Harrison calls for equal distribution of wealth
By Agness Changala
Saturday August 09, 2008 [04:01]
ZAMBIA has an interesting set of challenges in the years to come because of the effected tax regime, outgoing British High Commissioner to Zambia Alistair Harrison has said. In an interview shortly after announcing the names of Zambians who have been awarded scholarships to study in the United Kingdom, High Commissioner Harrison said the effecting of the tax regime was a challenge to the government as they were required to make difficult decisions.
"It's up to the government to know and make good choices of developing infrastructure in the education, transport and health systems," he said. High Commissioner Harrison said it was also important that Zambia's economic boom trickled down to the poor.
Earlier, when presenting the British scholarships to 19 Zambians to undertake post-graduate studies in the UK for the September intake, High Commissioner Harrison said girls should be pushed to full potential in education, as it would contribute to the development of the nation.
He expressed worry at the quality of education that the vulnerable were exposed to considering that they were future leaders.
High Commissioner Harrison said the scholarships were part of the British government's programme to promote greater capacity for the next generation of Zambian leaders and to further develop the excellent relationship between the two countries.
"The schemes aim to nurture talented Zambian scholars with the potential to become future leaders in their field," said High Commissioner Harrison.
And one of the recipients of the scholarships talked to said she deserved the scholarship because she had worked hard in her entire life.
Mususu Kosta is currently at the University of Zambia (UNZA) as Staff Development Fellow (SDF).
Kosta, who is also the first female lecturer at the UNZA in the School of Mines at the Department of Metallurgy and Mineral Processing, said she would study Advanced Engineering at Liverpool University. The scholarships were awarded to 10 females and nine males.
Labels: ALISTAIR HARRISON
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Ignorance is the root of many evils
By Editor
Saturday August 02, 2008 [04:00]
ONLY people who are known for their honesty, ability, dedication, and concern for the welfare of all deserve to be leaders. We agree with outgoing British High Commissioner to Zambia Alistair Harrison's observation that honesty in public leadership is one of the most important attributes that Zambians should look for in leaders.
We need honest leaders, because consistently practiced political honesty is a road that leads a human being's mind and will to do good, to avoid vices and abuses, to hate corruption; for if someone said that all roads led to Rome, today it can be stated that all roads of honest thinking and actions lead to a more just, fair and humane society.
And as High Commissioner Harrison has correctly observed, Zambia has done well in the fight against corruption because there has been a high degree of honesty in President Levy Mwanawasa's leadership. With an honest leadership, regardless of its deficiencies and inadequacies, a lot can still be achieved.
Levy has not necessarily been a highly-talented or skilled politician and his knowledge of economic matters is not something one can boast about. And his management style could be said to be just average. But still, he has been able to achieve more because of his honesty.
And because he has been honest, Levy has not pretended to know what he doesn’t know. This being the case, he has been able to use the knowledge and experience of other citizens more effectively.
We should appreciate that it’s not genius, nor glory which truly reflects the human soul - it is honesty. Of course, a deep sense of identification with the downtrodden, the ability to hear their cry, an acute awareness of the realities of poverty, a personal anguish at the suffering of fellow human beings also matters a lot in a leader.
Selfishness, greed and vanity lead to corruption. And corruption can easily destroy a country. Corruption is destructive and can lead a country to self-destruction.
We can destroy our country through corruption. And if that happens, we should blame no one but ourselves. We can destroy our country if we are not capable of fighting and stopping corruption. We can destroy this nation if we are not ready to put an end to many vices - a great deal of theft, a great many diversions of funds.
And that's why there is need for a total change of attitude towards corruption and abuse in our country. We must change yet again, because we have had very difficult times - inequalities have been created, injustices. We must change that without committing the slightest abuse. And eradicating corruption is a perfectly achievable goal because no one was born corrupt, no one was born a thief, no one was born crooked. These are attitudes and habits we pick up or acquire along the way. And as such, we can all change for the better.
There should be greater and greater participation and we should be a nation with a holistic, unified general culture - being cultured is the only way to avoid corruption and to be free. Without culture, dignity and freedom are impossible.
We say this because how can a person live in this world without a holistic general culture? The world could not be saved.
That is why we also have strong reservations, strong criticism of neo-liberal globalisation, a system that causes people to go hungry. Living in self-delusion, in lies, sowing egotism, creating consumerism - what for? So that people can reach this condition, when they haven't even been able so far to guarantee their survival.
We still have to show whether we are capable of surviving. Since we are optimists, we do have hope that this world will survive, because we see it react, we see that humankind, despite its errors and its millennia of history - several millennia, three or four - in one century has multiplied its knowledge. But many aspects of that progress have served to sow poison, served to transmit false ideas, transmit erroneous information.
We try to analyse where we made progress and where there were setbacks, where we fell into routine and where we fell into the habit of copying. A few qualities like the habit of not copying, trusting in the country itself. One country is not better than another, one people is not better than another - they all have their national, cultural characteristics.
One sees that in Europe the Finns, the Hungarians - people who speak languages that are really, really hard to learn - are all coming together; the Germans, the Italians and all the rest, a continent that was at war with itself for 500 years.
Well, they should be congratulated, despite our sometimes critical opinions, for the degree of unity they have achieved. And we must say that it will be to the benefit of the entire world if they are successful. Now then, we have to see how it goes, because the problems, in this period of neo-liberal globalisation are very complex.
But we shouldn't forget that ignorance is the root of many evils we face today and have to endure. Knowledge must be the fundamental ally of nations that aspire, despite all their tragedies and problems, to become truly emancipated, to build a more just, fair, humane and better world.
We have no sensible alternative, but to continue fighting corruption wherever it rears its ugly head. It is not possible for us - in this poor country of ours - to build a more just, fair and humane society when public resources are being stolen, squandered or abused.
Therefore, honesty should be emphasised in all that we do. Honesty is a virtue that should be inculcated in all our people and in all our leaders. The spirit of honesty must be inculcated in all our young people at school, at church and indeed in the family.
Virtue must be nourished but vice springs up spontaneously like weeds and grows by itself. We bear that in mind. If we do otherwise, we are simultaneously paving the way for vice. That's a reality we mustn't lose sight of.
Labels: ALISTAIR HARRISON, CORRUPTION
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Harrison urges Zambians to look for honesty in leaders
By Chibaula Silwamba and Maluba Jere
Saturday August 02, 2008 [04:01]
OUTGOING British High Commissioner to Zambia Alistair Harrison has said honesty in public leadership is one of the most important attributes that Zambians should look for in leaders. In an interview on Tuesday after his farewell meeting with Post editor Fred M'membe at the newspaper's headquarters in Lusaka, High Commissioner Harrison said Zambia had donewell in the fight against corruption and urged Zambians and the government to continue fighting the scourge.
"I think the successes we have had in the fight against corruption working with other cooperating partners and the Zambian government have been very significant; the judgment that was reached in High Court in Britain in 2007 against some former members of the government, it has enabled a lot of money that was stolen by those people to be recovered for the benefit of the people of Zambia.
That was a landmark," he said. "The campaign that His Excellency President Mwanawasa launched against corruption is very important, establishing the Task Force on Corruption but also moving decisively when there have been allegations against serving ministers and officials so that they can be properly investigated.
We have always supported the work of the Task Force and the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) and other agencies like the police and Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC)."
High Commissioner Harrison also observed that the Zambian government had coped extremely well with President Levy Mwanawasa's illness, which he described as a very difficult political event.
He said the Zambian government had continued with its business in a manner that President Mwanawasa would wish for in his absence.
"Firstly, the good wishes of the British government go to the President and his family; he is very much in our thoughts and we hope for his speedy recovery," High Commissioner Harrison said.
"When I heard the news first, I telephoned the President's party to pass on the good wishes of the British government...I spoke to one of his aides whom I asked that the message be passed onto the first family.
Our thoughts are very much with him in Paris."
High Commissioner Harrison said he was impressed with the manner in which Zambians were conducting themselves while President Mwanawasa is in hospital.
"I was very struck by two things; the first one was the great outpour of shock and grief when the news first came through from all the people in Zambia that I spoke to," High Commissioner Harrison said.
"Secondly has been the calmness in which the people of Zambia and the government of Zambia have decided to go about their businesses. I think that the government has coped extremely well with what is a very difficult political and personal event."
President Mwanawasa suffered a stroke on June 29 this year in Egypt and was later evacuated to Percy Military Hospital in Paris on July 1, where he is still admitted.
Reviewing his three-year posting to Zambia, High Commissioner Harrison said Zambia had experienced several successes from which the resources should be channelled to improve the livelihood of Zambians.
"It has been very interesting time to be here, I have been here now for three years, I came here in August 2005. I spent a lot of that time working with the government of Zambia especially on Zambia's economic development.
When I first arrived the big issue was to forgive Zambia's external debt under the HIPC High Indebted Poor Countries process following the Glasgow's agreement which former British prime minister Tony Blair chaired to extend that to multilateral debt," High Commissioner Harrison said.
He said the British government decided early to shift its pattern of support from directly financing projects to direct national budgetary support thus enabling Zambians and their government to decide on the priority areas.
"I think that Zambia is on quite interesting crossroads of its development; when I first arrived the real issue was that there has not been enough funds, too much debt, too little investment but I think that with the cancellation of Zambia's external debt we have seen quite substantial inflows of investment, new mining tax regime.
Now the government has got spare resources, not huge spare resources, but there was a modest surplus of the budget last year," High Commissioner Harrison said.
He advised Zambia to make important and right choices on the utilisation of the available resources.
High Commissioner Harrison said the country should concentrate on improving infrastructure especially in health, education and transport sectors.
"It's good that Zambia now has got those choices that it is no longer a question of financial firefighting as it has always been for the past 30 years," High Commissioner Harrison observed. "We will work with other cooperating partners and the Zambian government to help make those choices to move to the next stage of development of Zambia."
He also expressed happiness over the country's general elections in 2006, which he said were peaceful.
"I think the other highlights of my time here was obviously to be able to observe the elections in Zambia 2006 and I was very glad that there was a European Union observer mission, including a lot of British citizens on the observer mission from the Commonwealth and the elections were peaceful, free and fair and very much an example to Zambia's neighbours, to Africa and the world generally," High Commissioner Harrison observed.
He also hoped that the constitution-making process should not be turned into a playing field.
On the Zimbabwe situation and the on-going negotiations between the governing ZANU-PF and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) aimed at ending the political, social and economic crises in that country, High Commissioner Harrison said he hoped that the negotiations would culminate into resolutions that would reflect the will of Zimbabweans.
High Commissioner Harrison, who leaves Zambia this month to take up another diplomatic appointment, will be replaced by Thomas Carter and his wife Carolyn Davidson who would be joint High Commissioner to Zambia.
Labels: ALISTAIR HARRISON, CORRUPTION, LEADERSHIP
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Levy not to blame for current corruption - Sata
By Patson Chilemba and Lambwe Kachali
Friday August 01, 2008 [04:00]
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) president Michael Sata has said President Levy Mwanawasa is not to blame for the current corruption going on in the country. And outgoing British High Commissioner to Zambia Alistair Harrison said the fight against corruption is a long and possibly never-ending battle.
During his farewell meeting with High Commissioner Harrison at the PF secretariat yesterday, Sata said the levels of corruption in the country had worsened but President Mwanawasa was not to blame. Sata instead put the blame on the line ministries.
He said although the British government had supported Zambia in the fight against corruption, the prevalence of the vice was worse than it was during former president Frederick Chiluba's regime. Sata attributed corruption to the lack of governance.
"We have never seen any Chinese teacher, we have seen some fake Chinese doctors. But you have seen their influence. You have seen the influence of Malaysians. You have seen the influence of Japanese. You have seen the influence of Libyans, people who have not contributed to build this country," Sata said.
"You can't blame the President. It's corruption in line ministries because the President does not know which land is going to be made a Chinese zone...the President doesn't know the ZNS farm which is going to be given to Japanese."
Sata said it was unacceptable that 44 years after independence, the country could experience university closures and have hospitals that were in bad state.
"If there are shortcomings, it's not because of the influence of the British government. The shortcomings are on our side," Sata said.
"Please be our ambassador in Foreign Office. Give them the truth because what they lack abroad more especially in Western countries is the truth."
Sata further asked High Commissioner Harrison to tell the British foreign office that the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) was a waste of money and a breeding ground for political problems in the country.
He said the British government had a huge input in improving good governance in the country through their financial support towards the Mwanakatwe and Mung'omba constitution review commissions.
"But I must admit as you go...you are one of the most senior diplomats. You should go and tell your colleagues that you have failed on this one because what we thought was going to come out from the NCC is not what has come out," Sata said.
He said the NCC had failed to incorporate major stakeholders such as the Catholic Church, important NGOs and the PF.
Sata said the process diluted the democracy that Zambia inherited from Britain.
"The whole world is battling to cushion the impact of fuel prices, to cushion the impact of food prices. Then here we have a sham similar to Muzorewa spending 54 million pounds to read a report prepared by another commission," he said.
Sata also highlighted Britain's efforts in realising freedom in South Africa and the former Rhodesia. dum of Understanding (MoU) between ZANU-PF and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), tension would be reduced.
And High Commissioner Harrison said it was a pleasure for Britain to assist Zambia in the fight against corruption. He thanked Sata for giving him a frank explanation on issues from his party's perspective. However, High Commissioner Harrison said he did not want to comment on the political issues that Sata had raised.
"I don't want to react to all the points that you have made. But I will certainly reflect them in my reporting to London," High Commissioner Harrison said.
High Commissioner Harrison also said envoys had a duty to interact with the government as well as political parties.
Labels: ALISTAIR HARRISON, MWANAWASA, SATA
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Harrison urges economic diversification on C/belt
By Kabanda Chulu in Kitwe
Monday June 02, 2008 [04:01]
THE GOVERNMENT should seriously start economic diversification on the Copperbelt because high mineral prices will not last forever, British High Commissioner to Zambia Alistair Harrison has advised. In an interview at the just-ended 51st Copperbelt Mining, Agriculture and Commercial Show, High Commissioner Harrison said the increase in both local and international exhibitors was a demonstration of vibrancy in the economic growth of the Copperbelt region.
"This is positive because the economy is getting strengthened through various activities taking place in the region especially in the area of mining," said High Commissioner Harrison. "And the boom in mineral prices is likely to continue, but higher commodity prices cannot last forever; hence, government should seriously embark on economic diversification on the Copperbelt to sectors such as agriculture."
And Copperbelt minister Mwansa Mbulakulima said mining operations would continue but the government was considering economic diversification.
"We are on course with diversification and soon this region will be able to balance food production and mining but we cannot just abandon mining," said Mbulakulima.
During the official opening of the show last Friday, President Levy Mwanawasa, who was represented by Vice-President Rupiah Banda, said there was need to minimise exposure to the risk of falling prices of copper through developing other sectors such as agriculture.
"A few years ago when the price of copper was very bad, government stressed that it was necessary to encourage other sectors like agriculture so that livelihoods that had been lost in mining can be replaced by some in agriculture and we should not lose sight of this important goal even when copper prices are high," said President Mwanawasa.
Labels: ALISTAIR HARRISON, ECONOMY, MINING
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