NGO urges pro-economic justice leadership
By Misheck Wangåwe
Mon 10 Jan. 2011, 04:00 CAT
THE country is in need of leaders who will promote economic justice, says the Alliance for the Zambia Informal Economy Association. In a statement, association secretary general Lameck Kashiwa stated that nothing significant had been done by successive governments to protect the informal economy.
Kashiwa said the country needed leaders who would put in place policies that recognised the existence and contributions of the informal economy to national development.
He said the contributions of the informal sector to the country’s economy would only be felt if the government worked towards extending social protection to the sector.
Kashiwa said as the country goes to the polls this year, there was need for Zambians to vote for leaders who would promote human integral development and adopt a holistic approach towards the general citizenry.
“Very little, if not nothing, had been done to alleviate the plight of the poor who have tightened their belts in their quest for an improved economy but remain trapped in a dehumanising cycle of poverty and despair. The gap between the poor and the rich is widening every second of the hour of the day,” Kashiwa said.
He said with the current socio-economic challenges the country faced, every citizen was called to speak out on the injustice the country faced in many areas of governance.
He said Zambians must begin to identify leaders who would restore the country's prosperity ahead of the general elections this year.
“We shall and cannot lose hope and think things can't change but look at the future with an economy that will embrace right relations, justice and peace for all,” he said
Kashiwa said the current economic policies did not favour or recognise the existence and contributions of the informal economy both in monetary and employment creation terms.
He said it was a pity that with the workforce of more than 90 per cent, the informal economy was still seen as a nuisance.
Kashiwa said the informal economy needed decent work and should enjoy an environment which could motivate them to grow from small business to medium or big businesses with well paid salaries.
Labels: ALEXANDER NGOSA, INFORMAL ECONOMY
Read more...
Share with the people their daily sorrows, Fr Ngosa urges priests
By Darious Kapembwa in Kitwe
Tue 28 Sep. 2010, 03:30 CAT
FR Alexander Ngosa of St Theresa’s Ibenga Mission has called on young priests to share with the people their daily sorrows and happy moments in times of confusion.
During the 10th priestly anniversary of Fr John Lesa of Sacred Heart Parish in Kitwe on Sunday, Fr Ngosa said people wanted inspiration in times of suffering and were looking to prophets such as priests to give them hope at a time when they felt neglected. He also observed that those with money and power were doing everything in their power to oppress the poor and the weak.
“As a nation, we have failed to share resources equitably and people with money and power have been blinded such that they cannot see the poor on either sides of life,” Fr Ngosa said.
And Fr Ngosa, in apparent reference to President Rupiah Banda, said some people were stopping others from campaigning for elections while themselves were running television messages which were purely campaign materials.
“Those without money are being stopped from campaigning under the pretext that it is not yet time for campaigns while those with power and money are running pure campaign speeches on television. This clearly shows that somebody has started campaigning, it’s totally unexpected,” Fr Ngosa said.
He said people in authority did not care for the majority anymore but only cared about themselves and their families. He said those in authority had tarred roads that led to their houses up to their doorsteps but that elsewhere there were no roads to talk about.
He called for equal distribution of wealth in order to reduce the discrepancy between the rich and the poor.
Fr Ngosa told the congregation that it was wrong for those in leadership to leave the poor to fend for themselves while they (leaders) had access to public wealth.
He said what was disturbing was that even governance policies that were being formulated were tailor-made to suit the rich.
“In today’s society, if you have money you can say anything and you cannot go to jail but a poor man can’t say anything. The moment you open your mouth as a poor man, you will go to jail,” he said.
Fr Ngosa reminded the congregation not to be blinded by the wealth they acquired but always remember that poor people needed to benefit from the power they were holding and the money they had acquired.
Fr Ngosa who quoted from the book of Amos 6: 4 - 7 and the gospel of John which tells the story of a rich man and poor Lazarus warned Christians against taking advantage of the poor in society just because they had acquired some wealth.
Labels: ALEXANDER NGOSA, CATHOLIC CHURCH, POVERTY
Read more...
