(HERALD ZW) NGO voter education scam exposed
Tendai Mugabe Senior Reporter
GOVERNMENT is considering restricting voter education to political parties after unearthing nefarious dealings aimed at manipulating the process by some non-governmental organisations engaged to undertake the initiative.
One such organisation, the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa contracted by ZEC has incorporated information carrying political messages favouring certain parties.
The pamphlets carrying these political messages have a ZEC logo and are titled “Voter Registration: Your vote is your right”.
They are set to be distributed countrywide as part of voter education.
Some of the information in Shona pamphlets reads: “Nyoresa uunze shanduko. Usasaririre.”
In some cases the pamphlets are written; “Register to make a difference. Do not be left out.”
The change mantra being insinuated in the messages is associated with the MDC-T slogan, “Chinja maitiro” that dovetails with the party’s regime change agenda.
Although Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa could not be reached for a comment yesterday, highly-placed sources said in view of this, Government was contemplating limiting voter education to political parties.
“ZEC has picked up this. As Government we are slowly convinced that we should restrict voter education to political parties,” said the source.
“That is evidence with the mischief that can take place.”
Government, the source said, would not allow NGOs to campaign for certain political parties under the guise of voter education.
The Herald is reliably informed that this hatchet job is a brainchild of the United States of America which is the principal funder of EISA.
EISA, which operates in several African countries, claims to be a non-profit organisation.
By its own admission, EISA has actively participated in electoral processes of many African countries.
According to EISA, its executive director Mr Dennis Kadima participated in about 50 electoral processes worldwide in different capacities.
Mr Kadima, who once worked for the United Nations, had many publications on political party systems, electoral systems and processes and election observation.
“Our vision is to have an African continent where democratic governance, human rights and citizen participation are held in a peaceful environment,” reads EISA’s vision statement.
EISA claims that it worked in a number of programmes including democracy, conflict management, election education, elections and political processes, balloting and electoral services and research and information among others.
The organisation was established in 1996 and is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, with field offices in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Mozambique, Kenya and Madagascar and has opened a new office in Harare.
Western funded organisations have of late been more active in Zimbabwe’s politics as the country’s heads for elections due by July 31.
Some of the organisation which are de facto MDC-T appendages have been funded to the tune of US$2 million by the British embassy in Harare to launch an advocacy campaign programme code-named “Feya Feya’’ ostensibly to demand a “free and fair” election in Zimbabwe.
The funding, which is being channelled through the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, was expected to culminate in a Leaders Conference at Pandhari Lodge in Harare on May 30 and 31 where the quasi-political groups were to draw up a list of demands pertaining to the holding of the harmonised elections.
The indaba was, however, cancelled after it was exposed in the media.
The same groups also convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ahead of the African Union golden jubilee celebrations where they wanted to lobby African leaders on what they said were minimum conditions for the holding of free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.
The campaign to buttress the MDC-T reform mantra by the groups that convened under the banner of the Zimbabwe Civil Society Heads of Coalitions however, hit a snag after the AU Golden Jubilee Organising Committee told them to leave as it had not made provision for non-State actors.
Mr Tsvangirai was subsequently forced to cancel his planned sojourn to Addis Ababa in the wake of the grief that befell his advance team.
Labels: 2007 BUDGET, NGOs, PATRICK CHINAMASA
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Lazo calls on Africa, Latin America to unite against neo-colonialism
By Larry Moonze and Kondwani Munyeka in Havana, Cuba
Wed 15 May 2013, 14:01 CAT
CUBAN National Assembly Speaker Estaban Lazo says Africa and Latin America must unite to fight the new form of colonialism. And the Zambian government has asked Cuba to help set up a sugar plantation and refinery in Luapula Province.
Lazo, who is also politburo member of the Communist Party of Cuba and former Vice-President of the Council of State, told Zambian foreign affairs minister Effron Lungu, who paid a courtesy call on him in Havana on Monday, that through unity, Africa and Latin America could defeat the bully in the neighbourhood.
"United we are bigger than the giant," Lazo said.
He said Zambia was a brotherly country, adding that it was very important that Lusaka had a diplomatic presence in Havana.
"We want to resume full bilateral relations with Zambia. We are waiting on that pending issue of opening the Zambian embassy in Cuba. I'm sure you will discuss this with our foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez. The embassy is very important. Diplomats stationed here will know every day what is there and what is not… We are fighting for the same cause, common causes that are far beyond ideology. We have to struggle against energy problems, global economic crisis, high food prices, climate change, the issue of fresh water that may become a serious problem… All these things will affect us but most seriously the poor. Today, 1.2 billion go to sleep without food, each time the number of illiterates is increasing and so is the issue of unemployment. Whatever solutions we come up with are for the survival of the human race. We need to be united. The other day, I read about Africa's development perspectives. They are encouraging but one thing that we need to achieve is unity. The forthcoming event, which is, the 50th anniversary of the African Union is a good starting point.
You see colonialists created conditions that perpetuated divisions, that divided us but today we have conditions and mechanisms for integration and mutual cooperation," Lazo said. "Africa should be part of CELAC [Community of Latin America and Caribbean states. We must join forces. Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa need strong links to better defend ourselves and our interests. To fight the new form of colonialism."
He said Zambia and Cuba were both poor countries.
Lazo said just like Cuba, Zambia sacrificed in the liberation of among others Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique.
"The concept of solidarity is such that you give not what you have in excess but sharing the little that you have. And for us Cuba, we never stop providing that kind of assistance. We do so to Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean," he said.
Lazo asked Zambia to help Cuba in the struggle to free the five Cuban anti-terror agents incarcerated in the US.
He said while one of them, Rene Gonzalez, had been freed upon renouncing his US citizenship the other four remained in America, serving harsh sentences.
Lazo said for over years, he had visited several African countries but somehow he could not land in Zambia.
"That visit to Zambia is pending," he said. "We Cuba love Africa very much for several reasons but primarily because part of our nationality comes from Africa."
Lazo explained that when the Spaniards arrived in Cuba in 1492, they gradually exterminated the 120,000 Tainos who inhabited the island.
He said after that the colonialists brought in 1.2 million African slaves who ended up forming part of the Cuban nationality.
Lazo said those Africans were in the forefront of the Cuban independence struggle.
He said he himself was of African and Chinese heritage.
"I am telling you this with confidence and sentimental feelings as to why we love Africa… we want the very best for Africa," Lazo said. "When we went to Africa to help in the liberation of Angola, to end Apartheid, the liberation of Namibia among others, we were helping ourselves in that we are part of Africa."
And Lungu said Zambia appreciated the developmental efforts Cuba made to Africa in the areas of education, health and agriculture.
He said bilateral relations between Cuba and Zambia dated back to 1972.
Lungu said in the last 41 years, Zambian leaders Dr Kenneth Kaunda, late Frederick Chiluba and Rupiah Banda visited Cuba.
He said President Michael Sata felt that Zambia's presence in Cuba should be by way of opening an embassy.
Lungu said that process would commence upon winding his tour to Cuba.
He said Zambia condemned the US embargo against Cuba.
Lungu said Cuba must be spared the US sanctions that date back to 1961.
"It is our prayer that this thing should come to an end sooner than later," he said.
And Lungu invited Cuba to participate at the UN World Tourism Organisation congress to be co-hosted by Zambia and Zimbabwe in August.
He also invited Cuba to attend the Cluster Munitions convention to be hosted in Zambia in September.
And when he met Cuban foreign trade and investment first deputy minister Orlando Hernandez Guillen, Lungu said Zambia was inviting Cuban engineers and other specialists to help set up a sugar project.
He said there was also need for help in agronomy in general.
Lungu said in the past, Zambia National Service officers were sent to Cuba to train in animal husbandry.
"The Cuban research centre in agriculture and Zambia are working together to develop livestock feed," he said.
Lungu said Zambia desired direct investment and trade with Cuba in manufacturing, agriculture and infrastructure.
He said under direct trade and investment, Zambians could fully benefit, bearing in mind the things that the two countries had in common.
Lungu said little had been done since Cuba and Zambia signed a trade protection agreement in 2000.
He said it was time to implement the already signed trade agreement and invited Cuban companies to participate at the Zambia International Trade Fair. On his part, Guillen invited Zambian entrepreneurs to attend the Havana International Trade Fair in November.
At Ministry of Higher Education, Lungu said Zambia had a lot to learn from the Cuban education system.
He said the Cuban education system was very accommodative to the majority of the population.
Lungu said it was for that reason that the Zambian government had asked the Cuban government to help in training teachers in different fields.
"We have also asked Cuba to upgrade our teachers from diploma to degree levels and also in special education and in the special programme 'Yes I Can'," said Lungu.
"I would like to express our gratitude over the scholarships that Zambia has been receiving from Cuba. All we are asking for is for the increase in the number of scholarship so that more Zambians could come and learn here."
But higher education deputy minister Jose Saborido Loidi said Cuba was facing economic hardships and therefore, it had decided to reduce scholarships.
He said the island was currently encouraging self-financed scholarships which were highly subsidised. Saborido Loidi said his ministry was very pleased with the performance of Zambian students in Cuba, adding that to date, 89 Zambian students had graduated from Cuba in different fields.
Labels: 2007 BUDGET, CUBA, ESTABAN LAZO, NEOCOLONIALISM
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New Report: Brennan’s ‘Black Ops’ In Libya Caused “Benghazigate”, Stevens Death
By Patrick Henningsen
Global Research, February 13, 2013
21st Century Wire
Benghazigate’ continues to unravel, and the man who’s front and center at this week’s Washington DC hearings is now being blamed for the villa siege last September…
According to a new investigative book published by two former US special operations soldiers, and serialised exclusively in yesterday’s Daily Mail, former CIA Director, David Petraeus, was blackmailed by two senior CIA officers into resigning and was made to publicly admit to his affair with intelligence operative Paula Broadwell. Of course, this angle of the story will surely drive book sales, but it’s not the most significant revelation in the story… Drone-Master J: John Brennan
In their book which is due to be release tomorrow entitled, Benghazi: The Definitive Report, authors Jack Murphy (Army Green Beret) and co-author Brandon Webb (Navy SEAL and friend of Glen Doherty who died in the Benghazi siege) also revealed that ‘Drone-Master J’, John O. Brennan - President Barack Obama’s current CIA Director nominee who was the President’s own deputy NSA advisor at the time, had been authorizing covert ‘unilateral operations outside of the traditional command structure’, using the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) across Libya and North Africa. It is Brennan’s black ops that are said to have prompted retaliation inside Libya that led to the September 11 Benghazi compound siege that killed four Americans, including ‘Ambassador’ Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
It’s worth noting here that the Benghazi siege was initially blamed by Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice and the entire US media and the BBC at the time – on a highly deceptive YouTube film entitled, “The Innocence of Muslims”. That was the first stages of the cover-up.
So, according to the new book, it’s John O. Brennan who was the architect of events that led to the debacle known as Benghazigate? Apparently, yes, but not quite…
Murphy and Webb’s book, although very hard-hitting and well-researched, through what the authors describe as “a vast network of military insiders and intelligence officers to uncover the ‘untold’ story behind the attacks”,focuses on the Petraeus Affair, but only provides surface detail on the actual nature of US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens’s mission there in Libya.
Nor do the authors explain that the compound in question was not an “Embassy” in Benghazi as the Obama White House first referred to it, nor was it a “US Consulate”, or a “CIA safe house” as came to be known in later reports. Susanne Posel of OccupyCorporatism.com, reports what is more likely to be the real story:
“In Benghazi, Stevens stayed at a gated-villa, leased by the US State Department from a local man named Mohammad al-Bishari. The villa in Benghazi was not a US Embassy, diplomatic mission or extension of the embassy. In fact, the nearest US Embassy is Tripoli. This location housed Stevens where he spoke with the NTC, a defaco-government in Libya that assisted the US in the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Stevens had previously been designated as a special representative to the NTC during the US-controlled Libyan revolution. To mask Stevens new role, he was given US Ambassador status by Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, and stationed in Tripoli.
Bishari has confirmed that Stevens would stay at the villa when he met with the NTC. Stevens’ mission in Benghazi was to gather intelligence for the CIA “conducting surveillance and collecting information on an array of armed militant groups in and around the city.”
Hand in the honey pot: Petraeus and Broadwell.
According to The Mail story, Petraeus’s ousters were,’high-level career officers on the CIA who got the ball rolling on the investigation’. The Mail exclusive goes on to explain how the Petraeus story unfolded and triggered a ‘palace coup’:
“The authors say that senior intelligence officers working on the 7th floor of Central Intelligence headquarters in Langley, Virginia, used their political clout to ensure that the FBI investigated the former Army general’s personal life.
They then told Petraeus that they would publicly humiliate him if he didn’t admit the affair and resign.
‘It was well known to Petraeus’s Personal Security Detachment (bodyguards) that he and Broadwell were having an affair. He wasn’t the only high-ranking Agency head or general engaged in extramarital relations, but when the 7th floor wanted Petraeus out, they cashed in their chips,’ Webb and Murphy write.
The book continues: ‘The reality of the situation is that high-ranking CIA officers had already discovered the affair by consulting with Petraeus’s PSD and then found a way to initiate an FBI investigation in order to create a string of evidence and an investigative trail that led to the information they already had—in other words, an official investigation that could be used to force Petraeus to resign.’
… Senior officials were furious over the way he had been running the agency since he was appointed in September 2011… He was turning the agency’s focus from intelligence gathering and analysis to paramilitary operations, including drone strikes.”
What they reveal about the Petraeus scandal is that the sensational extramarital affair was deployed in the media in order to keep the public distracted from the real story.
Chris Stevens and CIA gun-running
According to the Daily Mail, Webb and Murphy’s book does document that “Stevens likely helped consolidate as many weapons as possible after the war to safeguard them, at which point Brennan exported them overseas to start another conflict”.
Although both authors, who run a website called SOFREP.com - a news site written and edited by current and former members of the special operations community, appear to be ‘well-positioned’ to access classified insider information about events and a ‘vast network’ of contacts in the game, they could have gone a lot deeper into what are now mainstream allegations: that Chris Stevens was CIA point man for running illegal guns out of Libya via Turkey into Syria for the Free Syrian Army (FSA). Even Kentucky Senator Rand Paul challenged Hillary Clinton on these charges, but was stonewalled by the outgoing Secretary of State.
The book says that Stevens was aiding John Brennan in highly illegal international gun-running, a fact alone that should (in theory, anyway) kill Brennan in the CIA directorate conformation hearings this week in Washington DC. It’s amazing how this aspect of the story is given a back seat to a sex scandal – which makes us suspicious of this book, and its peculiar timing.
Posel also explains Stevens role as CIA gun-runner:
“Some of Stevens’ deals for arms can be realized in the artillery and weapons being funneled to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in Syria who are fighting the proxy war for the US. Stevens became the “liaison” between US-sponsored terrorist factions and the movement of arms to Syria to assist the FSA.
Shipments to the FSA have come from Saudi Arabia where the Salafi terrorists originated and the Partisans of Sharia is used to further subversive interests. Thanks to the US, the Saudi government and Stevens, the FSA are the most heavily armed state-sponsored jihadist group in the Middle East.
In reality, Islamic terrorist factions that work with the US were employed by the Saudi Arabian government to take out one of Petraeus’ CIA spies. That spy’s name was J. Christopher Stevens.”
Author, former SEAL Brandon Webb
Author, former Ranger Jack Murphy
Chemical Weapons to Syria
The other obvious and very big aspect of this story which they also miss, is the very visible thread which first appeared in early Dec 2012 of reports ‘chemical weapons in Syria’, and these are likely to have originated in Libya – in the form of Gadaffi’s aging chemical weapons stocks being smuggled out of Libya and into the hands of the FSA in Syria… in order to blame Syria Assad government for using “chemical weapons against his own people”.
In late December, the US intelligence community, via the US General Console in Istanbul, Turkey, appears to have set-up the thread for the Assad chemical weapons story to go public, but quickly began to back track on this talking point, practically abandoning it altogether in the end.
In ‘Benghazi: The Definitive Report’, it does appear that the authors have opened up the door to some incredible and perhaps crucial insights into events surrounding Benghazigate – and their book will make a big media splash but it seems like black-ops ‘insiders’ Murphy and Webb missed the biggest story in all of this – which just happens to be the very scandal that would certainly bring down the Obama Administration in one swoop. Amazing how these events are borne out - and not borne out in the media, as the case may be.
More and more these days, we see an endless parade of ex-Navy SEAL and ex-Special Ops commando authors – who may very well have a great black book when comes to inside info but they are not journalists, and in some cases their relationship to the special operations world may be a little too close for comfort to consider them objective and independent investigators.
To authors Murphy and Webb, you cannot call it a “Definitive Report” a few months after the event. It’s a bit cock-sure, to be sure.
We’re waiting for the sequel, the book which blows the lid on the real story.
Until then, this might just be a ‘controlled media detonation’.
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Capture
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‘Benghazi: The Definitive Report,’ written by Brandon Webb and Jack Murphy, is published by William Morrow Company, an imprint of HarperCollins. It will be available for download in ebook format on Tuesday.
Labels: 2007 BUDGET, AMBASSADOR, CHRIS STEVENS, DRONE STRIKES, JOHN O. BRENNAN, LIBYA, NEOCOLONIALISM
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WHO threatens tobacco recovery: TIMB
Making their mark ... Thousands of new farmers have joined thte sector
07/11/2012 00:00:00
by The Guardian
THERE is hustle and bustle on the tobacco trading floors of Zimbabwe these days. After a decade of agricultural turmoil that crashed the economy, this seen as one of the few bright spots.
[Actually, 'agricultural turmoil' didn't crash the economy, that were economic sanctions intended to make land reform fail, implemented from 2002 onwards. ZDERA, the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001. - MrK]
The crop's value has bounced back from £105m in 2008 to more than £330m this year. Moreover, whereas tobacco production was once dominated by a white elite, now tens of thousands of farmers are black.
[An open admission that land reform was not merely a transfer of land from white estate holders to the political and military elite. In fact over 350,000 new families received land under the Willing Buyer, Willing Seller (159,000) and Fast Track (200,000) land reform programmes. - MrK]
Yet this precious gain is under threat, the industry claims, not from renewed political violence or economic turbulence, but from the global anti-smoking lobby.
[Which I don't disagree with. In fact, tobacco should be replaced by cannabis and hemp as an industry. Getting high in cannabis is good for you, destresses, and is good for your heart and veins. Hemp seed has the highest quality protein and is a health food; cannabis itself should be considered a food group (YOUTUBE), because of all the diseases it prevents. Hemp can drain swamps too. Entire industries can spring up turning hemp fiber into clothes and shoes. Replacing plastic bags with hemp paper bags can end the pollution of the oceans, as there are huge rafts of plastic waste blocking parts of the ocean (see the South Pacific Garbage Patch. See more here (YOUTUBE). - MrK]
"In Zimbabwe we are very dependent on tobacco," says Dr Andrew Matibiri, director of the country's Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board.
"It makes up 26% of our foreign currency exports. Any movement towards reduction of the exports will affect our economy, especially poverty alleviation."
Growers in Nigeria, Tanzania and other African countries accuse the World Health Organisation (WHO) of cracking down on struggling farmers and putting millions of jobs and livelihoods at risk.
The WHO insists this is a misrepresentation.
It says it is merely issuing guidelines for governments around the world on how to deal with a projected decline in consumer demand. From this point of view, the tobacco industry has set up a straw man so it can take an unaccustomed position of the moral high ground.
Matibiri, who claims to have the backing of both the president, Robert Mugabe, and prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai, argues that more than 70,000 Zimbabwean farmers would suffer immediately under the WHO proposals.
"We say farmers should be allowed to grow tobacco," he says. "It's not illegal. They grow it very quickly and easily; they have been doing it for over a hundred years so there's a lot of knowhow. So far there have been no alternative crops put on the table."
The WHO says tobacco kills almost 6 million people a year. Matibiri does not deny that smoking is harmful, but adds: "We understand all the issues and we agree with them. There are few beneficial consequences of smoking. But we are appealing to the WHO to understand our peculiar position as tobacco producers."
The issue has flared up because the WHO guidelines, known as articles 17 and 18 of the landmark framework convention on tobacco control, will be discussed next week at the Conference of the Parties in Seoul, South Korea. Potential measures include restricting growing periods and the amount of land used for tobacco while encouraging alternative crops.
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In a pre-emptive strike, the Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa (Tisa) commissioned a study of 15 regional economies that shows 4.4 million Africans are employed – and 24 million dependent – on a tobacco value chain worth more than $10bn.
In Zimbabwe, according to the research, the industry employs 1.13 million people with 5.67 million dependents and generates $579m in exports. In Malawi, another country with economic woes, tobacco employs 1.4 million people, generates $428.2m in exports, and represents 15% of GDP.
Francois van der Merwe, chief executive of Tisa, said of the WHO: "Their motivation has been the ongoing failure to decrease the demand for tobacco products that has resulted in an ill-conceived attempt to tackle the most vulnerable people in the supply chain, namely farmers.
“Should this ill-advised and misguided proposal [article 17] come into effect, it will have a dire impact on the livelihoods of farmers and tobacco growing countries more broadly."
Tobacco representatives in various African countries have also expressed opposition. Julius Masongo, chairman of thee Tanzania Tobacco Cooperative Apex, said: "The WHO has consistently refused to listen to tobacco growers in drafting the proposal that directly impacts Tanzania's farmers.
“By doing so, they act like a blind man driving a steamroller without paying any attention to the consequences of their folly. Now is the time for governments to act and oppose these draconian measures."
Tobacco growing countries charge that, in its zeal to curtail an industry it regards as evil, the WHO is failing to appreciate the paradox that tobacco throws a lifeline to those who grow it. Unsurprisingly, the WHO has a different view.
It it not issuing orders to anyone, it says, but seeking to help governments that have signed up to the convention to manage what it sees as tobacco's inevitable decline.
Dr Haik Nikogosian, head of the convention secretariat for the framework convention, says: "The document is called 'policy options and recommendations' for governments, not farmers. It's developed to help governments to help farmers transition to alternative crops. The demand for tobacco will gradually diminish: it is clearly known. People will not be smoking tobacco in 200 years.
"It's not asking farmers to do anything. It doesn't have any deadlines or requirements. It's advice and guidelines, and should be seen in a positive light. The WHO wouldn't involve itself in agricultural business in that negative way. This is about supporting farmers, not restricting them."
Asked about the vitriol being poured on the WHO, Nikogosian says: "I'd be surprised if it only comes from the tobacco growing organisations. There are other organisations and forces that are not to be trusted in giving information. If you look at the value chain and the profits, they are not sitting with the farmers. You can see where the interests are."
Labels: 2007 BUDGET, ANDREW MATIBIRI, TIMB, TOBACCO, WHO
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Milupi bemoans 2007 under-expenditure
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Thursday January 10, 2008 [03:00]
Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee chairperson Charles Milupi has said it is a national scandal for K900 billion from last year’s budget to remain unspent. But deputy accountant general, Joel Mwanza, said the huge amount of money from last year’s budget remained unspent due to the tight fiscal policy reforms the government had embarked on.
In an interview, Milupi said there was no justification for not utilising such a huge amount of money when the government had failed to attend to a number of obligations.
“We can’t be ‘patting ourselves on the back’ when about 10 per cent of our budget remains even when we have a lot of development challenges,” Milupi said. “Nine hundred billion is too large to remain unspent. And what that implies is that there is something wrong with our management system or that we are not estimating our budget correctly. Mind you under-expenditure is as bad as over-expenditure.”
Milupi observed that revelations by the Secretary to the Treasury were a clear indication that either the budget planning capacity was not there or that capacity to execute it was missing on the part of the Ministry of Finance and National Planning.
But Mwanza said it was not correct to suggest that the government lacked the capacity to implement its own budget.
He cited some of the reforms as Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability (PEMFA) and Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS).
He said officers were afraid of spending money on budgeted projects for fear of the repercussions.
“The situation we have now is that due to the tight and prudent fiscal management policies, the Ministry of Finance and National Planning has started implementing. Controlling officers are now beginning to take a second thought before they get the money meant for their ministries and departments,” Mwanza said.
“Unlike in the past when the officers could get money even when they did not have proper plan for it, so I think we should give credit where due. If you want to say that the government was not doing well because of the huge amount that remained unspent, the question you should be asking yourself is: Which is better; for money to remain unspent or be wasted or get stolen?”
And Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) has stated that failure by the government to spend K900 billion from last year’s budget was a threat to achieving pro-poor national developments.
CSPR acting executive director Ivy Mutwale stated that the failure by the government to spend money on much needed social services threatened to throw the country backwards in achieving pro-poor national development through the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) and Millennium Development Goals.
Labels: 2007 BUDGET, CHARLES MILUPI, PAC
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Magande justifies unspent money at end of financial year
Magande justifies unspent money at end of financial year
By Chibaula Silwamba in Mfuwe
Wednesday January 09, 2008 [03:00]
FINANCE minister Ng’andu Magande has said government’s good budgeting system has led to the country having unspent money at the end of the financial year compared to the past when there were frequent budget overruns. Recently some Zambians condemned the government over its failure to spend huge amounts of money on development projects. This was after Secretary to the Treasury Evans Chibiliti revealed that K900 billion in last year’s budget had not been spent by the end of 2007 due to long tender procedures.
Addressing a rally at Chiutika Basic School on Saturday, Magande said at the time the Mwanawasa government came to power there were serious economic problems which the government had improved on.
“When President Levy Mwanawasa took over office, most of you had a different vocabulary. Those who knew about budgeting, your vocabulary was budget overrun. Those who have issues of foreign exchange, you were saying kwacha is useless.
Those who knew a lot of economics, you were saying Zambia is Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC),” Magande observed. “But Mwanawasa said this vocabulary is not suitable for our country. We decided to change the vocabulary from all these bad words.”
He said because of the guidance of President Mwanawasa, Zambia was no longer a HIPC country.
“Because of the programme your budget now has no overrun; we even end up with some money at the end of the year because we have not completed the tendering procedures,” Magande said. “Instead of a kwacha depreciating uncontrollably now the kwacha is very strong and stable.”
He said the good economy had boosted the confidence of foreign investors and lenders.
“There are many foreign companies that have come to invest in Zambia. They have found that because of our good economic management, they come to this country or we go to their banks and they can lend us money or give us grants,” Magande said. “With this situation, all I can urge all of you is that we must continue to work hard.”
He said in order to ensure that any money the government gets from tax payers or cooperating partners was properly used, the government had formulated the Fifth National Development Plan.
“For the first time in nearly 20 years, we have a development plan,” said Magande. “We want you to be interested in the development plan so that you know what your government wants to do for you. In order for you to understand the FNDP we translated it in local languages.”
Labels: 2007 BUDGET, MAGANDE, PROCUREMENT SYSTEMS
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2008 budget
By Osman Mapiki
Saturday January 05, 2008 [03:00]
As people look forward to the 2008 budget, a quick reflection on 2007 budget and indeed all previous MMD government’s budgets shows that they are not workable. All they give us are the same platitudinous statements like; “We are going to reduce poverty.., we are going to improve health care..,” and so on . But have they improved anything really? The answer is NO.
What these budgets have achieved so far is to fatten the pockets and bellies of those individuals in the system, leaving the nation with the same perennial problems of poverty, sanitation, bad roads, fewer schools and many more.
This cyclical process of a ‘good’ budget every year but with no improvement reminds me of what a Caucasian German friend observed. He said Zambia and many African countries are in this state because its occupants are mad. My initial reaction then was anger and rage. But after a thorough review, I have identified two types of madness; Group madness and individual madness.
How else would you call a situation where the government spends hundreds of millions of wachas on a by-election in a constituency instead of solving serious water crises, impassable roads, sanitation and other problems people are facing?
That is group madness. Imagine how many boreholes could be sunk from that money. A by-election empowers only one ‘honorable’ person whose only job is to say, ‘yah, yah, yah’ to House motions. Boreholes would benefit over 30,000 constituency members, solve water shortages and improve sanitation.
(And that is just one of the many examples). Individual madness is the foundation of group madness although most of the times it is induced by group madness. Consider a person who hasn’t secured his future due to dropping out early from school. He or she starts producing children whom he or she can’t feed, educate or clothe, expecting other people to feed them for him.
Although his leaving school early could have been due to government’s failure (group madness) to build enough schools in his area, that is individual madness. The two forms of madness are reciprocal to each other and symbiotic too.
The indicated remedy to our economic problems is to treat the two vices. A budget can be written on the most expensive material and with the best financial phrases to smoothen its readability but it will remain a useless paper if its implementation is affected by group madness.
Labels: 2007 BUDGET, 2008 BUDGET
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K900bn from 2007 budget not spent, reveals Chibiliti
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Wednesday January 02, 2008 [03:01]
SECRETARY to the Treasury Evans Chibiliti has revealed that about K900 billion of the budgeted money in last year’s budget has not been spent. And Chibiliti said the treasury was working out modalities of expediting budget implementation to accelerate execution of developmental projects.
In an interview in Lusaka, Chibiliti attributed the slow budget implementation to what he called structural deficiencies orderliness which shortened the implementation cycle. “What that means is that because of this underutilisation, we can’t build more schools, construction of the roads and repair of bridges cannot be undertaken on time, hospitals cannot be attended to on time,” Chibiliti said.
Chibiliti said the huge chunk of the money was kept at the Bank of Zambia while the rest of it was with the commercial banks.
“About 600 billion to 700 billion is still with the central bank while K200 billion was with the commercial banks,” Chibiliti said.
He said the current government expenditure cycle was short and that the treasury was working out modalities to ensure that controlling officers in the ministries expedited implementation of the budget programmes by starting expenditure earlier than the current trend.
“Just look at budget system, Parliament only approves it at the end of March when we are already three months into the year and for the treasury to release the money to various ministries, it would take maybe another three months, so the controlling officers only get the money and start spending in June when we are half way in the year,” Chibiliti said. “And in this country our tender procedures take about 90 days, so when it comes to the actual implementation some of these projects, it somewhere in September.”
He said the treasury was currently implementing reforms that would enable controlling officers to start implementing budgeted programmes almost immediately after Parliament approved the budget.
“The problem is that controlling officers only want to start spending when the money is in their accounts,” he said.
Chibiliti also revealed that the treasury had worked out a modality that would ensure speedy implementation of next year’s budget.
He also revealed that the treasury had already finished preparing this year’s budget and had already informed controlling officers in all the ministries of their expected allocations in next year’s budget, a move he said would enable the officers to prepare in advance as they await approval of the budget by Parliament.
“Hitherto, we used to experience this problem, but now it is crystal clear as to where we were getting it wrong. Now, I am optimistic that the greater part of this year’s (2008) budget would be implemented,” said Chibiliti.
Recently, most stakeholders have bemoaned the low budget execution in the country.
During the first half of last year, the government ministries and departments were reported to have spent less than was budgeted and less than was released by the finance ministry.
Labels: 2007 BUDGET
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Pro-poor budget deception
By Editor
Friday December 21, 2007 [03:00]
This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless it’s a good place for all of us to live in. This year’s budget was bandied around as a pro-poor budget. What pro-poor budget? Despite some improvement in the performance of the economy, poverty has continued to deepen. The economic growth has not been for the people. What we see are economic casualties; we all see the casualties.
They are not be to found among the leaders and some of the enthusiasts; they are to be found amongst the people whose jobs are destroyed, whose services are crushed, whose living standards are pushed down to deeper depths of insecurity and misery. These are vile times under these neo-liberal economic policies, and we have to secure the opportunity to change things.
We need a system that truly puts jobs and services first before other considerations.
These may be hellish choices to make under the current circumstances but we need a government and politicians who can make such choices. We need politicians and a government that can find ways. We understand the challenges. And we agonise with our leaders in the choices they have to make – very unpalatable, totally undesirable, but they have to make them. They have to use all their creativity to find ways that will best protect those whom they are elected to serve and defend. We need leaders who are prepared to take decisions, to meet obligations and to give service. We need leaders who know that life is real, life is earnest – too real, too earnest to sacrifice on the alter of political expedience. And we should not mistake economic growth statistics for an accomplished fact; life is too real, too earnest for one to mistake a slogan for a strategy, to mistake barking for bitting. We should not accept to be dragged into a situation where everybody can either stand on their own feet, or live on their knees.
The service of Zambia, a pro-poor budget, means the service of, and a budget dedicated to, the millions of our people who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance, disease and inequality of opportunity. It should be our ambition to wipe every tear from every eye. That may seem to be beyond us, but for as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work should continue to be the champion of the causes of the poor. And so we have to labour and to work, and work hard, to give reality to our dreams. The future beckons us. Whither do we go and shall be our endeavour? To bring opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of Zambia; to fight and end poverty, ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman. There should not be resting time for any of us till we make all the people of Zambia, especially the poor, what destiny intended them to be. But to achieve this, unity is needed in the nation because no divided nation can seriously tackle its problems. We must always be mindful of this one thing, whatever the trials and tests ahead. The ultimate strength of our country will not lie in infinite resources or boundless wealth, but in the unity of our people.
There is also need for honesty in the way we govern the affairs of our country; in our politics. Those who govern our country today can be said to have won elections on the strength of their promises. It is true they haven’t carried them out. Deception is always a pretty contemptible vice, but to deceive the poor just to get their votes is the meanest of all crimes. We cannot think of a more contemptible man – our power of imagination fails us to bring into our minds’ eyes a more despicable man than the man who deceives the poor.
We should not forget that the budget is introduced not merely for the purpose of raising barren taxes, but taxes that are fertile, taxes that will bring forth fruit. The provision for the deserving poor and the aged – it is time it was done. It is rather a shame for a government that claims to be doing very well and having achieved a lot on the economic front that it should allow those who have toiled all their days to end in penury and possibly starvation. It is rather sad that they should find their ways to the gates of the tombs, bleeding and footsore through the brambles and thorns of poverty. Why are we placing the burdens on the broad shoulders of our poor people? Why should we put burdens on the poor in our budgets? Why should we add one grain of trouble to the anxiety which they bear with so much patience and fortitude?
Clearly, the growth of our economy, instead of bringing comfort to the masses of our people, is imposing additional burdens on them. At the bottom of the social scale, there’s a growing mass of poverty and misery.
We think that the true test of economic progress in a nation is not the accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few, but the elevation of a people as a whole. At this rate, it won’t be long before we start to witness a conflict between the men who possess more than they have earned and the men who have earned more than they possess. And this conflict is the central condition of progress. But the supreme function of statesmanship is to provide against preventable evils.
Hence, there is need to avoid the besetting temptation of all politics to concern itself with the immediate present at the expense of the future. Above all, people are disposed to mistake predicting troubles for causing troubles and even for desiring troubles; ‘if only’, they love to think, ‘if only people wouldn’t talk about it, it probably wouldn’t happen’. Perhaps this habit goes back to the primitive belief that the word and the thing, the name and the object, are identical. At all events, the discussion of future grave but, with effort now, avoidable evils is the most unpopular and at the same time, the most necessary occupation for the politician. Those who knowingly shirk it, deserve, and not infrequently receive, the curses of those who come after.
Labels: 2007 BUDGET, POVERTY
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2007 budget hasn’t uplifted people’s lives, says Kabwe
By Chibaula Silwamba
Friday December 21, 2007 [03:00]
UNIVERSITY of Zambia (UNZA) Development Studies lecturer Tiyaonse Kabwe has said this year’s pro-poor budget is the highest order of deception because it has not uplifted people’s lives. In an interview on Wednesday, Kabwe said if the government really wanted to have a proper pro-poor budget,
it should channel billions of Kwacha into agriculture and social sectors like health and education.
“The pro-poor budget is not true and again these are deceptions of the highest order. We are being fooled; the poor people are being fooled, what trickle down effects have gone to the poor?” Kabwe asked. “How have the people benefited because these poor people have just been living the same way. They don’t have access to proper farming inputs; they don’t have access to good health facilities etc nothing has changed. We are living the same old life.”
The government has been implementing an activity-based budget aimed at poverty reduction. He said there were few urban and rural people whose lives had improved due to pro-poor budget.
“Only when a lot of money is pushed into agriculture sector and help peasant farmers to grow crops and monitoring them to ensure that things are happening in rural areas will we say yes this is a pro-poor budget,” he said. “What pro-poor budget is that when farmers are not assisted, no proper measures to address urban poverty? How many poor people have they upgraded in urban and rural areas? We continue to hear about poor sanitation and poor social services.”
Kabwe wondered where the resources saved from the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) completion point were spent.
“Resources should have been freed for better things like effective investment in rural areas and subsidies on farming inputs. But we don’t know where resources are going. We haven’t seen the benefits of HIPC,” he said. “We talk about single digit inflation, but people are not feeling that. Instead of talking about single digit inflation we should be talking about the benefits trickling down.”
He observed that even bus fares had been increased.
“If we are stuck at one poverty level, we are not moving anywhere, our salaries are not increasing, we can’t rejoice upon hearing the so-called single digit inflation, it’s not an achievement,” said Kabwe.
Labels: 2007 BUDGET, POVERTY
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Mining firms escape tax hike
By Kingsley Kaswende
Tuesday February 13, 2007 [07:30]
FINANCE minister Ng’andu Magande has said the increase in the mineral royalty tax from 0.6 per cent to three per cent will not affect the existing mining companies because of the binding development agreements. The government has raised tax on mining companies to help cash in on high global copper prices. The tax increase is part of the government's austere K12 billion 2007 budget released by Magande last Friday.
During the budget presentation, Magande said the government proposed to increase the country's royalty tax on copper earnings from 0.6 percent to 3 percent, increase the company income tax from 25 to 30 per cent, and reintroduce a 15 percent withholding tax on dividends, interest, royalties and other mining sector transactions. He said the government planned to negotiate with the mining companies on tax revisions.
But at a post-budget discussion forum later, he said the new provision would not affect the current mining operation, which had binding development agreements that spell out the tax concessions. “The difficulty we have is that all mining operations have development agreements. Most of them are expanding their operations on the basis of the development agreements which contain 0.6 per cent as mineral royalties,” he said. Magande said the three per cent royalty tax and the 30 per cent company tax would only apply to those who would come after the law comes in force. “There are three waiting at the moment and it will take another three years before they finally start paying the new rates,” he said.
Magande was responding to economics consultant John Kasanga’s concerns about the disparity between the increment in mineral royalties and the expected revenue therefrom. Kasanga said last year, the projection for earnings from royalties at 0.6 per cent was K58 billion but the current increment from 0.6 per cent to three per cent, which is projected at K77 billion does not just add up. “In my view the projection would have been in the range of K400 billion. The percentage amount is significant but it is not tallying with the projected revenue gain,î Kasanga said.
Magande explained that the current projections of revenue from mineral royalties did not take into account the tax increment. “When we were projecting the revenue, we were not projecting revenue which will come out of the review that now comes to three per cent. That money is not accounted for,” he said. Magande said the government would create a dedicated account for mining revenue and would decide which particular items of the budget would receive that revenue. In Zambia, for any company involved in copper and cobalt production, the applicable rate has been 0.6 per cent.
Any holder of a gemstone license, small scale mining license or artisan's mining right would pay mineral royalty tax on the gross value of the minerals or metals produced at the rate of five per cent but the rate in force has been two per cent. The 0.6 percent royalty tax, which was particularly low compared with taxes in other copper-producing countries, was put in place during an industry downturn early in the decade, when the government was desperate to attract foreign investment.
Copper accounts for more than 60 percent of the country’s exports. Copper prices have since risen from less than US $1 per pound to more than US $3 per pound, driven in large part by growing demand from China. Zambian copper production rose by 7.9 per cent in 2006, Magande said, from 459,324 metric tons to 492,016 metric tons. The mining industry now directly employs almost 50,000 people in Zambia. "At the time when copper prices on the international market were low, mining companies were offered tax concessions in order to make their projects viable," Magande said in prepared remarks. "Now that the prices are high, there is need to review these concessions so that the nation can benefit from increased earnings from the mining companies."
Talk of revising the copper tax has raised fears, however, of a backlash among foreign mining companies many of which entered into long-term contracts with the government. Magande said the government would now seek negotiations with those companies "so that there is mutual consent by contracting parties to revise the tax regime to the new rates."
In a recent interview, mining expert Thom Kamwendo said it was good that the issue of mineral royalties had been brought back to the table. He advised that the decision should not be arbitrary but that the changes must be agreed. “If we look back, no one ever predicted that copper prices would be high. Looking at the circumstances it is worthwhile to look at the issue. It is the holistic way of how we set royalties that we must look at,” he said.
Kamwendo said the review should be robust and internationally competitive. He said the government must create a win-win situation where both the country and investors must come out with something. He said it would not be prudent to base the reviews on price alone. “What happens if the prices goes down tomorrow?” he asked. Kamwendo said Zambia was serious trouble a decade ago and that during that time, it was worthwhile to come up with concessions in the development agreements.
Labels: 2007 BUDGET, CORRUPTION, MAGANDE, MINING
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GHZ supports govt's proposal to raise mineral royalties
By Joan Chirwa
Tuesday February 13, 2007 [02:00]
GEMFIELDS Holdings Zambia Limited (GHZ) has supported government's proposal to raise mineral royalties for both base and precious metals to three per cent. And Equinox Minerals Limited vice president for investment relations and corporate development Kevin Van Nierkek has said his company would not be affected by the proposed taxes because of the ten-year development agreement signed with the government.
Commenting on the proposed increase in mineral royalties from 0.6 per cent to three per cent for base metals and two per cent to three per cent for precious metals, GHZ chief operating officer Alok Sood said most African countries had their royalties of above 2.5 per cent.
Sood said it was acceptable that mineral royalties for both base and precious metals be at the same level. Under the current system, base metals are being taxed at 0.6 per cent, while precious metals are contributing two per cent to the treasury.
"In fact, there should be a level playing field in the mining industry," Sood said. "Gemstones are a highly risky business, unlike base metals. A lot of money is put in for prospecting, and in some cases, you do not get the good quality stone, so you lose out." Sood said some countries had their mineral royalties at around five per cent, and the three per cent proposed by government was reasonable. And Nierkek said the new taxes and mineral royalties would not have any effect on Equinox Minerals because the development agreement signed with the Zambian government spelt out its own royalties and corporate taxes.
"We've already signed the agreement with government and this is for a ten-year period," Nierkek said. "Unless we enter into fresh agreements, everything is locked in the agreement signed."
Haywood Securities vice president and mining equity analyst Eric Zaunscherb urged government and the mining companies to agree on mineral taxes that would benefit both sides. Zaunscherb, whose company has its headquarters in Canada, was in Livingstone for the just ended Africa 2007 mining congress. "The 0.6 per cent mineral royalty sounds too low, but again the three per cent is on the high side. I hope the Zambian government and the mining companies in the country compromise. I think something in the range of 1.5 per cent wouldn't be very bad," he said.
Zaunscherb, however, said there should never be a situation where mineral royalties and corporate tax are both high. The government in this year's budget increased corporate tax from 25 per cent to 30 per cent.
Labels: 2007 BUDGET, ECONOMY, MINING
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Macroeconomic targets for 2007 too ambitious, says economist
By Kingsley Kaswende
Tuesday February 13, 2007 [02:00]
ZAMBIA’S macroeconomic targets for 2007 are too ambitious, an economist has observed. Dr Cosmas Musumali, who is immediate past vice-president of the Economics Association of Zambia (EAZ), said the contents of the 2007 budget were not tallying with what the government wanted to achieve. The government has targeted to achieve a real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of seven per cent. The economy grew by 5.8 per cent in 2006, according to official figures. The government had projected it would grow by six per cent.
Zambia has in the past five years recorded growth averaging 4.5 per cent. The government has also targeted to reduce inflation by five per cent, reduce domestic borrowing to 1.2 per cent of GDP and to raise gross international reserves to at least 2.5 months of import cover.
Last year, the government had targeted to reduce inflation to 10 per cent, reduce domestic borrowing to 1.6 per cent of GDP and maintain the coverage of official gross international reserves to at least 1.5 per cent of imports. Magande said last year’s targets were achieved due to private sector investments in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, construction and tourism.
Dr Musumali, however, said this year’s seven per cent growth would not come spontaneously, but would be a result of the policies embedded in the budget. He said the four key contributors to the growth of the economy - agriculture, mining, construction and tourism - were not expected to achieve enough growth to contribute to the seven per cent target. “The 3.9 per cent growth in agriculture is not enough to contribute to the GDP growth target. With the poor rains this year it is most likely that the agricultural sector will not perform beyond five per cent growth,” he said.
Dr Musumali said the 11 per cent growth in mining over the past few years was a good indicator but that projections of metal prices in the next two years were not positive. “The prices are likely to stabilise at a lower level while output is expected to be high but the net effect is that growth will not be more than 11 per cent.
He said the tourism sector only recorded a 3.1 per cent increase in tourist arrivals, slower than medium term expenditure framework targets, while the construction industry was not showing significant growth.
On inflation, Dr Musumali said the government would have been safer to just its aim at containing the current levels of around eight per cent. “It is easier to reduce inflation from 30 per cent to 20 per cent but you need very strenuous measures to move it down to a single digit. The five per cent is an ambitious target,” he said.
On government borrowing, Dr Musumali said the MTEF was projecting higher borrowing, inconsistent with 2007’s projection. He, however, was content with the projection on gross international reserves, which he said resonated with the available resources in the country. “If we can contain these throughout the year, we should be able to be on track,” said Dr Musumali.
Labels: 2007 BUDGET, MAGANDE
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Magande's budget
By Gerry Muka
Tuesday February 13, 2007 [02:00]
Yes, Magande’s 2007 budget is designed to reduce poverty; the poverty of those lucky to have been appointed to government office by the biggest beneficiary of all, Levy Mwanawasa himself. I am not at all surprised at the budget. It was, after all, prepared by a man who has shamelessly declared there is no poverty in Zambia.
All those pre-budget consultations were nothing but an excuse for Magande and his minions at Ministry of Finance to collect imprest, weren’t they? It is clear that every Zambian politician is as greedy as the next one! Their expensive suits and cars only serve to mask their avarice. Even if you were to throw out every one of those self-centred MPs (Monsters of Parliament) whose first order of business is to demand a salary hike and car loans, and ship in a new lot, there would be more of the same drooling, green-eyed species trying to grab as much of the duty-free benefits as they can.
And Levy would have us believe that he is serious about fighting corruption when the whole budget is designed to line the pockets of his appointees leaving the masses as poor as ever? I hope that Levy has just enough sense of shame to ask Magande to redo the budget, or at least that part of it that deals with State House. Is it just possible that in this whole country of 11-plus million people, this so-called Christian Nation, there is not one person with an honest bone in his make-up that we can trust to run the country? Not one? Poor pitiful us.
http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=22514
Plunderers!
By YAC Abrams
Tuesday February 13, 2007 [02:00]
May I express my shock and disbelief over the revelation made by our Republican President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa of the theft of 36 billion kwacha. Our President means well, it seems. The magnitude of the plunder is too ghastly to contemplate. I believe any well-meaning citizen must have shuddered at the news of such heartless stealing of the public resources. Fellow Zambians, let us pursue this matter aggressively and get to the bottom of the whole scam. It's either we act to bring the culprits to book and stop recurrence of such or end at mere talk and encourage the theft. Let's embrace the unity of purpose in such situations. If we are to fight such magnitude of financial and economic injustices inflicted upon our people by a few selfish individuals, we need to act in accord.
Imagine the pain inflicted on the taxpayer at the revelation of such acts of stealing. What about the donor confidence, can we maintain it in such situations? What about institutions such as Zambia Revenue Authority, who toil day and night to collect revenue towards the national basket? There is a feeling of wasted efforts I believe by the taxman. We want to know over which period this theft relates to, that will help us tie the controlling officers then. Where was the office of the Auditor General, surely?
Labels: 2007 BUDGET, ACCOUNTING
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Magande announces broad incentives to woo investors
By EMELDA MWITWA
GOVERNMENT has provided investment incentives by zero-rating tax on import duty for five years on trucks, equipment and raw materials for companies that would be operating in tax free zones. These incentives, which also cover tax-free profits, would be under the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) priority sectors and Multi-Facility Economic Zones (MFEZ).
Minister of Finance and National Planning Ng’andu Magande, who announced the growth incentives to Parliament yesterday, said the tax relief would run for five years from the first year profits are made. From the sixth to the eighth year, only 50 per cent of the profits would be taxed, and in the ninth and tenth year, the companies would only pay 75 per cent tax.
Other measures to encourage investment from local and foreign entrepreneurs include the zero per cent tax on dividends for companies in the priority sectors or MFEZ. “Enterprises operating in the MFEZ would also enjoy zero percent import duty on trucks, specialised motor vehicles, raw materials, capital goods and machinery, for a period of five years,” the minister said. They would also enjoy deferment of VAT on machinery and equipment, including trucks and specialised motor vehicles imported for investment in MFEZ or the priority sectors.
Mr Magande said the ZDA would address the high cost of doing business in Zambia, and would simplify the processing of various business formalities such as licensing. MFEZ will diversify the economy and promote exports. Two locations for this project have since been identified in Lusaka and Chambishi, on the Copperbelt.
The Minister said the Japanese International Development Agency (JICA) has since engaged a Malaysian company, Kulim High Technology Park Corporation to develop the Lusaka MFEZ. The Chinese Government would develop the Chambeshi zone. Some 50 enterprises with an estimated investment of US$800 million over the next four years would operate under the zone. Mr Magande stressed that Government would offer incentives to both Zambian and foreign firms in order to promote manufacturing and stimulate export activities, technological development, skills transfer and job creation.
Labels: 2007 BUDGET, FDI, FREE ENTERPRISE ZONES, IMF, World Bank
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Zambia losing grip on funding own Budget
By David Punabantu
LOOKING at the 2007 Budget, to have an idea of the big picture, firstly requires a look at other budgets.
As seen in 1995, Zambia produced 307,558 tonnes of copper. The average price of copper on the LME then stood at US$2,623.5 per tonne, giving US$806 million in revenue. With non-traditional exports (NTEs), exports reached about US$1 billion. The exchange rate on Budget day then stood at K853 per US dollar. The Budget was about K853 billion, indicating against the exchange rate that it was worth US$1 billion.
The 1996 Budget was K1,161 trillion, and naturally, the exchange rate stood between K1,000 and K1,160 per US dollar on Budget day. The Budget thus in US dollar terms was worth US$1 billion.
The 1999 Budget was at about K2.2 trillion and was worth US$840 million on Budget day, as the exchange rate stood at K2,650 per US dollar.
Hence, the Kwacha appreciated after the Budget to about K2,200 per US dollar.
The appreciation drove the Budget to represent US$1 billion. However, by December 1999, Government passed a supplementary Budget of about K500 billion.
This pushed the 1999 Budget presented by the then Finance minister, Edith Nawakwi, from K2.2 trillion to about K2.7 trillion.
Naturally, the exchange rate moved to a similar position prior to the 1999 Budget of K2,650 per US dollar.
At this position, the 1999 Budget maintained its US$1 billion position.
The same pattern is seen for the 2000 Budget. It stood at around K2.9 trillion, to which the exchange rate moved to maintain the Budget export revenue and exchange rate configurations.
It is behind this pattern that whatever export revenue is obtained by the private sector is neutralised in real value terms by Government expenditure. The exchange rate under these conditions has been affected negatively, despite it being in a free market economy. What this implies is that if exports grew to US$3 billion a year, so too would Government revenue; hence Government expenditure would eat up all the real value produced by the mine sector.
A look at the 2005 Budget shows that the Budget was worth K9.7 trillion or roughly worth US$2 billion in US dollar terms.
The 2004 Budget was worth, roughly in US dollar terms, US$1.8 billion.
THE 2004 Budget was worth roughly US$ 1.8 billion. Past Budgets presented to Parliament on Budget day from 1990 to 2003 except for 1993 hovered around US$1-1.3 billion.
What this means is that if the Government stuck to the past traditional Budget of US$1 billion, Zambians can fund the Budget without donor support.
Hence the K5.7 trillion from domestic revenue in the 2005 Budget covers the past traditional value. Consequently does reaching the HIPC Completion Point mean just that, Zambia being able to fund its own Budget from domestic resources?
In a space of just two years the Budget has almost doubled in US dollar terms from 2003 to 2005.
What is interesting in the sudden increase of the Budget in the 2006 Budget speech by Finance Minister Ng’andu Magande when he said: “total export earnings have increased by 17.5 per cent to US$2,127 million from US$1,810 million in 2004.
It is worth noting that export earnings in 2005 doubled from US$1,061 million in 2003. The increase in the value of export earnings was mainly attributed to the growth in the copper export volumes and the rise in copper prices.”
Thus, the 2007 Budget still shadows export earnings pegged for last year at US$3.9 billion and it was planned when the exchange rate was round K3078 per US dollar.
What this basically means is that if the Government is to be freed from operating independently in the economy, its foreign exchange policy has to change so that the ownership of foreign exchange can be only through Kwacha purchases, thereby, the linkage between US dollar export revenue and the Budget would be broken.
Consequently, what can be expected from the misalignment is that Zambians will continue to suffer from a Kwacha shortage as opposed to a US dollar shortage experienced in the second republic.
These are areas that the Finance Minister should have addressed especially the misalignment from the tradition Budget, exchange rate and export revenue configuration.
The minister of finance talked of Zambia’s external debt dropping.
Preliminary information indicates that the country’s external debt stock stood at US$635 million as at end of December 2006, a reduction of 86.7 per cent from the end of 2005 stock of US$4.5 billion.
This year, foreign debt service will be US$33.9 million against the pre-HIPC and pre-MDRI figure of US$373.2 million in 2004.
Zambia is therefore no more a Heavily Indebted Poor Country.
When it comes to PAYE the figure has not really changed. Last year it stood at around K2 trillion. This year it still stands at around K2 trillion. The Finance Minister has however, given some tax relief that has been raised to K500, 000 from K320, 000. If one was to look at K320, 000 worth of goods at the start of last year, like fuel etc, it would be found that these same goods would cost about K500, 000 or more in value terms meaning that the relief in value terms has remained the same.
The Finance Minister has at least raised mineral royalty tax from 0.6 per cent to 3 percent and withholding tax on dividends, interest, royalties, management fees and payments to affiliates or subcontractors in the mining sector. This indicates that he is serious about the Zambian Government cashing in on the high copper prices.
Further more, he is trying to bring into the tax net mining companies by indicating that he is going to re-negotiate tax regimes for the mines. What this basically means is that if the Finance Minister is successful, in the next Budget PAYE may be reduced much further.
Labels: 2007 BUDGET
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Magande’s 2007 poverty reduction and growth budget
By Editor
Saturday February 10, 2007 [02:00]
Let’s put the Budget speech rhetoric aside and critically examine things. This year’s Budget goes under the theme “From stability to improved service delivery”. Closely examining this year’s expenditure, it becomes very clear that it is only government that is improving its consumption service delivery. It has nothing to do with people at large. The devil is in the detail. We have now all heard and read finance minister Ng’andu Magande’s Budget speech. The Post has now closely reviewed the 1,439 pages of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, famously known as the “Yellow Book”. The next bombshell will be when Magande tables tax and customs legislation, which detail has yet to be disclosed.
Some people never learn. Some people take all the people all the time for granted. We cannot count on any member of parliament to work for the people; except for themselves - this includes the President, ministers and opposition members of parliament.
The report below will show how President Levy Mwanawasa and Magande want to develop Zambia. We will give you only a glimpse of some of the bizarre expenditures. You will see what government means by poverty reduction programmes. Essentially they are about improving the living standards of the President, ministers and members of parliament. In this analysis, we have only shown our readers less than 1 per cent of the proposed expenditures by Magande. This analysis tells why there is gross incompetence at the highest levels of government.
Billions of kwacha have been allocated in the name of poverty reduction programms, when they are simply consumption-oriented. For instance, how on earth can international obligations, outstanding bills, settling in allowances - a total of K38.69 billion as allocated under the Ministry of Education Programme 3 and 7 - constitute poverty reduction programmes? Since we need to have economic growth, the Ministry of Works and Supply has allocated K650 billion to procure state functions, motor vehicles and a staggering K5.322 billion for VIP motor vehicles and K1.612 billion for motor vehicle consumables. Under the Buildings Department another K1 billion has been allocated for more motor vehicles. Under National Assembly, Magande has allocated a staggering K19, 488 billion for vehicles for members of parliament. In 2006 members of parliament took K33.2 billion in gratuities!
This madness does not end here - Levy is not even in the first year of his second term of office and Magande is already planning for his boss’ retirement benefits. Levy, the third Republican President, like all our former Republican presidents is entitled to several perks, one of them being housing upon retirement. Magande has allocated K1 billion for Mwanawasa’s retirement house! While the still incomplete house of the first Republican president (Dr Kenneth Kaunda) since the early 1990s has been allocated a K4 billion, and the second Republican president (Frederick Chiluba) also still incomplete house has been allocated K2 billion.
In addition, the Ministry of Works and Supply, under their budget head “Poverty Reduction Program”, State House renovations has been allocated K15.786 billion. Is this a poverty reduction programme? However, under the actual State House budget, the 2006 budget of K13.232 billion has been increased to K18.998 billion for 2007, the rest as you will have noted has been “hidden” under the Ministry of Works and Supply. Compare this with K10 billion allocated under the Ministry of Local Government for capital grants to District Local Authorities and recurrent grants of K50 billion and K25 billion for retrenchments under Local Authorities! We have to ask: Did Levy sleep through the Cabinet budget meetings? Or does he even understand the consequences? The buck stops on the President’s table and he must be made answerable.
Under the Vice-President, it’s all humpty-dumpty. In 2006 for Vice-President’s Office operation, Parliament approved K2.04 billion, but instead spent an additional K10.563 billion, making a total of K12.612 billion. We assume this was to facilitate the campaign tours former Vice-President Lupando Mwape undertook. This year, Vice-President Rupiah Banda’s office administration gets a healthy K6 billion. The country is currently under serious flooding disasters. Of the total K20.78 billion allocation to the entire Vice-President’s Office, the Disaster Management and Mitigation Department of the Vice-President’s Office has been allocated a total of K6.93 billion of which K1.616 billion has been allocated for office administration and K238.7 million for stockpiling non-food supplies and about K25 million for stockpiling food supplies and zero for procurement of relief supplies!
Since all presidential and vice-presidential travel expenses are “hidden” it is interesting to note that under Cabinet Office, State Functions (local) a total of K 4.62 billion has been allocated. What is astonishing is that allocations of K905 million and K600 million have been made for the Ndola International Trade Fair and Lusaka Agricultural and Commercial Show respectively, while the Ministry of Commerce has allocated K32 million and an additional K102.9 million for the International Trade Fair and the Ministry of Agriculture has allocated K42.2 million for agricultural and commercial shows under their Department of Agriculture.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has allocated K21 million for its participation at the International Trade fair. This is why we said last year that it was a mad budget and so it is this year.
Further K45 billion has been allocated for public affairs and Summit meetings, whilst NIPA gets a paltry K100 million. Contrast this with a total allocation of K2.5 billion under Zambia Police under the Ministry of Home Affairs for rehabilitation of police camps, grading of police camp roads, prison cell and police stations rehabilitation. But not to be outdone, government spent K2.5 billion in 2006 to rehabilitate one helicopter. Government also spent K11.34 billion in 2006 to buy vehicles for the police and have allocated about K2 billion for more in 2007.
Under the Zambia Police poverty reduction programme about K182 million has been allocated for rehabilitation of water and sewer systems and K30 billion for construction of new housing units. But for Lt. Gen. Ronnie Shikapwasha at his Ministry headquarters, he has got himself K1.8 billion for office administration and almost K862 million for international travel during 2007. Government spent K4.373 billion for the yet to be seen digitalised national travel documents and has now allocated a further K4.28 billion for the same this year. Since we expect huge foreign investments, not to be outdone the Immigration Department has allocated itself almost K1.8 billion to buy more motor vehicles. At Local Government under their poverty reduction programme
called smallholder enterprise marketing programme, they spent an incredible K45 billion in 2006 for rehabilitation of footbridges and other than donor-funded projects in 2007, they intend to spend K2.4 billion for “mobilisation” in 2007 under their urban market development programmes. At the Ministry of Finance K30 billion has been allocated for the farm mechanisation and irrigation fund and K30 billion for credit enhancement for SME’s, and an additional K55 billion for “other
financial restructuring” - whatever all that means.
Whilst TAZAMA Pipeline gets almost K10 billion and the Zambia National Building Society gets almost K16 billion and Indeni Refinery gets K42 billion, in addition to an allocation under the Ministry of Energy of K234 million and RAMCOZ gets an allocation of K13 billion, when the
Administrator General’s Office at the Ministry of Justice spent K700 million on liquidation of RAMCOZ in 2006. Nitrogen Chemicals gets K3 billion, against K9 billion allocated for Constituency Development Fund, under the poverty reduction programme at Ministry of Local Government.
Last year government spent K29 billion on the youth empowerment fund, but there is little to show for it. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in 2006 spent K1.35 billion on presidential trips abroad, ostensibly to provide press coverage to Levy, and for 2007 they have allocated K1.46 billion to provide overseas press coverage for Levy. Support to the entire public media has been allocated K1.5 billion, against K7.19 billion that was allocated and spent by the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation in 2006. The Ministry however has allocated itself K481 million for foreign tours in 2007. K2 billion has also been allocated for the appointment of the Independent Broadcasting Authority and almost K230 million for the review of media laws and a further K1.1 billion to rent satellite space, whilst the Zambia News and Information Services gets K1.5 billion to procure motor vehicles.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Office at Public Service Management Division has allocated itself K8.5 billion for “voluntary medical scheme”, for the select few it seems, and K533 million for negotiations and collective agreements, less this year from 2006 when they spent K846 million. But let’s not forget our chiefs, they have a bonanza this year; they get K6.6 billion allocated for motor vehicles. Like local government and housing minister Sylvia Masebo said recently, decentralisation is not a priority of her colleagues, hence they had the luck of the Irish who have granted her almost K1.5 billion for decentralisation sector development, while government has allocated a total of K700 million for office administration and staff welfare in the decentralisation department.
Constitutional reforms at the Ministry of Justice get K202 billion and another K1.7 billion for the procurement of motor vehicles. Are you still with us? It gets even more absurd; the ill-fated Triangle of Hope initiative launched with much aplomb by Levy last year, but generally “rejected” by the Ministry of Finance gets K248 million - to do what? And since Citizens Economic Empowerment Fund is now no longer relevant, government has allocated a mere K49 million. But attending international conferences by the staff of the human resources and administration department of the Ministry of Finance is very important, so they allocated themselves K909 million and an additional K400 million for them to revise the Ministerial Strategic Plan. As if this is not enough for them, they also allocated additional K380 million for “culture remodelling-radio and TV production and K280 million for advertising and a whopping K700 million for Ministerial publications in foreign press. In order to educate us, they will spend K360 million for post-budget and MTEF outreach! Yet another K1 billion for motor vehicles and K600 million for their fuel reserves.
The University Teaching Hospital does not have a proper functioning incinerator, but who cares about human health? The Ministry of Finance is going to spend K450 million installing their own electrical incinerator and K700 million painting the Ministry of Finance HQ. That is not all, since the Ministry of Finance HQ is the ‘tallest’ building in Zambia, they will also spend K450 million fitting 2 elevators. Since the Zambia Revenue Authority seems to be incompetent, the Budget Office is spending K627 million for non-tax inspections and K129 million for development of new customs duty/VAT funding system and K978 million for tax policy reforms. But the Department of Planning and Economic Management cannot be sidelined, so they have come up with K2.28 billion to disseminate the National Development Plan (NDP) 2006-2010 and a further K1.18 billion to co-ordinate the implementation of the NDP. This is after they spent K5.26 billion in 2006 on dissemination of the NDP. It gets even more ridiculous. Under their poverty reduction programme, they spent K277 million for FNDP progress report writing in 2006 and want another K300 million this year and K706 million for preparation of the development budget. In order to hoodwink the private sector, one needs to have meetings, so they have allocated K80 million for public-private partnership meetings as well.
They spent about K32 million on review of population policy in 2006, so in order to disseminate their review findings they have allocated themselves K200 million this year. But consultations with the IMF/World Bank are crucial to this short-sighted government, so they have allocated K253million for that purpose in 2007.
With all this critical work, one needs economic performance monitoring and reporting, so they have allocated K400 million for the production of the annual economic report, K205 million for preparation of mid-year economic report and K100 million for budget analysis.
It will not cease to amaze you; under their poverty reduction programme, they have allocated K204 million for management information system, K161 million for field inspection and report writing. Not to be outdone, the Ministry of Finance Economic and Technical Cooperation department has allocated itself K346 million for implementation of aid policy strategy, and K300 million for new office furniture, since they are currently all sitting on the floor. You may have thought these people know what they are doing - not so! They have allocated K703 million for short and long-term training as well.
Miraculously, the Department of Financial Management and Accounting in the Ministry of Finance spent K3.8 billion on office administration in 2006, but in 2007 they only need K1.1 billion. This again is laughable; under their poverty reduction programme they spent K22 billion for payment of arrears and this year another K22.966 billion will be spent. K82 billion was spent for payment of arrears to contractors and this year K68.898 billion and K36 billion for payment of utility arrears.
Surely can all this be classified as poverty reduction programmes? If you thought it cannot get any more hilarious, they have allocated K921 million for enhancement of commitment control system/financial and K456 million for production of financial reports - yes yet again! Not to be outstaged, the donors have found it fit to grant the said Department K141 billion for Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability Reforms (PEMFAR).
At the Ministry of Labour HQ - control of foreign labour gets K71 million, review of labour laws gets K30 million and in 2007 SADC Conference gets K600 million, their own staff welfare gets K400 million and in their Planning and Research Department they have allocated K1 billion for their own employment promotion activity, in addition to K200 million for staff welfare, K800 million for National Employment and Labour Market Policy and K700 million for capacity building for labour market information.
The Ministry of Community Development and Social Services HQ exists for noble work for the poor in our society, so they will spend a little more than K1 billion on transport management, K663 million to develop and manage human resources and K520 million for management information systems, while spending K10 billion for agricultural support and K5 billion for retirement benefits for the Zambia Agency for Persons with Disabilities. Their Community Development Department will spend K1.16 billion for “women development” - whatever that may mean - and their Cultural Department will spend K1 billion for “creative and cultural industries”. The Ministry of Health under their poverty reduction programme will spend K3.14 billion for international specialised treatment and K1.1 billion for local specialised treatment. While the very efficient Ministry of Communications and Transport has allocated itself K3.7 billion for office administration and K532 million for extension of their offices. K2.15 billion for Government Communications Flight, which is almost non-existent and we all know Levy uses the Challenger, whose costs they have again hidden this year. K80 million for supervision of establishment of a national airline and K400 million for co-ordination and establishment of a national airline, and to top it off, K231 million for” gender”. What does that mean? Rural telephone gets K400 million under their poverty reduction programme. We thought the Communications Authority was supposed to do that from the fee they charge to all telephone operators and or ZAMTEL! And K350 million for the implementation of the Triangle of Hope.
Since all the major mining investments have been made near the Kasama area, the Civil Aviation Department has allocated K2.08 billion for rehabilitation of the Kasama airport and K217 million for Solwezi airport, which area has little investment in the new mines! As is this was not adequate, can you imagine a further K513 million has been allocated for “feasibility study on reforming the department”. Rehabilitation of the country’s canals, waterways, harbours get a paltry K1.36 billion. Ministry of Works and Supply under their poverty reduction programme has allocated just over K2 billion for long service bonus and separation packages, K1 billion for roads department repatriation package and a further K1 billion roads department notice of termination, K1 billion for construction of the Solwezi lodge, there is no decent place for VIPs to stay, K500 million for construction of the Livingstone lodge and K528 million for the establishment of conference room and bar at the Kabwe lodge, K200 million for Luangwa lodge and K150 million for renovation of the Kasama lodge. K306 million for maintenance of government and VIP gardens. After spending K300 million on Public Private Partnership in 2006, they have allocated a further K525 million in 2007- to do what? For their Planning Department to attend parliamentary sessions they have allocated K115 million and International Women’s Day gets K241 million.
At the ministry of Science, Technology and Vocational Training, Evelyn Hone College gets K800 million; Northern Technical College gets K600 million. But the medical scheme - for the chosen few- at the ministry gets K190 million. And to inspect all the institutions they have allocated K140 million. To hold a national conference on Technical Education and Vocational Training (TEVET) K211 million has been set aside. K255 million has also been set aside to undertake performance review of TEVET. Government allocation for bursary gets zero, however, the ever-nice donors have allocated K5.5 billion.
A Youth Inventors Fund is being established and K5 billion has been allocated. Most of the development programmes are funded by the donors, as is the case at ministries of health, education, works and supply, among others.
Tourism is the government’s second tier strategy for economic growth, after agriculture, so this year they allocated K140 million for provincial tours to monitor human resource management, K334 million for maintenance of Kwacha House, where their offices are located, pay K400 million for their outstanding bills, K683 million for transport management, and a total of K34.353 billion - of which K20 billion is for ZAWA funded by the donors - to support the staff and activities of the Environmental Council of Zambia, Zambia National Tourist Board, National Museum Board, National Heritage, Hotel and Tourism Training Institute.
Services to the ministers have been allocated K710 million, while services to the permanent secretary have been allocated K149 million and the director of human resources and administration gets K114 million. HIV/AIDS awareness in the Ministry gets K103 million. The Forestry Department has allocated K3 billion in 2007, after having spent K7.35 billion in 2006 for Forestry Development Credit Facility.
While Zambia Forestry College gets a total lump sum of K2.35 billion. Planning is very important so their Planning Department gets K200 million for staff welfare, K12 million for services to director’s office and K254 million for office administration. Getting money out of the donors is the key, so K183.5 million has been allocated for international meetings. All this requires monitoring and evaluation, so a total of K427 million has been budgeted for. A further K297 million has been allocated for data management. To ensure that we are part of the global community, K1.49 billion has been allocated as contribution to international organisations. Just in case citizens get angry, an allocation of K4 billion has been made for the Tourism Development Credit Facility in 2007, after having spent K3.759 billion in 2006.
All this is no good unless we host international conferences, so this year K300 million has been allocated to host the World Tourism Organisation meeting. Since the Ministry of Tourism thinks that the Ministry of Justice is incompetent, they have allocated K500 million for operationalisation of the Tourism and Hospitality Bill-this is not even law yet! The development of the Northern Tourism Circuit (Northern and Luapula provinces) gets K1 billion and the private sector development and Triangle of Hope get a total of K100 million. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources got K60 million for staff welfare in 2006 - too little - so this year they have allocated K360 million. Gender mainstreaming and domestication of multi-lateral agreements gets K240 million - though it was the work of Ministry of Justice! All this is irrelevant because the World Bank is bankrolling about K63 billion under their Sector for Economic Expansion and Diversification Project (SEED), as are few other donors.
President Hu has come and gone. We will finally get a new stadium in Ndola. With so much work ahead of them, the Ministry of Sports, Youth and Child Development HQ has allocated itself K2.08 billion for office administration in 2007 from K873 million in 2006. All this requires a motivated staff, so K550 million for staff welfare has been budgeted from zero last year, and K906 million has been allocated for their 2006 outstanding bills. K105 million has been allocated for the National Survey on Sport, Youth and Child Development and K298 million for programme inspections.
The Sports Department under the ministry will be busy this year, so they have allocated K550 million for office administration, and under their poverty reduction programme they have allocated K285 million for mobilisation of communities into sports sectors and K300 million for rehabilitation of three provincial stadia and K30 million for strategic planning for youth sport- a further K200 million for focus on sports all this and more in the name of poverty reduction programmes! Not to be outdone, the Department of Youth Affairs has allocated itself K851 million for office administration and a further K334 million will be spent on review of the National Action Plan, and between 31 Youth Institutions/Centres will get K3 billion. A further K30 billion has been allocated to Youth Empowerment Fund.
This will require supervision and monitoring, so a total of K869 million has been allocated for this purpose. The Department of Child Affairs has allocated itself K489 million for office administration, while they will spend K528 million between 31 child-related institutions like child-care and adoption societies, orphanages, street children, YMCA and YWCA, among others. Under their poverty reduction programme for rehabilitation and reintegration of street children they have allocated a total of K3.20 billion.
The Ministry of Defence HQ has allocated K2.67 billion for office administration just a little more than the very important Ministry of Sports, Youth and Child Affairs. The total defence budget is K809 billion, as compared to K741 billion in 2006. The Zambia Security and Intelligence Service gets K31.68 billion for office administration, up from K20 billion in 2006.
They spent K13 billion in 2006 on procurement of “moveable assets”, but this year they are being kind to the Treasury and will only spend K1.8 billion, but also spend K5.7 billion on “construction of fixed assets”. Last year they spent K27 billion on “operations” and this year K30.5 billion. Their total budget in 2006 was about K165 billion, and this year its K184 billion.
At the Ministry of Education, under poverty reduction programmes, K38 billion has been allocated for the University of Zambia’s (UNZA) outstanding bills from 2006 and about K8 billion for new staff at the country’s third university, when we cannot even properly manage the existing two universities. Students loan and bursary award for UNZA from K40.5 billion in 2006 reduces to K24 billion and from K20.2 billion in 2006 to K10.5 billion for Copperbelt University (CBU). Enhancement of UNZA student’s welfare and learning gets K25 billion, while CBU gets K10 billion.
Research and University education at UNZA gets another K74.9 billion and CBU gets K27.9 billion. An allocation of K737 million has also been set aside for negotiations with the unions, from zero in 2006. K12 billion has been allocated for construction of student’s hostels at public universities, of which donors have funded K2 billion.
At the Ministry of Lands, K1.6 billion has been set aside for office administration and the office of the minister gets K462 million, while the permanent secretary gets K257 million. Renovations to their offices have been budgeted for K215 million.
Under the Human Resource and Administration Department K200 million has been allocated for land policy formulation and review of regulatory framework. The ministry has allocated K2 billion for civil works under Land Development Fund, K100 million for “systems” development and K170 million for monitoring and evaluation of Land Development Fund projects. Staff development gobbles up another K256.5 million. Under the Lands and Deeds Registry office registration of properties gets K10 million, while production of Certificate of Title Deeds gets K120 million. The Lands Department gets K1.17 billion for office administration.
Under their poverty reduction programme the Lands Department boundaries has allocated K123 million for land advocacy. The Survey department, under their poverty reduction programme has K1 billion allocated for demarcation of the Zambia-Malawi/Congo DR and a further K1.67 billion for survey of “special” projects.
The Anti-Corruption Commission gets K1.758 billion to procure motor vehicles, while much of their other activities are funded by the donors. The Ministry of Agriculture HQ gets K311 million for office administration, far less than the ministries of sports and of lands, but probably hidden elsewhere. However, the Policy and Planning Department gets K713 million for its office administration and K729 million for them to prepare MTEF estimates in 2007.The rest of policy and planning work is being funded by our donor friends.
Under the Agricultural Department’s poverty reduction programme K113 million has been allocated for “review” meetings under their extension monitoring and evaluation programme and a further K137 million for “backstopping and monitoring”, while K100 million goes to support community micro projects, peri-urban irrigation development gets K1.49 billion and support to irrigation equipment manufacturing gets K525 million.
The Agribusiness and Marketing Department gets K144.5 billion for procurement and distribution of inputs, but fully funded by the Japanese government, while the government resources of K2.12 billion will be used for “identification of farmers and hire of transport” and K1.4 billion will be used for programme coordination and another K1.5 billion for logistics and operations. K205.5 billion has been allocated to purchase National Food Reserves, up from K140 billion in 2006. Under the Co-operatives Department, K802 million will be used for Co-operative database management and another K1.31 billion for “backstopping on co-operative inspections”.
The review and development of co-operative manuals will gobble up K1.9 billion and training of co-operators has been allocated K2.14 billion. While “backstopping on distribution of developed promotion materials” will get K1.42 billion. Under the National Agricultural Information Service poverty reduction programme K1.2 billion has been allocated for agricultural show facilitation and participation and distribution- whatever that means!
Now for icing on the cake! How much do you think it costs to run ministers, deputy ministers and permanent secretaries offices? Here is a sampling. On top of the league is the minister of communications at K3.7 billion, followed by the sports minister at K2.08 billion for their office expenditure. The home affairs minister has allocated himself K K1.8 billion for office expenditure and K862 million for international travel in 2007. The health minister and her permanent secretary have allocated themselves K1.183 billion for office expenditure and K723 million for foreign travel.
The labour minister and his permanent secretary have allocated K550 million, the community development minister, her permanent secretary and directors have awarded themselves K414 million for office expenditure, while the tourism minister gets K710 million, his permanent secretary K149 million and director of human resources K114 million to run their offices.
The energy minister’s office expenditure has been budgeted for at K200 million, while the foreign minister at K331 million. The local government minister and her permanent secretary have allocated themselves K879 million, up from K175 million they got in 2006. Most, but not all of the other ministers have “hidden” either their office and or travel expenses under ambiguous headings, like the Minister of Finance. And yet Magande in his Budget speech asserts that there may not be enough money to provide a lower tax regime for individuals and business - no wonder, because government is on a serious consumption expenditure binge and mostly they have disguised it under their so-called poverty reduction programmes.
Under Constitutional and Statutory Expenditure K129 billion has been allocated to pay external debt and K656.5 billion to pay internal debt. While Constitutional posts gets K25.78 billion and medium term pay reform for the civil service is budgeted for K258.445 billion, from K298.48 billion in 2006. The grand total of the estimates of revenue and expenditure is budgeted for K12.042 trillion.
Labels: 2007 BUDGET, POVERTY
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