Maravi

Zambia can be a better place to live in

Zambia can be a better place to live in
By BRUCE CHOOMA

ZAMBIA is endowed with vast natural resources that present a great opportunity for productivity in all sectors of the economy. This is most ideal for employment creation and absolutely desirable for fighting poverty. Many natural, political and socio-demographic factors work to the advantage of Zambia. It is no longer debatable that Zambia has some of the best mineral deposits in the world.

The country’s natural resources range from minerals such as copper, cobalt, zinc, lead, coal, emeralds, gold, silver and uranium to hydropower and several waterfalls like the Victoria Falls. Minerals like nickel, an important and high valu e mineral, precious stones in the gemstone mine industry and indeed, the traditional copper, can all contribute to Zambia’s gross domestic product.

According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) country profiles, Zambia utilises less than seven per cent of the land for arable purposes. Some estimates have put the water resources endowed on Zambia at 40 per cent of all the water in the southern African region; implying that in terms of crop irrigation and power generation, Zambia can potentially take care of the entire region!

At a recently held public discussion forum convened by the Economics Association of Zambia in Lusaka under the theme “Equity and Development”, panel discussant Namucana Musiwa observed that there is great potential in Zambia. But for the people’s mindset and attitude towards work!

The 2008 national Budget seeks to unlock wealth for national development, but some analysts still insist that the wealth of the country would continue to be concentrated in the hands of a few including foreigners if the work culture among Zambians does not change.

The question is: Why should work culture, which is generally defined as a system of beliefs that shapes individual and group behavior in an organisation, be such a big issue?

Although a belief system cannot be seen directly, its effects can be understood by observing the behaviors of individuals and groups. Ms Musiwa believes that most people in Zambia are unnecessarily tolerant of wrong things and when they express their anger, it is often at the wrong target.

As a case in point, the performance of the civil service has been a source of concern for a long time. Public perception has often been that civil servants are inefficient and generally have a negative attitude to work.

It may seem like acceptable practice to report late at work, take an early lunch, report back late after lunch, spend the afternoon forwarding e-mails and later on knock off before official knock off time.

“If you go to the immigration department today you will find upgraded offices and nice computers but the work culture is still the same. We need to promote a positive service culture and begin to be more pro-active as a nation,” Ms Musiwa observed.

Being proactive entails investing in planning so that every activity whether anticipated or not is met by a high level of preparedness. Some have expressed concern at what they call a reactionary attitude of waiting for things to happen and then grapple to mitigate their impact in Zambia, if recent events such as the floods and the ongoing electricity load shedding are anything to go by.

The issue of urban and city planning particularly in Lusaka is a matter of concern and one would be tempted to think that Zambia has not produced any graduates in city planning since independence.

It is a fact that as early as 1975, it was estimated that one in two persons was a squatter in Lusaka and today, the Lusaka City Council says up to 70 per cent of the total city population could be living in squatter camps or the so-called peri-urban settlements.

Local Government Minister, Sylvia Masebo seems to understand this problem very well:

“The reasons for the springing up of so many slums or illegal settlements in Lusaka have been economic, social and political altogether … but the repercussions of allowing such slums are that when floods or other natural tragedies come, the effects are very severe,” she says.

On the other hand the argument of poor planning or lack of or poor implementation of plans has been blamed for this. “Our sense of contingency planning as Zambians is very poor and we have a tendency of procrastination. We have no regard for time and we relax and convince ourselves that all will be well,” Ms Musiwa observed.

Zambia had abolished her planning system at the ministry of Finance for about a decade from 1991 -2001. Now that the Government of President Mwanawasa has revived the planning system, which has resulted in the creation of the Vision 2030 –to make Zambia a middle-income country by the year 2030 and the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP), the country has a mechanism for ensuring national development.

Centre for Policy Dialogue executive director, Neo Simutanyi observed that Zambia needs to focus on the redistribution of wealth and opportunities considering that up to 94 per cent of Zambians could be living below two dollars a day.

He says Zambia needs to rethink its governance structures so that they can become more meaningful at breaking the inequalities that exist considering that more resources are concentrated in the hands of a few people.

Dr Simutanyi called for a paradigm shift in the way things are done in the country so that people begin to see more meaningfully the benefits of their civic duties. He cited the way a majority of Zambians dread paying tax yet in other countries doings so is a noble duty that people perform with pride.

Lusaka lawyer Patrick Matibini observes that opportunities exist for Zambia to be better off hence all citizens should take keen interest in the on-going Constitution making process to ensure that the country creates for itself a legal framework that will ensure the welfare of the ordinary Zambian is taken care of.

He believes the way forward should be the inclusion of social, economic and cultural rights in the new Constitution.

Zambia’s economy has experienced modest growth in recent years, with real GDP growth in 2005-07 between 5-6 per cent per year. The country experienced a bumper harvest in 2007, which helped to boost GDP and agricultural exports and contain inflation. Although poverty continues to be a significant problem in Zambia, it is a fact that the economy has strengthened, featuring single-digit inflation, a relatively stable currency, decreasing interest rates, and increasing levels of trade.

Zambia’s contemporary culture is a blend of values, norms, material and spiritual traditions of more than 70 ethnically diverse people, there is every reason to believe that Zambia can be better off!

Labels: SYLVIA MASEBO

posted by MrK @ 5:21 AM