COMMENT - Watch these 'developoment project' which pick up in an election year.
Government ran out of finances for projects - Musokotwane
By Ndinawe Simpelwe
Sat 09 July 2011, 17:00 CAT
FINANCE minister Situmbeko Musokotwane says the country has a backlog of infrastructure development that needs to be addressed immediately.
Musokotwane said in interview that the government was unable to find money to offset the backlog that had characterised almost all the towns in the country hence the move to channel mining taxes towards infrastructure.
He justified the government’s move to use the money that it would recover from First Quantum Minerals in unpaid mining taxes for developing infrastructure in the country.
“We had no confidence that the money would come from the mines. Now that they will pay us, the money from FQM will go to infrastructure development because we all know that we have a backlog in terms of infrastructure,” Musokotwane said.
He said the money would be used to build roads and improve existing infrastructure in the country.
He said infrastructure was important to any country as it also played an important role in the economy.
FQM would start paying tax arrears to the Zambian government after an agreement was reached on new tax measures that were introduced in 2008.
In 2008 the government introduced new tax measures for the mines which included among them increasing mineral royalty from 0.6 per cent to 3 per cent and company tax from 25 per cent to 30 per cent a move that mining firms opposed.
However, Musokotwane recently announced that the government and the mining companies had reached an agreement for mining firms to start paying the tax in arrears.
He said FQM would pay the government US $224 million most of which he said would be used for infrastructure development.
Musokotwane was reacting to concerns raised by civil society organisations over the use of funds on projects that were not budgeted for.
Labels: 2011 ELECTIONS, CORRUPTION, MMD, SITUMBEKO MUSOKOTWANE
Read more...
Rupiah and ‘doom speakers’ on corruption
By The Post
Fri 08 July 2011, 15:20 CAT
It is shocking that Rupiah Banda can publicly declare that there is no corruption in Zambia. Rupiah says “let’s not listen to doom speakers who say that there is corruption in the country”.
Corruption has prevailed in all forms of government. Corruption in several forms prevails all over the world. Various forms of corruption include extortion, graft, bribery, cronyism, nepotism, embezzlement and patronage. Corruption allows criminal activities such as money laundering, extortion and so on and so forth to thrive.
It’s difficult for us to understand how Rupiah can publicly declare that there is no corruption in the country. How is this possible? Our own explanation is that Rupiah doesn’t want to hear the word “corruption” because it is an attack on him.
However, this actually shouldn’t shock us because this is not the first time Rupiah has failed to acknowledge corruption where it exists, where it has taken place and the responsibility of those involved in it. Rupiah has failed to see or recognise corruption when he meets it.
To Rupiah, corruption is not corruption if those involved in it are himself or those close or friendly to him. Where he or his friends are involved, Rupiah doesn’t seem to know what constitutes corruption. And let us not forget that Rupiah is the man who removed the abuse of office offence from our Anti Corruption Commission Act.
Rupiah has embraced corruption and corrupt elements and he has tried everything possible to free his friends from corruption charges and suits. This was the case with the late Frederick Chiluba. And this is what, for political expedience, they seem to be promising Katele Kalumba today if he co-operates politically.
We don’t think Rupiah doesn’t really understand what constitutes corruption. He does. But he is blinded by corruption and because of this, he fails to see it. We don’t think Rupiah doesn’t understand that the word ‘corruption’ means the destruction, ruining or the spoiling of the society or a nation.
We also don’t think that Rupiah doesn’t understand the fact that a corrupt society stops valuing integrity, virtue or moral principles.
He understands all these things very well but corruption itself stops him from acknowledging them. Corruption changes things for the worst. A corrupt society begins to decay and sets itself on the road to self-destruction.
Corruption is an age-old phenomenon. Selfishness and greed are the two main causes of corruption. Selfish people and greedy people have difficulties acknowledging that they are selfish and greedy. They don’t see selfishness as selfishness, greed as greed. They see them as something else. Sometimes one can say they live in a world of denial.
It is well known that political corruption is the abuse of power by state officials for their unlawful private gain. And this is what Rupiah has done or is trying to achieve with the removal of the abuse of office offence from our statute books.
But corruption has serious consequences. It is like a cancer that spreads very quickly if it’s not detected early and contained. It destroys all institutions and structures of society. Over 1,500 years ago, the mighty Roman Empire disintegrated when its rulers became corrupt and selfish.
Nations having a tyrannical powerful ruling group that refuses to punish the corrupt within it, face the menace of corruption. A corrupt society is characterised by immorality and lack of fear and respect for the law.
Corruption cannot be divorced from economics. In societies where traditional religious ethical teaching and standards of morality are weak, corruption often thrives. These values need to be revived. And in this effort, our religious leaders and chiefs have an important role to play.
We know that for some people like Rupiah, being corrupt, abusing their public offices is a way to get what they desire. In societies which ignore corruption, corruption becomes a way of life. But there are consequences. The consequences of corruption for social and economic development are bad. Corruption hinders economic growth and deters meaningful investment.
Where there is corruption, natural resources are misused. Careless exploitation of natural resources – from timber and minerals to wildlife – is the order of the day. Corruption has also led to the ravaging of natural environments. Environmentally devastating projects are given preference in funding because they are easy targets for siphoning off public money in to private pockets.
Clearly, the cost of corruption is four-fold: political, economic, social and environmental. On the political front, corruption constitutes a major obstacle to democracy and the rule of law. Where there is corruption, as we are starting to see in our country today, offices and institutions of the state lose their legitimacy when they are misused for private advantage.
This is what is happening today to our institutions that deal with our judicial process. They are quickly losing their legitimacy because of corruption. Public confidence in them is waning very fast because of corruption.
Accountable political leadership cannot develop in a corrupt climate. Economically, corruption leads to the depletion of natural wealth. It is often responsible for the funneling of our scarce public resources to uneconomic high-profile projects at the expense of less-spectacular but more necessary projects. Furthermore, corruption hinders the development of fair market structures and distorts competition, thereby deterring investment.
Today, to get a government contract, you have to be in good terms or on the side of those in power and in a position to give something back to them for their pockets and their election campaigns. Today people join the ruling party simply to get government business – it pays to belong to the ruling party.
The effect of corruption on the social fabric of society is the most damaging of all. It undermines people’s trust in the political system, in its institutions and its leadership.
Frustration and general apathy among a disillusioned public result in a weak society. That in turn clears the way for despots as well as democratically elected, yet unscrupulous, leaders to turn national assets into personal wealth. We saw this with Chiluba and his corrupt regime. And we are today seeing this with Rupiah and his corrupt regime.
Demanding and paying bribes becomes the norm. Those unwilling to comply are excluded from participation in the economic and political affairs of their country, depriving the country of the contribution of its most able and most honest citizens.
Where there is corruption, resources are diverted from sectors such as education and health to less important sectors or personal enrichment. A few people manage to get rich at the expense of society as a whole, while the poor suffer terribly. In the long run, unchecked corruption pushes more and more people into poverty which often destabilises a society.
Rupiah knows that there is corruption in his government. But why is he denying its existence? Rupiah is a beneficiary of the corruption that is going on in our country today. If corruption is successfully fought in our country, Rupiah’s hold on power will end very quickly. It is corruption that is keeping him in power. Without corruption, Rupiah’s hold on power will cease.
Look at how corruptly his regime is abusing the state-owned and government-controlled media to keep themselves in power in total disregard of the legal rights of other political players and citizens!
Look at the way they are corruptly abusing the judicial process to protect the corruption and abuses of their league! There is an old axiom often applied to those with political ambitions: power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.
In this case, the term corruption means the abuse of a public office for personal gain or other illegal or immoral benefit. Political corruption is a recognised criminal offence, along with bribery, extortion and embezzlement – the illegal acts associated with corruption in office.
Some forms of corruption may escape legal notice, such as hiring of relatives for key positions, but they may not escape the scrutiny of voters on election day. Whenever a person accepts a political appointment or wins election to an office, he must take an oath to uphold the public trust. While this may sound noble on paper, enforcement of this oath can prove problematic.
Very few political candidates successfully reach office without making a few promises along the way. Many of these campaign promises are harmless. But there are others which come closer to crossing an ethical line, such as hiring relatives or awarding government contracts to relatives, friends and other influential contributors.
Rupiah needs to understand that when we talk about corruption, we also mean the misuse of entrusted power for private gain. And those who are speaking about his misuse of entrusted power are not “doom speakers” but responsible citizens trying to create a more prosperous, just, fair and humane society.
And people can fight corruption by speaking out and letting the state know that they have had enough of it. They are not doom speakers. It is Rupiah who is a doom leader.
Labels: CORRUPTION, RUPIAH BANDA
Read more...
COMMENT - Another MMD head moving to the PF. 'Let's see' what happens in the next few days.
Lameck Mangani quits government, MMD
By George Chellah
Sat 09 July 2011, 14:59 CAT
LAMECK Mangani has resigned from the MMD and government. In a letter to President Rupiah Banda dated July 8, 2011, Mangani, who is Chipata Central member of parliament and works and supply deputy minister, stated that he had resigned with immediate effect.
“I have the honour to address, Your Excellency, in connection with the above matter and hereby wish to tender my resignation with immediate effect from the position of deputy minister works and supply,” Mangani stated.
“I take this opportunity to thank you most sincerely for the confidence, Your Excellency, reposed in me by this appointment and the earlier appointment when you promoted me to the position of Minister of Home Affairs.”
Mangani stated that it was a great honour and privilege for him to serve the people of Zambia through these appointments.
“I am also grateful to the late president Mwanawasa who first appointed me deputy minister of mines and mineral development and later transferred me to the Eastern Province as provincial minister and subsequently Lusaka provincial minister,” Mangani stated.
“I think to have been given the privilege of working in six (6) ministries in a period of five years was exciting notwithstanding some ups and downs that I might have experienced during this tour of duty. I wish to assure you of my loyalty to the people of Zambia as we continue serving them in our various capacities.”
And in his letter dated July 8, 2011 to MMD national secretary Major Richard Kachingwe, Mangani stated that that he had withdrawn his party membership.
“This note serves to inform you that after careful consideration and thorough consultations with family members and many other stakeholders, I have decided to terminate my membership in the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) with immediate effect. Arriving from this action, I have equally withdrawn my candidature as an MMD aspiring candidate for the Chipata Central Constituency,” Mangani stated.
“I, therefore, take this opportunity to thank you and the general membership at large for the support rendered to me during the period of service to the party. I appreciate what you personally did by travelling to Chipata to resolve most of the issues surrounding me.
“I am aware you did that with your personal conviction that harmony should prevail in the party. Nevertheless, I think I have endured a lot considering what I have gone through from the time I was elected member of parliament for Chipata Central Constituency. I feel this is the time for me to move on and choose my own political destiny.”
Mangani also thanked the people of Chipata, who voted for him as their member of parliament under the MMD ticket.
“Furthermore, I wish to thank the constituency executive committee for the support they rendered to me both during hard times and moments of happiness. With their confidence they recently listed me as their preferred candidate for the 2011 tripartite elections,” Mangani stated.
“I wish also to appreciate the district as well as the Eastern Province executive committee for their support. Lastly, but not least, I wish to extend my thanks to the general membership of the party in Eastern Province for their support particularly when I served as the provincial chairman of the party.”
And when reached for comment, Mangani said he would be consulting his supporters in Chipata and would be announcing his next move soon.
“I will be making the announcement in Chipata in the next few days after consultations with my people,” said Mangani.
Labels: LAMECK MANGANI, MMD, PF
Read more...
Nigeria World Bank chief quits to become finance minister
By Reuters News
Sat 09 July 2011, 16:00 CAT
World Bank managing director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala resigned her post on Friday in order to become Nigeria's new finance minister, spurring hopes of reform in sub-Saharan Africa's second biggest economy.
Okonjo-Iweala will take up an expanded position as Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance in Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's new cabinet, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said in a statement.
"Her desire to serve her country is truly a big loss for the World Bank but a major gain for Nigeria as it works to craft its economic way forward," he said.
Government sources told Reuters two weeks ago that Jonathan had asked Okonjo-Iweala, a respected former finance minister who helped negotiate debt rescheduling in 2005, to return to her old position with broad powers over economic management.
Jonathan was sworn in for his first full term on May 29 following general elections and his ministerial choices are being closely watched by Nigerians and foreign investors keen for a team capable of driving badly needed reforms.
"We think President Goodluck Jonathan's selection of the World Bank MD will result in a vote of confidence for his administration, and suggests he is serious about initiating fiscal reforms," Renaissance Capital said in a research note.
Okonjo-Iweala laid out her vision for the Nigerian economy during her screening by the Senate on Wednesday, pledging she would create jobs and ensure the country "lives within its means" if approved as a cabinet minister.
The high cost of government has been a major concern for economists and investors. Recurrent expenditure accounts for well over half of spending despite poor public services.
MINISTERS SWORN IN
Jonathan swore in 17 other ministers on Friday including outgoing finance minister Olusegun Aganga, who is expected to be put in charge of a newly-expanded commerce and investment portfolio, presidency sources said.
Their roles will formally be announced next week.
Aganga, a former Goldman Sachs executive, is expected to oversee the sovereign wealth fund created under his administration as part of his new post, the sources said.
Okonjo-Iweala would also have been sworn in on Friday but returned to the United States in order to resign and would be confirmed once back in Nigeria, the presidency sources said.
Jonathan reappointed 12 outgoing ministers to their old jobs a week ago, including oil minister Deziani Alison-Madueke, a move his critics saw as an uninspiring start.
The inclusion of Okonjo-Iweala in the cabinet could lend more weight to his reform ambitions, although sceptics question whether she will have the full political backing she needs.
"As a reformist, her reputation speaks for itself," said Razia Khan, head of Africa research at Standard Chartered.
"Whether Ms. Okonjo-Iweala is given the necessary political backing to enact key reforms ... will also be closely watched."
Labels: FINANCE MINISTER, NEOLIBERALISM, NIGERIA, World Bank
Read more...
PF’s growing popularity a source of insomnia for MMD, says Lubinda
By Bright Mukwasa
Sat 09 July 2011, 12:59 CAT
THE growing popularity of the PF has become a source of insomnia for the MMD, says Kabwata PF member of parliament Given Lubinda. Lubinda said machinations to estrange the Patriotic Front would not work.
“The growing popularity of the party has undoubtedly become a source of insomnia for MMD strategists and propagandists. They will stop at nothing in trying to create antagonism amongst us,” Lubinda told journalists during a media briefing yesterday.
“At some point they stated that Mbita Chitala, Mike Mulongoti and George Mpombo were being preferred by Mr Sata instead of the long standing leaders of the party; then they claimed that new comers were to take over positions of leadership at the conference. Now they are alleging that we cannot trust Mbita, Mike and George. How inconsistent?”
He congratulated Sata on his election as party president and the PF general membership for the just-ended successful general conference held at Mulungushi Rock of Authority in Kabwe.
Lubinda, who has complained to the police, also dismissed the email circulating on the Zambian Watchdog allegedly authored by him to PF secretary general Wynter Kabimba arguing over the US$45 million the party allegedly received from Taiwan and Afghanistan for campaigns, among other issues.
“What a pity that in the pursuit of cheap political mileage the authors of this poorly written email can go to an extent of risking the security of innocent individuals by alleging that they are to be couriers of laundered money. Shame upon them,” he said.
“It is my hope that ZNBC, Daily Mail and Times of Zambia will follow the investigations with equal vigour to the one they exerted on the allegation. It is time that they proved their journalistic prowess by ensuring that they assist investigating wings of government through in depth searching for the truth.”
He also said the government was on one hand sponsoring its minions to make wild allegations against the Catholic Church while pretending to make amends with it, a church which has been called names through education minister Dora Siliya.
PF’s growing popularity a source of insomnia for MMD, says Lubinda
Labels: 2011 ELECTIONS, GIVEN LUBINDA, MMD, PF
Read more...
Govt sets growth strategy
Friday, 08 July 2011 02:00
Herald Reporter
VICE President Joice Mujuru, flanked by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai (right) and Secretary for Economic Planning and Invest- ment Promotion Dr Desire Sibanda, displays the Medium Term Plan document during its launch in Harare yesterday.
GOVERNMENT yesterday launched the Medium Term Plan, an economic blueprint that envisages to trigger sustainable annual economic growth rate of seven percent from this year to 2015.
The plan also guides Government and investors on priority areas critical to turn around the economy over the next five years.
The MTP - launched by Vice President Joice Mujuru in Harare - outlines economic policies, projects and programmes to guide the country.
VP Mujuru described the MTP as a national economic development stra-tegy that responds to the mandate es-poused in Article 111 of the Global Political Agreement to support the re-storation of economic stability, growth and development.
"While STERP (Short Term Emergency Recovery Programme) was de-signed to restore macro-economic stability in the short-term, Government saw the need to come up with a nati-onal development strategy to guide policy planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation to ensure sustainable economic growth and development, hence the formulation of the five-year Medium Term Plan, which we are launching today," she said.
STERP was introduced in 2009 to bring about macro-economic stability.
VP Mujuru said Zimbabweans cra-fted the MTP through an extensive consultative process.
She said MTP sets the platform for consolidating macro-economic stabi-lity achieved under STERP.
VP Mujuru said MTP sought to establish a framework for Zimbabwe to emerge as a vibrant, private sector-driven economy.
"The plan envisages a sustainable annual economic growth rate of seven percent in the period 2011-2015, which should result in significant job creation for poverty eradication," she said.
VP Mujuru said it was Governme-nt's wish to surpass the projected economic growth rate.
She noted that the projected economic growth rate fell short of the target set by the business sector early this year of a US$100 billion economy by 2030.
"However, Government, in laun-ching this plan, is not only interested in economic growth but also in the equitable distribution of wealth. This is why due emphasis is accorded to the indigenisation and economic empowerment programme," VP Mujuru said.
She added: "In launching this blueprint, we are effectively pronouncing our national priorities and national key result areas. It is therefore our expectation as Government that the private sector, co-operating partners and the donor community are guided accordingly by those national priorities in complementing our national efforts."
During the MTP period, VP Mujuru said, the Government would be guided by the vision of enhancing a democratic developmental State anchored on a growing, transforming and socially just economy.
"To achieve this vision, it is paramount that we as Zimbabweans, chart our own destiny, foster national unity and maintain harmonious working relationships and defend the gains of our hard won independence and sovereignty," she said.
VP Mujuru said the launch of the plan placed the country on a growth path inspired by experiences in such countries as China, Brazil and India, among others.
She said MTP was intended to promote capital accumulation, utilise reserves of unemployed labour, undertake policies that induce industrialisation based on value addition and promote domestic resource mobilisation.
"The success of this MTP hinges on singularity and unity of purpose among all Zimbabweans and across all sectors of the economy.
"We should be committed to ensuring that this plan is fully implemented and that there is close co-ordination of all Government departments, the private sector and other stakeholders to ensure effective implementation of the same, as it forms Zimbabwe's heritage," VP Mujuru said.
In his address earlier, PM Tsvangirai said the inclusive Government was dysfunctional.
"The question I want to pose to all of you is why should Zimbabweans and outsiders believe in this MTP? We have had so many plans. Why should we be inspired by this MTP?" he said, adding: "If you look at the inclusive Government, the first one and half years were progressive but for the last six months, it has been discord and dysfunctional. You ask yourself why don't we go back to a situation we united the country?"
PM Tsvangirai said there has to be policy consistency if the MTP was to be successful.
He expressed hope that all Government departments would work towards the implementation of the plan.
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara said politics was impeding economic turnaround.
"The MTP would be problematic until we resolve our politics," he said.
Labels: ARTHUR MUTAMBARA, IMF, JOICE MUJURU, NEOLIBERALISM, STERP
Read more...
Biti insists no cash for civil servants
Friday, 08 July 2011 02:00
Herald Reporter
Finance Minister Tendai Biti is still arguing that there is no money to award civil servants a salary increase. However, principals in the inclusive Government are reportedly insisting the pay rise announced last week must stand.
Minister Biti's view is reportedly influenced by
the IMF, which is helping the Ministry of Finance craft the mid-term budget review. Minister Biti was among the three Cabinet ministers who briefed President Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara on GPA issues, civil servants' salaries and the media on Wednesday.
Last Friday's increase raised the pay of the least paid civil servant from US$186 to US$253 per month, including housing and transport allowances.
In his presentation to the principals titled "Public Service Remuneration Review Implications", Minister Biti argues that the review will increase the monthly civil service wage bill by US$29 million to around US$104 million against a monthly average of US$75 million from January to June.
BITI AND CIVIL SERVANTS
* Govt pay rise confirmed
* Govt pay rise: Ball in Biti's court
* PM under fire over civil servants' pay
By December, the cost would be around US$204 million inclusive of the bonus payment, the minister says.
He also said the Public Service Remuneration Framework entailed that salaries of workers of Grant Aided Institutions be adjusted in line with the review for the civil service.
The monthly wage bill of these institutions will rise by around US$4 million to US$19 million per month.
Minister Biti said the pension bill would also rise by US$7 million to US$27 million per month.
"Implementation of Option B1 (salary review), therefore, increases the monthly employment cost bill, excluding employer contributions for medical insurance and NSSA, to around US$150 million from the current monthly average of US$110 million.
"The additional cost of the July review on the 2011 budget is thus estimated at around US$263 million.
"Cumulatively, the additional employment cost will amount to US$373 million after taking into account the existing shortfall of US$110 million," Minister Biti says.
He said the projected outturn on employment costs inclusive of employer contributions for medical insurance and NSSA was estimated at around US$1,8 billion against a budget provision of US$1,4 billion.
The 2011 budget provides for expenditure amounting to US$2,7 billion with US$1,3 billion reserved for operations and capital expenditure and the rest for labour costs, the Minister argued.
"The resulting employment costs outturn of US$1,8 billion reduces budget support for operations and capital expenditure by around US$400 million to US$0,9 billion.
"The anticipated diamond revenues of US$167 million are therefore not adequate to cover the US$400 million gap.
"Given this development, the rationalisation of budget expenditures to the tune of US$233 million becomes inevitable."
Minister Biti said this entailed foregoing spending on budgeted programmes and projects in such areas as security services, social expenditure in health, education, social protection and infrastructural rehabilitation and development.
He said the restructured 2011 budget would not be able to accommodate additional national demands amounting to US$371 million in the following areas:
* grain procurement
* support to food insecure household(s)
* support for the 2011/12 vulnerable farmers input scheme
* 2011 winter wheat programme
* student support
* on-going housing works; and
* arrears to service providers
"The implications and impact are negative as shown above and I wish to bring this to the attention of Cabinet," Minister Biti said.
But sources said last week's salary increase was irreversible and the principals' stance was that money has to be found.
President Mugabe has maintained that civil servants' salaries must be improved because they were pathetic.
PM Tsvangirai was also quoted in media reports saying last week's increase was too little because it left Government workers still earning below the Poverty Datum Line.
Labels: IMF, NEOLIBERALISM, TENDAI BITI
Read more...
Reason Wafawarova: Responsibility to protect: Imperial doctrine
Thursday, 07 July 2011 04:00
Reason Wafawarova
It must be uncontroversial that there is such a thing as the "responsibility to protect", since this has long been recognised by the United Nations and most, if not all of the member states.
But, the occasional resort to this "emerging international norm" as President Obama's UN ambassador Susan Rice calls it; must not be confused with the aspiration for peace by nation states that have for long been calling for protection of hapless victims of disproportionate and unjustified force - the "responsibility to protect."
Firstly the principle itself is not "emerging", especially when one looks at how the doctrine is interpreted by the West, not least the way it is being interpreted in the blatant brutalities currently being executed by the triumvirate US, UK and France in Libya - ruthlessness guised as the protection of Libyan people by the inherently murderous and demolition-inspired NATO. Rather than "emerging" the doctrine stands in history as a venerable tradition of the West, applied whenever there arises a need to invoke a regime of violence to sustain the imperial doctrine, especially when all other pretexts are lacking.
Adam Smith observed that the "merchants and manufacturers" of England were "the principal architects" of state policy, and made sure that their own interests "were most peculiarly attended to," however "grievous" the effects on others, including the people of England. He was referring to the mercantilist system, the forerunner to the imperialist doctrine. In a generalised form, Smith's observation stands as "one of the very few authentic principles of the theory of international relations," as noted by Noam Chomsky.
The other fundamental principle noted by Chomsky is the maxim of Thucydides that says the strong do as they wish, and the weak suffer as they must. This and Smith's principle cannot be treated as the end of wisdom, but they essentially take us a long way in understanding world affairs.
There is another pervasive principle that says those who hold the clubs can carry out their work effectively only with the benefit of self-induced blindness. This is the principle of intellectual history formulated by Francis Jennings. It includes selective historical amnesia and a variety of devices to evade the consequences of one's actions.
In contrast to this clever gimmick, it is permissible, if not obligatory, to posture heroically about the crimes of enemies, lying freely if it helps the story, particularly when it is important to create public hate against the enemy in question. This is what we see happening in Libya today. There is so much lying against Gaddafi to the extent that the heap of lies has assumed reality status for what is happening within that country.
The decade-long lies peddled after President Robert Mugabe's takeover of colonially occupied land in Zimbabwe is another example. All the world was told was that Mugabe had ordered a barbaric land grab against very productive white commercial farmers who had made Zimbabwe "the breadbasket of Africa," giving this land to "unskilled black farmers" and "his cronies" - that way rendering "thousands of farm worker jobless".
Professor Ian Scoones of the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University recently disproved all these untrue assertions in a detailed study carried to assess the Zimbabwe land reform programme. The myths were exposed for what they are; mere myths and propaganda.
This propaganda denouncing the land reform has nothing said about 4 000 white commercial farmers occupying 75 percent of Zimbabwe's arable land, sidelining millions of blacks to unproductive and overcrowded corners of the country; or about how the black farmers have been improving yields each year since the agrarian reforms began in 2000, especially the tobacco farmers. One can quote the standard high school textbook in the US, where a conventional version of the Columbian era is that for thousands of centuries in which human races were evolving, forming communities and building the beginnings of civilisations in Africa, Asia and Europe - the continents of the Americas stood empty of mankind and its works. Thus, we have the story of Europeans in the empty lands across the world - a story where Europeans created civilisations where none existed, "discovering" places such as Zimbabwe's Victoria Falls, after being led to the natural miracle by the indigenous people. Of course, the knowledge of these locals is no different to that of the fish that swam in the falling waters, or the baboons that came to drink from the running River Zambezi - so it counts for no human knowledge.
The fact that some "savages" were seen wondering in these "discovered" places, which in fact were "empty spaces" is of little moment. US poet Walt Whitman explained that America's conquests "take off shackles that prevent men the even chance of being happy and good." After the conquest of half of Mexico by his rapacious colleagues, Whitman asked rhetorically, "What has miserable, inefficient Mexico got to do with the great mission of peopling the New World with a noble race?"
His thoughts were made clearer by the leading humanist thinker of the time, Ralph Emerson, who wrote that the annexation of Texas was simply a matter of course. He wrote: "It is very certain that the strong British race which has now overrun much of this continent, must also overrun that trace, and Mexico and Oregon also, and it will in the course of ages be of small import by what particular occasions and methods it was done."
As recently as 1969, the leading scholarly history of US diplomacy explained that after liberating themselves from British rule, the united thirteen colonies were able to "concentrate on the task of felling trees and Indians, and of rounding out their natural boundaries," as written by Thomas Bailey. As the founding father of imperialist United States of America said, the country was founded as an "infant empire." Said George Washington, "The gradual extension of our settlements will as certainly cause the savage, as the wolf, to retire; both being beasts of prey, though they differ in shape." Indeed today's US foreign policy sees non-allies as beasts of prey, especially non white ones.
Washington went on to say, "We must induce the Aborigines to relinquish our Territories and to remove into the illimitable regions of the West." Of course Washington's people were to "induce" the Amerindians to leave for heaven. The territories became the property of the colonialists by right of conquest as all colonised peoples across the world were regularly instructed. Even Thomas Jefferson concurred with George Washington, predicting that the newly liberated colonies would drive the indigenous population "with the beasts of the forests into the Stony Mountains," so that the country would be "free of blot or mixture." Then, it was anticipated that blacks would be repatriated to Africa after the end of slavery.
In 1801, Jefferson wrote to James Munroe and advised him to "look forward to distant times, when our rapid multiplication will expand and cover the whole northern if not the southern continent, with people speaking the same language, governed in similar forms, and by similar laws."
James Madison added that the US needed to "carry on the benevolent plans which have been so meritoriously applied to the conversion of our aboriginal neighbours from the degradation and wretchedness of savage life to a participation of the improvements of which the human mind and manners are susceptible in a civilised state. With our Indian neighbours, the just and benevolent system continued toward them has also preserved peace and is more and more advancing habits favourable to their civilisation and happiness."
This was despite the acknowledged policy of expelling and exterminating the same Amerindians. Clearly it can be reasonably argued that citations of some of these historical utterances can be misleading in the modern day world, especially when one looks at the so-called globalised world. But, perhaps we may need to look at the perpetuation of the doctrine that led to these utterances as the basis upon which a semblance of relevance can be derived.
It is true that utterances that were common rhetoric a few years ago would be condemned as vulgar racism today in many parts of the world. That is a sign of progression easily attributable to activism against imperial hegemony and other injustices of this world. President Theodore Roosevelt explained how Western hegemony is a matter of benefit for those upon whom it may be visited. He explained: "The expansion of the peoples of white or European blood during the past four centuries has been fraught with lasting benefit to most of the peoples already dwelling in the lands over which the expansion took place."
He added, "We are in fact their benefactors," despite what the ungrateful leftists and Pan Africanist zealots may mistakenly believe. Such versions of history are in fact the standard themes of imperial conquest - themes based on the belief in the humanity of the resort to force by the powerful. This is the basis of the "emerging international norm that recognises the ‘responsibility to protect' innocent civilians facing death on a mass scale," in the words of Susan Rice.
It is rather surprising that mass starvation in the developing countries caused by Western protectionism, even by Western strangulation as is the case with the sanctions-induced suffering of Zimbabweans, does not seem to attract the appropriate sense of "responsibility to protect" - a mere act of humanity where food is supplied, and fair trade is ensured. Trillions of dollars go into wars of aggression in a matter of months, while out of the $12,3 billion pledged in Rome last year, to offset global food crises, only $1 billion has reportedly been delivered. Rather, we hear of trillions of dollars going into military interventions and other political machinations aimed at creating client states out of weaker and destitute peoples - the notorious regime change doctrine.
Back in history the Spanish were very frank in instructing the natives on how to be subordinate to imperial authority. They said if the natives "acknowledge the Church as the Ruler and Superior of the whole world" then we "shall receive you in all love and charity, and shall leave you, your wives, and your children, and your lands, free without servitude," and even "award you many privileges and exemptions, and will grant you many benefits," fulfilling the Spanish responsibility protect.
Indeed, those protected do have responsibilities too, as sternly admonished by Spanish humanitarians who said: "If you do not (meet your obligations) we shall powerfully enter your country, and shall make war against you in all ways and manners that we can and we protest that the deaths and losses which shall accrue from this are your fault, and not that of the Highnesses, or ours, nor of these cavaliers who come with us."
Does this not resonate to the present situation in Libya? We are told that the deaths and losses resulting from NATO's high precision bomb attacks on Libya are the responsibility of Muammar Gaddafi; that they are absolutely his fault, just as it is Robert Mugabe's fault that the Western imposed illegal economic sanctions have resulted in so much loss and deaths for Zimbabwe. The colonial legacy was founded on the doctrine that the colonists were benevolent humanists, responding in a godly way to the pleas of the miserable natives to be rescued from their bitter pagan fate.
Today, the "democratisation" doctrine is founded on similar beliefs. We are told that Western elites are benevolent humanists responding selfishly to the plight of desperate masses across the world - people declared dying to live the Western style of life, so desperately calling for help as they wallow in the grasp of nasty dictatorships and in miserably primitive values and ways of living; some still dressing in ridiculously long garments and even wearing veils on their faces. They need to be freed, we are told.
Some of these backward people are so primitive that they do not understand the nobility of homosexuality and same sex marriages, vehemently declaring laws banning this practice. These are the miserable people of Africa being led by governments that do not understand that the development of Africa is solely dependent on the benevolence of Western investors - the only people blessed with the skill of developing industry and employing labour-gifted non-Westerners.
Malawi was recently threatened with total disinvestment for preferring anti-homosexuality laws. The Western leaders are convinced that they are the only people in the world with the proper idea of governing countries, and on this very noble assumption they believe they must rid the developing world of its non-compliant leadership so the whole world can benefit from the selfless benevolence of the West.
This is the "pro-democracy" movement that defines all dissenting voices as anti-democracy, anti-civilisation and even anti-human rights. It is this benevolence of Westerners that gave us Ronald Reagan, with all the ghastly crimes of his years in office, leaving not only slaughter and utter destruction in much of the world, but also major threats of nuclear war and terror, and as a bonus to all of us, a major contribution to global jihadism.
In 1898, the US was determined to occupy and take over Cuba through settler colonialism - the cruellest of all forms of imperialism. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge called for intervention in Cuba, lauding proudly the US record "of conquest, colonisation, and territorial expansion unequalled by any people in the 19th century," and he urged that it was "not to be curbed now" as he reckoned the Cubans were, like all others, pleading for Americans to come over and help them.
Indeed, the imagined plea was swiftly answered. The United States sent in troops, thereby preventing Cuba's liberation from Spain and turning it into a virtual colony, as it remained until 1959. This is the same script for Afghanistan; whose liberation from the US-installed Taliban government was prevented by the US, as they have virtually turned the country into a neo-colony, literally running its affairs through the corrupt puppet leader, Hamid Kharzai.
The same could easily happen in Libya, if African countries fail to do the reasonable thing of militarily teaming up against NATO to defend the falling sovereignty of that country. How, it may be asked? It is clear every African country stands in a position where it can fight the aggression in Libya without necessarily going to Libya.
The Western interests spread far and wide don't they?
Unity is stronger than lethal bombs and atomic bombs.
Libya will be turned into a virtual colony and, the demise of that shining example of prosperity could trigger new energy for Westerners to repeat the conquest elsewhere in Africa. That, Africa must stop by any means necessary and there must be no apologies. For more than 50 years we have seen this remarkable campaign to restore Cuba to its rightful place. We have seen this vicious economic warfare with the clearly articulated aim of punishing the population so that they can overthrow the disobedient government.
The US has invaded, terrorised and carried out other heinous crimes against the people of Cuba in defiance of unanimous world opinion - even in violation of UN General Assembly resolutions.
We have seen the same remarkable economic warfare against Zimbabwe for more than ten years now. The US even came up with a sanctions law so it could punish its own citizens, should they deal with a country being punished by the elites for its blatant disobedience to imperial authority; even daring to oust white commercial farmers and redistributing "their" land to "unskilled black farmers".
Whether it is Libya, Cuba, Iran or Zimbabwe the line of pretexts never changes. The US and its Western allies are dead committed to bring democracy to these countries, to free them from the tyranny their own leadership is, to introduce to the people the glory and sweetness of limitless freedoms and happiness enshrined in Western democracy.
Zimbabwe has brought itself back to the wrath of America, this time well supported by Canada, for daring to exclude Western investors from the lucrative diamond industry.
The two neighbouring Westerners are vowing to stop the certification of Zimbabwe diamonds by the KP process basing their position on the most frivolous of pretexts ever heard in history. They argue that there is no consensus to have Zimbabwe's diamonds certified, yet they cannot point to any other country that has stood opposed to this certification beyond themselves.
It is remarkably amazing that the US and its Western allies can still stand in the name of defending the common people in weaker nations. More startling is the fact that this fallacy still has currency even among the people whose plight the West is fond of abusing.
There are Zimbabwean nationals with the amazing naivety, or is it foolishness; to support the blocking of diamond trade by the insane elites from the US and Canada.
How that should ever make any form of sense is a wonder that no sane person can ever comprehend.
It would appear like Western powers will always rely on willing puppets from the ranks of the population whose resources they target for imperialistic exploitation. In Zimbabwe, the MDC-T leadership has long enjoyed the politics of fronting Western interests and they believe their behaviour is some form of struggle for democracy, even shamelessly describing their traitorous conduct as heroic.
But, lies never triumph.
Zimbabwe we are one and together we will overcome.
It is homeland or death.
Reason Wafawarova is a political writer and can be contacted on reason@rwafawarova.com
Labels: COLONIALISM, LAND REFORM, NEOLIBERALISM, PROPAGANDA, REASON WAFAWAROVA
Read more...
Rupiah and ‘doom speakers’ on corruption
By The Post
Fri 08 July 2011, 15:20 CAT
It is shocking that Rupiah Banda can publicly declare that there is no corruption in Zambia. Rupiah says “let’s not listen to doom speakers who say that there is corruption in the country”.
Corruption has prevailed in all forms of government. Corruption in several forms prevails all over the world. Various forms of corruption include extortion, graft, bribery, cronyism, nepotism, embezzlement and patronage. Corruption allows criminal activities such as money laundering, extortion and so on and so forth to thrive.
It’s difficult for us to understand how Rupiah can publicly declare that there is no corruption in the country. How is this possible? Our own explanation is that Rupiah doesn’t want to hear the word “corruption” because it is an attack on him.
However, this actually shouldn’t shock us because this is not the first time Rupiah has failed to acknowledge corruption where it exists, where it has taken place and the responsibility of those involved in it. Rupiah has failed to see or recognise corruption when he meets it.
To Rupiah, corruption is not corruption if those involved in it are himself or those close or friendly to him. Where he or his friends are involved, Rupiah doesn’t seem to know what constitutes corruption. And let us not forget that Rupiah is the man who removed the abuse of office offence from our Anti Corruption Commission Act.
Rupiah has embraced corruption and corrupt elements and he has tried everything possible to free his friends from corruption charges and suits. This was the case with the late Frederick Chiluba. And this is what, for political expedience, they seem to be promising Katele Kalumba today if he co-operates politically.
We don’t think Rupiah doesn’t really understand what constitutes corruption. He does. But he is blinded by corruption and because of this, he fails to see it. We don’t think Rupiah doesn’t understand that the word ‘corruption’ means the destruction, ruining or the spoiling of the society or a nation.
We also don’t think that Rupiah doesn’t understand the fact that a corrupt society stops valuing integrity, virtue or moral principles.
He understands all these things very well but corruption itself stops him from acknowledging them. Corruption changes things for the worst. A corrupt society begins to decay and sets itself on the road to self-destruction.
Corruption is an age-old phenomenon. Selfishness and greed are the two main causes of corruption. Selfish people and greedy people have difficulties acknowledging that they are selfish and greedy. They don’t see selfishness as selfishness, greed as greed. They see them as something else. Sometimes one can say they live in a world of denial.
It is well known that political corruption is the abuse of power by state officials for their unlawful private gain. And this is what Rupiah has done or is trying to achieve with the removal of the abuse of office offence from our statute books.
But corruption has serious consequences. It is like a cancer that spreads very quickly if it’s not detected early and contained. It destroys all institutions and structures of society. Over 1,500 years ago, the mighty Roman Empire disintegrated when its rulers became corrupt and selfish.
Nations having a tyrannical powerful ruling group that refuses to punish the corrupt within it, face the menace of corruption. A corrupt society is characterised by immorality and lack of fear and respect for the law.
Corruption cannot be divorced from economics. In societies where traditional religious ethical teaching and standards of morality are weak, corruption often thrives. These values need to be revived. And in this effort, our religious leaders and chiefs have an important role to play.
We know that for some people like Rupiah, being corrupt, abusing their public offices is a way to get what they desire. In societies which ignore corruption, corruption becomes a way of life. But there are consequences. The consequences of corruption for social and economic development are bad. Corruption hinders economic growth and deters meaningful investment.
Where there is corruption, natural resources are misused. Careless exploitation of natural resources – from timber and minerals to wildlife – is the order of the day. Corruption has also led to the ravaging of natural environments. Environmentally devastating projects are given preference in funding because they are easy targets for siphoning off public money in to private pockets.
Clearly, the cost of corruption is four-fold: political, economic, social and environmental. On the political front, corruption constitutes a major obstacle to democracy and the rule of law. Where there is corruption, as we are starting to see in our country today, offices and institutions of the state lose their legitimacy when they are misused for private advantage.
This is what is happening today to our institutions that deal with our judicial process. They are quickly losing their legitimacy because of corruption. Public confidence in them is waning very fast because of corruption.
Accountable political leadership cannot develop in a corrupt climate. Economically, corruption leads to the depletion of natural wealth. It is often responsible for the funneling of our scarce public resources to uneconomic high-profile projects at the expense of less-spectacular but more necessary projects. Furthermore, corruption hinders the development of fair market structures and distorts competition, thereby deterring investment.
Today, to get a government contract, you have to be in good terms or on the side of those in power and in a position to give something back to them for their pockets and their election campaigns. Today people join the ruling party simply to get government business – it pays to belong to the ruling party.
The effect of corruption on the social fabric of society is the most damaging of all. It undermines people’s trust in the political system, in its institutions and its leadership.
Frustration and general apathy among a disillusioned public result in a weak society. That in turn clears the way for despots as well as democratically elected, yet unscrupulous, leaders to turn national assets into personal wealth. We saw this with Chiluba and his corrupt regime. And we are today seeing this with Rupiah and his corrupt regime.
Demanding and paying bribes becomes the norm. Those unwilling to comply are excluded from participation in the economic and political affairs of their country, depriving the country of the contribution of its most able and most honest citizens.
Where there is corruption, resources are diverted from sectors such as education and health to less important sectors or personal enrichment. A few people manage to get rich at the expense of society as a whole, while the poor suffer terribly. In the long run, unchecked corruption pushes more and more people into poverty which often destabilises a society.
Rupiah knows that there is corruption in his government. But why is he denying its existence? Rupiah is a beneficiary of the corruption that is going on in our country today. If corruption is successfully fought in our country, Rupiah’s hold on power will end very quickly. It is corruption that is keeping him in power. Without corruption, Rupiah’s hold on power will cease.
Look at how corruptly his regime is abusing the state-owned and government-controlled media to keep themselves in power in total disregard of the legal rights of other political players and citizens!
Look at the way they are corruptly abusing the judicial process to protect the corruption and abuses of their league! There is an old axiom often applied to those with political ambitions: power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.
In this case, the term corruption means the abuse of a public office for personal gain or other illegal or immoral benefit. Political corruption is a recognised criminal offence, along with bribery, extortion and embezzlement – the illegal acts associated with corruption in office.
Some forms of corruption may escape legal notice, such as hiring of relatives for key positions, but they may not escape the scrutiny of voters on election day. Whenever a person accepts a political appointment or wins election to an office, he must take an oath to uphold the public trust. While this may sound noble on paper, enforcement of this oath can prove problematic.
Very few political candidates successfully reach office without making a few promises along the way. Many of these campaign promises are harmless. But there are others which come closer to crossing an ethical line, such as hiring relatives or awarding government contracts to relatives, friends and other influential contributors.
Rupiah needs to understand that when we talk about corruption, we also mean the misuse of entrusted power for private gain. And those who are speaking about his misuse of entrusted power are not “doom speakers” but responsible citizens trying to create a more prosperous, just, fair and humane society.
And people can fight corruption by speaking out and letting the state know that they have had enough of it. They are not doom speakers. It is Rupiah who is a doom leader.
Labels: CORRUPTION, RUPIAH BANDA
Read more...
Lubinda complains to police over $45m stories
By Bright Mukwasa
Fri 08 July 2011, 14:40 CAT
KABWATA PF member of parliament Given Lubinda yesterday lodged a complaint at Lusaka Central Police station over an email published by the Zambian Watchdog allegedly authored by him.
Lubinda, who was accompanied by his Lubansenshi constituency counterpart Lazarous Chota, initially went to Lusaka Police headquarters around 12:00 hours but was referred to Lusaka Central police by police director of operations Dr Solomon Jere, where his complaint was recorded for more than two hours.
Later in an interview, Lubinda said he expected the police to get to the bottom of the matter without delay.
“As you have seen in the email which is heavily published by the state media, the author of that email is trying to portray a picture that the PF is party of crooks. Because you see US $45 million is too huge an amount, it’s equivalent to about K2.5 trillion which is 10 per cent of our national budget,” Lubinda said.
“If that money was brought here into the financial system of Zambia, that would be equal to economic sabotage and it would have serious economic ramifications. I don’t think this is a matter that the police should waste time on.
If you remember the matter of The Post versus Emmanuel Mwamba, again involving the same blog, the Zambian Watchdog, judge Gregory Phiri in that matter compelled the police to investigate to find out who the authors of those articles were and I think that even in this particular matter the police should be able to find out who the author is so that the person should be brought to book. It’s not fair for anyone to be engaging in such serious criminal libel. So we shall wait to see what the police will do in this matter,” Lubinda, who is also PF chairman for local government, said the letter was malicious. He denied ever authoring it.
The Zambian Watchdog, an online publication this week published an email allegedly authored by Lubinda to PF secretary general Wynter Kabimba arguing over the US $45 million the party allegedly received from Taiwan and Afghanistan for campaigns, among other issues.
Lubinda has denied ever authoring the email and now wants the police to investigate the matter and establish the authenticity and author of the same mail.
And Lusaka Central Police deputy commanding officer Jackson Simfukwe angrily ordered journalists out of police premises that went to cover Lubinda as he lodged the complaint.
Simfukwe also ordered a police officer to escort and ensure that the reporters were out of the Lusaka central police vicinity across to Church Road.
Labels: GIVEN LUBINDA, LAZAROUS CHOTA
Read more...
Rupiah is being dishonest on corruption - Habasonda
By Roy Habaalu
Fri 08 July 2011, 15:00 CAT
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda is becoming alien to the governance of the country, says SACCORD. Commenting on President Banda's statement that there was no corruption in Zambia, Lee Habasonda who is Southern Africa Centre for Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) executive director said the claim by President Banda was in itself a potential conflict in a country where money had to be repaid to international financiers after it was misapplied.
He said the President was being dishonest by claiming that there was no corruption when top government officials were appearing in court on corruption charges.
“The President is actually making himself an object of ridicule. We would rather he appreciates and be open and frank about the situation,” Habasonda said.
He said it was people in higher offices that should show and lead by example in fighting corruption.
“Self righteousness and lip-service is a wrong approach to take in fighting corruption,” he said.
“Corruption is a serious cancer in this country in which every sphere of life people solicit for bribes before offering a service,” he said.
Habasonda said the claim was denting the record of the government further by denying what everybody else was seeing.
“As civil society organisations we are greatly dismayed and disappointed with the utterances by our Head of State,” he said.
During a presidential luncheon at Mukuba Hotel on Saturday, President Banda said there was no corruption in Zambia.
“Let's not listen to doom speakers who say that there is corruption in the country. I feel the enthusiasm of the people when it comes to the movement of the country forward,” he said.
Labels: LEE HABASONDA, RUPIAH BANDA, SACCORD
Read more...
UN notes Zambia’s progress on MDGs
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Fri 08 July 2011, 15:20 CAT
ZAMBIA has recorded many successes in its efforts to achieve its national millennium development goals, says the United Nations. The UN yesterday launched the global MDG progress report for 2011 in Geneva, and concurrently around the world, to raise awareness on the progress this far and further acceleration required to achieve the MDGs by 2015.
UN resident coordinator Kanni Wignaraja said Zambia had shared many successes, particularly in its efforts to improve primary education and health.
Wignaraja said in order to move to the next level of progress and to sustain gains made possible through sustained economic growth, there was need to look to further human development investments in agriculture that would yield decent jobs.
She said both net enrolment and the number of pupils reaching grade seven had grown steadily over the past few years and the targets of secondary school completion and quality must now be the focus.
Wignaraja said successes had also been seen in Zambia’s fight against HIV and AIDS, and with prevalence rates now at 14.3 per cent of the population, the country had surpassed its MDG target in this area.
“This, however, leaves no room for complacency, with much work remaining particularly in addressing the root causes of HIV which sustain high levels of vulnerability in sectors of the population with new infections, on average 200 people per month,” she said.
Wignaraja noted that the prevalence of underweight children had fallen to 14.6 per cent, not far from the 2015 goal of 12.5 per cent.
“The global report provides evidence and pointers to reducing maternal mortality and child and infant mortality rates, that are still some distance away, per the national data here in Zambia,” Wignaraja said.
She said women giving birth in Zambia remain at high risk, with a maternal mortality rate of 591 per 100,000 live births.
Wignaraja said the MDG goal to be realized in four years was 162 per 100,000 live births.
She said the global report showed that progress on the MDGs had been uneven and the overall gains mask local specific disparities in most countries.
Wignaraja said in sub-Saharan Africa, the poorest urban households were 12 times less likely than their richest neighbours to have access to piped drinking water supply.
“Similarly, in rural areas, children are twice as likely to be underweight as their urban cousins. Countries in, or emerging from, conflict, are likely to lag 40 to 60 per cent behind other low and middle-income countries in achieving most of the goals,” she said.
She said to accelerate and sustain the required rate of poverty reduction in Zambia, the application of a broad based job creation effort, particularly in rural areas was key.
Wignaraja further noted that expanding education and business opportunities for women and closing the gender gap in decision-making positions would also go a long way to ensure a more gender balanced progress on the MDGs for Zambia.
Moving forward, the UN report noted the importance of focusing on equity and inclusion in the reach and acceleration towards the MDGs in the coming four years, and beyond.
Wignaraja said for countries like Zambia, this meant that the poorest and most marginalised groups often in rural settings were made the focus of policy choices, and national development investments and programmes.
The UN launched a number of major partnerships and initiatives, such as Countdown to Zero, a global plan toward the elimination of new HIV infections among children; UN-Redd to reduce deforestation and promote sustainable livelihoods and scaling up nutrition; global strategy for women’s and children’s health, among many others.
Labels: KANNI WIGNARAJA, MDGs, UN
Read more...
Barotse Agreement is liberating - Sata
By Patson Chilemba
Fri 08 July 2011, 14:40 CAT
Michael Sata says the Barotse Agreement can go a long way to liberate other provinces of Zambia. And Sata has urged President Rupiah Banda to stop bribing Western Province residents directly affected by January’s Mongu shootings but instead address their demands over the Barotseland Agreement.
Commenting on President Banda’s secret ‘compensation’ to Western Province residents directly affected by the shootings and arrests while telling them that the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE) caused their suffering, Sata said President Banda should stop bribing the people.
“The point is, it is not a question of Mr Rupiah Banda bribing the people who have come out of prison. To start with, why did he arrest them? Why did he shoot them? Dr Kaunda appended his signature to the Barotse Agreement.
The Barotse Agreement can go a long way to liberate other provinces,” said Sata yesterday when he featured on Hot FM's Hot Seat programme.
“Let’s take Southern Province, Southern Province makes lots of money out of tourism but how much do they get out of it? Nothing. Lumwana in North Western Province at the moment is making money; Copperbelt makes lots of money from mining. What do they get? Nothing. Even our chiefs if you look at their houses. So you find in that Barotse Agreement, there is a lot which we can learn.”
Sata said other provinces would benefit from the decentralisation of power in Western Province, citing South Africa where they had created provincial assemblies.
“For example why should people come from Mumbwa to Lusaka, go to the Copperbelt to go to Kasempa, when Mumbwa is only separated by 160 kilometres from Kasempa?” Sata asked.
Sources within the BRE disclosed that the government was secretly ‘compensating’ the victims who were shot in January and those who were imprisoned.
And Sata said unemployed people, who were being looked after by their wives like Edward Mumbi were saying that PF had been given US$45 million by Afghanistan and Taiwan for campaigns.
He wondered how PF would get the money from Afghanistan which had no administration, nor did PF have anything in common with Afghanistan to send party youths to be trained in that country.
Sata also questioned the rational in those who were saying that he would give the land in Chawama, Kanyama and Mandevu to foreigners when all the land in those areas had been taken up.
“For Mr Mumbi we understand, we provided the first and last employment for him. So he could have sour grapes,” Sata said.
He said the PF owed no debt to anyone, saying even the just-ended general conference which was attended by over 3,000 people was funded by Zambians, not foreigners.
“When Dr Kaunda created the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) there is no way the Times of Zambia, Daily Mail were going to speculate about 45 million dollars. Who supplied the 45 million dollars in Taiwan, in Afghanistan?
How did they come here? Because the same people went to drug Enforcement Commission and said ‘Mr Sata, money laundering’ and DEC came to take me like a common criminal,” Sata said.
“And then somebody says ‘we are auctioning, we are going to send people to Afghanistan’, our defence and security people need to be looked after because at the moment they survive by the grace of God. We don’t need to add more problems.”
Sata said he wished those media bodies who were condemning PF for allegedly barring journalists from the state-owned and government-controlled Zambian National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), Times of Zambia and Zambia Daily Mail, could emulate the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) to condemn the bias by the government-controlled media.
He said they had not said anything when Chanda Chimba was being paid to insult and malign innocent citizens.
Sata said he was glad that “the father of the nation” Dr Kaunda attended the PF general conference, as well as United States Ambassador to Zambia Mark Storella, British High Commissioner to Zambia Carolyn Davidson and other dignitaries.
Asked on assertions that he did not have enough people who could be cabinet material, Sata wondered if the likes of education minister Dora Siliya and information minister Ronnie Shikapwasha were cabinet material.
He said there were no bootlickers in PF, saying in people like Wynter Kabimba, Given Lubinda and Inonge Wina the party had enough cabinet material.
Sata mentioned himself and opposition FDD president Edith Nawakwi as experienced politicians who could run government.
He said those who were joining PF from the MMD would bring with them some experience, saying they were joining PF because UNIP had gone to the MMD.
Sata called on voters to turn out in numbers on the polling day to defeat rigging because rigging was made easier when there was apathy. He said in 1963 and 1991, there was no apathy and people managed to change the system of government.
He also said he knew of some people who had been sent to Mauritius for training so that they could temper with the elections.
He said Zambians should not be hoodwinked like being given geysers when they had no running water in their homes.
“If the people of Zambia want to continue suffering let them be hoodwinked by MMD. They should not be hoodwinked,” said Sata.
Labels: BAROTSE FREEDOM MOVEMENT, BAROTSELAND AGREEMENT, DECENTRALIZATION, EDITH NAWAKWI, MICHAEL SATA, WESTERN PROVINCE
Read more...
Welcome to the Global Economy, where IMF and World Bank staff double as cabinet ministers.
Apparently
ms. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala rotates from the World Bank, to the Nigerian cabinet, back to the World Bank, and now back into the Nigerian cabinet again.
Nigeria president picks World Bank MD for cabinetTue Jul 5, 2011 4:50pm GMT
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, managing director at the World Bank, participates in a panel discussion at the Clinton Global Initiative, in New York, September 23, 2009. REUTERS/Chip East
By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has asked the Senate to approve World Bank managing director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as a member of his new cabinet, the president of the upper house of parliament said on Tuesday.
Okonjo-Iweala, a former finance minister who helped negotiate debt relief in 2005, is expected to return in her old position but with additional broad powers over economic management, government sources have said.
"I hereby submit the name of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, with her CV, for confirmation as minister by the distinguished members of the Senate," Jonathan said in a letter read out by Senate President David Mark.
Jonathan was sworn in for his first full term on May 29 and his ministerial choices are being closely watched by foreign investors keen for a team capable of driving badly needed reforms in Africa's most populous nation.
He has already reappointed 12 ministers from the outgoing government to their old jobs, including oil minister Deziani Alison-Madueke, a move his critics regarded as uninspiring.
The inclusion of Okonjo-Iweala in Jonathan's cabinet could lend more weight to his reform ambitions.
She was praised as finance minister for fighting corruption and negotiating the cancellation of nearly two-thirds of Nigeria's $30 billion Paris Club debt. She was suddenly reassigned by then-President Olusegun Obasanjo to the foreign ministry in 2006, a move that was never properly explained.
She was appointed to the World Bank, where she had previously worked for more than two decades, in October 2007.
Labels: CORRUPTION, GLOBALISATION, NEOLIBERALISM, World Bank
Read more...
COMMENT - Welcome to the Global Economy, where IMF and World Bank staff double as cabinet ministers. Apparently
ms. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala rotates from the World Bank, to the Nigerian cabinet, back to the World Bank, and now back into the Nigerian cabinet again.
Nigeria president picks World Bank MD for cabinetTue Jul 5, 2011 4:50pm GMT
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, managing director at the World Bank, participates in a panel discussion at the Clinton Global Initiative, in New York, September 23, 2009. REUTERS/Chip East
By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has asked the Senate to approve World Bank managing director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as a member of his new cabinet, the president of the upper house of parliament said on Tuesday.
Okonjo-Iweala, a former finance minister who helped negotiate debt relief in 2005, is expected to return in her old position but with additional broad powers over economic management, government sources have said.
"I hereby submit the name of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, with her CV, for confirmation as minister by the distinguished members of the Senate," Jonathan said in a letter read out by Senate President David Mark.
Jonathan was sworn in for his first full term on May 29 and his ministerial choices are being closely watched by foreign investors keen for a team capable of driving badly needed reforms in Africa's most populous nation.
He has already reappointed 12 ministers from the outgoing government to their old jobs, including oil minister Deziani Alison-Madueke, a move his critics regarded as uninspiring.
The inclusion of Okonjo-Iweala in Jonathan's cabinet could lend more weight to his reform ambitions.
She was praised as finance minister for fighting corruption and negotiating the cancellation of nearly two-thirds of Nigeria's $30 billion Paris Club debt. She was suddenly reassigned by then-President Olusegun Obasanjo to the foreign ministry in 2006, a move that was never properly explained.
She was appointed to the World Bank, where she had previously worked for more than two decades, in October 2007.
Labels: CORRUPTION, NIGERIA, World Bank
Read more...
COMMENT - Swaziland = Greece
The Swazis need to get off the neoliberal economic crazy train, and reinstate the Southern Africa Customs Union, which provided the state with 60% of it's revenues before the creation of the 'free trade zone'. Economics isn't that difficult.
Also read:
Chikane hopes Free Trade Area will break barriers (linked to other articles on the neoliberal 'free trade' scam pulled on Swaziland). I wonder how much the 'pro democracy campaigners' get paid by foreign governments.
Swazi loan 'like giving money to a drunk wife-beater'
LOUISE REDVERS JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Jul 07 2011 15:14
Swazi pro-democracy campaigners on Thursday urged South Africa not to give their country financial assistance without imposing conditions aimed at steering the troubled kingdom towards negotiations for a transitional government. One campaigner likened offering a financial bailout to the beleaguered kingdom to giving money to a drunken wife-beater.
A delegation of union leaders and activists, as well as politicians from two banned political parties, travelled to South Africa to personally lobby against the handout, which is believed to be in the region of R1.2-billion.
After addressing reporters in Johannesburg they were due to meet members of the South African Communist Party and other government officials, and visit a number of Western embassies.
Mario Masuku, the leader of the People's United Democratic Movement (Pudemo), said: "We need a commitment from our head of state and government, that they are prepared to work towards a democratic process in Swaziland."
Demands
"We want all political parties unbanned and all political prisoners released," said Masuku. "We want the scrapping of the 2008 Suppression of Terrorism Act; and we want to work towards setting up a transitional government moving in the long term, towards a new constitution and, eventually, free elections."
"We appreciate this is a long-term goal and it will not happen overnight, but we need a commitment to this process," she added.
On the question of whether they would retain a constitutional monarchy or do away with the throne altogether, Masuku said that would be for the people of Swaziland to decide.
Swaziland has approached South Africa, cap in hand, after a 60% drop in its revenues from the regional customs union (Sacu) plunged it into a financial crisis that has seen wages go unpaid and public services grind to a halt.
CONTINUES BELOW
Attempts to access funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) stalled after Swaziland failed to carry out the fiscal reforms specified in the institutions' lending conditions.
SA comes clean
Two weeks ago, South Africa's ministry of international relations and cooperation finally confirmed -- after much speculation -- that Swaziland had asked it for financial assistance. On Wednesday, minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane told reporters this was still being considered.
Although she stopped short of revealing any conditions a loan might have, the minister said: "The South African government has urged all relevant parties in the kingdom to begin a political dialogue with a view to speedily and peacefully resolving all the challenges facing the country."
She added: "The government will also have to improve its governance and fiscal management system. A strengthened foreign direct investment portfolio would also help to mitigate the financial crisis."
Veteran democracy campaigner Musa Hlophe, who heads the Swaziland Coalition for Concerned Civil Organisations (SCCCO), said poor financial management and economic policy were as much to blame for Swaziland's downfall as its non-democratic system of governance, where the king has absolute power.
"If Swaziland were a company it would have been bankrupt by now, because of how it has been managed," he said.
Quid pro quo
Offering a financial bailout to Swaziland "is like giving money to a drunken wife-beater", said Hlophe, and he urged South Africans who had been helped by the Swazi people during the days of apartheid to use this opportunity to bring regime change to his country.
This week's delegation to South Africa comes after months of unrest in Swaziland, where labour unions and teachers have been calling for the prime minister to resign, and striking over plans to cut the wages of civil servant.
On April 12, the anniversary of a 1973 decree banning political parties in Swaziland, the Swazi police came under fire for heavy-handed tactics and their use of tear gas and water cannons to put down anti-government demonstrations, during which several journalists were arrested.
Hlophe said the SCCCO was calling for peaceful reform and transition but warned that there was a risk that the situation could get worse should the government continued to refuse to engage.
He also added that while Swaziland had diplomatic ties with Taiwan, one of its key sources of foreign direct investment, through textile factories, he had heard that the government was considering approaching China to secure financial backing.
"If South Africa does not give Swaziland this bailout then it may seek solace elsewhere, and that could mean turning to China. It is a wild card but it is possible."
Swaziland is Africa's last absolute monarchy, ruled over by King Mswati III, who has 13 wives and maintains luxurious lifestyle.
Meanwhile, two-thirds of his subjects live in poverty, 40% are unemployed and one in four are HIV-positive, the highest rate in the world.
Labels: NEOLIBERALISM, SACU, SWAZILAND
Read more...
Praying for peaceful elections
By The Post
Thu 07 July 2011, 04:00 CAT
Why should so many of our people be concerned about peace during and after this year’s elections? On Saturday, there was a walk for peace procession in Chipata. What was it for? What necessitated it? To what should be attributed this fervent effort of our religious leaders and their congregations?
Simply to a reality: the reality that the nation is in danger, the reality that the nation is threatened. True as it is, difficult as it is, this knowledge should not discourage anybody.
It is a reality that we need peaceful elections. It is also a reality that there is a group of people who do not want to lose power at all costs and are ready to manipulate the electoral process to keep themselves in office. In stating this, we do not lie nor exaggerate. We have never lied to the people and above all, we will never withhold realities from the people.
As we approach this year’s elections, we must express concern regarding the frightening high levels of intolerance, intimidation, malice and lust for power.
In the present atmosphere of fierce competition and an unbridled character assassination campaign that Rupiah Banda and his minions are waging against everyone who they believe do not support them or is a political opponent, we need to remind the nation of the noble goals of elections. From a Christian point of view, the noble goals of elections aim at the promotion of the common good and the service of all the people.
Rupiah and his minions seem to view elections as a fight for survival and not a competition to serve. They have confused elections with a battlefield where the aim is to destroy the other.
We need to remind them that elections are for the good of our people and our country, and not for a political survival of Rupiah and his minions or of the MMD as a political party. If they understood this, they wouldn’t be doing the things they are doing that are necessitating our people to have walks for peace during and after this year’s elections.
If the spirit of the primacy of the common good were to animate Rupiah and his minions, no one would fear for peace during and after this year’s elections; we wouldn’t be seeing the slander of political opponents that we are forced to watch and listen to on ZNBC television and radio every day, the libel we read about every day in the Times of Zambia, Zambia Daily Mail and the other irregular publications they churn out that leave the public dismayed and disheartened and afraid of what these elections might bring.
We agree with Bishop George Lungu that in an election, peace can only be sustained when elections are free and fair.
And indeed, such elections should not just be said to be free and fair but should actually be seen by everyone to be so – to be free and fair.
And as Bishop Lungu has aptly put it, this means creating a level playing ground for all stakeholders and making the entire electoral process as transparent as possible. But to have peaceful elections, certain conditions have to prevail, have to be put in place in our country and indeed in our hearts.
There ought to be a conducive atmosphere. All key stakeholders have to agree on the conditions under which elections are held. And all the contestants have to conduct themselves in a manner that does not put others at an unfair disadvantage. There ought to be transparency in everything concerning the elections, apart from the casting of the ballot itself.
This is so because democracies thrive on openness and accountability, with one very important exception: the act of voting itself. And parallel vote tabulation must be put in place so that citizens are confident that the results are accurate and that the government does, indeed, rest upon their consent.
When the elections are over, the losers must accept the judgement of the voters. But this is only possible if the elections were conducted in a manner that is free and fair and is seen by the citizens to be free and fair. Where this is absent, peace is threatened.
And it is this absence of what can be said to be conducive atmosphere, an atmosphere that can be seen to satisfy the conditions required for the holding of peaceful, free and fair elections.
Anyone who watches ZNBC and listens to the lies, malice, slander, calumny, hatred that Rupiah and his colleagues are sponsoring against their political opponents would easily come to a conclusion that peace is threatened and needs to prayed and worked for to avert an impending crisis.
Slander is not an acceptable way to campaign. And this is made worse by the fact that the institutions that are being used to slander and malign others are state owned ones, they are institutions financed by the taxpayer. This type of abuse cannot be accepted in any decent society.
And those who engage in such activities need to be taught a lesson – there should be no impunity. And at the end of the day, they will leave these institutions with very huge defamation claims. It is clear that they will not be able to legally defend the libel suits that will arise from the material they are broadcasting and publishing.
But they don’t seem to care because the money will not come from their pockets and by the time these suits crystallize, those running these institutions will be somewhere else. Libel suits in this country take a long time to conclude – three to four years – but the time comes when they are concluded and damages and costs have to be paid. This will certainly be an abuse of taxpayer’s money.
We therefore urge all our people to vote according to their conscience, in accordance with the highest human values without allowing themselves to be pressured or dictated to by threats, bribes, self-interest and so on and so forth. We also urge our people to reject violence in the strongest terms.
They should respect truth and their political opponents. They should learn to be tolerant with people who have different political opinions and affiliations. People can differ without being subjected to defamation, character assassination, lies, calumny.
To Rupiah and his minions, we would like to remind them that they cannot talk about free and fair elections while the present situation persists, and we challenge them to rectify this threat to our future, immediately. It is only that way that, after elections, Zambia will remain united and peaceful.
Labels: 2011 ELECTIONS, CHIPATA
Read more...
Government’s selfishness is hindering fair polls - Mulongoti
By Ernest Chanda
Thu 07 July 2011, 04:02 CAT
MIKE Mulongoti says it is difficult to have free and fair elections because of selfishness among the people running government. Commenting on Chipata Catholic diocese Bishop George Lungu's observation that elections should not just be said to be free and fair but must actually be seen to be so, the former works and supply minister said there was need to push for a level playing field.
Mulongoti said it was such selfishness, which always brought contention during and after elections.
“When you see those in power bambazonke (holding on to everything) the press and anything else, then that is the beginning of contention. In the current circumstance there is no room for free and fair elections because those in control of the treasury are selfish. And this situation will always create room for contention,” said Mulongoti.
'But if we had a situation where the controllers of the treasury channel resources to building the foundation for democracy there will be no contention.
And democracy is about people accepting the election process and the outcome. But in the current scenario it can't happen, we shall always have tension and contention in the nation.”
During a Catholic Church organised 'walk for peace' on Saturday, Bishop Lungu, the former ZEC president who was represented by Caritas Chipata director Fr Vincent Daka, said in an election peace could only be sustained when elections were free and fair.
“And as such, elections should not just be said to be free and fair but are actually seen to be free and fair. This means creating a level-playing ground for all stakeholders and the entire process is as transparent as possible,” he said.
“Therefore, all of us are called to contribute to the elections being free and fair in order to maintain peace.”
Bishop Lungu urged Zambians to preach peace before, during and after the elections.
“We stand here because we understand the value of peace. We gather here to pray for peace in our beloved country Zambia as we head for elections later this year. We cannot underestimate the importance of peace for any country,” said Bishop Lungu.
“We have only one Zambia, we have only one nation. Peace has also to be seen to be at work through forgiveness and reconciliation. We gather here today not because we belong to a particular religious background, or political affiliation or we are members of this tribe or that tribe, but Zambians.”
Labels: CATHOLIC CHURCH, GEORGE LUNGU, MIKE MULONGOTI
Read more...
Masebo is a good leader, says Kapijimpanga
By Moses Kuwema
Thu 07 July 2011, 04:00 CAT
SYLVIA Masebo is a good leader who carries her people wherever she goes, says Judith Kapijimpanga. In an interview yesterday, Kapijimpanga who is a former MMD national executive committee (NEC) member said Masebo's move had come at the right time and that it was inevitable.
“Masebo has always carried along her people when she leaves. If you remember the time she left the ZRP Zambia Republican Party she left with her people and went on to win on the MMD ticket and now that she has left, the chances of the MMD winning are very slim,” said Kapijimpanga.
She said Masebo's move was not in vain because she believed there was light at the end of the tunnel for her.
“A good leader follows what her people want and for Masebo to have made that move, I’m sure her people expressed discomfort with what was happening because if this was not the case she would not have gone ahead to contest the position of MMD chairlady at the party convention.
I support her decision under the circumstances she was working in because if you cannot manage to fit in, it is better to walk out...she was forced to walk out because the environment she was working in was not conducive,” she said.
Kapijimpanga said there was need for any political group to consider every member as their child and that selectiveness should not be the case.
Masebo was until last Thursday the MMD national women's affairs chairperson. She quit the party, citing President Rupiah Banda's continued hatred and undemocratic tendencies against her.
She said since the death of president Levy Mwanawasa in 2008, there had been evil schemes and fabrications, which have been printed in the government-controlled Times of Zambia, Zambia Daily Mail including ZNBC and the internet.
Labels: INONGE WINA, JUDITH KAPIJIMPANGA, SYLVIA MASEBO
Read more...
Rupiah’s stance on corruption unfortunate, says Kabimba
By Patson Chilemba
Thu 07 July 2011, 04:02 CAT
RUPIAH Banda is saying there is no corruption in Zambia in order to justify the graft practices his government is engaged in, says Lusaka lawyer Wynter Kabimba. Reacting to President Banda’s recent remarks in Ndola that there is no corruption in the country, Kabimba, who is also PF secretary general, said it was shocking that a President could issue such an unfortunate statement.
Kabimba said the question of corruption in this country was not debatable, not only to the Zambians but also the international community. He said therefore the statement from President Banda was unfortunate and inappropriate.
“What it means in effect is that the man is not serious with the fight against corruption. Mr Rupiah Banda served in late president Mwanawasa’s cabinet under a president who was very, very serious with the fight against corruption,” Kabimba said.
“For him to trivialise the levels of corruption in our country now that he has become President is not only an insult to the Zambian people.”
Kabimba said there were various reports from international organisations which had ranked Zambia as one of the most corrupt countries in Southern Africa, saying President Banda could not dispute these reports.
“There is a report now that came from the US State Department to the effect that the Zambian government is interfering with the independence of our judiciary. We didn’t hear the Zambian government dispute that statement. That is part of corruption,” Kabimba said.
“So our appeal as PF to the President is that he must get serious if indeed he’s committed to working for the Zambian people and arrest the cancer of corruption that has afflicted our country, especially under his government.”
Kabimba said the nation had seen corruption levels rising under President Banda’s government than under late president Mwanawasa because the two stood for different ideals.
“The only reason why President Banda would make that statement is that he wants to justify corruption and he knows that his government is engaged in corrupt practices. That is the reason why (a) they repealed or amended section 35 in the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Act,” Kabimba said.
“That is the reason why they removed the provisions in the Act dealing with money laundering to prevent financial and banking institutions from asking the source of the money that lands in people’s accounts.”
Kabimba said all this was being done to encourage corruption because those provisions were put in place to arrest corrupt activities.
He said the nation had witnessed obnoxious amendments under President Banda which actually encouraged corruption rather than arresting it.
“If indeed that is the policy position of government (that there is no corruption in Zambia), let him go ahead and disband the Anti-Corruption Commission.
What is the Anti-Corruption Commission doing, being paid money appropriated from government if there is no corruption in the country,” said Kabimba.
“Let him disband DEC, ACC then we will take him seriously that indeed he has achieved zero-tolerance for corruption.”
During a presidential luncheon at Mukuba Hotel last Saturday, President Banda said Zambians should not listen to people who say there was corruption in the country.
“Let’s not listen to doom speakers who say that there is corruption in the country. I feel the enthusiasm of the people when it comes to the movement of the country forward,” he said.
President Banda urged the people to prove those that were saying there would be problems in Zambia after the elections wrong.
Labels: CORRUPTION, RUPIAH BANDA, WYNTER KABIMBA
Read more...
