Maravi

(LUSAKATIMES) Musokotwane cautions Zambians over PF

COMMENT - Message to the dull brained and sleepy minister - there already are high levels of poverty in the country. You stated that there would be no change in poverty levels for another 30 years, following the MMD's neoliberal policies. And you seemed very contented with that idea. Minister Musokotwane cannot chastise the opposition for having policies that would 'cause high levels of poverty', when he is on record saying: " And Dr Musokotwane said it might take over 30 years for Zambia, which is this month celebrating 46 years of Independence, to accomplish meaningful poverty reduction. "

Musokotwane cautions Zambians over PF
TIME PUBLISHED - Thursday, June 16, 2011, 8:40 am

Finance and National Planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane has warned Zambians that they would grapple with huge supplementary budgets if they voted for opposition parties such as Patriotic Front (PF) that had promised to give cash to the people and undertake development projects within 90 days.

Dr. Musokotwane said such parties would leave chaos in the country because they would mismanage the economy and cause high levels of poverty since there was no example of a place where such promises had been fulfilled anywhere in the world.

The minister said this in Parliament on Tuesday evening after Kabwata PF Member of Parliament (MP) Given Lubinda submitted that the K1.4 trillion supplementary budget the Government was asking for showed lack of control and was contrary to the promise the Government made in 2003 not to overspend by more than two per cent of the budget.

This was when the House debated the Supplementary Appropriation Bill for 2009.

Mr. Lubinda said the K1.4 trillion represented about eight per cent of the national Budget and called on the minister to assemble measures that would curb over-expenditure by permanent secretaries.

But Dr Musokotwane said Mr Lubinda debated from a point of ignorance because the supplementary budget resulted from the global economic crisis when the buying power of the Zambian people went down and affected the taxation system because of uncertainty about their jobs.

The minister said as such, the Government had to spend more to cushion the impact of the crisis and also protect Zambians from losing their jobs.

He also told the House that the lack of controls had resulted from the failure by the opposition MPs to support the Constitution Amendment Bill that sought to implement the draft Constitution where progressive provisions on controlling budgets were contained.

Dr. Musokotwane said instead of supporting the progressive law, the opposition MPs from the PF walked out of the House and wondered why they were not steadfast on national matters.

He also told the House that the lack of controls had resulted from the failure by the opposition MPs to support the Constitution Amendment Bill that sought to implement the draft Constitution where progressive provisions on controlling budgets were contained

He challenged Mr Lubinda to ask if he did not understand matters and also explained that the United States of America, China and other developed countries spent more to stem losses of economic activity.

Dr. Musokotwane told the House that economics were not just about figures on how one spent more but were about explaining contexts which Mr Lubinda failed to do when he accused Government of overspending.

Bweengwa MP Highvie Hamududu urged the Government to provide a ceiling of supplementary expenditure beyond which controlling officers should not exceed.
He challenged Mr Lubinda to ask if he did not understand matters and also explained that the United States of America, China and other developed countries spent more to stem losses of economic activity.

And Foreign Affairs Minister Kabinga Pande said the Government was in the process of training officials working at Zambian missions abroad to improve their skills in promoting the country’s economic and political interests internationally.

Mr. Pande said the embassies had a lot of work for Zambia, resulting in the Zambia Development Agency approving US$2.4 billion by September last year and $7.6 billion from the Asian market between 2007 and 2010.

[ Times of Zambia ]

Labels: HIGHVIE HAMUDUDU, HYPOCRISY, KABINGA PANDE, MMD, NEOLIBERALISM, POVERTY, SITUMBEKO MUSOKOTWANE

posted by MrK @ 2:27 PM