A time to turn a new leaf
By Editor
Tuesday August 14, 2007 [04:00]
Amartya Sen, the recepient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics, once said that people themselves must have the responsibility for the development and change of the world in which they live. We agree with him.
Over the last few years, and arising from the disastrous experience of neoliberalism especially in the developing world, there has been a realisation, although rather late, that the destinies of the economies of individual nations lie squarely in the hands of those particular nations.
Since the early 1980s, the world witnessed an onslaught of neoliberalism as it was being pushed down the throats of most developing nations, as a way of 'healing' the economies of the perceived 'sick' nations.
Through Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP), Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) and the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, most poor nations have had a taste of the bitter pill of neoliberalism.
And thanks to the blindness of Frederick Chiluba's administration, Zambia has had a fair share of the concoctions of neoliberal policies. Lest we are misunderstood, we are not saying that President Levy Mwanawasa's government is entirely innocent when it comes to its engagement with neoliberal policies. There are several economic decisions that Levy's government has made which are clearly a result of the influence of neoliberalism, either directly or indirectly.
However, it is well known that it was Chiluba's government - intoxicated with and infatuated by its 'new culture' - that made way for the grand entry of unlimited neoliberalism into the country. From opening the country to the so-called liberalisation programme and thereby reducing Zambia into a mere dumping ground, privatising the nation's key enterprises such as the copper mines, to liquidations and shutdown of some state parastatals deemed to be drains on the economy, Chiluba's government has indeed shown us the true side of neoliberalism.
The experience of our country with neoliberalism is certainly not a pleasant one, yet no amount of whingeing can cure the pain. But it is always important to acknowledge the truth when one is faced with indisputable facts. Over the last few years, we have observed a change of approach by most of the institutions which were once a channel for neoliberalism. We are now listening to a changed language and tone of speech even from the officials of institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), essentially because there is now a realisation and indeed an admission of the failure of neo-liberalism. And this in itself is very good because those who cannot learn and correct their mistakes are surely destined for the abyss.
So, when we hear repeated sentiments as those of outgoing World Bank country manager to Zambia, Dr Ohene Nyanin on the need for sovereignty and independence in terms of the destiny of our future, we feel a sense of relief because it is necessary that the responsibility of dealing with our problems should largely lie or rest in our own hands. We are not saying that we do not require the help of others.
With regard to economic and social development of our country, we think that it is important that, while not necessarily repelling external involvement, the task should be primarily left to be dealt by ourselves because we know our problems better and we are as such better placed to confront our own challenges. But like we have said before, we will not repel any form of assistance here and there to help us in areas where we certainly need the capacity of others. What we are against is the idea of imposition of policies and programmes by outsiders who are far removed from the realities of our daily experiences.
We have always been and we will always be opposed to the idea of having some World Bank or IMF officers scheming policies which have no relevance to our own realities. We are not opposed to engagements with development partners who are genuine, but we are opposed to those partners who want to impose and force down our throats policies which will end up choking us as it happened with programmes such as SAP.
We do not want partners who will come and tell us to stop providing subsidies to our farmers when in their own countries farm subsidies are the order of the day. We will not allow ourselves to be cheated that our people should pay high fees in hospitals and schools when nations of the developed world have policies and programmes aimed at ensuring that their citizens have unlimited access to healthcare and education.
Our experience with neoliberalism has taught us many lessons, which we should not repeat consciously. And we are happy that the World Bank and the IMF now seem to have realised their mistakes in the way they have handled the case for developing nations. We can only hope that the 'repentance' of these two institutions is genuine and not just for the purpose of window-dressing or some self-cleansing exercise. It will not help much if some of the sentiments we are hearing from the World Bank and the IMF are just meant for the gallery because we think that a deep reflection has always been necessary in terms of the two institutions' approach to economic and social development programmes for poor nations.
For once, we expect that the World Bank and the IMF should start recognising the sovereignty of each and every nation of the world in terms of economic and social development planning. We do not need to say more about the fact that the arrogance of the past has not been helpful either to the two multilateral institutions or the nations upon which they have sought to impose Washington-tailored economic programmes or policies. And there can be no better time than now for the two multilateral institutions to turn a new leaf in their way of doing things.
Labels: EDITORIAL, NEOLIBERALISM, OHENE NYANIN, World Bank
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Zambia's destiny lies in the hands of Zambians - Nyanin
By Patson Chilemba
Tuesday August 14, 2007 [04:00]
OUTGOING World Bank country manager Dr Ohene Nyanin has said that the destiny of Zambia lies in the hands of the Zambian people and not any outside force.
And Dr Nyanin has urged Zambia not to relent in the fight against corruption.
Featuring on MUVI TV’s Straight Talk programme on Sunday evening, Dr Nyanin further urged policy-makers to be bold when it came to making structural reforms that were yet to be made.
“It’s what Zambians think, where Zambians want Zambia to be is what will deliver the goods to the Zambian people. It’s not the World Bank or any outsider for that matter want,” Dr Nyanin said.
“Let’s continue to build the capacity that is required to drive and achieve that vision.”
And Dr Nyanin said although the fight against corruption brought with it certain complications, structures should be built to prevent the vice.
“By all means, we should never relent from this fight against corruption, that we are doing for the poor,” Dr Nyanin said. “Making sure that we are not just fighting the corruption of yesterday but that we are building institutions to make it difficult for those who may want to for whatever reason plunder or be corrupt.”
Dr Nyanin urged Zambians to hold the government accountable so that it focussed on economic management.
“If done properly, you can indeed get a kind of growth that will eventually generate growth, the well paying jobs, sustainable jobs that the Zambians need that will then improve their lives,” he said.
Dr Nyanin also urged policy makers not to shy away from taking bold decisions in the decentralisation implementation plan.
“I would encourage the policy makers to continue to be bold and maybe be bolder because the structural reforms that are still there to be done may be a lot more difficult than the macroeconomic reforms that have been so well done here and government continue to do so well on,” Dr Nyanin said.
“Policy making in an environment like this one is not easy, sometimes it requires a certain boldness. For that, I say to the policy-makers that be bold. You know the world was not made for the weak. Some of those require very serious boldness to ensure that they are done.”
He advised policy-makers to understand that maintaining macro-economic stability was the prerequisite for growth.
Dr Nyanin also asked for forgiveness from the Zambian people if there was anything wrong he did during his tenure of office.
Labels: OHENE NYANIN, World Bank
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Sickening public service thieves
By Editor
Monday July 23, 2007 [04:00]
Sometime this year at a rally in Mpulungu, President Levy Mwanawasa proclaimed that stealing makes him sick. To be precise, the following were Levy's words when he learnt that thieving in the public service had reached unimaginable levels: "Stop stealing. Stealing makes me sick...Let's change our attitudes. Efforts should be made to recover this money.
Lesa tafwaya filya iyo kuti akutumina akalumba (God doesn't like such things, he can send a bolt of lightning)." Levy was compelled to say this following what was initially thought to have been theft of K3 trillion from state coffers although the figure was later said to be about K36 billion, itself still a gigantic amount.
Now, Levy's role in the fight against corruption in the last few years cannot be completely ignored. Since he took over power from the undoubtedly corrupt regime of Frederick Chiluba, Levy has demonstrated good measure of commitment in the fight against corruption in Zambia. In fact, without Levy's commitment from the outset, most of the corruption cases in court today, including those involving Chiluba, may not have taken off.
However, it is necessary to separate rhetoric from reality because the two should not be confused to be one and the same thing.
We have been following the Auditor General's reports over the years and recent reports from this office show that theft or lack of accountability for public resources is going on with impunity.
To illustrate the stark reality of lack of accountability for public resources, we can make reference to some existing facts. For instance, the recent Auditor General's report for the financial year ended December 31, 2005, highlighted several irregularities at the Ministry on Health headquarters. The report states thus:
"During the financial year ended 31st December 2005 provisions totalling K437, 970, 162, 429 (support institutions - K44, 425, 205, 622, support to sector wide apparoach - K363, 950, 054, 293, implementation of various poverty reduction programmes - K29, 594, 902, 514) were made in the estimates of revenue and expenditure to cater for the above programmes out of which amounts totalling K83, 069, 679, 363 were released (support to institutions - K47, 482, 151, 993, support to sector wide approach - K6, 049, 849, 262, implementation of various poverty reduction programmes - K29, 537, 678, 108)."
Further, an examination of financial and other records maintained at the ministry revealed the following: Misapplication of grants; although K44, 425, 205, 622 was approved in the estimates of revenue and expenditure, the Ministry of Finance and National Planning released K43, 180, 029, 048, leaving a balance of K1, 245, 176, 575. Out of the released amount of K43, 180, 029, 048, K36, 283, 675, 683 was paid out to grant - aided institutions while the balance of K6, 896, 353, 365 was misapplied at the Ministry headquarters on administration services.
And we all know that Auditor General Anna Chifungula had sometime this year threatened to stop auditing the Ministry of Health due to what she said was un-cooperative behavior from principal officers such as Permanent Secretary Simon Miti.
Quite recently again, the Auditor General disclosed that the Ministry of Finance and National Planning had failed to account for K1.9 trillion in un-reconciled transactions at the Bank of Zambia. According to her, "no one has been able to explain to us where the money went and how it was used at the Ministry of Finance. These unexplained financial transactions of K1.9 trillion between the Ministry of Finance and Bank of Zambia are in the 2005 consolidated financial report which has just been released by the Accountant General."
Now, we cannot just sit idle and fold our arms while these amounts of money go unaccounted for or unexplained. We believe it is in this spirit that World Bank country manager Ohene Nyanin is urging our government to take the Auditor General's reports seriously and discipline officers who abuse public funds.
Truly, Zambians expect that the government will take the Auditor General's reports seriously by acting on the financial irregularities that are being raised in the reports. Not only should the thefts be curbed, but also measures should be put in place to ensure that public resources are protected from thieving public officers.
It is actually a cruel irony that even the ministry which is supposed to ensure strict controls, the Ministry of Finance, also happens to be culpable when it comes to lack of accountability for public resources. As Dr Nyanin advises, the Auditor General's reports should help the government to manage public resources properly by making sure that controlling officers who abuse public funds are held accountable.
Although we are aware of Levy's recent suspension of his motto for zero tolerance to corruption because of his frustrations with the lack of progress in reducing corruption in the public service, we think that the level at which corruption is eating our nation, especially the public service, has reached an intolerable magnitude and the vice needs to be fought ruthlessly.
And Levy will only prove that stealing makes him sick if he demonstrates, through practical measures, his commitment to helping fight the corruption that is so conspicuous in the public sector. Of course such a huge task cannot be left to Levy alone. In fact, it is impossible for a single individual, even for someone like Levy with instruments of state power at their disposal, to single-handedly deal with this scourge.
This is why we have well-established state apparatuses such as the Anti Corruption Commission and the Drug Enforcement Commission which need to do more in order to deal with thefts and corruption in the public service. Nevertheless, leadership in this fight is necessary because the kind of vice we are talking about is a complicated one and those engaged in it have developed immense abilities to cover their tracks against possible prosecution.
It is time Levy and his government moved in to stop thefts of public resources by public servants, or else the people of Zambia will be justified to doubt Levy’s claim that stealing makes him sick. Otherwise, the thieves in the public service are really sickening and they need to be dealt with appropriately.
Labels: AUDITOR GENERAL, CORRUPTION, EDITORIAL, OHENE NYANIN
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Nyanin urges govt to act on Auditor General's reports
By Chris Mulaliki in Solwezi
Monday July 23, 2007 [04:00]
WORLD Bank country manager Ohene Nyanin has urged the government to take the Auditor General’s reports seriously and discipline officers who abuse public funds. Dr Nyanin in an interview said people expected the government to act on financial irregularities as raised by the Auditor General and take measures to curb the abuse of public resources.
“We expect government to take these reports seriously and act on these issues raised in the Auditor General’s reports. We expect funds released by both government and donors to be used properly to improve the welfare of people,” Dr Nyanin said.
He said that the Auditor General’s reports enabled the government to manage public resources properly by making sure that controlling officers who abused public funds were held accountable.
Dr Nyanin explained that when donors released money for projects, they expected the money to be put to good use for people’s benefit.
Dr Nyanin observed that failure by the government to act on the reports might affect the economy’s growth because controlling officers would continue stealing public funds, thereby denying people better services.
Dr Nyanin said rural areas in the country remained undeveloped due to poor infrastructure such as roads.
“The government’s Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) can never be achieved with poor financial controls. It is very important for government to put in measures, whether it is our money or government’s money,” he said.
Dr Nyanin said the core business of World Bank was to help countries develop their economies thereby improving living conditions of their people.
“If the country’s economy continues to grow at the rate of five per cent, it would take us 40 years to graduate and stop borrowing from the Bank,” he said.
Dr Nyanin said it was possible for the country to graduate from borrowing from the Bank just like other countries have graduated.
“If Korea can graduate, why can’t Zambia graduate? Most European countries used to borrow from the Bank to develop their economies,” he said.
Dr Nyanin urged the government to maintain the Vision 2030 and involve Zambians in running of the country’s economy.
The Auditor General Anna Chifungula recently disclosed that the Ministry of Finance and National Development has failed to account for K1.3 trillion in unreconciled balances at the Bank of Zambia.
Chifungula said the unreconciled transactions between the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Zambia were exposed in the outturn consolidated financial report released by the Accountant General for 2005.
Labels: AUDITOR GENERAL, OHENE NYANIN, World Bank
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