Magande urges Zambians to demand accountability from government
By Patson Chilemba
Mon 23 May 2011, 04:01 CAT
ZAMBIANS should demand accountability from Rupiah Banda and his government, says Ng'andu Magande.
Commenting on President Banda's admission that the K1 trillion road projects which he recently launched in Kitwe were not catered for in the 2010 national budget, Magande, who is former finance minister, said the operations of the government must be from the national budget. He said the budget must indicate the sources of revenue and the utilisation.
Magande said the public who were supposed to be the beneficiaries should therefore know where the money for the road projects came from.
“That is why when the public complained about paying high taxes such as Value Added Tax (VAT) or Pay As You Earn (PAYE), the government can explain where the money has been utilized. Now if the government is implementing public projects like roads and the money is not in the budget, that is not transparency and that will not show accountability because the private people, whether employees or whether companies should only relate with government in terms of their help to government by paying taxes,” Magande said.
“If they don't then it means they have other ways of negotiating with government on how to give the government money outside the budget system, which therefore causes difficulties for the Ministry of Finance to trace what is happening in the economy.”
Magande said he was very surprised when he heard President Banda say that a big road project worth trillions of Kwacha was being done outside the national budget.
“It should not happen because who negotiates with these private people in government and how much money is he getting out of those people? It doesn't show transparency at all. And if you don't have transparency that is how issues of corruption comes in,” Magande said.
“Because if the private company is negotiating with a government officer outside the budget to say 'give us K200 million', how do we know that that company and the civil servant will not exchange another K20 million? So this is not acceptable as a way of running a transparent and accountable government.”
Magande said President Banda should disclose the source of the K1 trillion to be used on roads because he was accountable to the Zambian people.
“How is he collecting this money on our behalf, and who are these people who are giving him money? If it is the mines, why don't they just pay taxes and that is the end of the story?” he said.
Magande said that was why some Chinese employers were recently quoted telling their workers to get money from government because they paid their money to government officials.
He wondered how much money those in government were getting from some private organizations without the people's knowledge.
“You Zambians must still seek accountability. You voted for these people in power,” said Magande.
Speaking to journalists at Lusaka International Airport shortly before departure for an extraordinary SADC Summit in Namibia, President Banda said his government was creative and did not need the budget to carry out all the projects.
President Banda admitted that the K1 trillion that would be used on road projects on the Copperbelt was not budgeted for in this year's budget, although he failed to disclose the source of the huge amount of money.
Labels: 2010 BUDGET, INFRASTRUCTURE, NG'ANDU MAGANDE, PAYE, ROADS, RUPIAH BANDA
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Justice isn’t cheap - Chief Justice Sakala
By Maluba Jere
Tue 04 Jan. 2011, 04:02 CAT
POOR funding is undermining the autonomy of the judiciary, says Chief Justice Ernest Sakala. And Vice-President George Kunda has appealed to politicians not to assail the independence of the judiciary.
Speaking at the opening of the Lusaka High Court sessions for 2011, Justice Sakala said the judiciary's core function was adjudicating and that for it to perform efficiently and effectively, it needed a certain level of resources.
"Over the past few years, the trend has been that less than 80 per cent of the approved budget is released," he said.
"This has no doubt negatively affected our projects and programmes and we have even been unable to fulfill the obligations relating to conditions of service of our support staff in terms of paying terminal benefits and other benefits. It is also defeating the very concept of an autonomous judiciary."
Justice Sakala pointed out that justice is not a cheap commodity anywhere.
He said it was the judiciary's aim to achieve affordable, accessible, cost effective and transparent justice accountable to the public but that in order to achieve its targets of reducing the time it takes to dispose off cases, it needs adequate financial investment.
Justice Sakala said despite the increase in the number of judges, the budgetary allocation had remained the same as before, saying that did not allow it to employ support staff for the increased number of judges.
He also said the Judiciary was faced with a serious challenge of inadequate infrastructure, saying some offices initially occupied by support staff had since been converted into chambers.
"...At Lusaka High Court, we have eight rooms designated as Judges' Chambers and eight courtrooms. But we have 16 Judges at Lusaka High Court, sharing eight courtrooms," Justice Sakala said. "The story is the same at Livingstone, where we have two judges sharing one courtroom. At Kabwe, we have two judges sharing one courtroom. At Ndola, we have six judges sharing two courtrooms and at Kitwe, we have five judges sharing two courtrooms. At all these stations, we need more chambers and more offices."
Justice Sakala bemoaned the absence of resident judges in most provincial towns which were serviced by circuit judges who travel from other towns.
He said the long term and cost effective solution was to construct High Court buildings and accommodation at the provincial headquarters so that judges could be stationed there on a permanent basis together with support staff.
He said the judiciary was now current in handling criminal cases but added that this did not mean that prisons had been decongested.
Justice Sakala added that the judiciary was currently brainstorming on increasing the sentencing powers of the magistrates from nine to 15 years to enable them deal with the cases of defilement without the process of committing the convicts to the High Court for sentencing to reduce on the long period they wait for sentencing.
Currently, the magistrates' maximum power of sentencing stands at 9 years.
Vice-President Kunda said the independence of the judiciary was of critical necessity to a functioning constitutional democracy like Zambia's.
Vice-President Kunda said the maturity of a leader was measured by his calmness and not by engaging on groundless speculation.
He said the government had respect for the rule of law and supported institutions like the judiciary that support constitutional democracy.
"The government is therefore, often unhappy that when parties lose cases, they start making groundless speculation and yet the same people when they win cases against the government, the judiciary then is said to be independent," Vice-President Kunda said.
He said he had taken note of the challenges and assured judiciary staff that their concerns were being addressed.
Vice-President Kunda said over 100 local courts and magistrates' courts being built were due for completion this year while several others were being rehabilitated.
On the financial challenges being faced by the judiciary, Vice-President Kunda said there was no doubt that the budgetary allocation needed to be revised.
Labels: 2010 BUDGET, ERNEST SAKALA, JUDICIARY
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‘It’s not too late to zero rate agricultural products for VAT’
By Kabanda Chulu
Thu 07 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT
ZAMBIA National Farmers Union (ZNFU) has said it is not too late for finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane to zero rate agricultural products for value added tax (VAT) purposes in a bid to reduce costs of production and stimulate demand.
Under the 2010 budget, Dr Musokotwane placed most agricultural products on VAT exempt category and this does not favour farmers because VAT is paid on certain inputs even before the process of production begins.
“This makes it difficult for local products to compete on level terms with imported products as the imported products are not subjected to any VAT upon importation while producers in surrounding countries, such as South Africa are able to reclaim all their input VAT,” Zimba said.
“It is in this line that ZNFU made specific proposals during the 2010 budget submissions and requested for agricultural products to be zero rated for VAT purposes in a bid to reduce costs of production, stimulate demand and expand production.”
Zimba said costs of production were further driven up by other non-production related costs farmers had to pay up because of being involved in farming business.
He said a review undertaken by ZNFU to understand the burden in agriculture revealed that farmers paid as much as 61 per cent in taxes when all forms of charges applied on farming were computed.
“We are grateful to President Rupiah Banda for abolishing crop levies which were penalising farmers even before they sell their products and some of the non-production related costs are council levies, environmental council charges, land rent, among others,” said Zimba. “These charges are continuously being revised upwards without due consideration of the impact they have on the competitiveness of agricultural products. It is for this reason that we are disappointed that in the 2010 budget, ground rent has been increased by 80 per cent in spite of the fact that hardly two years ago, it was revised upwards by more than 100 per cent.”
Labels: 2010 BUDGET, JERVIS ZIMBA, VAT, ZNFU
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Economic growth without development
By Editor
Tue 05 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT
There is no doubt that the country ended 2009 on a surprisingly high note. We say surprising because whereas most economies, especially commodity-driven countries like Zambia, registered minimal levels of growth, if not nothing at all, our country’s results were, according to data released by the Central Statistical Office, a fantastic phenomenon.
Just last week, the Central Statistical Office told us that the country’s annual inflation rate closed the year in single digit at 9.9 per cent while all indications are that our gross domestic product (GDP) for this year is expected to exceed the projected six per cent. To be precise, the Central Statistics Office is forecasting a growth rate of more than 6.3 per cent.
And we say these statistics are a great phenomenon because we are aware of the fact that the recent global financial and economic malaise almost ripped the domestic economic apart, threatening to grind the little gains we had achieved in the last few years.
Again, the Central Statistics Office is telling us that this growth is being driven by robust results in our tradition mining sector, the construction sector and recent agriculture results which were epitomized by last year’s output of 1.8 million metric tonnes of maize.
However, these positive results call for deep reflection because they do not only indicate our economy having weathered the global storm. These results also show that we are among the fastest growing economies in the world today. But is this scenario a true reflection of the correct status quo in our economy or has our economy managed to successfully swim to safety?
It is a well known fact that every day, we hear debates about our people not feeling the impact of these promising statistics or the seemingly growing economy. And we are being told by some of our elitist friends that Zambia will only be able to make a serious dent on the high poverty levels in the country if our economy grew by at least more than 11 per cent.
Today, former first lady Maureen Mwanawasa is telling us that we have to revolutionise our economic policies to grow our economy. Indeed, the country needs to use 2010 as the starting point to revolutionise its economic growth strategy to ensure that these seemingly positive results are seen and felt by all.
Zambia’s economic paradigm is problematic and at best can be described as discriminatory. To start with, most key sectors of the economy are in the hands of foreigners. If we talk about the agriculture sector, we are not aloof to the fact that agriculture in this country is not treated as an economic generating venture, but merely for consumption.
In the past, we talked about why agriculture continues to make a significant contribution to the economic growth of this country and we will not belabor this point today.
With this background, it is very clear that economic growth is not in the hands of Zambians. And for as long as foreigners continue to get the bulk of our cake, the country will forever continue to post strong growth statistics without development. We recently heard that extreme poverty levels have reduced to 68 per cent. It is therefore a national scandal for a very potentially-rich country like Zambia to have 68 per cent of its population failing to have access to very basic survival dynamics like education, health, water and sanitation.
We know that Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane, the Minister of Finance and National Planning, has already presented this year’s national budget, but certainly the economic revolution has to start this year. And every plan should be made malleable enough to accommodate new dynamics. Dr Musokotwane cannot continue telling us that even this year, only one mining company – Kansanshi Copper Mines – will pay taxes to this country for the copper it is extracting.
These nonsensical economic theories should be halted. The mining sector is growing averaging 13 per cent from just 2.2 per cent a few years ago. But how do you expect the country to feel the impact of this growth when no money is being realised from this sector? There is indeed a lot that has to be done for our people, the average citizens of this country, to feel the benefits of the many investments that have been placed in our country.
And we believe there is still room for adjustments here and there in the national budget so that the growth this government is talking about is felt and seen by the poorest of this country. We wish you a productive and prosperous 2010!
Labels: 2010 BUDGET, ECONOMY, FDI, NEOLIBERALISM, SITUMBEKO MUSOKOTWANE
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Rupiah has hijacked national budget, charges Beene
By Mutale Kapekele
Mon 04 Jan. 2010, 04:01 CAT
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has hijacked the national budget and is disturbing development plans, Itezhi-tezhi member of parliament Godfrey Beene has charged.
In an interview on Thursday, Beene said it was disturbing that President Banda impulsively instructed the Minister of Finance to divert development funds to projects that were not planned for.
“President Banda should understand that when we make the national budget, it’s because we want to take development to all parts of the country,” Beene said. “It is very disappointing that the executive has hijacked the budget and parliament is just a rubber stamp.
For instance, the RDA (Road Development Agency) has its work plan but he (Banda) demanded that they work on the road (Chipata-Mfuwe) that was not even on the budget. He did the same in Western Province by committing additional funds to the Mongu-Kalabo road project just because he has been ditched there. In Kasama it was the same story.”
He said President Banda should respect the plans of the nation and the national budget.
“We want the whole country to receive their share of the national cake, that is why we plan every year,” Beene said. “But how do we develop and implement our plans when one person can just wake up and committee so much money to unplanned projects? The President should respect the plans of this nation. He should respect our national budget.”
He said the Itezhi-tezhi power station project had been talked about since the first Republic and yet nothing had been done so far.
“The UNIP government spent more than US $200 million on building infrastructure for the Itezhi-tezhi power station and ever since the MMD came into power, they have been saying they will finish the project but nothing has been done till today,” said Beene.
“And now someone can ask for so much money to build roads in a small game park. What they should be looking at is the Kafue National Park which is one of the largest in Africa. The roads there are pathetic and the rehabilitation works have stalled.”
Labels: 2010 BUDGET, GODFREY BEENE, RDA, RUPIAH BANDA
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Biti's Budget lopsided and anti-poor
Itayi Garande
Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:19:00 +0000
FINANCE Minister Tendai Biti last week presented the 2010 National Budget. An interim budget was presented in July-2009. One of the aims of that Budget was to "save the drowning vulnerable and poor groups".
While there seems to have been some degree of compromise in this Budget, as opposed to the 2009 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review, it remains fundamentally pro-business and anti-poor, as it fails to address questions of poverty reduction, among a wide a range of critical areas. The Budget has to be seen against the background of two major developments in the country.
Most prominently, it is to be viewed as the first policy outline of the inclusive Government to cushion itself against the ongoing world economic crisis (termed in several quarters as the greatest global economic recession in the history of mankind) to which Zimbabwe is hardly immune.
It is also to be considered as the first policy formulation of the inclusive Government in keeping the sanctions-induced economic downturn away from critical sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and banking and for providing substantial relief to the masses in distress through its programmes like STERP - the Short Term Economic Recovery Programme.
Unfortunately, the mainstream sections of the media, business, academics and even the civil society have hailed the Budget saying it will help the business sector recover.
However, the Budget neither makes adequate provision for sustainable human-centred development, nor does it cater for poverty reduction - its main aim.
It is, therefore, important that Parliament give this Budget rigorous scrutiny as it passes its various stages from proposals into law.
The irony of this Budget is that it is meant to "cushion vulnerable groups" and provide "social protection programmes for vulnerable groups".
Minister Biti claims that STERP and the 2010 Budget (or STERP II) are meant to "guarantee the integratability of the poor in the economic growth policy framework".
He adds that STERP II, specifically, is meant to "save the drowning vulnerable and poor groups".
The main weaknesses of the Budget, which do not help the poor move from the poverty trap, are as under.
Firstly, the Budget fails to take into consideration the demographic structure of Zimbabwe.
The Movement for Democratic Change party (MDC-T), of which Mr Biti is secretary general, claims that fourty-five percent of Zimbabweans are malnourished, ninety percent unemployed and over 85 percent are poor. Mr Biti's Budget, however fails to recognise these vital statistics.
He proposes to retain the multi-currency environment, without the parallel use of the Zimbabwean dollar. Many people in the rural areas do not have access to the U.S. dollar used in the country; yet there are no proposals to make some currency, any currency, available to the poor masses.
The Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS), Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Cheque Payment Systems and Points of Sale which have been operationalised, will ease cash access and financial transactions in the urban and peri-urban areas, but will not help the marginalised rural populations and small to medium businesses who do not have access to that elusive currency.
Mr. Biti's Cash Budgeting policy does not address the cash (liquidity) problems in the rural areas. In urban areas, alike, cash access remains constrained. His 'plastic money' proposals do not address this problem either.
Secondly, there are many exclusions in Mr. Biti's Budget which make it difficult to create a coherent picture of the proposals.
In outlining some of the challenges to recovering the Zimbabwean economy, Mr. Biti refers to "structural development traps" which he says are responsible for the decline in the Zimbabwean economy.
The minister gives a raft of these 'traps' or problems faced in turning around the Zimbabwean economy, yet fails to acknowledge, directly, that sanctions have altered the way Zimbabwe does business with the rest of the world community.
The exclusion of the sanctions issue from minister Biti's 2010 Budget, is problematic.
Sanctions imposed by Britain, the US and their Western allies should have been factored into the Budget to give a true representation of the challenges facing the Zimbabwean economy.
Thirdly, the Budget also does not make sufficient provision for human security in terms of protecting the lives of citizens.
Despite the runaway high rates of poverty-related crime such as domestic violence as well as the scourge of corruption in the public service, the allocation for the police is conspicuosly missing from the Budget.
Fourthly, Mr Biti hopes that recapitalisation of banks will help "mobilise domestic savings", yet thinks that "On account of the low savings in the economy ... the responsibility for funding critical infrastructure has largely been through the Budget." Such inconsistencies are dotted all over the budget.
Mr Biti's logic is that once industry takes off and recovers, there will be a willing and able workforce to fill jobs and start making tax contributions to the fiscus.
For a country whose downturn has been consistent for ten years, it is not the unemployment figures that merit attention, but the duration of unemployment. Even when Zimbabwe has emerged from the economic catastrophe, there are huge numbers who will remain unemployed.
Some of these people have become “demoralised” and “dispirited” and have effectively withdrawn from the workforce. It is important to note that long-term unemployment feeds depression, poverty, and family discord.
Radical reform of the public services and social protection programmes is, therefore, needed to change the attitudes and values of people. This is not recognized nor budgeted for adequately, in Mr Biti's Budget.
Lastly, the decision not to raise taxes for big businesses was a particularly retrograde step, and meant the poor and small businesses were taking a far bigger hit in the Budget than the well off. Small businesses, ironically, form the large employment sector in the country. Zimbabwe's small business sector and cottage industries employ the largest number of people.
Vulnerable groups like people with disabilities, women, children and senior citizens are also now at greater risk of poverty; as Biti's proposals fall short of providing specifically for these groups, in a climate of economic flux.
There was no mention of land redistribution, minimum wages, a comprehensive plan for agricultural labour, et cetera. The Budget was silent on irrigation, agricultural extension services and housing.
Interestingly minister Biti has proposed a Cash Budgeting formula, where you "simply spend what you have", yet factors in promised pledges from NGOs and other humanitarian groups to inform the Budget. Such inconsistencies dot his Budget and the more one reads the fine print, the more revealing it is.
Fundamentally, the Budget eats itself, and defeats its own purpose. It simply fails to "guarantee the integratability of the poor in the economic growth policy framework" and STERP II, specifically, fails to "save the drowning vulnerable and poor groups".
Biti has backtracked on his promises to the poor and marginalised groups the MDC-T party claims to represent.
If these exclusions were deliberate, then this is the MDC-T's election manifesto predicated on one simple strategy: "Keep the poor vulnerable and make more promises inorder to win electoral votes."
Labels: 2010 BUDGET, NEOLIBERALISM, TENDAI BITI
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Defence allocation missing in Biti's budget
Farai Nyanda - Defence allocation missing in Biti's budget
Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:52:00 +0000
DEAR EDITOR - I have read the whole 2010 Budget document presented by Finance Minister Tendai Biti last week and have noted that the budget for defence is missing from it.
Is there any reason why the minister has left that vital ministry out? Zimbabwe is a sovereign country which needs to have a solid, professional army to defend its territorial integrity.
I would like to think that this was an oversight on the part of the minister, rather than a deliberate attempt to withold that information.
Could minister Biti care to tell us what has been budgeted for this crucial ministry?
Labels: 2010 BUDGET, ARMED FORCES, TENDAI BITI
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Budget: Land reform short-changed
By Farirai Machivenyika
TWO major events occurred in Parliament this week. The statement by Prime Minister Tsvangirai and the 2010 Budget presentation by Finance Minister Tendai Biti were easily the highlights of proceedings.
However, the 2010 budget was the major highlight given the weight of expectations from the spectrum of society on the direction Zimbabwe is taking given the measure of stability enjoyed this year with the adoption of a multi-currency system.
It was not going to be easy for Minister Biti to fully address everyone’s concerns but he, however, managed to fairly answer to the divergent expectations from the citizenry.
However, in my analysis there are areas that I believe required extra attention given their importance to the welfare of the people.
Health and education will obviously come to mind; remuneration of public servants, given their importance to the fulfillment of Government programmes and incentives for investors and the manufacturing sector.
However, it is agriculture and the land reform programme in particular that had to be prioritised as a measure of boosting economic revival and economic activity in other productive sectors of the economy.
The centrality of agriculture to our economy is not in dispute and the need to adequately support resettled farmers is of paramount importance. I, therefore, personally expected this vital sector to be given the due attention it deserves.
In his statement Minister Biti promised that Government would strive to support farmers but was glaringly short in enunciating policies targeting especially the resettled farmers.
Given that the land reform programme is irreversible, technical and financial support for the farmers should be the area of focus at the moment.
The land reform programme is a national programme that I personally believe should continue to be on our tables for sometime until the new farmers can manage to stand on their own.
It is a myth and should be treated with utter contempt that the support afforded to farmers in the past 10 is enough because farming is a long-term investment.
The old white commercial farmers received massive support from successive settler governments and even in the developed world farmers continue to receive huge subsidies.
We might not have resources to offer support of a similar magnitude but we can come up with other incentives that encourage productivity.
The generality of the population especially ordinary workers were concerned about the bread and butter issues and the minister responded by exempting taxes on bonuses for up to $400 raising the tax-free salary threshold from $150 to a modest $160.
Other measures that have a direct bearing on the day -to-day lives include the extension of the duty free facility on basic foodstuffs and other commodities to July 2010 and allocation of US$285 million and US$109 million to the health sector and water and sanitation programmes respectively.
Given the major challenges that have been faced in the above mentioned areas, it was imperative that they be allocated significant amounts to cushion the population against the effects of such outbreaks of diseases like cholera and to fund the acquisition of drugs and medical equipment.
Education has also been in the doldrums in the past 10 years like any other sector, given the debilitating effects of the illegal economic sanctions, and deserved special recognition.
Zimbabwe has always been renowned for its quality education and we expect it to remain there and regain lost glory.
The minister allocated US$13, 1 million for the procurement of learning material and donors would augment this amount.
Minister Biti promised that Government would reform the operations of Zimsec, a body that has threatened the credibility of public examinations in the country.
This was long overdue given the bungling we have witnessed from the body over the years.
Minister Biti also set aside funds to ensure proper supervision of teachers and lecturers in schools and colleges.
On social protection programmes he also said Government and cooperating partners would provide support for nearly 800 000 vulnerable children in both primary and secondary education under the Basic Education Assistance Module.
The figure might be lower than those in need of such support but it is a giant step in ensuring that the most vulnerable and unfortunate groups get the necessary support.
As usual we, however, expect that only the deserving children get support otherwise this noble programme would not achieve its objectives.
Turning to other sectors, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries past president Mr Anthony Mandiwanza was generally receptive of the budget saying it was developmental and would impact positively on economic revival.
He cited the reduction of corporate tax from 20 to 25 percent as a move in the right direction and said the reduction was in line with what was obtaining in the region. He also said other concessions on tax on inputs for local production would help stimulate domestic industry.
Zesa also got some support.Though way below their requirements, it will go some way in improving their operations.
The establishment of a Constituency Development Fund is another major development that is most welcome although it has to be monitored adequately to ensure that it is used for its intended purposes and is not abused for both personal and political gain.
It is necessary that this fund be audited properly to ensure that communities benefit from it.
The minister said the fund would be used to drill boreholes, repair of clinics and schools and building of market stalls.
I would also suggest that the fund be used to establish income-generating projects especially for unemployed women and youths to improve livelihoods.
Minister Biti said some of the measures to be adopted to ensure minimum abuse if any would be to pay suppliers directly and disbursement on the basis of each constituency development fund.
In the same vein of improving accountability in the use of public resources, Minister Biti said Government was working on resuscitating the Public Finance Management System, a computer based accounting and financial system.
This is commendable given that the success of any programmes that we have adopted or will adopt depends on a high degree of accountability and we hope this will go beyond the budget statement but would be translated into action.
Other measures that the minister proposed include the resuscitation of the Housing Guarantee Fund.
Given the lack of investment in this sector the US$26 million set aside for the fund should go a long way in the revival of the construction industry especially the provision of low cost houses.
Next week I will continue with the analysis of the budget and, as usual, am open to your views.
In conclusion, PM Tsvangirai made a statement to the House of Assembly and urged parliamentarians to carry out their oversight mandate on the executive.
As the leader of Government business in Parliament, PM Tsvangirai said Parliamentarians should hold to account all public servants and should not hesitate to bring to book those found abusing their offices.
He also promised to make himself available during question and answer sessions when parliament returns from the festive season’s break.
We hope he also ensures that ministers also come to respond to questions from backbenchers so that the public is always in the know of Government programmes and have any other concerns they might have answered.
Another important aspect he touched on was the remuneration of MPs given their role as representatives of the public.
While we do not expect legislators to earn executive perks, it is also important that they be given something reasonable given their responsibilities.
Apart from legislators, every civil servant should be adequately remunerated to ensure that they are not susceptible to bribes and other corrupt activities.
l machivenyikafari **** gmail.com
Labels: 2010 BUDGET, LAND REFORM, TENDAI BITI
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Cooperating partners to finance 2010 budget
Thursday, November 26, 2009, 11:16
A TOTAL of nine cooperating partners have confirmed their commitment to give Zambia more than K1trillion in Poverty Reduction Budget Support (PRBS) towards the 2010 national Budget after noting the Government’s progress in addressing most of their concerns.
The Government and the cooperating partners are also this week expected to sign an agreement on the resumption of funding to the health sector, which was suspended about six months ago, following the Ministry of Health financial scandal.
The cooperating partners announced their firm commitment of K1.032 billion after a high-level policy dialogue with the Government, which was co-chaired by Finance and National Planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane in Lusaka yesterday.
Dr Musokotwane and outgoing Cooperating Partners Poverty Reduction Budget Support group chairperson, Derek Fee confirmed the donors’ commitment during a joint briefing at the end of the meeting.
The amount is also over and above the $169.8 million, which was committed by the cooperating partners towards this year’s national Budget.
Dr Musokotwane said the meeting was a follow-up to the main one held in September this year and was aimed at resolving outstanding issues particularly on the progress on public financial management, governance and health sector issues.
Dr Fee who co-chaired the meeting said the Government’s continued commitment to the fight against corruption and strong response to audit findings through concrete remedial measures was the best guarantee for donor support.
Dr Fee who is European Commission (EC) head of delegation to Zambia said that the announced support was a contribution to the overall national development plan and reform agenda with ultimate aim of reducing poverty in rural and urban areas.
Apart from EC, other cooperating partners are African Development Bank, Finland, Germany, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the World Bank.
The donor community recognised the overall progress made by the Government in several areas of the roadmap and considered it sufficiently satisfactory to confirm the budget support commitment.
Notable progress was recorded on the strengthening of the public financial system, and the revision of the budget cycle. Other areas hailed were the launch of Anti-Corruption Policy and the increase in funding towards the Auditor General’s office for this year.
For the health sector, the cooperating partners acknowledged the progress attained in implementing the remedial measures agreed on in the action plan, which would pave the way for the release of donor funding.
The Government and the cooperating partners are, as the result, scheduled to sign an agreement for the resumption of funding to the ministry of Health and related areas.
[Times of Zambia]
Labels: 2010 BUDGET, DONORS, PRBS
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2010 budget is full of economic twaddle, charges Prof Chirwa
By Ernest Chanda and Lambwe Kachali
Thu 05 Nov. 2009, 04:01 CAT
MMD presidential aspirant Professor Clive Chirwa has observed that the 2010 budget is full of economic twaddle with which Zambians could not afford to be fed.
In an interview, Prof Chirwa described it as the most awful budget ever presented to the Zambian people.
“I have now for the third time read the complete 2010 budget speech delivered to Parliament by his honourable the minister of finance Dr Musokotwane. Every time I read it, I tried to search for the big picture, the vision, the route to prosperity, the signature for jobs creation and poverty eradication, the so- called diversification, the real fruit that will ripe in 2010 and beyond,” UK based Prof Chirwa observed.
“To my profound disappointment, what I found were traps; to be specific, ditches into which Zambia was sinking in as the economic drivers to prosperity are not followed to the book. As a result enforced retardation which is taking us to medieval existence is thrown into our faces. Surely Zambia is better than this. What are we being exposed to and fed? Surely not this economic twaddle which has missed the ethos of developing a balanced national budget that is progressive and not suicidal.”
Prof Chirwa said Dr Musoskotwane missed the point by professing defunct ideas in his budget.
“To me, despite this being from my party that is in government, I find this short-changed presentation of information that has not used the enormous library of research output in economics available around the world difficult to swallow. I do not want to make this personal, as I know Dr Musokotwane as a good economist who can really make a change to Zambia. But I am amazed at how he is missing the most fundamental principles in economics,” he said.
“He is re-writing the rules of economics to profess defunct ideas that will not, even in a single iota move Zambia to the promised land where poverty is eradicated, education is there to propel and underpin the labour force, health is championed to protect the nation, job creation is enforced and in the end improve productivity and GDP. Many of these elements apart from education have been somehow deliberately abandoned in the 2010 budget or so it reads.”
He said the 2010 budget had no tools to develop agriculture and tourism which could boost the country’s economy.
“I should stress that agriculture and tourism are extremely vital for our national development in the sense that we need abundant food not to starve and we need forex input from the visitors to Zambia. To deliver these, Executive decisions must be made as to how we are going to achieve the goals in creating food mountains and attracting tourists.
The current budget 2010 has not got the tools to deliver despite the money being thrown at the two activities. Planning for the future must be done now when our economy and that of our external markets are in the downturn. Zambia is a country that has a great future, if only strategic planning of the country’s endeavours are formulated for real national change and not for personal gains,” Prof Chirwa said.
He said there was also no meaningful outline of developing Zambia’s manufacturing industry.
“In some of my previous writings, I have shown based on statistical evidence, economic proficiency and enormous library of knowledge from both developed and developing countries that the only way to take Zambia from the brink of extinction is to build an industrialised nation propped by manufacturing. Why I have been adamant for the government to create prime industries and let the supply chain be private is for the simple reason of dictating our own development,” Prof Chirwa said.
“Read my lips once more and now a hundred times, no investor will bring money to this country for Zambia’s development, but for profits. As a capitalist, this tells me that investors will always choose quick-buck-return enterprises with little complications and fast exits in case the investments go sour. We have already experienced this in the current economic downturn, where Zambians have been unceremoniously dumped on unemployment tip.”
Prof Chirwa said next year’s budget does not give solutions to unemployment. He said it was also not true that agriculture and tourism were the big job creators in our economy.
“Money has been invested in tourism and agriculture but without a plan. To be blunt these two are not big job creators, as I will show in a minute. My government has taken the eyes off the ball and we know the consequences thereof – increased poverty, uneducated and unhealthy nation, and above all we are seeing with our own eyes a rapid back move to medieval times when agriculture was the main source of national income. Sometimes we as people must rise above politics for the sake of all Zambians.
Let us build a better life for all. To do that we as people must first and for most create real wealth through industrial revolution and then through tourism and agriculture fibres which are second and third in line of development in many countries,” he said.
He advised the government to look at the income generating role tourism could play, rather than just pumping money into the sector without proper plans.
“Let us now look at tourism; this can be a good source of income but it is passive. That means you sit and wait for your next client, hence you have no control in direct planning. But if properly planned, tourism can be a formidable money-spinner for Zambia. However, the 2010 budget does not address the income generation part tourism can bring. By just pumping money into it without a clear outcome planning is the same as throwing money on fire.
The simple question I have to the people who decided to put money in tourism is why invest in new tourist centres when the mother Zambia icon – the mighty Victoria Falls – is just 0.01 per cent developed?” he asked. “If you are an entrepreneur and your main business has developed less that one per cent, surely you cannot start using the meagre finances you have into developing new businesses. This is suicidal. What you will do is to find out how you can realise the full potential of your business and tap into the 99 per cent, which is still unexplored.
For me the development of the North circuit is ill-advised and has started at a wrong time because of the attractions being so spaced and expensive to develop the infrastructure. Livingstone town and its attraction to foreign visitors is a magnet. However, it is currently a tourist destination by name only and not by deeds.”
He said the government should consider establishing a national airline because it is a major player in the tourism industry.
“We need a national airline urgently to maximise our tourist potential. By going to the North circuit without proper airways and railways is catastrophic and not the route that will turn our economy round as claimed,” said Prof Chirwa.
Last month, Dr Musokotwane unveiled a K16.71 trillion budget for next year but retained the 2009 theme of Enhancing Growth through Competitiveness and Diversification aimed at economic diversification
Labels: 2010 BUDGET, BUDGET, CLIVE CHIRWA, MMD
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