If you can’t listen to us, listen to Gjos
Written by Editor
Norwegian Ambassador to Zambia Tore Gjos’ advice to the Zambian government to respect freedom of expression deserves very serious consideration. Ambassador Gjos has made some observations that deserve serious meditation from all our leaders, and indeed all our people.
Ambassador Gjos says democratic rule is not possible without a free and independent press that could spread alternative information and provide a platform where people could express their views. To what extent can we truly say we have such a free and independent press in Zambia?
Ambassador Gjos goes on to say that in most countries, the direct contact between the electorate and politicians is fairly limited, thus the media becomes an important arena where all participants can express themselves freely. Truly, we are no longer living in the days of the Greek agora where all citizens can gather in the city hall and make governance decisions. Moreover, our societies are today much bigger and more complex than those of old Greece. Actually, even that example of democracy is not a very good one. People used to cite Greek democracy as an example, democracy from the classical age of Greece. Athens, which was the prototype of democracy, had 40,000 citizens – men, women and children – and 90,000 slaves. Around 35,000 of the slaves worked in shops and in agriculture, 20,000 were women who were house slaves, 10,000 were children who provided various services and 25,000 worked in mining. For every free man, woman and child in Athens, there were more than two slaves. Even the great historians and philosophers had slaves – we are not criticising them, because they were products of their society. A slave wasn’t anything; they were human beings who could be bought and sold, or even killed. Therefore we can’t say democracy arose in Athens because for democracy to exist, there has to be meaningful participation by all citizens. And meaningful participation should not be limited to just a small privileged group.
It is said that to govern is to communicate. As modern societies grow in size and complexity, the arena for communication and public debate is increasingly dominated by the news media: radio and television, newspapers, magazines, books, even websites.
Clearly, the news media in a democracy have a number of overlapping but distinctive functions. One is to inform and educate. To make intelligent decisions about public policy, people need accurate, timely, unbiased information. And because opinions are diverse, they also need access to a wide range of viewpoints. This role is especially important during election campaigns, when few voters will have the opportunity to see, much less talk with, candidates in person. Instead, they must rely on newspapers, radio and television to explain the issues and characterise the respective positions of candidates and their political parties.
A second function of the media is to serve as a watchdog over government and other powerful institutions in society. By holding to a standard of independence and objectivity, however imperfectly, the news media can expose the truth behind the claims of government and hold public officials accountable for their actions.
If they choose, the media can also take a more active role in public debate. Through editorials or investigative reporting, the media can campaign for specific policies or reforms that they feel should be enacted. They can also serve as a forum for organisations and individuals to express their opinions through letters to the editor and the printing of articles with divergent points of view. It is also possible to point to another increasingly important role of the media: setting the agenda. Since they can’t report everything, the news media must choose which issues to report and which ones to ignore. In short, they decide what is news and what isn’t. These decisions, in turn, influence the public’s perception of what issues are most important. Unlike countries where the news media are government-controlled, however, in a democracy, they can’t simply manipulate or disregard issues at will. Their competitors, after all, as well as the government itself, are free to call attention to their own list of important issues.
Few would argue that the news media always carry out these functions responsibly. They can be sensational, superficial, intrusive, inaccurate and inflammatory. The solution is not to devise laws that set some arbitrary definition of responsibility or to licence journalists, but to broaden the level of public discourse so that citizens can better sift through the chaff of misinformation and rhetoric to find the kernels of truth.
What we should realise is that democracies make several assumptions about human nature. One is that, given the chance, people are generally capable of governing themselves in a manner that is fair and free. Another is that any society comprises a great diversity of interests and individuals who deserve to have their voices heard and their views respected. As a result, one thing is true of all healthy democracies: they are noisy.
The voices of democracy include those of the government, its political supporters and opposition, of course. But they are joined by the voices of the labour movement – trade unions, organised interest groups, community associations, the news media, scholars and critics, religious leaders and writers, small businesses and large corporations, churches and schools.
All these groups should be free to raise their voices and participate in the democratic political process. In this way, democratic politics acts as a filter through which the vocal demands of a diverse populace pass on the way to becoming public policy. As former United States president Jimmy Carter once said, “The experience of democracy is like the experience of life itself – always changing, infinity in its variety, sometimes turbulent and all the more valuable for having been tested by adversity.”
And returning to the issue raised by Ambassador Gjos that “democratic rule is not possible without a free and independent press that could spread alternative information and provide a platform where people could express their views”, to what extent can we honestly say we have such a press in Zambia? There are three daily newspapers in Zambia, and two of them are owned by the state and controlled by the government. Only one of them is under independent private ownership and control. Given this situation, to what extent can we say the press in Zambia is free and independent? No one can deny the fact that in Zambia, the two state-owned and government-controlled newspapers are used, without inhibition, as propaganda tools for those in power and their political party.
There is only one national television station. And that station is owned by the state and controlled by the government; it is the government that sets the agenda or the mandate for that national television station. The same applies to national radio. The appearance of two or so localised television stations has not changed things much because in addition to their limited coverage, they always fear to stray very far from the wishes or agenda of those in power because their licences can easily be withdrawn. And the prospects of them being granted licences to broadcast to the whole country depend on their ‘good behaviour’, on how much they co-operate with those in power. The same applies to the privately-owned and highly localised radio stations.
Given this situation, it is clear that when they talk about regulation of the media, they are primarily talking about one media organisation that they don’t have meaningful control over. And that is The Post. The government doesn’t need any more laws, rules or other controls to ensure that the two state-owned newspapers do what the government and the ruling party wants. These are highly regulated news media organisations. The Minister of Information and his permanent secretary direct what line these newspapers should take. Even State House issues orders, directives or guidance on what these media organisations should do. The only news media organisation they can’t do that to in this country is The Post. And this is the news media organisation they are seeking a media council and other controls for. Given this situation, can this country really have a meaningful media council? It is not possible to have a meaningful media council under these circumstances because its role will be nothing but to police and harass The Post. Until all key media institutions are free of government and ruling party control and manipulation, efforts in this direction will not yield anything of value to our people.
Clearly, Zambia is not a country where a free and independent media is dominant. Sometimes it is difficult to see this because of the great efforts The Post has exerted in carving some space for itself; its ability to take on a myriad of state-owned news media organisations and eclipse them. What we are saying would be very easy to see if tomorrow we woke up and found The Post closed. What free and independent media are we going to remain with and talk about, or try to regulate or set a media council for if The Post is gone? We are not in any way trying to exaggerate the importance or the prominence of The Post. We are merely trying to state a fact that is not difficult to verify.
In trying to respond to the issues raised by Ambassador Gjos, we cannot ignore this fact about Zambia’s media landscape.
From this, it is clear that our government is not serious when it talks about a free and independent press because there is very little of it in our country. This is a country that is dominated by government-controlled media.
A free press is not meant to protect government from critics. That’s why they don’t like it. It is meant to protect the people from government, not government from the people. A free press which is capable of checking the arrogance of government is essential to our democratisation process. Since informed public opinion is the most potent of all restraints upon misgovernment, continued government domination of the press cannot be regarded otherwise than with grave concern.
We agree with Ambassador Gjos that democracy and a free and independent press are inseparable. You cannot have one without the other. No nation ever has, and none will. We believe a free, independent and plural press will help promote full and free discussion in our country. Full and free discussion keeps a society from becoming stagnant and unprepared for the stresses and strains that work to tear all its achievements to pieces. However, for full and free discussion, one needs a vigorous, flourishing, pluralistic press and for this, there is need to regard the press not merely as an extension of the government’s public relations machinery with a mission to educate the ‘uninformed masses’ about development programmes and what their government claims to be doing to help them, but as a vital independent institution.
The free and pluralistic press we are campaigning for is not primarily designed to advance press freedom or our own business interests. It is basically for the protection of the public by making the widest possible flow of information the cornerstone of the governance of their country.
It is often said that a free press – which often forces us to confront that which we may find unsettling – is the price of democracy. We believe a free press is not costly to society, it is, in fact, a reward of democracy. Moreover, we have been told that “every man [or woman] should have an undoubted right to lay what sentiments he [or she] pleases before the public; to forbid this, is to destroy the freedom of the press; but if he [or she] publishes what is improper, mischievous, or illegal, he [or she] must take the consequences of his [or her] own temerity”. Of course, there is need to appreciate the fact that the right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.
Everything we have been saying on this score is consistent with what Ambassador Gjos is saying. If you can’t listen to us, at least try to listen to him.
Labels: PRESS FREEDOM, THE POST, TORE GJOS
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Ambassador Gjos challenges govt to respect freedom of expression
Written by Kabanda Chulu and Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Saturday, July 11, 2009 3:30:19 PM
NORWEGIAN Ambassador to Zambia Tore Gjos has challenged government to respect freedom of expression since it is enshrined in the Zambian Constitution.
During the launch of the United Nations-Lusaka Press Club (UN-LPC) partnership and signing of the memorandum of understanding aimed at enhancing development journalism as a tool for political and socioeconomic reforms, Ambassador Gjos said democratic rule was not possible without a free and independent press that could spread alternative information and provide a platform where people could express their views.
He said the Zambian media had several times been able to disclose corruption cases thus assisting institutions such as the Task Force on Corruption and the Anti- Corruption Commission (ACC) in their work.
"In most countries, the direct contact between the electorate and politicians is fairly limited, thus the media becomes an important arena where all participants can express themselves freely. In a democracy, this is crucial that people are able to approach and interact with politicians and without such interaction, it becomes difficult for elected leaders to make decisions that are in line with public opinion and that represent the views of the majority," Ambassador Gjos said. "But there have been incidences of violence towards journalists in the recent past, something which is totally unacceptable. It is the responsibility of government to protect citizens and particularly vulnerable groups against any violence or discrimination based on faith, origin, opinions or political views. Freedom of expression is enshrined in the Zambian Constitution and as such, it has to be respected."
He urged the government to learn to use the media as a barometer of public opinion, which could provide valuable guidance for democratic rule.
"For the media to execute its role, it has to be independent and protected by laws. The freedom of information Act needs to be passed as soon as possible, if the media is to perform its role of being a watch dog," Ambassador Gjos said. "There is also a need for the Media Council of Zambia to be made more independent and statutory regulation should not be encouraged, but there might be a need to make clear ethical and professional guidelines for the media to ensure truthful and objective reporting."
He said lack of funds had for years been affecting the Zambian media negatively.
"Lack of finances results not only in a lack of training opportunities, infrastructure and other facilities, but also restricts the media coverage and the current financial situations means that most of the information is being collected in Lusaka or even in the office and if development journalism is to take root, it is pivotal that journalists go out in rural areas and smaller towns to identify challenges and to push the development agenda locally," said Ambassador Gjos.
UN resident coordinator Macleod Nyirongo said the UN was committed to develop capacity and strengthen professional journalism to enhance analytical, objective and accurate news reportage.
"The UN-LPC is planning a range of fora at which public opinion figures and ordinary citizens will be engaged to air views on the development agenda hence promoting transparency and accountability in the country," said Nyirongo.
And information deputy minister Elijah Muchima said government had no intentions of muzzling the media in any way and would this year enact into law all media related reforms.
Muchima said the government would continue to provide a conducive environment in which the media must operate.
"Government is eager to continue with media reforms to ensure there is a proper platform on which the media conducts its business without hindrances," said Muchima.
"Government has no intentions of muzzling the media in any way because that will be a negation of democratic principles that we so much cherish."
Labels: PRESS FREEDOM, TORE GJOS
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Enhance efforts to recover stolen public funds, Gjos advises govt
Written by George Zulu in Mazabuka
Friday, July 03, 2009 3:16:49 PM
NORWEGIAN Ambassador to Zambia Tore Gjos has asked the government to enhance its efforts in recovering public funds allegedly misappropriated by civil servants.
And Ambassador Gjos said Zambia’s food security is threatened by climate change.
In an interview after officially opening the Matantala Rural Integrated Development Enterprise (M-RIDE), Ambassador Gjos said although his country had not withdrawn aid to Zambia, the government needed to increase efforts to retrieve the money allegedly misappropriated by government workers.
“…Norway has not pulled out but the main issue here is for government to double its efforts in retrieving the money alleged to have been misappropriated by public officers in order to build the confidence in the system which I believe your government is addressing. Donor funds should be used for the intended purpose,” he said.
And Ambassador Gjos advised small-scale farmers to stop practicing old farming methods of handover from mother to child as they could not handle periods of drought and floods and other effects brought about by climate change.
“We are supporting the Zambia National Farmers Union in fostering and promoting conservation farming which we feel is sustainable to Zambia. When we look at the effect of climate change which has a great challenge on the Zambian food security and this year we target 160,000 farmers…climate change poses threats on the food security of the nation and it is a great challenge for all stakeholders which needs to be addressed with the attention it deserves,” Ambassador Gjos said.
He said agriculture was key to national development and could contribute a lot to poverty reduction, adding that the Norwegian embassy through the M-RIDE project supported agricultural activities to ensure that the underprivileged people in rural areas had access to food.
Ambassador Gjos said farmers should learn farming methods which were more resilient to climate change.
And chief Hanjalika said he was concerned that people in his chiefdom were exchanging maize with beer, a situation he described as unfortunate and retrogressive to national food security.
Chief Hanjalika said communities and the country at large should put in place measures to create a sustainable food security method, adding that waiting and begging for relief food would compromise the security of the nation.
“I get concerned when I see people exchanging maize for beer even when their maize is still in the field and it is also a concern that there is an increase in briefcase maize buyers who are exploiting small-scale farmers. They come and buy maize at a giveaway price of K36,000 when government has already announced this year’s maize floor price,” said chief Hanjalika.
“I challenge people of Zambia to stop exploiting themselves by allowing people who are not farmers to dictate the price, farmers should not rush to sell their produce at a cheap and exploitative price, they should learn to cost their produce otherwise the efforts to fight poverty and hunger through increased production of maize and other farm produce will be in vain.”
Labels: CORRUPTION, TORE GJOS
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Norway demands removal of ZAWA director
Written by Chibaula Silwamba and Margaret Habbuno
Friday, June 12, 2009 8:39:11
NORWAY has demanded that the Zambian government removes ZAWA director general Dr Lewis Saiwana from his position following audit revelations that he allowed Tomorrow Investments to undertake road construction projects failure to which they will maintain their suspension of aid to the institution. And Norwegian Ambassador to Zambia Tore Gjos could neither confirm nor deny the matter.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Gjos expressed concern at the mismanagement of funds in ZAWA but indicated that the embassy would continue discussing with the Zambian government on possible continued support to the wildlife sector.
Well-placed government sources revealed that the Norwegian government had given conditions, which the Zambian government should fulfill, in order for that government to resume its financial aid to the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA).
The sources said one of the conditions was that the Zambian government must remove Dr Saiwana from his position because he allowed Tomorrow Investments to be awarded the Chisengu-Mfuwe and Mfuwe-Chilongozi roads construction project in Mfuwe, Eastern Province when in fact it was clear before the contract was awarded that the firm could not complete the projects due to lack of the required manpower, equipment and know-how.
"It's clear Mr Saiwana is going. The Norwegians have put their foot down saying he must go because he caused NORAD to lose a lot of money through that irregular contract which was given to Tomorrow Investments. From the look of things, it seems the Zambian government has no option on this one because if it does not remove him then NORAD will completely pull out and it seems the government is not ready to lose that support from the Norwegians," the source said.
"As the minister [of tourism Catherine Namugala] put it - the Norwegians are indeed very upset. They are not happy with this [Tomorrow Investments] deal and they have suspended their financial support to ZAWA. As you know NORAD [Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation] and Germany-Frankfort Zoological Society are some of the key financiers to ZAWA. So, if NORAD pulls out then a lot is at stake because the government considers tourism as one of the priority sectors to drive the economy forward and the roads in question lead to South Luangwa National Park, so you can imagine why the government is also upset about Mr Saiwana's conduct."
The sources said the Zambian government had acknowledged that Dr Saiwana erred when he overruled the negotiating committee's misgivings on Tomorrow Investments' capacity and went ahead to sign a contract with the firm, ignoring all the irregularities that were pointed out.
When contacted for comment, Ambassador Gjos said his dialogue with the Zambian government was in closed-door.
"I will not give any comment on an issue like that. I will not discuss my dialogue with the [Zambian] government in the newspapers. I hope that you appreciate that," Ambassador Gjos said.
Further asked on reports that his government had demanded that the Zambian government should remove Dr Saiwana over his conduct in the Tomorrow Investments saga, if the Norwegian government was to resume its support to ZAWA, Ambassador Gjos could neither confirm nor deny the reports.
"What I said is that I will not give any comment on that issue in the newspaper. As I have said, I will not have dialogue with the government in the newspaper whether it's Post or anyone else," Ambassador Gjos said.
During the signing ceremony of the second phase of Norwegian support valued at US $8 million [about K40.4 billion] for a five-year-period to Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) Ambassador Gjos expressed concern at the mismanagement of funds in ZAWA.
"There has been an issue of mismanagement of funds within ZAWA but we have been assured by the government that action will be taken to correct past mistakes. Hence we will continue to discuss the possible continued support to the Zambian wildlife sector with the government. This is an important sector for Zambia and we all agree that it has clearly not reached its full potential," said Ambassador Gjos.
"For the Norwegian Embassy, 2009 marks the end of nearly 25 years of support to South Luangwa National Park, a long standing partnership that will be celebrated later this year."
The Norwegian government commissioned a forensic audit on NORAD-funded Chisengu-Mfuwe and Mfuwe-Chilongozi roads, which revealed several irregularities in ZAWA's awarding of the contract to Tomorrow Investments.
The Norwegian Embassy submitted the report to the Zambian Ministry of Finance and National Planning, which subsequently reported Dr Saiwana, his management and former head of procurement Bwalya Selemani to the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) for investigations.
According to the forensic audit report dated March 18, 2009, Dr Saiwana had ignored several recommendations by the negotiating committee, which had observed that Tomorrow Investments had no capacity to work on the two roads.
"Contract was executed by the director general ZAWA [Dr Saiwana] with all the irregularities mentioned in the interim report," the report revealed.
"The DG [Dr Saiwana] has to take responsibility with possible action of breach of fiduciary duty. ZAWA has to investigate the employment contract of the DG and charge him for gross negligence for the loss incurred by the statutory body due to his negligent acts. Internal disciplinary procedures should be provided for that."
The audit report recommended that the Norwegian embassy investigates Dr Saiwana and Selemani for breaching the ZAWA-NORAD agreement when they awarded a road contract to Tomorrow Investments without the consent of NORAD.
The report recommended criminal prosecution of Tomorrow Investments for obtaining pecuniary advantage by false pretense and that the ACC investigates the company managing director Augustine Katotobwe.
"List of plant and equipment provided by Tomorrow Investments incorrect, falsely stated that the contractor owns them. The only equipment owned by the contractor is a 10-tonne tipper truck. Evidence: letter from [Road Development Agency] RDA dated 19th January, 2007," the report revealed.
"Based on the facts and observations, ZAWA did not use the funds provided by the [Norwegian] Embassy for the intended purpose and according there is no assets. We, therefore, are of the view that ZAWA should refund the funds disbursed by the Embassy in connection with this contract. The refund should comprise both funds disbursed to the contractor and undisbursed in the bank account."
Tourism minister Catherine Namugala on Tuesday revealed that the Norwegian government was upset over ZAWA's payment of K1.4 billion to Tomorrow Investments, which had no capacity to construct roads in Mfuwe in Eastern Province.
On January 5, 2008 then president Levy Mwanawasa issued a decree using his presidential powers to blacklist Tomorrow Investments over its failure to complete the construction of the Chisengu-Mfuwe road and many other projects around the country.
Labels: CORRUPTION, DONORS, LEWIS SAIWANA, NORWAY, TOMORROW INVESTMENTS, TORE GJOS, ZAWA
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Let's make better use of resources
By Editor
Thursday April 24, 2008 [04:00]
A lot can be done with very little money if we are honest in what we are doing. If we are honest in what we are doing, it is much easier to accomplish the task in the most cost effective way. We have no doubt the achievements recorded in Kasaka, St Patrick, Chindaba and Munjele schools in Monze district are first and foremost because the people who were in charge of these projects were honest men and women. And because they were honest, they were able to use the ‘little funds’ given to them by the Norwegian government in an efficient, effective and orderly manner.
What the Matantala Rural Integrated Enterprise project teaches us is that we can achieve more if we are responsible in the use of any money made available to us through aid and other disbursements.
Clearly, this shows that it is what we make out of what we have, and not what we are given, that separates us from others.
We must see to it that all our people constantly bear in mind that ours is a poor country with very limited resources. To move our people out of poverty will need many years of intense effort, which will include, among other things, the effort to practice economy and combat waste, misuse and theft of public resources. In short, we will need the policy of building up our country through diligence and frugality.
Diligence and frugality should be practiced in running all public institutions - and even private ones. The principle of diligence and frugality should be observed in everything.
The principle of economy should be one of the basic principles of the economics of a poor country like ours struggling to improve the lives of its people. It will take several years to make Zambia prosperous. Even then, we will still have to observe the principle of diligence and frugality. But it is now and in the coming few years that we must particularly advocate diligence and frugality, that we must pay special attention to economy.
Wherever we happen to be, we must treasure the limited resources we have, and must not take a short view and indulge in wastefulness and extravagance, especially with public resources. Wherever we are, we must bear in mind the many years to come, our protracted war against poverty, disease, ignorance and backwardness that must be won. On the one hand, never be wasteful or extravagant; on the other, actively expand production. The lesson is there – the Matantala Rural Integrated Enterprise project – and attention must be called to it.
In order to speed up development, we must do our utmost, take resolute measures against anyone wasting, misusing or stealing public resources and pay attention to thrift and economy.
Thrift should be the guiding principle in our government expenditure. It should be made clear to all government officials and workers that corruption and waste are great crimes.
Our campaigns against corruption are starting to show some positive results, but further efforts are required.
A dangerous tendency has shown itself among many of our political leaders and key government officers – an unwillingness to share the joys and hardships of the masses, a concern for personal gain and firm.
This is very bad. And to see the extent of what we are talking about, one just needs to look at the London High Court judgement and read for oneself how a president of this country and very senior and key government officers plundered public resources to enrich themselves. And if one also reads the proceedings in the plunder cases that are before our courts of law, one will start to feel something had seriously gone wrong in our country, in the way public resources were managed and used.
One way of overcoming this is to simplify our organisations and the way they are administered and ensure that diligence and frugality is practiced.
And when one reads the proceedings of corruption cases, cases of abuse involving senior officers of our armed force, it is clear that there is need to reform our armed forces and change the way they are managed and the way they conduct their business.
We believe that production by the armed force for its own support will not only improve the armed forces’ living conditions but it will also lighten the burden on the people, thereby making it possible to further expand the armed forces. In addition, it will have many immediate positive side effects.
It will improve relations between officers and men. Officers and men will start to work together in production and become like brothers. It will improve the armed forces’ attitude to labour and loafer ways will be overcome. It will also help strengthen discipline. Far from weakening discipline in a military life, labour discipline in production actually strengthens it.
There will be improved relations between the armed force and the people. Once an armed force begins to keep house for itself, encroachments upon the property of the people seldom or never occur. As the army and the people exchange labour and help each other in production, the friendship between them is strengthened. And there will be less grumbling in the armed forces about the government and improved relations between the two.
This will be an impetus to the development efforts of our people. Once the armed forces engage in production, the need for the government and other organisations to do like wise becomes more obvious, and they do so more energetically. Those who produce rarely engage in wastefulness or other misuse of resources.
Diligence and frugality has to start at the highest level possible – the presidency. If the presidency does not practice economy, is extravagant and wasteful as we saw with the previous presidency, corruption and other abuses become the order of the day.
This presidency, the current presidency, doesn’t seem to be extravagant and stands better to enforce higher standards of thriftiness. But it doesn’t seem to be achieving the levels of thriftiness and economy it can easily achieve. Why? A number of factors can account for this – poor personnel, supervision, monitoring, and organisational setup or framework, among others.
Stealing or abusing public resources in order to enrich oneself will only lead to loss (Prov. 22:16). It’s time we embraced the culture of responsibility and accountability, and committed ourselves with dedication and sacrifice in working for the common good, not only for the current generation, but also for the future generations. When people think only of themselves, when they misuse public resources and apply them to themselves at the expense of the general public, there is a serious problem.
Let’s heed the advice of our Norwegian friend, Ambassador Tore Gjos, and get rid of bad governance and corruption in order for us to achieve meaningful flow of development throughout our country. Let’s make best use of the resources we have. They may not be enough, but if applied in a diligent manner they, may take us somewhere away from poverty and despair.
Labels: NATURAL RESOURCES, TORE GJOS
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Gjos urges Zambians to use resources effectively
By Pride Bwalya in Monze
Thursday April 24, 2008 [04:00]
THE Zambian government and its people must ensure effective management of resources for the country's economic development, Norwegian Ambassador Tore Gjos has advised. Ambassador Gjos, during a courtesy call on Monze district commissioner Joyce Nondo, said Zambia had enough resources that could be used for various projects especially in the development of education and health sectors in rural areas. He commended the government over the new tax regime for the mines, which took effect on April 1, 2008, saying the revenue raised could benefit and improve the lives of Zambians.
Ambassador Gjos said the government should be encouraged to ensure that local resources were put to good use for the country's economic development. He further urged the government to get rid of bad governance and corruption in order to achieve a meaningful flow of development countrywide.
He said poor governance and corruption should be fought at all levels to ensure sustainable development.
Ambassador Gjos, who toured Kasaka, St. Patrick, Chidamba and Munjele schools that were constructed and rehabilitated by Matantala Rural Integrated Enterprise Project in Monze and Mazabuka with funding from the Norwegian government, said he was impressed with the difference the little funds donated by the Norwegian government had made.
He noted that a good number of schools had been rehabilitated and new ones constructed.
Ambassador Gjos said the government must consider using the Matantala Rural Integrated Project as a best case pilot project and replicate it to other parts of the country to ensure significant development.
And Nondo said the Matantala project had contributed effectively to sensitisation and capacity building in terms of community mobilisation of resources and involvement in development.
Nondo said since inception in Monze, the project had brought about positive impact on community members by improving their livelihood through hard work.
She said community members were able to assess themselves and determine their areas of need in terms of development.
Nondo thanked the Norwegian government for funding the project because it played a crucial role in the development of education and health sectors.
Labels: NATURAL RESOURCES, NORWAY, TORE GJOS
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