Jubilee Zambia bemoans rising “indecent dressing in Zambia”
Thursday, July 9, 2009, 17:09
Jubilee Zambia has bemoaned the rate at which indecent dressing is becoming common-place in society.
Jubilee Zambia member Ray Mwape told Zanis in Ndola today how demoralizing and pathetic today’s dressing is.
He said the younger generation need a dress code to promote decent dressing, especially among women.
He said churches should play a leading role in bringing about positive change in how human beings should dress in society, adding that provocative dressing has not spared some of the older people.
Mr. Mwape said the indecent exposure of certain body parts on women does not set a good example to youths, because women are generally regarded as mothers of the human race.
He called on the church to do more, through its various programmes, in promoting decent dressing among women and the younger generation.
He also advised the electronic and print media to avoid displaying indecent adverts which send wrong messages to the public in a bid to make huge profits.
He said Jubilee Zambia wanted to promote a society where there was fairness, justice and respect for human rights.
ZANIS
Labels: CULTURE, JUBILEE ZAMBIA
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CSPR calls for law to govern foreign debt
Written by George Zulu in Monze
Sunday, May 24, 2009 7:14:57 AM
CIVIL Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) has said Zambia needs a legal frame work on foreign debt contraction and the utilisation of public funds by enacting the debt management bill.
And Jubilee Zambia Monze branch has called on government to finish the work by designing a desired comprehensive legal, policy and institutional debt management strategy which will promote transparency, accountability and good governance practices in the country.
In an interview in Monze on Friday, CSPR board vice -chairperson Partner
Siabutuba said the debt management bill, once enacted, would enable Parliament to give guidelines on what was borrowed in a specified period of time.
"Foreign debt contractions should be regulated by transparent mechanisms to promote accountability and a good governance system in the country. Zambia now is servicing a lot of unsustainable foreign debt because of lack of consultation and regulations, government just borrows without consulting the people of Zambia through representatives in Parliament and it is a dangerous scenario to operate and run a country like that. That is why as civil society in Zambia we are saying let parliament be involved in the contraction process of any loan, the move will promote accountability and transparency for both those in government and the people of Zambia,” he said.
Siabutuba said the current loan contraction system was not efficient and lacked transparency because the people of Zambia and other major stakeholders were left out in the process.
He added that in most cases, the system had promoted the spirit of dishonesty and mismanagement of funds.
Siabutuba cited the US$53 million loan from China meant for mobile clinics, saying government should have extensively consulted parliament and other stakeholders on the viability of the moveable clinics before going ahead with the loan.
And during the World Debt Day commemoration in Monze, Jubilee Zambia Monze chapter chairperson Alpheus Chibamu said poor and unsustainable debts continued to hurt the poor people in the country.
"As Jubilee movement, we have done our best and have made some notable achievements in areas of debt cancellations both through the HIPC and
Multilateral Debt Relief Initiatives, Zambia has received significant debt relief but problems and challenges Zambians face today are numerous and these gains have continued to be elusive to the grassroots and the voiceless poor Zambians," he said.
He said government should avoid contracting loans for seemingly unproductive purposes, citing the newly acquired earth moving equipment through a loan acquired from a commercial source, the EXIM Bank of China, saying such assets lacked the capacity to create sustainable debt repayments.
Chibamu also called on the government to revisit the bilateral relationship with China over external assistance which he said had a lot of conditions attached.
"Government needs to revisit its bilateral arrangements with China. We note that external assistance from China is usually in the form of grants or soft loans that are conditional. What emerges from the bilateral arrangements between China and Zambia is that Chinese aid is tied with conditions which are not favourable to Zambia," he said.
Chibamu said it was saddening that Zambia had not made up significant achievements in reforming policies, institutions and laws which contributed to the accumulation of external debt.
"Serious weaknesses continue to be observed in legal, institutional and policy arrangements. The borrowing process is far from transparency and laws governing borrowing has seemingly outlived its usefulness,î he said.
Chibamu also challenged donors not to lend money to low income countries as a money making venture, but to honor their commitment to the International Development Agency replenishment and avail more human development oriented grants than loans to least developed countries (LDCs).
Labels: CSPR, DEBT, JUBILEE ZAMBIA
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Defer signing of EPAs - Jubilee Zambia
By Kabanda Chulu
Thursday November 01, 2007 [03:00]
JUBILEE Zambia Monze chapter has called for the postponement of the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) scheduled for December 2007 in order to allow for full consultations among the people. And former commerce minister Dipak Patel has challenged the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries including Zambia to question the merits and demerits of the EPA.
During a stakeholders meeting on economic literacy held in Monze yesterday, Jubilee Zambia observed that EPAs will result in reduction and loss of revenue and sovereignty.
“We feel that in their current form if signed, the EPAs will lead to reduction and loss of revenue and sovereignty by the government resulting in job losses and will strangle the country’s right to pursue a home grown development agenda. We therefore recommend that signing of the EPAs due in December 2007 be postponed indefinitely to allow for more time for dialogue, consultations and negotiations,’ it stated.
Jubilee Zambia stated that there was need for coherence and consistency in the positions Africa adopts in all arena of relations and negotiations with the European Union (EU).
“It is increasingly clear that there is inadequate knowledge of the EPA negotiations within the various Regional Economic Communities (RECs), leading to a lack of information to the public about an agreement that has repercussions on their livelihood so it is important that the issues are not left simply to the cynical manipulations of the EU on one hand and to the deception of ACP regions on the other,” stated Jubilee Zambia.
Some of the partner organisations that attended the meeting include farmer associations, marketeers, faith based Organisations, political representatives, pensioners and trade unions.
They also called on the government to urgently attend to key areas of concern.
And speaking recently, Patel observed that European countries should stop preaching about free trade when their agriculture subsidies were killing the potential of the agriculture sector on the African continent.
“So before preaching Africans about virtues of EPA and free trade, let the rich countries first think about what their subsidies do to Africa and stop forthwith their unbridled liberalisation demands they make on Africa and other least developed countries (LDCs),” he said.
Patel said that EU members, such as Italy, France, Ireland and Spain among many others are steadfast in ensuring that they not only ’protect’ their farmers from opening up their markets, but also ensure that they continue with subsidies in one form or other.
Labels: EPAs, JUBILEE ZAMBIA
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Jubilee Zambia receives global leadership award
By Mutuna Chanda
Tuesday October 23, 2007 [04:00]
JUBILEE Zambia has been awarded the Jubilee Global Leadership award for its relentless efforts in campaigning for debt cancellation. Presenting the award in Washington last Thursday, Jubilee United States of America Network coordinator Neil Watkins said Jubilee Zambia had been consistent in highlighting the case of Zambia before the country reached the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) completion point and after.
“It has been a strong voice in the debt cancellation movements and you will understand that it is a consistent voice which has been in the forefront of identifying new critical issues and providing strategic ideas on how to deal with the challenges beyond HIPC and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI),” Watkins said.
Receiving the award, Jubilee Zambia coordinator Muyatwa Sitali called for reforms that would ensure responsible borrowing and lending.
“In most low-income countries, policy, legal and institutional reforms are needed urgently. Such reforms will compel responsible contraction of loans, prudent utilisation of debt resources and bring about a society based on values of participation and accountability in both creditor and debtor nations,” Sitali said.
“It is an appreciated honour to receive this award on behalf of many Zambians who are part of the campaign for total debt cancellation and an effective debt management system.
This award is symbolic of the sacrifices Zambians made for the country to reach the completion point; it therefore is dedicated to all actors who have been concerned about the debilitating effects of debt.”
“We owe this award to campaigners, academicians, activists, advocates both in Zambia and outside, our supporters and partners who have always provided us with the support and visionary ideas to make the campaign relevant,” Sitali said.
“Today, Zambia is one of the 21 beneficiaries of HIPC and MDRI but the work for effective debt management so that our country does not fall back into unsustainable debt has just gained centre stage.
While debt write-offs have been part of our goal, we know that in themselves debt write-offs are not the ultimate solution to the debt problem.”
Labels: JUBILEE ZAMBIA
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Lubinda calls for involvement of stakeholders in debt management
By Joan Chirwa
Friday October 19, 2007 [04:00]
PARLIAMENTARIANS in developing countries should search for innovative ways of making debt work for the poor, Kabwata member of parliament Given Lubinda has said. Presenting a paper on Zambia’s challenge on debt management during the Jubilee prayer breakfast in Washington on Tuesday, Lubinda said Zambia, like many other developing countries, was still grappling with high levels of poverty despite the amounts of debt contracted in the previous years, hence the need for the involvement of all stakeholders in debt management.
“The bitter experiences of one billion people in the world living under one US dollar per day, where every three seconds a child dies from extreme poverty, and where 12 million children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Africa, must give us parliamentarians the impetus to search for innovative ways of making debt work for the poor,” Lubinda said.
“We must be compelled to eradicate those conditions that make debt hurt the ones it is meant to serve. Zambia can well demonstrate that debt relief can reach the poor.”
Members of the United States Congress have sponsored a Jubilee Act that calls for responsible lending and expanded debt cancellation in order to assist poor countries in the management of debt acquired from developed nations.
“For the noble intentions of the Jubilee Act to have meaningful effect, the other side of the equation ought to be put right and the Zambian Parliament is cognizant of the fact that our country too has to engage in responsible borrowing and responsible utilization of borrowed and own resources,” Lubinda said.
The Zambian Parliament over the last few years has been working on reforming the legal framework governing not only loan contraction processes, but also the management of the budget cycle.
Lubinda said it would be difficult for Zambia to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) if any debt acquired does not benefit the poor.
“I appeal to all parliamentarians globally to exert pressure on our governments to deliver on the United Nations MDGs,” said Lubinda.
“I appeal to the people of America to insist that the government of the United States of America takes the leading role in delivering on MDG number eight which calls for building a global partnership for development, addressing the needs of least developed countries, developing an open trading and financial system and dealing comprehensively with the debt of developing countries.”
Labels: DEBT, GIVEN LUBINDA, JUBILEE ZAMBIA
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Zambia's loan contraction process is not transparent, says Lewanika
By Bivan Saluseki
Wednesday October 17, 2007 [04:00]
Western Province Jubilee Zambia secretary Mwangelwa Mbikusita-Lewanika has said Zambia's limits and purposes of getting new loans were highly ambiguous and not open to scrutiny. Lewanika yesterday said Zambia had in the past borrowed excessively and recklessly, and did not manage the debt well.
"The level of public expenditure, in particular on developmental projects, has not been commensurate with the high levels of borrowing, especially during most part of the first 10 years of the Third Republic, as evidenced by the high levels of plunder," he said.
Currently, the legal prerogative to procure new loans lies in the hands of the Minister of Finance and National Planning and Parliament does not need to approve the entry into loan agreements.
"This anomalous situation must be stopped. To achieve prudent procurement of loans by the government of the day, the loan contraction process should be enshrined into the national constitution," he said.
Lewanika said there were problems or shortcomings in the ways and means the debt has been incurred and that was a direct result of the fact that the legal framework governing the contraction process was inadequate.
He said the current loan contraction process was not transparent and lacked accountability, noting that under the current legal framework, the loans and guarantees (authorisation) Act, Cap 366 of the Laws of Zambia, gave a blanket authority to the government to borrow.
"In view of that, there is need to put in place measures that would ensure that the resources will be spent on Zambian people, especially the poor. Such measures include the Debt Mechanism, which is a broad participatory, transparent and accountable way of disbursing toward poverty eradication any savings coming from debt relief or cancellation," he said.
He suggested that the Constitution and Act of Parliament must provide the authority to borrow while terms of reference or guidelines to negotiating loans should be in the statute itself, at least, as regulations.
He said the public should be involved in the loan contraction process.
"Parliament should have its constitutional powers to approve all loans and have them gazetted and made available for public examination before being signed," he said.
Labels: DEBT, JUBILEE ZAMBIA, LOANS, PARLIAMENT
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‘State won’t borrow beyond K20 trillion’
By KASUBA MULENGA
GOVERNMENT says it has worked out a strategy to avoid falling into unsustainable debt following the country’s attainment of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) completion point in 2005.
Minister of Finance and National Planning, Ng’andu Magande, said yesterday that Government would ensure that it does not borrow beyond K20 trillion as a means of remaining within sustainable levels, especially that the country was generating significant revenue locally.
Mr Magande said this in Lusaka during a Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation live television programme sponsored by the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR).
The discussion was on debt management, with a special focus on Zambia after the HIPC completion point.
“I want to assure the nation that Zambia will not get back into unsustainable debts because Government is getting a lot of revenue locally. We will only have debt within reasonable levels,” Mr Magande said.
This is amid concerns that after attaining the HIPC completion point, Zambia’s debt dropped to about US$502 million in July 2006 but sharply rose to US$1.5 billion by December the same year.
But the minister said after facing a heavy debt burden for a long time, Government would be careful with the way it borrowed money, and appealed to the public to entrust Government with such a responsibility.
Mr Magande said although under Cap 366, Part 10, of the Laws of Zambia, he had the authority to source loans for the country, he would ensure that the country did not contract loans beyond the K20 trillion ceiling.
He said if Government first allowed MPs to discuss the terms of acquiring loans from external sources, it would take too long to complete the process of getting the funds.
Mr Magande said there were technocrats competent to understand the nature or conditions attached to loans.
But Kabwata MP, Given Lubinda, said it was important that Zambians knew the terms of getting external loans through their representatives in Parliament.
Mr Lubinda, who is also chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Affairs and Labour, said the country should enact a Budget law, to allow MPs to discuss the conditions attached to any loan before Government could access it.
He said since the current legislation did not provide for MPs to sue Government over loans which could have been obtained under dubious conditions, only a law could be effective to stop the State.
Mr Lubinda said as much as loans could be sourced for development programmes, it was important for the people to understand how they were sourced.
But Mr Magande said knowing where loans came from was insignificant because the main issue was development.
And of Jubilee Zambia/JCTR’s Muyatwa Sitali said although the country attained about 65 per cent debt cancellation, the solution to debt management had not yet been established.
Mr Sitali said there should be reforms to institutions and the legal framework on debt management in Zambia, as this was the only way to attain meaningful development.
He said the issue of MPs discussing conditions attached to loans before accessing them was paramount and should be enshrined in the legal framework regarding debt management.
And giving Zambia’s debt burden background, former President, Kenneth Kaunda, said when the country got independence in 1964, there were only 100 university graduates who included three medical doctors. He said copper prices later went down while international oil prices rose.
Dr Kaunda said because of this, his Government decided to borrow funds from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to build schools, health institutions and other social infrastructure.
He said the two international financial lending institutions gave Government strict conditions on repayment but it negotiated to be paying in small amounts so that the country could use the rest on local development.
“But when we failed to follow their conditions, they came back hard on us with tricks. The world should remember this is a very unfair way of dealing with debt,” Dr Kaunda said.
Labels: DEBT, DOMESTIC DEBT, HIPC, JUBILEE ZAMBIA, MAGANDE, MUYATWA SITALI
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KK urges Zambians to fast against debt
By Brighton Phiri and Joan Chirwa
Saturday October 13, 2007 [04:00]
DR Kenneth Kaunda yesterday said he would today join Jubilee Zambia in fasting for the country's responsible borrowing and lending patterns to demonstrate that debt was a deadly disease to humanity. "I have been invited to participate in fasting and I am glad to be part of Zambians who are fighting this deadly disease," Dr Kaunda said. "I want to demonstrate to those who have been imposing debt on our heads that they have been very unkind in their motives."
He urged Zambians to join forces in fasting so as to denounce the debt inflicted on them by unkind forces.
Dr Kaunda, who has supported Jubilee movements in the past, will fast today to call for a quick enactment of the Jubilee Act in the United States as well as to speed up the loan contraction reforms in Zambia.
The Jubilee Act would compel the US government to cancel the debts of up to 25 additional countries currently ineligible for debt cancellation, end harmful economic policy conditions as well as establish an audit of past lending and set more responsible lending practices for the future.
Jubilee USA coordinator Neil Watkins said: "Dr. Kaunda's fast is an act of solidarity, which should speak to the conscience of the governments of rich countries. Many poor countries are still paying external debt, which is as a result of both their own borrowing and in many cases, irresponsible lending decisions and policing by rich nations as well."
Watkins indicated that indebted nations currently spend an average of $100 million each day to service their debts - money they cannot spend on food, education, health services and other necessities.
"Cancellation of these debts is needed to help reach the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDGs) of cutting worldwide poverty in half by 2015," he said.
Watkins has also urged the US government and other rich countries to put in place legal measures that would promote creditor responsibility and end illegal practices of private commercial creditors - also known as "vulture funds" - which seek to benefit from purchasing the loans of poor countries.
Jubilee-Zambia coordinator Muyatwa Sitali hailed Dr Kaunda's long commitment to debt and social justice.
"As Jubilee movements, we recall how in 1987 Dr Kaunda's government cut off the IMF Structural Adjustment Programme and they chose to pay only 10 per cent of Zambia's export earnings for debt service while allocating more resources to social economic sectors that were needed to propel growth from Zambia's own resources.
This commitment exemplifies the need for prudent debt management and it resonates with the Jubilee movements calls for prudent debt management," Sitali said.
"For Zambia, the need for prudent management of debt resources is extremely important, especially now after the HIPC and MDRI debt relief initiatives.
Zambia's debt is steadily rising and Parliament's participation in loan contraction continues to be marginalised."
In July 2006, Zambia's external debt was only US$502 million but this dramatically increased to US$1.5billion by December 2006.
"The concerns being shared by Dr Kaunda form a key component of a society which should be guided by values of accountability and transparency in debt management and utilisation of debt resources," said Sitali.
And Dr Kaunda, who is also Marli Investment Zambia board chairperson, said the outgrower model of growing jatropha oil plant in Zambia under Marli Investment was the opposite of what the rich nations feared that indigenous people risked being displaced by jatropha production.
"This is not for the rich, but peasant farmers because they will be empowered economically and maintain their traditional land," he said.
Maril Investments director Kamal Desai said his company had raised US$45 million capital through Technopreneur Angel Ventures, a Singapore-based renewable energy company.
He disclosed that his company would contract over 250,000 farmers and was expected to produce over 1. 5 billion litres of Jatropha oil per annum, of which 240, 000 litres would be refined and blended for local consumption and 1. 3 billion litres would be exported.
"Jatropha oil is considered to be an international feedstock of choice for bio fuel as it does not compete with food crops, grows well in marginal land, creates large-scale employment, prevents soil erosion, can be intercropped with food crops, produces more than 30 per cent of oil content from seed and requires low maintenance," said Desai.
Labels: DEBT, JUBILEE ZAMBIA, KENNETH KAUNDA
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Jubilee Zambia calls for close monitoring of privatised firms
By Joan Chirwa
Thursday September 13, 2007 [04:00]
JUBILEE Zambia has advised government to effectively monitor the operations of privatised companies and foreign investments for the benefit of the local people. Releasing findings of the study on the 'Impact of Privatisation and Foreign Investment in Northern Province' in Lusaka on Tuesday, Jubilee Zambia noted that the privatisation process embarked upon by government was one of the biggest economic exercises that needed to be carried out with caution.
Jubilee Kasama team leader Kelly Kashiwa said the government should bring the process of privatisation to a halt while taking stock of the performance of the already privatised companies.
"Privatisation must be done in a gradual way and must not be rushed and it should also be done in a transparent manner," Kashiwa said. "There were a lot of concerns from the respondents in Northern Province that government has not accounted for the monies realised from the sale of state owned companies."
The findings further revealed that people in Northern Province required government to promote a level playing field where both local and foreign investors could compete in a business environment.
"Government must promote a level playing field where both local and foreign investors can invest freely and compete in an enabling environment especially that our local investors have limited financial base," Kashiwa said.
"There is also externalisation of profits made by foreign investors. Government needs to monitor operations of privatised companies and foreign investment."
Jubilee Zambia further called on government, through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to intensify its operations to ensure that all investors respected labour laws.
"The Ministry of Labour and Social Services should intensify its operations and address the issues of violations of conditions of service especially that some districts do not have these offices in place and in some areas where these offices exist, there is little work done due to limited human resource," said Kashiwa.
Labels: JUBILEE ZAMBIA, PRIVATISATION
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Jubilee advises public leaders to help maintain accountability
By Nomusa Michelo
Sunday April 29, 2007 [04:00]
JUBILEE Zambia has called on government and church leaders in the country to help find the lost sense of financial accountability and patriotism by civil servants. The call follows the ruling in which a UK court has asked the Zambian government to pay Donegal International US$15.5 million for a debt owed. UK Judge Andrew Smith on April 24, 2007 ruled that Zambia should pay Donegal International a settlement of US$15.5 million instead of the US$55 million demanded by Donegal International. This is repayment on a former bilateral debt purchased by the Donegal over a decade ago from Romania.
Jubilee Zambia national coordinator Nachilala Nkombo said the case of the Donegal debt points to critical lessons Zambians must draw on the way public loan matters should be handled in future, if Zambia’s integrity and development is to be preserved.
“We did not need to pay US$15.5 million to learn that we need to have in place stronger control of public debt contraction in order to stem the tide of unscrupulous outflows of financial resources from our public purse,” Nachilala said.
Meanwhile, Jubilee Zambia and its international collaborators Oxfam-UK and Jubilee UK and Jubilee USA have welcomed the announcement by Judge Smith to reduce the payment that Donegal International was demanding from Zambia from US$55 million to US$15.5 million.
However, Jubilee Zambia has noted that although the repayment has been reduced, the US$15.5 million would significantly affect government’s income available for development spending.
“For example, the US$15.5 million is approximately three quarters of the poverty reduction budgetary allocation for recruitment of new teachers in the 2007 budget,” Nachilala said. “Given that Zambia is ranked at 165 out of 175 of the poorest countries by the United Nations Human Development Index, this payment will certainly derail some of the envisaged progress in terms of poverty alleviation and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).”
Nachilala said the implications of this payment would be immediate, as the court has ordered payments to start in the near future.
“The court order on the 24th of April 2007 to pay Donegal International came a day after the Belgian government on the 23rd of April awarded Zambia further debt relief amounting to US$5.5 million in recognition of the Zambia’s deep need to accelerate poverty reduction,” Nachilala said. “The implication of this is that this contribution to debt relief by the Belgian tax payer’s will not reach the intended beneficiaries in the poorest parts of the country, but might go in the pockets of an already wealthy businessman from the US.”
Nachilala said Zambia worked closely with Oxfam UK and Jubilee UK and Jubilee USA to expose the activities of Donegal, which is headed by a US citizen Michael Sheehan.
“Post judgment, campaigners now expect that the issue will be raised at the G8 summit Germany in June this year,” Nachilala said. “Global leaders namely, George Bush, Gordon Brown and Germany, development minister Heidi Maire Wieczorek-Zeul have expressed the deep concern on this issue and its negative impact on poor countries.”
Jubilee-Zambia stated that vulture funds have to be legally blocked because it is through litigation against countries with limited abilities to pay that they target to reap their profits.
“Ultimately the international community led by the G8 now more than even before have a moral duty to institute a fair, comprehensive and binding framework for dealing with poor country debt which will ensure that commercial creditors will never again have the chance to profit in this way,” Jubilee Zambia observed.
Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) director Father Peter Henriot observed that although the ruling was a legally correct decision, it is a morally wrong decision.
Fr Henriot noted that even World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz has described the case against Zambia as “appalling”.
Jubilee-Zambia network members and its partners are now calling on G8 representatives to take a stand on the case in which poor countries are tricked out of some benefits of debt relief, and bring an end to vulture funds.
Jubilee Zambia network members, are also calling on government to break the silence on Donegal by telling the nation how systems of government permitted the country to find itself in this situation and what correction measures will follow to ensure the Zambians involved in the Donegal debt deal are held accountable.
Jubilee Zambia is also asking what immediate legal and institutional arrangements the government will initiate to ensure greater transparency and accountability in governments’ handling of public debt matters in future.
Donegal International is a vulture fund that specializes in buying debts of countries struggling to repay and later claims the full amount of the debt with huge interests. Donegal International is registered in the British Virgin Islands.
Labels: CIVIL SERVANTS, CORRUPTION, JUBILEE ZAMBIA, VULTURE FUND
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