Energy crisis: who is to blame?

Energy crisis: who is to blame?
By Editor
Monday March 10, 2008 [03:00]

It may be true that the current energy crisis the country is facing is a result of the policies being imposed on us by the World Bank. But it is certainly not reasonable to say that the World Bank should bear the consequences of having misled the country on the energy situation.

First, how is the World Bank going to bear the consequences of having misled us? The World Bank doesn't live here. It is not accountable to the Zambian people. The World Bank never stood for any elections here - be they local government, parliamentary or presidential.

Second, the World Bank cannot force us to do what we don't want to do. We have a choice in this matter. However, we do appreciate the fact that the negotiating conditions between us and the World Bank are unequal. In some situations, they actually blackmail us to accept certain recipes from them.

It is very difficult for a powerful international financial institution like the World Bank to negotiate on level ground with a poor country like ours, a country plagued with problems and difficulties, a country that they have already undermined and weakened. Those are absolute worst conditions for negotiating; the negotiating isn't done in conditions of equality.

But we are a sovereign state with an independent government. It is said that when a free man fails, he blames nobody. We must therefore take responsibility for the fate of our country.

Moreover, it is very irresponsible for our leaders to surrender the governance and the destiny of this country into the hands of the World Bank - an institution that is run by people who have never governed a country, a town or even a village.

The energy policy of a country cannot be left totally in the hands of the World Bank or any other bank for that matter. It can also not be left totally to the whims of the private sector and the dictates of the market forces.

Energy in any country is a strategic matter that has to be dealt with at the highest level of leadership. We say this because without a clear and correct energy policy, a country cannot develop meaningfully, especially in the long term.

We shouldn't forget that other countries like the United States are even waging wars to secure energy resources or to guarantee the success of their energy policies. For these countries, the energy policies in a big way determine their foreign policies or the two are inter-twined.

This may explain why countries like Iran are prepared to face western economic sanctions in order to pursue their own energy policies - nuclear energy developments. Despite huge oil reserves which they could burn every day to generate electricity, Iran is pumping a lot of money into the development of nuclear energy.

Today, the Americans, the Europeans and the Chinese are falling over each other in the quest to gain control of Africa's energy resources while we are sitting ndwii, watching them.

When are we going to wake up and realise that no one in this world will run our country for us, will run our lives for us, and will develop our nation for us?

It is sad that an elected government can try to wash its hands in the Pontius Pilate style from the energy crisis the country is facing and blame everything on the World Bank. And this is the same government that not very long ago defied the wishes of its people, including of its parliamentarians, to sell Zambia National Commercial Bank for US $8 million to a foreign bank. Again, this is blamed on the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

There is nothing wrong in dealing with the World Bank. But like in all dealings with banks, one should not surrender oneself to a bank, to be run by a bank. Banks, including the World Bank, no matter how intelligent and experienced they may think they are, have no experience in running countries. They don't even know how to run businesses because the experts who manage them are in most cases not even entrepreneurs.

They also cannot claim to be experienced in the political management of a country. What they know best is to manage the movements of money; and very little of anything else. One cannot go to a bank so that the bank may lend him money and help run his business for him until the loan is repaid. You borrow money to help you run your business and not to give it to the bank to run it for you.

What Peter Mumba is telling us is that our government has surrendered the management of this country to the World Bank; it is the World Bank that decided the current energy policy - if one can call it a policy - that is today generating so many problems for us and threatening to halt the growth of our economy.

The problem is that the people we have in government either do not square up to the tasks and challenges of running government or do not want to work at all; they are there just to earn a living. Running a country takes a lot of effort and requires a lot of commitment. It is a responsibility that cannot be abdicated to the World Bank.

The reliance of our government on the World Bank, the IMF and other donors to run the country is frightening. They are so pleased and comforted by being praised by these institutions for having done this or that, for having achieved this or that which suits the interests of these institutions.

Our governments are actually played around with like little children. Being told that ‘you are doing better than your neighbours’ gets to the heads of our politicians and their civil servants. They actually look for the World Bank and IMF stamp, approval.

This seems to mean everything to them, even if they are facing opposition from their own people. The people who voted them into office don't seem to matter much where economic matters are concerned. In this area, there is no democracy; those in government do what they want and can only listen to the World Bank and IMF and the governments that control these two powerful institutions.

Let us learn to use our own heads and come up with our own solutions to our problems and the challenges facing us so that when we fail we blame nobody but ourselves. The World Bank is not to blame for our energy situation. The blame falls squarely on our shoulders, on our government - and on no one else.

Equally, the solution lies with us. And how we develop and finance our energy capacity should be our responsibility, not that of the World Bank. So, let's accept responsibility for what is going on in our energy sector and stop blaming the World Bank for it.