr. Sata and Mr. Hichilema.”

In the article, Kunda is quoted as having “urged [UPND MPs] … to join the ruling party.” In the same article, he is quoted as having accused some private media institutions as “promoting anarchy by their failure to observe professional ethics.” In other words, he seems to be suggesting that the private media should only cover stories which shower praises on the unseen accomplishments of the MMD like the Zambia daily Mail, Times of Zambia, ZNBC, and ZANIS. That, to him, is professionalism; any news media which engages in anything else is deemed to engage in “quack” journalism!

It is now becoming clear that the MMD wants to take us back to 1972 when Zambia became a single-party system. This can be interpreted from the contemplated legislation of the independent media and NGOs to an overt attempt to swallow up major political parties!

If the MMD government cannot re-think the idea of limiting the operations of NGOs and the media, and the apparent swallowing up of major political parties, Zambia is clearly headed toward dictatorship! And there seems to be no way in which the government’s intentions can be thwarted, since the vibrant civil society and independent press which helped us secure a multi-party system are seemingly under the threat of rules and regulations designed to limit their operations.

There are a lot of important projects and programs which Kunda would have have gone to Southern Province to tell the residents how and when such projects would be started and/or completed—projects and programs which would improve the socio-economic well-being of residents. These projects and programs include the following:

(a) Hiring of more healthcare personnel, and ensuring that healthcare facilities throughout the province have adequate stocks of medicines and medical supplies and equipment. Healthcare facilities in the province are in dire need of personnel and supplies—including the Gwembe, Kalomo, Zimba Mission, Kafue Gorge, Mazabuka, Chikombola, Research Station Clinic, Riverside Farm Clinic, Chikuni Mission, Stage II, Namwala, Itezhi Tezhi, Mtendere, Siavonga, Maamba, Choma General, Macha Mission, Livingstone, Chikankata, and Monze Mission medical centers.

(b) Construction of more primary and secondary schools in the province (and rehabilitation of old ones) in order to make it possible for each and every child in the province to have access to education near their homes in all the districts—that is, in Choma, Gwembe, Itezhi-Tezhi, Kalomo, Kazungula, Livingstone, Mazabuka, Monze, Namwala, Siavonga, and Sinazongwe districts. Further, there is a need to address the problems facing educational and training institutions in the province, including the lack of teachers, instructors, housing, educational supplies and equipment, inadequate salaries and allowances, and sports and recreation. It is also important to ensure that salaries and allowances are timely disbursed to all parts of the province so that teachers and other civil servants will not have to trek to designated locations to pick up their money only to be told that their dues are not yet available.

(c) Planning adequately for both the prevention and the containment of diseases like the Contagious Bovine Pleuro-Pneumonia (CBPP) disease (which hit the border area between Kazungula district in Southern Province and Sesheke district in Western Province in recent years) and effective control of the tse-tse fly in order to reduce the incidence of sleeping sickness.

(d) Improvement of the availability of safe and clean water throughout the province through boreholes, dams, water pipes, and protected shallow wells, and also provide for modern sewage facilities and both public and private conveniences.

(e) Completion of the construction of irrigation schemes at Simupande, Nzenga and Sinazongwe, including the electrification of the three irrigation schemes. Moreover, there is a need to ensure that the dam at Buleya Malima irrigation scheme in Sinazongwe district is rehabilitated and maintained on a regular basis.

(f) Provision of incentives for the exploration of gas and oil deposits at Kanesiya stream near Sianeja in Senior Chief Mweemba’s kingdom in Sinazongwe district.

(g) Upgrading of resettlement schemes in the province by providing financial and material resources for constructing and/or rehabilitating boreholes, water wells, irrigation dams and canals, feeder roads, culverts, low-cost houses, clinics, basic schools, police posts, and other essential public services and facilities. Such schemes include the Masasabi scheme in Itezhi Tezhi district, the Kasiya scheme in Livingstone district, the Harmony scheme, and the Siamambo scheme in Choma district.

Funding for these kinds of projects and programs in Southern Province, and in other provinces as a matter of fact, can come from savings which can be realized from reducing the number of Cabinet portfolios by merging and/or abolishing some government ministries and agencies, abolishing the positions of Deputy Minister and District Commissioner, reducing the number of foreign missions by having single embassies to cover clusters of countries, and initiating many other cost-cutting measures.

It is high time the MMD and its leaders started considering criticism of this kind with an open mind. Otherwise our beloved country will continue to move backwards in huge steps.

By Henry Kyambalesa

The Solwezi Central Parliamentary By-Election

2009-11-09T08:57:00Z

There is never a dull moment in Zambia nowadays, particularly during Parliamentary sittings, and during campaigns for Parliamentary by-elections.

In campaigns leading to the Solwezi Central Parliamentary by-election, for example, Solwezi district has become another battleground for political hooligans after violent incidents during the recent Chitambo and Kasama Parliamentary by-elections. And Vice-President George Kunda has not ceased to embarrass himself by making meaningless statements.

It is surprising that Kunda would go Solwezi to campaign for the MMD candidate and make irrelevant statements that: (a) MMD is committed to retain the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation in the new Republican constitution currently being crafted by the National Constitutional Conference (NCC); (b) Hakainde Hichilema was in Solwezi to campaign for Michael Sata because he was unlikely to stand in 2011; (c) the MMD has maintained peace and stability in the country from 1991 and that is what the party wants to continue doing; and (d) that MMD has never been violent.

Many of these statements do not address the issues which are haunting the people in Solwezi District or North-Western Province.

Besides, there was peace and stability during the UNIP era before the MMD assumed power. Also, violence perpetrated by MMD cadres recently has been condemned by all peace-loving Zambians nationwide, and are still fresh in people’s minds. Even in campaigns leading to the Solwezi Central by-election, MMD hooligans have already gone on record as having engaged in violent activities.

And by asking residents to “vote for a candidate that will have an easy access to government resources in order for development to flourish in the area … [and] so that development can continue”, Kunda is sowing seeds of secession. Such language is likely to make people in North-Western Province to start seeking secession due to potential neglect for not voting for an MMD candidate.

President Rupiah Banda needs to remove Kunda from one of the two portfolios he currently holds. He seems to be suffering from stress caused by work overload, or has he become senile at such a young age?

By the way, there are a lot of important projects and programs which the government needs to pursue in the North-Western Province in order to improve the socio-economic well-being of residents, such as the following:

(a) Construction of a nursing school in Mwinilunga, and upgrading the Solwezi School of Nursing so that it can offer Registered Nursing services. (b) Construction of a bridge on the Zambezi river to connect the east bank

to the west bank where discoveries of oil and gas deposits have apparently been made in Chavuma and Zambezi districts in order to facilitate the exploitation of, and further exploration for, oil and gas and other minerals.

(c) Completion of the tarring and maintenance of major roads in the entire province, including the Mutanda-Chavuma (M8) road, Solwezi-Lumwana road, and the Solwezi-Kipushi road.

(d) Tarring and maintenance of local streets throughout the province, such as the Kimasala, Kyafukuma, Mbonge, Messengers, Kyalalankuba, and Kansanshi Mine streets in Solwezi district in collaboration with the Kansanshi Foundation.

(e) Construction of the planned railway line from Chingola to Benguela in Angola through Solwezi and Mwinilunga districts, maintenance of the Mwinilunga-Jimbe road which links Zambia to Angola, and active participation in the construction of a dual carriage way from Chingola to the Lumwana Mine being developed by Australian Equinox Minerals.

(f) Improvement of infrastructure at Solwezi airport, rehabilitation of all airstrips in the province, and expansion of Kifubwa, Solwezi, Mutanda, Mundanya, and other major bridges in the province.

(g) Development and maintenance of roads leading to tourist centres—that is: the Kifubwa National Monument, Mutanda Falls in Solwezi, Nyambwezu National Monument, Zambezi Source National Monument, Zambezi Rapids in Mwinilunga East and West, Lunga National Parks in Mufumbwe and Kasempa, Chinyingi Foot Bridge, Chavuma Rapids, and the Zambezi beach.

(h) Improvement of accommodation standards in tourist centers by providing incentives for the construction of motels and 5-star hotels (similar to the new Royal Solwezi Hotel and Villas in Solwezi) throughout the province.

(i) Speeding up the connection of areas of districts in the province that do not have electrical power to the national electricity grid, and provision of incentives for private investment in revamping the Mwinilunga Cannery factory.

(j) Construction of barracks in Chavuma, Mwinilunga and Solwezi for army officers at border towns, revival of the Kafumfula Zambia National Service (ZNS) camp in Kasempa district, as well as construction of houses for ZNS, police, military, and immigration officers in the province. An additional immigration border post would also need to be built in the province at Ndunga in Kabompo district on Zambia’s border with Angola to control illegal traffic and trade across the border.

(k) Improvement of the availability of safe and clean water throughout the province through boreholes, dams, water pipes, and protected shallow wells, and also provide for modern sewage facilities and both public and private rest rooms.

(l) Upgrading of resettlement schemes in the province by providing financial and material resources for constructing and/or rehabilitating boreholes, water wells, irrigation dams and canals, feeder roads, culverts, low-cost houses, clinics, basic schools, police posts, and other essential public services and facilities. The schemes include the Kazhiba scheme in Solwezi district, and the Litoya and Luwe schemes in Kabompo district. The planned Chikenge scheme in Chief Kalunga’s area, the Kayombo scheme in Chief Chiyengele’s area and Mumbeji scheme in Senior Chief Sikufele’s area should also need to be provided for in terms of essential public services and facilities.

Funding for these kinds of projects and programs nationwide can come from savings which can be realized from reducing the number of Cabinet portfolios by merging and/or abolishing some government ministries and agencies, abolishing the positions of Deputy Minister and District Commissioner, reducing the number of foreign missions by having single embassies to cover clusters of countries, and initiating many other cost-cutting measures.

*Henry Kyambalesa*

The Government Is the Problem, Not the Media

2009-11-08T08:48:00Z

The statement made in Parliament recently by Vice President George Kunda that the government was treading carefully on the Freedom of Information (FoI) Bill because it can be used for espionage by what he referred to as some irresponsible and unpatriotic media houses does not make sense because state secrets are not supposed to be made available to the media even if the Bill was to be enacted.

Besides, voices of dissent and criticism of the government come from citizens who love their country. There is a need for George Kunda to avoid using rehearsed statements designed to brand Zambians who are critical of mediocrity in the governance of the country as being unpatriotic citizens. We are fed up of such language, which was often used during the UNIP era, and which has now been adopted by the MMD government.

In fact, the preoccupation by President Rupiah Banda’s administration with enacting legislation designed to regulate the operations of NGOs and the private media is a clear case of misplaced priorities. Zambians have now become tired of asking MMD leaders to address their demands on the government. Among other things, Zambians want a smaller and more efficient government, free formal education, merit-based scholarships for vocational training and university education, low-interest educational loans, free life-saving healthcare for all Zambians, greater and sustained food security, and greater employment opportunities.

Moreover, they want lower PAYE and value-added taxes, lower interest rates, safer local communities, improvements in garbage collection and disposal, improved socio-economic conditions in rural areas, improved public infrastructure, lower water charges and electricity tariffs, a system of justice that is free and impartial in both word and deed, greater care for children and the handicapped, a genuine effort to address the scourge of corruption, sustained protection of the fragile natural environment, and consolidation of our oneness and common future as members of the Zambian family.

Criticisms of the MMD government by some segments of Zambian society are clearly a result of government’s failure to address these demands. If the government can start tending to these demands and set timeframes for meeting them, they will be surprised how quickly the criticisms will subside and give way to genuine praise from both the private media and the general public. It is as simple as that!

Private media institutions are, therefore, not the problem; it is an inept government that is actually the problem—a government that has clearly failed to address the sources of the discontent among citizens and continued to castigate the private media through which such discontent is expressed!

If Zambians expect the Rupiah Banda administration to address their basic needs, they are fooling themselves; they will eventually realize that they have government leaders who are more interested in lining up their pockets, and the pockets of their kith, kin and sympathizers.

By Henry Kyambalesa

Chiefs and Partisan Politics

2009-11-02T21:36:00Z

Of late, the behavior of some of our chiefs has become inimical to the functioning of a vibrant and peaceful multi-party political system that we are attempting to create. I have two examples of such behavior.

The first example relates to Paramount Chief Chitimukulu, who has been quoted by Chibaula Silwamba of *The Post Newspaper* as having said the following in an article entitled “Chitimukulu Vents His Frustration on The Post” of October 23, 2009:

“We have to be on the side of the governing party and the government. There is no chief who could be on the side of opposition political parties. I can never be on the side of an opposition political party.”

The second example pertains to comments made by Chief Puta, which appeared in an article by Patson Chilemba of *The Post Newspaper* entitled “Rupiah Won’t Go Anywhere with ‘Terrorists’—Puta” of May 5, 2009. In this article, Chief Puta is quoted as having said that President Rupiah Banda should rid himself of people like Mulongoti and [the late] Tetamashimba because of their comments concerning Katele Kalumba, who had been found with a case to answer for alleged corruption.

He is also quoted in the same article as having said that he would instruct his subjects to start throwing stones against the government if government leaders pushed him too hard, and that he would tell his people to de-campaign President Rupiah Banda, who he supported during the 2008 presidential by-election!

In an article by Ernest Chanda of *The Post Newspaper* dated November 1, 2009 entitled “Chief Puta Bans PF Activities,” Chief Puta is quoted as having banned Patriotic Front (PF) activities in his chiefdom on grounds that the party’s leadership is opposed to former Republican president Frederick Chiluba’s acquittal. In the same article, he is also accused of having tried to block the nomination of a PF candidate for the November 19, 2009 local government elections.

Since independence in October 1964, there have been complaints and sentiments from some segments of Zambian society about the use of traditional leaders by ruling political parties to gain political advantage, particularly during political campaigns. The revelation that chieftains in the Eastern province were consulted in the process of picking an MMD candidate for the Milanzi parliamentary by-election last year, and that the Republican president urged chiefs to support the MMD candidate in the Chitambo parliamentary by-election this year, are cases in point.

If we are not careful, we could be paving the way for anarchy in our 286 chiefdoms by pushing chieftains into the political arena. We could be planting the seeds of destruction for the Zambian nation, and for our nascent democracy; we could be starting a vicious fire for our children and grandchildren to extinguish—and they will not judge us kindly if we leave them a country that will be in flames!

I believe very strongly that the partisan stance by some of our chiefs is partly promoted by the subsidies, electrification of palaces and the car loans extended to them through the office of the Republican president.

*I, therefore, wish to call upon President Banda to initiate, by Executive Order, the removal of public assistance to chiefs from the office of the Republican president and placed under the aegis of the Parliamentary Committee on Local Governance, Housing and Chiefs’ Affairs in order to forestall any suspicions that assistance to chiefs is designed to woo their support for the ruling political party during elections*.

There is also a need to uphold Articles 65 (clauses 3 and 4) and 129 of the 1996 Republican constitution (as recommended by the National Constitutional Conference), which bar chieftains from participating in or joining partisan politics unless they formally abdicate their traditional leadership roles. If they are allowed to participate in partisan politics, they can
consciously or otherwise abuse the absolute traditional authority they wield by imposing their political views and choices on their subjects — a situation which can lead to tribal politics in our country.

Moreover, traditional leaders’ participation in politics can lead to the disintegration of their chiefdoms. Let us consider a number of scenarios which can culminate in such a situation.

Firstly, a chieftain is, ideally, an impartial leader of all the people in his or her chiefdom regardless of their political affiliations. However, his or her participation in partisan politics can inevitably place him or her in an adversarial position against subjects who may have different political alignments.

Secondly, the political arena naturally requires participants to advocate certain causes and articulate their ideological convictions which, for a traditional leader, are likely to be at variance with the causes and convictions of some of his or her subjects. Thirdly, partisan politics is fraught with slander, snobbery and discourtesies to which traditional leaders can choose to subject themselves only at the immense cost of losing the abounding and unconditional respect accorded to them by their subjects.

Further, chieftains’ participation in active politics can frustrate efforts aimed at creating a level playing field for all political contestants, since they (the chieftains) already have a faithful following in their areas of jurisdiction.

We would do well to address allegations of election-rigging, vote-buying, intimidation, and access to public resources by the ruling political party without opening up other avenues for unfair political advantage.

By Henry Kyambalesa

Zambia: The Cost of a Larger Parliament

2009-10-27T23:28:00Z

I have noticed that the news article by Patrick Jabani entitled “NCC Adopts New Electoral System in Zambia” recently appeared in both the *Times of Zambia* and *The Post* newspapers. In the article, Comrade Jabani has made a good summary of arguments for and against the adoption of Article 159(1) of the Republican constitution that is currently being crafted, which is intended to increase the number of Members of Parliament (MPs) from 150 to 280. [It is perhaps important to note here that the current membership of Parliament is actually 150 elected MPs + 8 MPs nominated by the Republican president.]

Unfortunately, the article does not address the cost associated with the proposed increase in the number of MPs.

In this regard, I wish to reiterate my initial position that Zambia cannot afford to implement the proposal that has been recommended by the National Constitutional Conference (NCC). There is really no wisdom in seeking to increase the number of constituencies when some of the existing constituencies cannot even generate enough tax revenue to meet the cost of maintaining their MPs.

It is unfortunate that such a recommendation is made at a time when tens of thousands of Grade 7 and Grade 9 students have continued to be spilled onto the streets every year, the healthcare system cannot meet the basic needs of the majority of citizens, the majority of Zambians have no access to clean water and electricity, the country still faces problems with garbage collection and disposal, a critical shortage of decent public housing has compelled so many of our fellow citizens to live in shanty townships nationwide, public infrastructure and services are still deficient, civil servants are still not adequately compensated for their services, and, among many other socio-economic ills, crime and unemployment are still widespread.

I have, therefore, found it necessary to provide some information about the cost of increasing the number of MPs from 150 (as suggested by Jabani) to 280. In this endeavor, I have assumed that the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Chief Whip, and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament are remunerated the same as a Private Member in terms of salary, special allowance and utility; I have also assumed that the constituency allowance available to each MP is equivalent to that paid to a Nominated member in Zambian Kwacha (K) per year, and that there are no costs associated with personal-to-holder cars and other fringe benefits:

61,009,773 Salary

16,665,752 Special allowance

23,200,000 Utility

11,600,000 Constituency allowance

-------------------

K112, 475,525 per MP x 150 MPs = K16,871,328,750.

-------------------

And

K112, 475,525 per MP x 280 MPs = K31,492,147,000.

The cost of additional MPs per year:

K31,492,147,000 – K16,871,328,750 = K14,620,818,250 (US$3,187,377).

It seems the huge allowances which members of the National Constitutional Conference are receiving have intoxicated them so much that they have become incapable of thinking about the catalogue of socio-economic woes which the government cannot address mainly due to the lack of financial and material resources.

Rather than increasing the number of MPs, we should actually have been considering the prospect of reducing the number and restricting their functions to legislative matters. Parliament would still be representative and able to function effectively as the legislative organ of our national government, with only 72 elected MPs, for example, so that 1 MP could be elected from each of the existing 72 districts.

If we cannot reduce the number of MPs, we need to continue to have a parliament with 158 members (or 150 as suggested by Jabani). Representation in the governance of the country by women and the youth, among others, can be achieved through appointments to Permanent-Secretary positions, and to positions in Cabinet and government agencies.

It is irresponsible and ill-advised for NCC members to think about representation without seriously considering the cost associated with it.

Our country’s meager tax revenues will not be sufficient to maintain such a large parliament and a highly bloated cabinet. And we cannot continue to borrow until we push the country back into the debt trap. Besides, donor countries too are not likely to continue extending a helping hand while we continue to misuse our meager resources.

There is a need for NCC members and the government to realize that donor countries do not have unlimited resources. They have to make do with scarce resources by going through public expenditures line by line, program by program, agency by agency, department by department, and ministry by ministry in order to eliminate unnecessary application of public funds.

We need to start doing the same in order to wean our country from its current addiction to loans and its over-dependence on donor funding, as well as to attain economic independence and sustained socio-economic development, predominantly with our own local resources.

By the way, MPs should not be involved in the implementation of development projects; this should be the function of government ministries and local authorities. Besides, the provinces are already saturated with such portfolios as district commissioners, provincial ministers and provincial permanent secretaries, all of whom are supposed to complement the executive branch of the government in the implementation of development projects. To reiterate, we need to restrict the role of parliament to legislative functions — that is, law-making.

By Henry Kyambalesa

President Rupiah Banda’s Legacy

2009-10-13T11:12:00Z

There has been so much talking about “continuing with the Mwanawasa legacy” by Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) leaders recently—a legacy whose content they have not been able to explain to the Zambian people.

If the so-called “legacy” includes the introduction of free education up to Grade 7, it does not match the legacy of the United National Independence Party (UNIP), which provided free education from Grade 1 through university from independence until the mid-1980s.

If the “legacy” includes the provision of “free” healthcare to rural dwellers, it does not match UNIP’s free healthcare for all Zambians from independence until the mid-1980s. If it is about the fight against corruption, the scourge had never been pervasive until the MMD assumed power.

There is, however, still a great opportunity for President Rupiah Banda to leave his own legacy rather than continue to sing about someone else’s questionable legacy. Let me suggest some of the potential initiatives which President Banda can pursue if he is interested in leaving a legacy after his term of office:

1) Creation of a smaller Cabinet with fewer Ministers, and abolition of the positions of Deputy Minister and District Commissioner, among other sinecures.

2) Operationalization of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) in order for the broadcasting industry to be regulated by an independent body.

3) Enactment of the Freedom of Information (FoI) Bill and make it possible for journalists to access information that is vital to both the media and members of the public.

4) Creation of an autonomous “Bureau of Statistics and Archives” and place the *Zambia Daily Mail* under its auspices. The Bureau should replace the Central Statistics Office (CSO) so that it can freely and independently collect, process, maintain, and publish essential data and information about our beloved country, and should incorporate the National Archives of Zambia.

5) Establishment of an Electoral Complaints Authority of Zambia (ECAZ), which should assume the functions of the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) stipulated in Clauses 6 through 8 of Article 112 of the Draft Constitution prepared by the Mung’omba Constitutional Review Commission (CRC). These functions could be designated as a separate Article and amended accordingly.

There is a need for a separate governmental watchdog designed to monitor the activities of officers of the ECZ, and the conduct of elections in the country. This will hopefully lessen the vulnerability of the ECZ and the electoral process to the influences, manipulation and/or machinations of unscrupulous politicians and political parties.

6) Conversion of the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU), which is currently vested in the Office of the Vice-President, into an autonomous “National Emergency Management Agency” (NEMA). The agency needs to be made autonomous in order for it to perform its duties without any political meddling or manipulation by government officials to achieve partisan objectives, and should incorporate the functions of the Public Welfare Assistance Scheme currently administered through the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services, which includes the Social Cash Transfer Scheme. NEMA should be accountable to the Parliamentary Committee on Health, Community Development and Social Welfare.

I make these suggestions knowing very well that some of the MMD leaders are likely to interpret the gesture as an insult to the President and his administration.

Henry Kyambalesa

Government Uncovers Plot: What Plot?

2009-10-11T10:18:00Z

Lameck Mangani’s recent claim that the government has unearthed a scheme in which some prominent Zambians and some diplomats accredited to Zambia are conspiring to destabilize Zambia is a scam and an embarrassment to the people of Zambia.

Such a claim tells us volumes about the caliber of some the current crop of government leaders. It is a clear depiction of the shallowness of some of our leaders.

The allegation that some diplomats accredited to Zambia are conspiring with citizens to destabilize the country is a very serious matter. It would be understandable if it was an MMD riff-raff who had made such an allegation, not a government Minister responsible for Home Affairs, even if such an allegation had any merit at all.

What Zambians expect from the Minister—and other Ministers as a matter of fact–is to get the police and other investigative organs of the government to investigate his suspicions thoroughly. If the findings of such an investigation confirm his suspicions, the government can seek to prosecute Zambian citizens involved in the alleged plot through the existing legal channels. And rather than rushing to the media to castigate the diplomats, a sensible government would logically write to the home governments of the diplomats involved for their action if their diplomats are found to be wanting.

It is not in the interest of any one for the Minister to unashamedly alarm the nation with unfounded allegations of a conspiracy to destabilize the country. If there is any truth to his allegations, why can’t he name the individuals involved?

Making such a serious claim without naming the culprits can only lead to rumor-mongering and mistrust among the citizenry. President Rupiah Banda needs to caution his Ministers against making such reckless allegations. If they do not have anything important to tell the people, they would do well just to shut up than to continue to embarrass us.

*Henry Kyambalesa*

Zambia: A Leadership Vacuum

2009-10-09T09:47:00Z

We received the following from Henry Kyambalesa.

Zambians have harbored very high expectations about the socio-economic prospects of their country since October 1964 when the country gained political independence from European colonial powers. Equating political independence with not only self-rule, but also with genuine democracy and prosperity, they have continued to believe that the transfer of political power to African hands will eventually create greater opportunities for them to enhance their socio-economic well-being.

Unfortunately, the country has continued to wallow in waves of misfortunes from the time of what has come to be characterized as “nominal” or “flag” independence. It has become equated with a catalogue of unprecedented socio-economic ills – including poverty, malnutrition, disease, ignorance, illiteracy, corruption, widespread unemployment, rampant crime and lawlessness, and homelessness.

But how could a country that was once described by the World Bank as having been one of the richest countries in sub-Saharan Africa at independence in 1964 become one of the poorest 44 years later – with nearly 70% of its people wallowing in abject poverty? How could this happen to a country that was born with a copper spoon in its mouth?

The Achilles’ heel of post-independence Zambia seems to be the lack of competent leaders needed to initiate and successfully implement viable policies designed to tackle the Herculean tasks of the post-colonial era.

In this Press Release, I wish to provide a bird’s-eye view of the contribution poor leadership has made to the country’s socio-economic malaise. It is not intended to be an indictment on MMD or UNIP leadership. Rather, it is an attempt to share my views concerning some of the salient and unbearable effects of incompetent leadership on the well-being of Zambians.

First, our initial failure to diversify economic activities away from the mining industry subject ed the national economy to the vagaries of steep decreases in copper prices and production levels. To date, we have continued to give lip-service to the issue of economic diversification from copper mining to manufacturing, tourism, agriculture, and other sectors of the country’s economy.

Second, the creation of the Central Committee (a somewhat parallel structure to the National Assembly) and the position of Prime Minister that followed the introduction of a one-party State in 1972 contributed to the mismanagement of our beloved country’s meager public resources.

Third, socialist policies during the UNIP era barred both local and foreign private investors from certain commercial and industrial sectors of the country’s economy and recommended the creation of state companies to operate in such sectors of the economy from the late 1960s to 1991. The policies (which former president, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, promulgated through his April 1968, August 1969, and November 1970 addresses to the UNIP National Council) ushered in an era of state enterprises.

Naturally, the monopolistic position enjoyed by state companies in the country’s economy culminated ed in complacence and gross inefficiency be cause, in the absence of competition, they apparently found it unnecessary to seek innovative ways and means of improving the quality and quantity of their product offerings. The rampant commodity shortages which the country experienced during the UNIP era were largely a direct result of the socialist policies of the government of the day.

Fourth, our country’s postponement of macro-economic adjustment on May 1, 1987 exacerbated the socio-economic problems facing the country. The adjustment would have enabled us to create a competitive and more productive socio-economic system early enough to forestall any further deterioration of the economy.

Fifth, there have been just too many political appointments by Republican presidents that have not seemed to add any value to the resolution of the catalogue of socio-economic woes facing the majority of Zambians. Such appointments to sinecures have apparently become a routine feature of governance! As a result, we have created a nation-state where the common people are generally left to their own devices while the Republican President, the Republican Vice President, Cabinet Ministers, Deputy Ministers, District Commissioners, and other government officials have continued to revel in conspicuous, state-financed luxury.

Recently, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane was quoted as having said that Zambia will not stop seeking loans because it does not have adequate resources. How then are we going to pay back the loans?

Clearly, the MMD government wants to continue to mortgage our country and the future of our children and grandchildren through such loans. There is no attempt whatsoever to trim the highly bloated government in order to make it live within its means!

There is a need for government leaders to realize that donor countries, like Zambia, do not have unlimited financial and material resources. They have to make do with scarce resources by going through public expenditures line by line, program by program, agency by agency, department by department, and ministry by ministry in order to eliminate unnecessary application of public

resources. We need to start doing the same in order to wean our country from its current addiction to loans, its over-dependence on donor funding, as well as attain economic independence and sustained socio-economic development mostly with our own local resources. If we had leaders with vision and compass, the strikes and go-slows by teachers, nurses and resident doctors which have currently engulfed the country would have been prevented by planning ahead to improve the conditions of service of employees on government payroll. Unfortunately, we have leaders who would rather buy hearses and plan to secure a US$53 million loan to purchase mobile clinics!

And what kind of leaders do we have in the MMD who keep trekking to foreign countries for medical treatment without making any meaningful effort to improve healthcare delivery in their own country for every citizen, including them?

Sixth, there is a seemingly unwritten requirement that the Republican president needs to reshuffle his Cabinet occasionally, which has resulted in government ministers being shunted from one ministry to another as though they are jacks of all trades. There seems to be no meaningful purpose for such reshuffles, other than to use them as a means of reminding the Cabinet ministers about who their boss is – the President! Seventh, the apparent obsession for speedy privatization of state companies by MMD leaders during the 1990s without considering the fact that they were merely shifting the monopolistic positions enjoyed by such companies from government to private hands caused dislocations in the national economy. As could be expected, new private investments were not quickly made in the lines of business involved to provide the necessary competition to the buyers of the companies.

There was a need for a cautious and well-calculated pace of privatization designed to enable the government put in place a sound competition policy, a strong market for securities, and the necessary legislation to enforce contracts, among other things. Also, it was essential for the government to determine whether or not there were some economic sectors in which it would make sense for continued involvement by the government.

The privatization of state companies could not, therefore, yield expected benefits, which would have included the following: stimulation of private investment, economic empowerment of citizens through stock ownership, promotion of competition and efficiency in commerce and industry, beefing up government coffers through the sale of government holdings in state companies, reduced public-sector borrowing and government spending, and easing the financial burden of state companies on the public treasury.

Eighth, the prevalence of both petty corruption and grand corruption in the country has been a clear reflection of poor governance. The situation is likely to get worse with the single-source procurement which President Rupiah Banda’s administration seems to have adopted. Meanwhile, corruption will continue to subvert the political process in our beloved country; it will continue to thwart economic growth and stability; it will continue to undermine honest enterprise; it will continue to discourage foreign direct investment; it will continue to tarnish Zambia’s image; and it will continue to erode the country’s moral fiber.

Ninth, Zambia has lacked leaders who understand the need to make a quick transition from campaigning to governing upon being appointed or elected to positions of authority, and has also lacked leaders who recognize citizens’ right to vote for candidates of their choice without being threatened that their communities will be excluded from the development process if they do not vote for candidates fielded by the ruling political party.

Tenth, the monopoly which the party and its government have continued to maintain over the public news media is a clear reflection of dictatorial tendencies among government leaders. One wonders how public officials gauge the needs and expectations of the citizenry when the *Times of Zambia*, the *Zambia Daily Mail*, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, and the Zambia News and Information Services are maintained mainly for the purpose of showering empty praises on government leaders!

We, therefore, need government leaders who are willing to develop new attitudes, skills and strategies in order to wrestle successfully with the complex and volatile socio-economic conditions of our time. As such, we need leaders who consider themselves as being on job-on-training regardless of the extent of their previous experience in politics and governance. And such leaders should be technocrats, rather than clueless figureheads!

As we get closer to the 2011 general elections, we are going to be continually warned by MMD cadres and supporters that we should not experiment with leadership – somewhat suggesting that the deadwood among our current crop of government leaders hold the key to Zambia’s future!

We are also likely to be bombarded by rehearsed calls from the same folks that the President should be given more time to complete his projects and programs beyond 2011. Such calls are, of course, meaningless because any new Republican president would be obliged to adopt and implement existing projects and programs that are designed to benefit communities nationwide – projects and programs initiated by previous administrations!

One would perhaps do well to conclude the Press Release with the following depiction of the depressing state of affairs obtaining in our country excerpted from a 2004 Social Watch report (cited by Bivan Saluseki in *The Post* newspaper of July 2, 2004):

“Even though the country has not formally been at war since independence in 1964, prevailing conditions affecting human existence are equivalent to those in a country at war.”

The President’s Press Conference

2009-06-28T00:57:00Z

This Press Release is intended to provide a few comments and observations on President Rupiah Banda's speech presented during his Press Conference on June 24, 2009 at State House.

*Cost-Cutting Measures*:

President Banda has revealed that 50% of government's domestic revenues are spent on 1% of the population, including Ministers, the civil police and soldiers, and wondered how provision for roads, hospitals, schools, energy, and defence and security can be met.

Unfortunately, the measures he announced to address this problem are not enough - that is, rational use of personal-to-holder vehicles, suspension of purchases of luxury vehicles, limitations on trips abroad by governmentofficials, and reduction in the number of workshops held by government ministries.

The following would have made a more meaningful contribution to the resolution of the problem: a drastic reduction in the number of Cabinet Ministers, abolition of the positions of Deputy Minister and District Commissioner, and reduction in the number of Zambia's foreign embassies by having clusters of countries to be served by single embassies.

*Salaries and Wages Commission*:

The Salaries and Wages Commission proposed by the President to reconcile disparities in salary structures in the public sector is a sheer waste of time and resources. The dissatisfaction among public-sector employees and the 7 unions which represent them is about the inadequacy of compensation. What employees on government payroll want is for the government to provide for the following, which would lead to improvements in their livelihoods:

(a) Provision for home-ownership and car-ownership schemes, and adequate upward adjustments in their salaries and allowances;

(b) Provision of free life-saving healthcare to all Zambians that is respectful, that recognizes personal dignity, and that adequately provides for personal privacy;

(c) Provision of free formal education, abolition of examination fees and Grade 7 and Grade 9 elimination examinations, provision of scholarships for high-school graduates who obtain a Division 1 and low-interest loans for other high-school graduates and working Zambian men and women wishing to pursue further studies in classroom-based or correspondence-based study programs offered within Zambia; and

(d) Improvement in Zambia's food security through government-financed irrigation dams and canals, cattle re-stocking and disease control, free seeds and fertilizer for 2 years, a seed and fertilizer subsidy at 50% after
2 years, zero value-added tax on agricultural inputs and raw food, promotion of food canning, and promotion of agricultural schemes by municipalities, the civil police, the prison service, the defence forces, and educational
and training institutions.

*Good Governance*:

Zambians expect their government to apply the elements of good governance in both word and deed. The mere mention by the President that his government believes in transparency and accountability is meaningless without applying
these elements of good governance in practice.

Transparency, for example, requires members of the public to have access to information about the state, its decision-making mechanisms, and its current and planned projects and programs. The procurement of hearses by the Ministry of Local Government and Housing, which the President has sworn to have had no knowledge of when he has been both Vice President and President, provides a good example of the lack of transparency in government.

Accountability, on the other hand, entails the availability of a mechanism for ensuring that civil servants and public officials are directly accountable and liable for the outcomes of their decisions and actions, and the appropriation of resources assigned to them. The re-appointment of Dora Siliya to a Cabinet post after she was alleged to have defrauded Petauke District Council of K12.5 million in fake refund claims, mishandled the appointment of RP Capital Partners in respect of its valuation and potential sale of Zamtel, and cancellation of a duly awarded contract for the supply, delivery, installation and commissioning of a Zambia Air Traffic Management Surveillance Radar System (ZATM-RADAR) at Lusaka and Livingstone international airports provides a good example of the lack of accountability in government.

There are, of course, other elements of good governance that are not applied by President Banda's government, including the following:

(a) The existence of non-discriminatory laws and law enforcement organs of the government that are efficient, impartial, independent, and legitimate - an element that is undermined by failure by the police to arrest MMD cadres who have continually harassed journalists, newspaper vendors and other innocent citizens;

(b) Availability of channels and mechanisms through which the citizenry and non-governmental institutions can have an influence on the actions of public officials, such as the procurement of hearses and mobile clinics; and

(c) Fostering the development of a free press to facilitate the exposure of unscrupulous activities in institutional settings, such as the K10 billion theft at the Ministry of Health.

*Public Procurements*:

The President's call for the strengthening of procurement systems through the enactment of new procurement regulations is weakened by his government's adoption of single-source procurements - particularly with respect to the construction of the Kasumbalesa border post, consideration of a decision to buy a radar system, the evaluation of partial privatization of Zamtel, and consideration of the decision to buy mobile clinics.

*The Call for Sacrifice*:

The people are sick and tired of being told to make sacrifices from the 1970s to date by successive government regimes. Today, the waists of the majority of Zambians do not have any more room for further belt-tightening! The common people do not really need to make any more sacrifices than they have already made over the years. On the contrary, it is government leaders who need to avoid wasteful spending of meager national resources on maintaining sinecures, for instance, so that they can apply the savings on projects and programs that would bolster socio-economic development and lead to poverty reduction.

It is not fair for the President to ask the poor people to sacrifice any portion of their meager incomes after government leaders had given themselves hefty pay packages late last year through the Presidential Emoluments Amendments Bill and the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Emoluments Bill.

In other words, sacrifices need to be made by government leaders - even to the extent of reducing their own pay packages, and/or instituting a freeze on the not-so-essential political appointments.

So, rather than give examples of workers in Ireland and at British Airways who have taken cuts in their salaries, the Zambian government would do well to emulate the example of an African country - that is, Senegal - whose President recently announced a new Bill aimed at cutting salaries and scaling down cabinet size. According to the Bill, the President's salary would be slashed by 30%, government ministers and senators would lose 25%, while members of parliament would have their pay packets cut by 20%.

*Increase in ZESCO Tariffs*:

The President's backing of ZESCO's proposal to hike electricity tariffs by 66% is unfortunate. Unreasonably high tariffs are likely to fan away skilled personnel and locally based investors to other countries where utility and other costs are relatively lower and more stable. In fact, low and stable utility costs, among other factors, can enable the national government and local governments to lure investors from countries which have relatively high and unstable utility costs, while retaining business operators currently doing business in Zambia.

Besides, the rampant depletion of woodlands occasioned mainly by charcoal burning and fire-wood collection can be reduced greatly through affordable electricity tariffs.

*Peace and Stability*:

Sustained peace and stability, as the President has observed, are essential in Zambia's quest for heightened socio-economic development. Unfortunately, the politics of disrespect, violence and hooliganism that he says he is opposed to is being practised with impunity by cadres in his own political party.

Recent mass demonstrations by MMD youths in Lusaka and Ndola against continued membership of Ng'andu Magande, Elias Mpondela and Sebastian Kopulande are a case in point. Also, the attack on a newspaper vendor in Solwezi and the regular harassment of journalists by MMD cadres do not augur well for the maintenance of peace and stability in our beloved country.

Henry Kyambalesa