Maravi

Magande advises PF to consult on governance
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Wed 08 Jan. 2014, 14:01 CAT

ZAMBIA should start preparing incoming governments thoroughly in view of the experience the country has had with PF's first two years in office, says Ng'andu Magande.

Magande, Zambia's longest-serving finance minister, said most of the mistakes the PF had made in its first two years in office were as a result of not understanding how the government systems operate. Magande said it was very clear the PF made key decisions without understanding how the country operates.

"This is a party which has never been in power and if they said 'we are going to take one or two years to study the situation', people would still have understood that 'these people have never been in government, so, let them understand what goes on in government'," Magande said in an interview.

"But what happens is that here we don't have an American system where you find the incoming government starts learning by going to the offices. Here you just end up in place and you don't even know where you stand."

Magande urged the PF to work closely with civil servants to ensure they fully understand the civil service and general government operations before they plunge the country into serious governance issues.
Magande observed that the first two years of the PF had been characterised by ad hoc and not well-thought through arrangements.

He said key economic decisions such as the removal of consumer subsidies on maize and fuel had not benefitted the intended sections of the Zambian society.

"Today, who is buying maize at K80 per 25 kilogramme? It is the ordinary people in Chilubi and Kalingalinga…the same poor people they said they wanted to protect," said Magande.

Labels: NG'ANDU MAGANDE, PF

posted by MrK @ 3:55 PM