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Nonde questions size, cost of Cabinet

Nonde questions size, cost of Cabinet
By Joan Chirwa
Tuesday December 11, 2007 [03:00]

THE Zambian government has continued to incur huge costs because of having a large number of cabinet ministers, Zambia Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers (ZUFIAW) general secretary Joyce Nonde has said. Nonde, in an interview, said the trade union and other stakeholders have always been in support of having a small cabinet that could deliver regardless of an individual’s tribal grouping. She was commenting on chief government spokesperson Mike Mulongoti’s statement that Zambia would not emulate Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade’s decision to downsize his Cabinet from 38 to 28.

President Wade reduced his Cabinet by more than a quarter last month in solidarity with citizens in view of the rising prices of fuel and food, after he pledged a month earlier to trim the number of his ministers and cut ministerial allowances.

But Mulongoti said Zambia could not compromise national security by reducing the number of Cabinet ministers. He said Zambia needed to take into account that some tribal groupings could feel marginalised if the size of the cabinet was reduced.

But Nonde said most Zambians were not interested in tribal groupings when choosing Cabinet ministers, as long as a selected individual was capable of delivering quality services to the people.

“We are not interested in seeing tribes being represented in Cabinet. What we need are people who are able to deliver to the people. I therefore disagree with Mr. Mulongoti that reducing the number of Cabinet ministers would make other tribes feel marginalised,” Nonde said.

“That is a very old-fashioned way of talking. I personally don’t care whether my tribe is represented in Cabinet or not, as long as the team put in place is capable of making this country develop.”

Nonde said most people aspiring for high government positions were using tribes for personal gains.

“We need people who can speak on behalf of the masses and not those who just want to get to a top position for personal gain,” Nonde said.

“This is why we have this huge number of ministers in Zambia but very little work being done, and yet government has to incur costs for maintaining them in those positions at the expense of a number of poor people in this country.”

In Senegal, President Wade saw it prudent that his Cabinet be trimmed and ministerial salaries cut in a bid to reduce the suffering of the country’s poor, who have suffered high prices of basic goods like rice and bread in recent months.

A few weeks ago, riots erupted in the Senegalese capital of Dakar, with stone throwing protesters complaining about high unemployment and rising prices at a time when the government was constructing luxury hotels and four-lane highways.

Labels: CABINET, JOYCE NONDE, ZUFIAW

posted by MrK @ 6:15 AM