Friday, April 19, 2024

Zambians believe poverty is part of their livelihood-Ngulube

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car wash in Lusaka
car wash in Lusaka

A Ndola citizen has advised Zambia’s fourth Republican President Rupiah Banda to tackle poverty at three major levels.

Mr Humphrey Ngulube told ZANIS Ndola in an interview, Tuesday, that Mr Banda must tackle poverty in urban, rural areas and people’s consciousness.

He explained that Mr Banda’s administration must also tackle the issue of poverty of the mind which he said most Zambians had as most believed poverty was part of their livelihood.

He said there was need for the president to provide decent education by building more primary, secondary and tertiary education institutions so that more people could be equipped with skills they could use to improve their lives.

Mr. Ngulube further suggested that the President must address the issue of poverty in cities and towns by providing decent jobs, housing, food, water and medical care to all.

northern side of soweto market
northern side of soweto market

He said that in rural areas the President must make the areas attractive so as  to decongest urban areas.

He advised that rural areas could be made attractive by providing them with good road infrastructure, education facilities and decent health facilities.

Meanwhile, Mr Ngulube has advised opposition political parties to accept the fact that the country can only have one president at once.
He said the opposition should learn to attend to the needs of the rural population on daily basis if they were to win the 2011 elections.

He observed that people in rural areas could not accept the opposition if they only see them during the campaign period.

236 COMMENTS

  1. It will only take a wise man to aleviate Povert in Zambia. Thank God I will be contesting in 2011.

    Hey guys, remember to support me!!!!

  2. This is a letter to RB, Zed Presido.
    As he chooses his team, please choose a team that will inspire. Get rid of mwanawasa family tree. For VP choose a young person who has high moral standards. Someone who has but one wife or husband. And please someone who has been to school not a stone thrower like someone I know. 2011 is around the corner, so the VP must be someone who will take over. And this time get from within MMD, do not borrow from outside. Otherwise people will start to think there’s something wrong with the people inside. And no corruption tinted politician for that matter. If it is a woman this time, get someone who has a husband, please. No Nawakwis or Masebos.

  3. I know now my investment in zambia very safe and good. I’m confident that gullible zambian will be milked and abused. viva Lupiah Bhanda

  4. Guys thinking aloud i think people in zed are not poor they are just lazy because politicians spoon feed them.if at all there really is poverty they should do something about it themselves.

  5. This is a year for africans or blacks to make history.Hamilton is F 1 champion,Obama about to be crowned US president,can someone from Zed please defeat POVERTY!

  6. MR NGULUBE OF CHIPATA, HOW LONG HAS MMD BEEN IN POWER? YOU MEAN IT IS THE PEPLE WHO LIKES TO LIVE SUCH A PATHETIC LIFE.? HAVE YOU SEEN OTHER COUNTRIES WITH THE REGION HOW THEY HAVE DEVELOPED THE INFRATRUCTURE FOR ENABLING ENVERONMENT FOR THEIR POPLE TO TRADE AND GET INTO BUSINESS? MMD HAS NO VISION FOR DEVELOPING AND EMPOWRING IT PEOPLE THEIR LANGUAGE IS INFESTORS. THEY DONT EVEN KNOW THAT INFESTORS ARE INFESTORS THEY ARE IN ZAMBIA TO ENRICH THEMSELVES AAND FOR THE BENEFIT OF THEIR OWN PEOPLE PRIOD! ALA TWANAKA NA MMD, god WHERE ARE YOU TWACHULA TWACHULA PA FULA…………..BUT WE KNOW YOU WILL LIBERATE US SOON

  7. # 11 good points but remember RB is not “MMD” please bear in mind that MMD was desperate to look for someone on the 11th Hour to avoid the convention, main reason being MMD is broke. State Machinery came in handy. At this point in time RB is now under immerse pressure to shuffle cabinet. All followers are expecting something, don’t foget that nipa Zedi pano.

  8. The courts in Zambia contibuted to winning of Nyama Soya. They should not have allowed increase of maize price of maize during the campaign time. Where on earth have you seen a government through FRA increase offer price for maize during election. It showed by Nyama Soya getting more votes from rural areas. I am not sure how the those judges could not tell that extension of period for buying maize could influence elction results. The period was ended on election day. Honestly these educated judges are dull, easily brain washed and bribed by the MMD. they are now scrambling for the ministerial positions at the expense of rual people.

  9. The majority of Zambian’s have no hope of ever changing their impoverished situations. The income disparities between us and the likes of HH (who recently declared that his net worth had increased to some double digit billions) keeps widening. Truly its a case of the rich getting richer while the poor sink deeper into abject poverty. What is needed is a saviour to rescue them. And this saviour is RB!!!!!!

  10. The spoon feeding concept always works when you want things to be better for you and not the people you are feeding as it is them who are the losers. Teachers like this concept as it always works.

  11. 22- Nadabwa
    and what exactly is RB proposing that makes you confident that he will be any different? after all did he not campaign on the platform of contiunity of the previous administrations economic policies?

  12. 24 Miss President. He will wish it so. Lo and behold it will be so.

    So whats this news that Sata is unwell and has been evacuated? Is this the man? Is this the man who said he would make things happen in 90 days? Is this the man who you wanted to entrust the nation to? Is this the man who spurned HH’s overtures? Is this the man?

  13. hey Chan have u seen picture of Car wash. I see bicycle only.this is good scenery for movie. Ha. we need brandon lee and jet li for action.

  14. Obama is in 40s, Blair became prime minister when he was still in his 40s, David Cameron next prime minister of the UK is 42 years old and he will confidently lead the Conservatives during the genral election. Why are Zambians voting for old and finished chaps? Fashions of clothes change but you Zambians continue holding on to recircled brains. As long as you continue behaving like that, forget about development in Zambia. Us who are contributing on this blog must be the ones fighting to lead the country intead of praising those old chaps.

  15. 29# vely good suggestion, VJ know how to speak cantonese, vely sly and sloppy character. he take main lead in movie.

  16. yes #27 nadabwa why are you still afraid of Sata telling these malicious lies, are you one of those who was going to be stopped from chewing?

  17. Bruce lee and Jackie Chan. I have the opening scene for your movie.

    Bruce Meets Jackie Chan on the way to the market.

    Bruce Lee: “Chan where are you going”

    Jackie Chan: “im going to catch a crap”

    Bruce Lee: “Ok lets fight. Heeeyaaaah…..”

  18. Its not easy and it will never be as long as the oposition remains divided the ruling party will be in power till that time wen thy realize.

  19. No. 27. Quite the contrary Bwana Sagem. I’m now on the run. I borrowed heavily because i was sure i was going into foreign service when Sata won. But now all the chaps i borrowed from are after me.

  20. 30- what Zambian needs is an influx of young, honest ,ethical and hard working patriots who are willing to challenge the status quo and have a real and cohesive vision of where we want our nation to go! we need to have uujaaamma, the spirit of togtherness! not sycophants and yes men and women who are in it just for the stacks!

  21. All I am looking for is a politician who will acknowledge that:

    a) Zambia’s main export is copper ($4 billion back in 2004),
    b) The mines need to be taxed for hundreds of millions of dollars and
    c) We need to take that money and build agriculture and infrastructure

    That is all I am asking for.

    No looking for ‘competitive advantages’, no ‘trickle down economics’, no ‘attracting foreign investors’, no ‘free trade zones’, etc.

  22. # 35, you copy movie scene from movie of 1984 before u were born, it was buying meat then fight started. besides u still have VHS you are poverty stricken. shame. no wonder you name in Engrish is surprised. chin down tongue rolling.

  23. No 40 Not to worry bwana Sagem. I wish the old man Sata well and a speedy recovery. But he wont feed my family. I arrived in Zambia just in time for RB’s inauguration and i’m hoping for a good posting once things settle down under RB’s Government. You see i carry two party cards. A man has to feed his family and hedge himself.

  24. Just to continue – I am sure that it takes a brave politician to do just that. I’m sure they’ll have visions of what happened to Patrice Lumumba or Robert Mugabe when they chartered a course that put their people first.

    However, the Zambian president is elected for the benefit of the Zambian people, not foreign corporations, not the West, no one except the people of Zambia. They are the only representation in this world that the people of Zambia have.

    The liberation struggle is not over. It has only just begun. We need economic liberation.

  25. @ Nadabwa

    then it looks like MMD is the party for you! People like you are the reason why Zambia is moving backwards not forwards! sycophants and greedy opportunists!

  26. 46 Mrk
    Well said my brother and I absouletly concur with you and Sagem! Zambian money for Zambians! What Mugabe in principle proposed was correct and the only way an African state can develop! if you look at the latin american development theories of Dos santos et al you will see that that is what they advocate for a developing nation! Protectionism, and export oreintated ecomonic growth! not a free market trade zones abd free for all on Zed resources!

  27. look at how the West deplore Chavez , the Morales and their allies just beacuse they are putting their country first? to me it is clear what needs to be done however people have been seduced by this Western neo-liberal ecomomics and frankly our leaders always sell us out! where are the honest God-fearing politicians with nationalist good intentions?

  28. No. 31 Miss President. I will be the first to admit that RB has not promised anything much above the the LPM manifesto. In fact, the only significant policy change from LPM i have heard is that he plans to curtail the windfall tax and restrict it to a flat rate of 25% tax above US$2.50 a pound copper. However, during LPM’s time, things had started improving even for ordinary Zambians albeit at a slow pace. If RB can continue there is still hope. He is the saviour

  29. Mugabe was doing a good job, I don’t really understand where it went wrong to be honest. Maybe only he knows.

    Anyway MMD is selling our country for nothing, shame… PABWATTTTTTTTTTTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

  30. Miss President,

    I am really excited about what is happening in South and Central America.

    In fact, worldwide people are turning away from neoliberal economic theory, which has cost Zambia so much money. I would estimate that if every year the mining companies make $2.4 billion in profit (a conservative estimate, considering how copper prices have risen since 2004), we have lost at least $9.6 billion in lost mining profits. That has been the cost of following IMF/World Bank advice about the forced sale/privatisation of Zambia’s main economic sector.

    Countries who have held on to their national industries have done very well – Saudi Arabia, Chile, Venezuela all have money to burn.

  31. Why is it that countries with black skin rule are generally poor all over the world? Haiti is closer to USA but poor. Africa is the only continent with increasing poverty levels. If all africans were taken to Europe and all Europians were brought to Africa, which continent will be poor after 15 years and why?

  32. I believe we need to start discussing ideas here instead of praising people. We must be debating on how to improve our lives, the projects and manifestos that each of us believe will increase amount and quality of food on everyone’s plate. This idea of worshiping others is a sign of poverty in our minds. LT must be bringing interesting topics instead of always just write what someone who has been bribed says.I am looking forward to a time when younger men will have a positive impact on policy formulation either in govt or political parties. I hate tribes in Zambia because they have a very big influence on the way we think. We become brain washed by people around us.

  33. Sagem Sakala,

    ” Mugabe was doing a good job, I don’t really understand where it went wrong to be honest. Maybe only he knows. ”

    Zimbabwe was internationally isolated, it was put under powerful financial sanctions that removed foreign exchange from the economy and the ‘opposition’ was supported with at least $26 million per year since 2002.

    It started with Britain reneging on it’s obligation to fund the ‘Willing Buyer, Willing Seller’ land reform program, saving itself the $2 billion pounds it pledged for that exercise. (See Claire Short’s letter to Kumbirai Kangai in Nov. 1997; google: ankomah the spark).

  34. yes- what happened in Zim was a deliberate and sustained attack on their ecomomy, combined with the Western media’s successful campaign to demonise Mugabe! Zim could not export and hardly import anything into their country, they effectively shut it down! but ofcourse that was never reported and Mugabe was falsely blamed for runing the ecomomy!

  35. No.61 Bwana Sagem. Ahaaa. Western world: Liberal vers. democrat, conservative vers. liberal.

    In Zambia? Opportunist vers. Chicken emigrant. Name calling opportunist in diaspora who ran away from his mother land vers. Patriot who decided to stay and fight from within. look my brother, there are no principles in Zambian politics. No morals. PF was no better than MMD. If you look at MMD now, its nothing like the original party. Voting for PF was actually going to be like bringing the leaches back. I cant join a party based on principle because no party has principles. But i can vote so that i can feed my family and continue to do so for the forseable future

  36. Mrk: Thanks for those financial figures very useful, I am also excited by the ecomomic revloution in Latin America, maybe now with the obvious failure of neo-liberal economics and the Bretton Woods system ,Latin America, Africa and the rest of the Global South can actually unite and develop in a way best suited for our economys,you are right this is the time for Africa to move away from the Western model and adopt more nationalistic development models!

  37. This talk of Zambians being lazy is not true. There are no systems in place to stimulate the economy, even when Zambians work hard and receive insufficient salaries. The money circulating in the economy is too little to impact the economy through people’s spending to allow the economy to grow and increase jobs and investments opportunities. How come these same Zambians are hardworking abroad, it has a lot to do with the System in place. Zambia needs a lot of Economist to run and plan the country.

  38. Miss president
    we have a problem with young people going back home to influence the poltical system. They have this syndrome of wanting to stay for good in foreign countries. They need to start investing back home so that when they finally decide to go home they have some property. A lot of them are behaving like “a phiri ana bwera”. I am not sure where you are contributing from but I am in the UK. when I encourage some zambians to be thinking of tomorrow by investing back home they are very repulsive. I am going home darling and I have made it very clear I will be standing as an MP in 2016 if I will be alive. We need good policies in our country in order to develop.

  39. I was abroad at the time but who i would have voted for is irrelevant now. What is relevant is that things are so bad here that Many are willing to hand this country over to a populist tyrant just to get out of poverty and we need to change this mentality.

  40. Undertaker: if you look at recent world history since 1970 world oil crisis , you will see that Africa is poor and has struggled to devlop because we were forced to take on an unservicable debt from the IMF, since then we have been paying it back and since the Chiluba adminstration we adopted the SAP;s ( Structrual re-adjustment Policies) and other IMF dictated ecomomic policies that effectively liberalised our ecomomy ( free market tax breaks to attract FDI, open borders,mass privatisation,reduction in public expenditure i.e health, education, infrastructure etc…), which are the basis of succesfully developing an economy. Furthermore the global terms of trade are stacked aganist us!

  41. In Africa we shall remain poor till kingdom come as long we dont critically address at the things that make us poor. Rev. J. Jackson once said africa is too rich to be poor

  42. #72 Nadabwa OK we can agree to disagree as I think Sata was the best choice. HH may also have been OK but he doesn’t have the support ot the humility to partner with PF so too bad. Anyway have a good evening all. PABWATOOOO!

  43. Kashmini

    I am in the Uk too, and believe you me I am returning home too and we can stand for MP togehter I only hope that there will be a political party whose manifesto and ideolgy i agre with! You are right we in the diaspora do need to invest more in Zambia and we need to return as educated human capital in order to develop our nation, the only barrier is the diffculty to find work! but we have no choice otherwise our country will surely run to the dogs!

  44. Who cerebrated most when Nyama Soya won? It was the chinese because MMD policies are meant to encourage foreign influx to expand their businesses not to benefit local people. When are we going to have the policies that will benefit our people.? Zambia is country and the chinese have China. Even if I get British citizenship once the constitution allows duo citizenship, I will remain a Zambian. There is nothing that makes me cerebrate about the UK but my heart bleeds when things go wrong in Zambia.

  45. While you are critically analysing others are selling the continent for a song. I think Africa’s problem is that we have too many analysts and few implementors

  46. ROBIN HOOD ROBBED FROM THE RICH TO GIVE TO GIVE TO THE POOR.
    MMD ROBS FROM THE POOR.NOW WHAT DOES THIS MAN MEAN?? HELLO TAKE A LOOK AT THE MMD RECORD..

  47. Nadabwa: No Africa;s problem is that poverty forces people ditch their loyalty and morality and support the party that will feed them the most! we would not need to criticaly analyse the situ, if things were going okay, you need to learn from the past to create a better future!

  48. Kashimani and Miss President am also in the UK and shortly wanting to go back, but as you say the problem there is making money. I had wanted to go back into an optimistic atmosphere of positive change but that is now unlikely. So frustrating.

  49. Am back, I have been away for a while. Anyone talking of/about poverty must have lived or felt it to really feel the impact of it.Poverty is the worst disease of mankind. The cure is .. hard work. If you work hard, no matter what you do in life you will always succeed/attain a better life. You also have to believe in the ability of yourself.

  50. #73 u r right but africa is to blame for most of its problems. Look at China 2day where were there 30 years ago. What of of Malaysia, Taiwan, indonesia etc

  51. ZAMBIANS HERE WE AGAIN TALKING NOTHING BT CRAP! I MEAN MOST OF THE POSTS HERE ARE HOGWASH … DONT WE EVEN REALISE THAT WE CAN USE THIS FORUM TO MAKE CHANGE(REAL CHANGE)!

  52. ewe Ba Ny Ny- subscribe and pay!
    anyways am outie going for a kama young beer, thanks for the constructive discussion guys espeiclly Sagem, Mrk and Kashmini, hope to chat more soon! we need to galvanise and make a plan for our country cause we are the future!!

  53. Miss president,nadabwa, sagem sakala..were are u pipo from? Have you changed your names or new comers? Where are the hardcore bloggers like MURAMO? Bin zed?Princess london? These green horn bloggers are disappointing. Am out

  54. Miss President. I beliv we hav to work xtra hard as a country to develop. If we dont, the poverty we are facing is till kingdom come

  55. 92, 90 i have subscribed, but since the post changed web face i am not ablee to open. I live in America, if i was back home i was gonna kick that m*fkr M’embes ass

  56. NY
    Please send an email to the post and tell them to activate your details. Give them your username and password and they will write to you. I hope this will help. That is what I did and it worked

  57. Zambians on the blog,it is good to see Zambians excganging ideas and also airing their views. It is for this reason, that i forward my disagreement with those advocating latin america economics. This is not the way fwd, lower taxes for low earners is way to go and not nationalization. How would you feel if you worked hard and only to lose it in the nation of wealth spreading?, these people are just being fed and not taught how to fish, this becomes a govt dependency and erodes democracy because without govt you fail. Any way see you in zambia on the political scene when we debate.God bless

  58. Wafwa na poverty? Poor Peoples Party is our only hope. Wealth redistribution, spread the wealth around! From who? From the infestors! Ho, i mean investors!

  59. Poverty in zambia will onlt be eradicated once people start being serious with farming,look at Tanzania-thre’s so much food grownand the other thing people shuold learn to eat other foods other than just nshima-ngabalya riceor potatoes ati tatulalya-mala yashani mwakwata?Most of our country’s climate is lovely so off your bums and kalimeni.

  60. its good to really see positive contributions i was fedup with campaign slogans.its imoertant that pipo invest back home .thats is why we see alot of africans living anderground when they are not given status or cant renew the permits because they enjoy for the moment.KASHIMINI & SAGEM if more young pipo have that attitude we can go along way. open bussiness employ others and give our country a go.we need to have influnce because we are successfull and advise politicians and even give conditions in regard to our tax contributions if we are not happy with the govt performance. all this is posible.

  61. the richest danish man owns the worlds biggest shipping company- Maersk- and has many bussinesses, this man puts up buildings worth millions of dollars and hands over to state. he tells the govt how much tax he pays .the govt calls him for ideas (because his annual tax alone can finance govt for 2 yrs)we may not be like him it took him years but he started from somewhere so can we.
    sometimes we need to share ideas and support each other.hope we can use this site for more sensible contributions since elections are over

  62. sagem sakala do not be afraid to go back to zed.Ther’s a lot of potential its nice to go and make your own assessment and see what business venture will be lucrative for you.It will depend on where you want to settle and how much you want to put into your business.You don’t need too much money-but be misled by pipo.do your own homework-it will work out.You can only know once you’ve tried.

  63. #106. Yes we hav 2 start from somwhere 2 develop. But that somwhere is somtimz neglected or destroyd. One time I visited Mukonchi Farm Block in Kapiri Mposhi. Kaunda & his gvt built a grand irrigation system with canals & dams. But the system hs been sadly neglected. Some dams have even been sold

  64. #104, Cha chine ubwali is not everything but sometimes you can not change peolpe’s mind set. I can not believe that I have only eaten Nshima 3 to four times this year– out of choice. I have plenty of mealie- meal supply imported from South Africa, I grow my own chiwawa in my back yard ” Garden Patch” too, b’coz am still a Zambian despite being in Diaspora.

  65. 101. Chintomfwa,

    We need to ‘spread the wealth’ from the mining companies to the national economy, by investing taxes in agriculture and infrastructure, which will secure the food supply and create mass employment. That in itself will create a class of commercial farmers, construction companies, and have all kinds of beneficial effects. And have universal healthcare and education again.

    102. Wafwa na poverty

    We should have a party that unifies the opposition, so it can win. At the same time, that party needs to have a new kind of demand side economics, not neoliberal supply side policies.

  66. Check out my manifesto, and add to it if you wish.

    maravi.blogspot dot com (top right hand corner titled MY MANIFESTO FOR ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION )

  67. #4&6 Mr Sagem Sakala: Ndola is not all PF. 46,803 voted for PF, and 19,909 voted for MMD. Mr Ngulube may be one of the latter. These votes add up you know, and that’s how a national winner emerges. In this modern world analysis of numbers can make the difference between victory and loss.

  68. We all know how poor our country is. We know what we need to do, collectively and individually, to make our country wealthy. Why don’t we ever do anything about it? Instead we celebrate mediocrity and accept failure. We are all guilty of failing our country and the future generations shall pay for our sins just like we are paying for our forefathers’ sins.

  69. #112, MrK, your suggestions for economic transformation are interesting and require additional discussion. I want to applaud you for your efforts to ensure that Zambia comes up with a tailored formula for economic success. I would suggest that you visit the citizens democratic party website. The CDP, I think, shares your ideas regarding decentralization and I think you would be a valuable resource for ideas. They are more than happy to gather input from individuals such as yourself.

  70. When is RB naming his cabinet? Do not keep the LPM family Tree in there. Also we do not want to have UNIPIST in the RB cabinet. As for the economy, we have alot to work on in Zambia. Zambian economy needs a total bail out. The HIPIC funds have not not been well utilized to reduce poverty.

  71. RB must quickly call Prof Chirwa to be VP…..i dont see anyone within MMD…BY the way the MAGANDE/FUNDANGA combination MUST BE MAINTAINED at all costs….LEVY FAMILY TREE must go..and remmember MR.RB do not create Family Trees or else the POST shall sale more. and dont even even for a second think of closing the Post….with this mood in urban areas!!!! And the donors who support freedom of the press will be on you…Just a friendly warning…

  72. 118. Ici Shinka

    Robert Mwanza’s CDP is GREAT, and I especially like their extensive discussion of decentralisation. I’m blogging on Cho’s blog a lot, at zambian-economist.blogspot dot com. Professor Henry Kyambalesa blogs there too, and his Agenda For Change has a lot of ideas about devolving power from central government to the provinces.

    What I would like to see is all of us coming up with a truly comprehensive platform, and having it adopted by a united opposition (PF, UPND) before 2011. 🙂

    Now that’s a goal worthy of achieving.

  73. 118==== but SATA and HH both want to be Presdo.
    maibe we should have a rotating presidency..just imagine every 6 months we could have MMD free sugar and salt..then the next 6 months we can have MORE MONEY IN OUR POCKETS…then FREE EDUCATION..then we can go back to our Villages and the n get back to town and Have free sugar distributed to us..That would be lovely not so…

  74. Miss President

    You are wrong and you advocating for what Mugabe did as being right is also wrong. We don’t need protecionism. What we need is African economic integration based on free market principles. We already tried protectionism during UNIP and you know what, if failed and led to poor quality products on the Zambian market. If you introduce protectionism in Zambia, you are limiting your consumer base to 11.5 million people but if you advocate for economic integration like the SADC FTA, we are talking of a market base of 200 million people.[tbc

  75. cont from #123]

    What we need is
    -Infrastructure
    -Diversification of the economy
    -Good line of credit (I should be able to go to a bank today and get a loan at 2.5% interest)
    -Most importantly, EDUCATION.
    -Lets not forget with a combined free market of 200 million plus people in the SADC and COMESA.

  76. OR Henry Chipewo 2011…GUYS OR THESE ARE GREAT ZAMBIANS WHO SHOULD BE GIVEN CHANCE. ANYWAY LET ME GO BACK TO CNN AND WATCH PROPER ELECTIONS RESULTS NOT THOSE OF A CINDERELLA REPUBLIC LIKE ZAMBIA WHERE THE KAMUSHI SHALL RULE FOR EVER……BYEEEEEEEEEEEEE

  77. Even if you educate Zambians by the millions, as long as there is no vison for building national competitiveness by creating industry specific competencies so that all those skills channelled there, we will continue to educate people for other countries use

  78. 128. Obama/Biden 08

    That is where a good line of credit. By advocating protectionism, you are reducing the consumer base and will also lead to poor quality products. If there is no competition in the market, consumers will not have much to choose from and producers will not care because you either pick them or no one at all (e.g celtel, MTN, ZAMTEL,ETC). Also, producers will charge any price and consumers will have no choice but to accept this price due to lack of alternatives (e.g Indeni, Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia). Competition and free market policies insures high quality products because if a producer produces something low quality, consumers will go to the alternative. [tbc

  79. #121 MrK. So Mr. Robert Mwanza is behind it huh? Thanks for that info. The CDP leadership has remained a mystery. Any more info on it would most appreciated. I also like their discussion about decentralisation and believe it is the way forward for Zambia.

    Do you really see a situation where either party (UPND or PF) adopt this platform and forge a united front? They seem incapable of that, at least based on the events leading up to the just ended presidential election. I was very hopeful until it became evident that they would not put forth a united front.

  80. cont from #129]

    It also ensures low prices because of the number of firms in the market. All you have to do is switch on your tv and watch the monopoly TV station (ZNBC) and see how badly it is run. All this is because of lack of competition in the market. MuviTV is no competition to ZNBC because it only broadcasts in Lusaka.

    If you look at another market like the market of radio stations, you can see how radio stations are trying to improve their services everyday. This is because if less people (consumers) listen to their stations, it’ll mean less advertisers.

    (FOR WHAT WE NEED, REFER TO POST #125)

  81. @#130. Ici Shinka

    Decentralization is a good idea in theory but we are forgetting that we are in Africa. Decentralization will lead into separatist movements (Lozi’s will want to form their own country, Tonga’s their own country, Bemba’s their own country,etc). This will further divide the nation.

    What we need is less monopolies and less govt intervention in the market.

  82. #133 Free-Market-Capitalist

    We may be in Africa, but I believe there are ways of implementing decentralization in a manner that is tailored our situation and avoids the development of “separatist movements”. The problem with the current system is that everything is centralized. All the power and resources are centralised in Lusaka and the rest of the country is left begging for whatever comes their way. People need to feel like they have a stake and an impact on their local affairs and government as a whole. How can we have less monopolies and less govt when the system is structured in such a way that the government is the be all and end all. We need a serious system restructuring.

  83. POVERTY IS CREATED AND MAINTAINED BY POLITICIANS TO BE USED TO WIN ELECTIONS. WHEN PEOPLE ARE POOR AND MAINLY ILLITERATE THEY BECOME VULNERABLE TO ALMOST ANY THREAT. WHEN POVERTY TAKES LONG PIPO START BELIEVING THAT ONLY A CERTAIN CLASS OF PIPO ARE ENTITLED TO GOOD LIVING. THERE4 WHEN MEALIE MEAL AND OTHER ESSENTIALS ARE DISHED OUT DURING ELECTION COMPAIGN POOR PIPO INTERPRET IT AS A FAVOUR BY THE PREVILEDGED AND THEY EVEN LOOK FORWARD TO ELECTION TIME IN THE SAME WAY CHILDREN LOOK FORWARD TO XMAS TIME. BECAUSE THAT THE ONLY TIME THEY EAT BREAD AND TEA AND BOILED RICE WITH SUGAR. IT REALLY BRINGS ME TO A LITERALLY CRYING POINT. COZ I CANT UNDERSTAND WHY THERES POVERTY IN ZAMBIA.

  84. …IN THE SAME WAY I CANT UNDERSTAND WHY BOTSWANA HAS RUNNING TAPS OF DRINKABLE WATER THROUGHOUT WHEN THEIR COUNTRY IS A SERIOUS DESERT. IN THE SAME WAY WHY ANIMALS (CATTLE, ETC), ARE FAT AND HEALTHY IN A DESERT AND WE HAVE SERIOUSLY UNAPETISINGLY, THIN CATTLE (ETC) IN ZAMBIA 44 YEARS OF SELF-RULE. THERE IS SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH THE HEADS OF OUR POLITICAL LEADERS IN ZAMBIA. I AM NOT GOING TO MENTION HOW ENDOWED ZAMBIA IS WITH EVERYTHING A COUNTRY NEEDS, (EVEN WANTS). ZAMBIANS EMBRACE LOW/SUB STANDARDS IN THE SAME WAY THEY ACCEPT POVERTY. SO THE MINDSET HAS GREATLY BEEN AFFECT OVER 44 YEARS OF MIS-DIRECTION. CORRECTIONS MUST START WITH THE MIND-SET FIRST.

  85. Unfortunately, the Zambian population has become comfortable with mediocrity and incompetence at the leadership level. We look at our leaders, not as servants of the population, but as masters. Until we begin to DEMAND competence, quality, intelligent, visionary and inclusive leadership, we will continue to wallow in economic and political poverty while those in power enrich themselves.

  86. When Chiluba changed the currency in early 1992, about K6 billion from the printers did not pass through the Bank of Zambia. This was the money that found itself in Congo and Katondo even before BoZ officially released the money into circulation. That was the genesis of the poverty we have faced as citizens of Zambia ever since. These facts are there if you know where to find them.

  87. already some bloggers are showing poverty of the mind by not really analysing what ngulube has said.what the man said is sensible but unless you have no poverty of the mind you will see sense

  88. @#134. Ici Shinka

    “We may be in Africa, but I believe there are ways of implementing decentralization in a manner that is tailored our situation and avoids the development of “separatist movements”.”

    I have to disagree with you. During election time, you can see how elections in this country are very tribal. What is going to stop the governor of western province to pass laws that discriminate against other tribes (more especially smaller tribes). Like I said, it is good in theory but does not work in the situation of Zambia.

  89. cont from #140]
    “How can we have less monopolies and less govt when the system is structured in such a way that the government is the be all and end all.”

    Our banking system is already an example of less govt intervention and we can see the profits that banks like Finance bank and ZANACO are recording. But because of monopolies, govt has set up barriers to entry that limit competition thereby bring about poor service (e.g our cellular communication industry). We need less and less govt intervention in the market. If someone wants to open a refinery, govt must not tell them no because govt is looking at it’s self interest (INDENI), They must not stop the person from opening a refinery.[tbc

  90. cont from #141]

    Fuel is so expensive in Zambia because INDENI is a monopoly and can set whatever price it wants. We must adopt free market principles and govt intervention must be there only to correct for market failures.

    Otherwise, less govt intervention should be the norm. Govt must also ensure that there is a good line of credit, good infrastructure, education/health, and control over inflation just to name a few.

  91. What happened to the disgraced The Post Newspaper’s website,have they switched their host or they just haven’t paid up,it’s ”gross mismanagement” if they have been switched off for failing to pay their annual subscription fee or maybe they have shut down for fear of RB & HH who they chose to decampaign or maybe Ka Mulongoti put ”spanners”.Ha ha ha ha,we need them to continue with their blah blah blah crap.There used to be a time when The Post was a mouthpiece for the people not anymore,it seems they are so taken into their other business ventures that they forget about ethics.

  92. 140. Free-Market-Capitalist

    The elections are tribal because the leaders encourage it. What is going to stop a governor of western province to pass laws that discriminate against other tribes is THE LAW. The governors would not have unfettered power. There would have to be restrictions set and monitoring by the government, that is the only way it would work. I don’t disagree with the idea of minimizing monopolies, but that alone will not solve the economic ills we face. Our government is unecessarily massive and to centralized. There can be no meaningnful development unless the citizens are in some way involved in governing themselves. That does not mean that they are left alone.

  93. untill the day when zambia is nolonger the most expensive place to fly to, untill the common man can afford to send his kids to school, untill the price of fuel is no longer the most expensive in S.Africa, untill the price of a cell call is no loner the most expensive in S.Africa, untill the day GRZ stops turning a blind eye to the bloodsucking of my pipo because they get taxes from the bloodsuckers, poverty eradication shall remain a fleeting illussion never to be attained. Untill that day, the pipo of Zambia shall know nothing but poverty.

  94. #142 Free Market Capitalist
    Indeni simply refines what is procured by the oil marketing firms & transported throught TAZAMA pipelines.Prior to 2002,the procurement & distribution was done by the liquidated Zambia National Oil Company(ZNOC).It also controlled the price whilst the Energy Regulation Board off course regulated ie by way of approval of prices.
    The cost of oil in Zambia is largely due to transportation.When Indeni was born,it was a joint venture between Agip & the Zambian govt.Agip had about 51% shares whilst the govt thru ZIMCO had 49% so they don’t have much say.Agip quit africa & sold to Total,i believe Total is still there.

  95. @#149. afrofusion

    Thanks for the info but you can see that it is monopolies at play. We need more companies in the refining and distribution business of fuel. It would level out the monopoly power and bring about competition.

    @#144. Ici Shinka

    The thing you said about the governor still brings about the whole concept of centralization. It will mean a governor cant pass laws without the approval of the main body. Isn’t that centralization??
    I’m sorry about all the questions but I am still not convinced on the issue.

  96. Contnd from 149
    To some extent we can say the price is also affected by the constant break downs of the ageing Indeni plant coz then the oil marketing companies have to import finished products however at times,it is cheaper to import the finished products than have crude oil be refined at Indeni.The cost of production for Indeni is high & the constant break downs make it worse.A few years ago,there were rumours that some company wanted to set up another refinery but they probably backed out coz the costs of setting up a refinery are enormous & outweigh benefits so for the moment,we have to suffer until a workable solution is found.The market is liberalised at the moment.

  97. #151. Free-Market-Capitlst. Even in the U.S. there are certain laws that apply to every state in the commonwealth. Laws that prevent governors from abusing their powers and infringing on the rights of any citizen (whatever their tribal affiliation)need to be established. That does not mean that laws cannot be passed with the approval of the population in the various regions. Remember, it is not the governor who passes these laws, it is the people through voting. Decentralization does not and cannot mean a free for all. There needs to be government oversight to ensure unity and adherence to the national constitution for the good of the country.

  98. Contd from 152……Maybe Michael Sata was right by planning on setting up another refinery near to the boarder to Angola.Angola has oil & it would work out cheaper for Zambia if they had to import from Angola,i don’t know what excess Angola has for exports but i believe it’s coming up good after Nigeria,there’s loads of oil reserves in Angola & oil companies are still exploring.

  99. @#154. afrofusion

    I get your point on oil from Angola which is why I wanted to tell you that it was not Sata’s plan to begin with (Sata is an opportunist). The govt needs a cracker to refine Angola’s oil since Indeni cannot refine Angola’s oil. They where already in talks of having another oil refinery that would have a cracker and would enable it to refine Angolan oil. So no, it was not Sata’s plan, the plan is still in talks as we both know, govt’s (more especially African govt’s) getting loans would come with a lot of conditions.

    What we need to do is we need to encourage substitutes to oil. Substitutes like Bio-fuels, electric trains, and more hydro-electric power. [tbc

  100. cont from #155]

    This would mean less dependence on oil and would mean the oil prices wont affect us as much. There are already firms that are giving contracts to locals to grow plants needed for bio-fuels and the same companies are setting up bio-fuel refineries near the same farming spots. Bio-fuel technology is relatively cheap to find and is inexpensive to refine. With more hydro-electricity, we would have enough power to power electric trains.

    Energy is one of the contributing factors to a healthy economy.

  101. @#153. Ici Shinka

    I will give the decentralized govt system some thought. But right now I do not trust the CDP because I do not know who is in charge or what there motive is. I don’t even know what their policy is on agriculture, energy, manufacturing, etc.

    Right now, I am rooting for HH. But I will most definitely give it some thought.

  102. I respect your support for HH, but I think we all need to always have an open mind, lest we miss out on a genuine opportunity. I am glad you will give it some thought. I myself am still doing the research for it. Your caution regarding the CDP is valid and shared by many, but I think we need to move from personality based politics to issue based politics and examining the CDPs platform enables us to determine their validity without the distraction of who is in charge and what tribe they are. I am aware that they plan to make the interim leadership known and then set about electing leadership. They are currently developing a detailed policy on the areas you have mentioned.

  103. Poverty is like a bed.. you sleep on it for too long you get used to it…that’s why some relatives no matter how much money you give them to start business they… blow it away… if you give a poor person money, they stay poorer and even lazy.. what we need is a complete change of work attitudes among Zambians… you fail to understand how some people can catch all the fish in the Luapula river and still remain poor, how others can have 200 herds of cattle and still remain poor..how peasants given cheap fertilizer just sell it and line up for relief food or… how how just a little financial improvement in some poor families causes marital break down .. we need a mental revolution first

  104. What is forcing high prices in Zambia ?.
    production costs are very high. In Zambia we have labour laws that are almost the same as those in western developed world. Hearin lies the problem. India and china or even the emerged dragons of the far east understand that to much western style labour laws coupled with too much western health and saftey are shackles to economic development. It sounds cruel, but the underclass are used to the max. Workers need to be worked, not pampared. But because GRZ allows exlotative prices by bloodsuckers, who inturn do not care as long as they pay taxes, the workers can not afford to eat. So the cycle continues.

  105. #161 Vote Rigger

    I don’t know where the post website has gone. It was there earlier in the day. I hope they haven’t been closed by the government. Love or hate the post, there needs to press freedom in Zed.

  106. WELL, I THINK A CASE COULD BE MADE AGAINST THEM THAT THEY BECAME A THREAT TO NATONAL SECURITY. THEIR EDITORIALS WERE TOO INFLAMMATORY, BUT I STILL HOPE THEY ARE NOT CLAMPED.

  107. #163 Vote Rigger

    The problem I have with that idea is that anything that is said in opposition or critism of the government is labeled a “threat to national security”. Who is it that determines what is inflammatory? We will never have press freedom unless we accept opposing views and demand that the government respect them.

  108. 166. julius

    ” first step : force mining companies to pay workers $40 / day . ”

    That would be one way, and an excellent one.

    It would at first pay most money to the people who do all the work – the miners.

    Secondly, it would make it much easier for the government to collect taxes from the mines. They would no longer have to take the mining company’s word for how much profit they make, but can simply collect taxes through PAYE. 🙂 Right now, less than half of the mines’ windfall tax has been paid.

  109. The post website seems to be closed. Mulongoti at work. Only a small pink girl is showing and then mozambique. Imwe where are we going with FOB?

  110. It is odd that The Post would be closed just after the election. Maybe they don’t want them to do any further reporting on what went on during the elections. Or mayb this is payback for criticizing Rupiah Banda during the campaign.

    Either way – imagine the stink the western media would make if this was happening in Zimbabwe. I guess they really like the MMD. :-/

  111. After elections you seem to have run out of news honestly please, “NGULUBE” alete ilyashi zoona , bring something worth commenting.

  112. Obama Obama Obama Onama Obama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Obama is the man. The 44th american president elect. God bless Obama, God bless America

  113. Finally the American people have spoken without favour,racism, rigging and without apath.Obama elected as 44th American president.
    Mccain admits defeat and promise to support obama,s presidency.
    Long live Obama

  114. I’m so happy that Africans are ruling the world.
    Long Live Obama…
    Its doesn’t matter where we are as Africans, you make us pround and we can now walk with our head high….

  115. Congrats to Barack Obama , but hes not our redeemer.. in fact he has a lot of work to do by which the whole world will judge him..

  116. #178.. he is our redeemer like it or hate it. He will change the way whites look at Africans. He will deliver and whites will be ashamed of themselves. He will not be a mess like George W.Bush Jr.

    Obama is our redeemer and HERO

  117. The major problem this country has is attitude. It is very wrong to wait for govt to make us rich. Yes, I must admit that govt has a responsibility to to build social-economic infrustracture, such as schools, roads, hospitals, provide medicines, water etc. But when these things are provided we should not think automatically we will get rich. It will call for hard work of each of the individuals. The country that talks about wanting more money in people’s pockets does amazing things. Yesterday I was in Chilenje after work. It is like all the vehicles on the road were parked on the beer drinking places. And you will be shocked to know that majority of these guys all they have is a car.

  118. #178 watch CNN he is addressing the nation. Pay attention to his speech and you will understand that he will deliver.

  119. i totaly agree with Mr Ngulube, totally. Infact on what should be done to make rural areas developed and attractive is to provide adequate facilities for access to information They say if you deny people information you are as well killing them Urban citizens are asking why rural people are deciding their [urban citizens]destiny…it is because rural people are not well informed the way urban citizens are Some learnade people have said the easiest way to govern a people is to make them ignorant! Can any anyone imagin 40-so-many-years rural areas have no access to any TV facility at all!!Oh! Lusaka Times don’t make me say too much!

  120. #184. haha,
    I like the example you have brought, about Obama. If Obama had a mindset of a Zambian he would have said to himself, “I know the way these whites think, a black man cant make it here. I am just wasting my time.” But the Kenyan descent boy said, I know what I can do and I will present it to my fellow americans.

  121. #13 DO NOT INSULT THE ZAMBIAN PEOPLE. ZAMBIAN PEOPLE ARE VERY HARD WORKING. BUT THEY PULLED DOWN BY POLITICIANS WITH NO AMBITIONS TO INSPIRE THEM. PEOPLES’ EFFORTS CAN ONLY REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL BY INSPIRATION. THERE4 THE EFFORT OF ZAMBIANS IS RELATIVE TO WHAT IS ALREADY OBTAINING WITH OUR RAW MODELS-POLITICIANS. ITS A STANDARDS THING. Our politicians have set our standards very low in terms of whatever you can think of. Put it this way. Obama, a man of very high standards is the us president 2day. His standards will simply cascade to all AfricanAmericans (and other minorities). Especially, African Americans will stop looking at life on the R & B (music) level. They will be inspired

  122. aninteresting fact…zambian population is made up of 65% rural and 35%urban…so its not surprising that mmd won.they capitalised on the ruralvote. the mmd have long capitalised on the ignorance of our people in the rural areas.ignorance coupled with poverty are threatening our young democracy….who can blame our people. we need to strongly educate our people so that there are well informed and can vote based on the right information and not on biased znbc news.i noted that, in the just ended election the post newspaper tried very hard to market there prefered candidate.i am not aware how well distributed the post is in remote areas of zambia or whether our people have the ability to rea

  123. …to have a go at even greater things. While they perceived White House, as a no-go-area for blacks, that perception will be pretty much different from now on. In America n other highly industrialized countries, u cant just dream to be a national n become 1. You should have started working 4 it ages ago, n pipo can cite what u ve done for them in your life-n thats Obama’s camp. Thats why Zambia currently needs a very hard-working president with such a track record to inspire and make citizens realize the importance, and what is obtainable through hard with high standards applied. Otherwise Zambia is still in doldrums. I know Zambians abroad…

  124. Obama has won the elections in the United States Of America. Americans are happy they are celebrations all over the states. But in Zambia all we heard after RB won the elections was Shikapwasha and IG instructing police to be on high alert. Typical African politics and Zambians perceive that to be normal.

  125. Ladies & Gents I will be appointing my new cabinet this Friday and amoungst them will be:-

    Inonge Mbikusita Lewanika – Vice President

    Felix Mutati – Minister of Finance

    Silyvia Masobo & Dora Siliya – FIRED

    Shikapwasha – Still thinking he did well in Kafulafuta

    Next update 14:00hrs today. Watch this page

  126. …are perceived to be hardworking. Yes, Zambians are potentially hardweorking. But, they also need good inspiration from hardworking leaders who are not dented by corruption, bribery, lying, tribalism/regionalism, sleeping at work, etc. ZAMBIA STILL HAS TO WAIT.

  127. he is a very strong candidate but needs to reach out to the grassroots…thats where the votes are. one other thing, i suggest we incorporate voter registration with the issurance of NRC cards.chaps get the cards too early at 16 and dont even know what to do with them.so if we raised the age to 18, they can get the cards and actually use them to vote.in this way we could capture as many voters as possible unlike the situation we saw where only very few people voted.ECZ start registering voters now! yeah we need 50+1% clause!! a diff of 1-2% is within the margin of error!!!

  128. #138. I DONT KNOW WHEN YOU WERE BORN. BUT POVERTY STARTED IN THE KK REPUBLICS AFTER THEY ABUSED THE COFFERS A WHITE MAN LEFT, IN THE NAME OF ONE PARTY PARTICIPATORY ‘DEMOCRACY’. 1 PARTY ‘DEMOCRACY’ WAS A VEHICLE FOR CHANNELING PUBLIC FUNDS TO SPONSOR CLUB (PARTY) PARTIES AND OTHER LAVISH ACTIVITIES. POVERTY NEVER STARTED WITH CHILUBA. IN FACT chiluba’s incoming was a turning point for poverty. Unfortunately, chiluba also abused this turning for his own interests. You must be reminded that, mainly, presidency in Zambian is just handed over from 1 crook 2 another on a silver platta with no interest for the pipo of Z.

  129. Ba pf mwajama, that is the end of your disorganised vessel.
    By the way when are you guys going for your party convetion?

  130. Zambia needs serious self actualisation. We have to have a forum in place and enable a realistic transfer of information between GRZ and Private sector. Zambia has everything to be a trully successful nation. We have the brains and grz should find a tangible way of translating peoples concerns into reality. The poverty we have is simply as a result of uncoordinated effort on the part of GRZ and failure to relate with the outside world. The systems in Zambia dont coordinate. The opportunities we have have rarely been taken advantage of us. GRZ must provide a real avenue through which policy can be formulated. Parliament is insufficient for this looking at the levels of education and exposure.

  131. …The time it took for the KK govts to deplete the public coffers is a clear indication (in itself) of how XXXtra large the coffers where at the time a white guy handed over governance to a bunch of crooks. Well, to hoodwink the masses of course they built a few asbestos schools (however mainly funded by the world bank), unfinished lusaka campus university and colleges. However, they had no real plans for such institutions. Small wonder school (unis. too) in Zambia donot run as business entities to make money. The way we see such institutions being run (in diaspora) to make billions of £s and $s.

  132. People a new party is about to be lunched!! It will be called Zambia National Progressive Front (ZNPF) It is dynamic Party with vibrant Young people, with no tag of corruption or tribal lines!! They will soon be looking for provincial representatives and you are all welcome to Jump and take Zambia forward!!!

    Motto: Yes we will………….

  133. The provinsion of basic services and social welfare is the ideal role of GRZ. GRZ role is also extended to economic framework direction of the country. We must acknowledge that we are in a mess and yet structures are in place! The councils are completely inadquate to provide basic services yet they are there. The Council administrators look entirely to GRZ for funding when infact they could generate their own funds. This is the type of problem we have. The GRZ is inadquate to understand the problems of councils because they have delegated authority to others for that. That is the structure. But the delegated Authorities still look back to government and the circle continues.

  134. Well the poverty levels in Zambia is quite alarming. Mealie meal prices are going up and I doubt very much whether the Banda administration will do anything significance. However every Zambian must work hard for themselves otherwise these politicians are busy checking their pockets before thinking about your issues of bread and butter. Such is life and you gotta face it or phase out!

  135. Its about time you people woke up. Stop pointing a finger at someone for not doing this or that for you. Change begins with you. Believe in yourself and primarily believe in God. Zambia is not a poor country, its what you as an individual has decided to do.Change begins with you. I see a lot of potential in all you bloggers, very intelligent and able to do something in your own country but where are you?In foreign countries the best u do is contribute on the blog. Busy complaining about investors who have come to Zambia and you call them infestors. Its the choice they have made to come here just as you have made choices to live out there instead of bringing change in your own country.

  136. The onus is on the government to engage serious dialogue with Private sector to identify our intrisinc problems. Why is it that for instance shanties are mushrooming everywhere at a very high rate. The shacks and illegal structures being built still represent and indicates economic activity albeit one which has no real value. The easy thing to note is that if these same people where to be empowered to build in coordinated areas, real value will be given to their developments. This is where our GRZ cant see. Is it lack of capacity? I believe not. But it is rather the disjointment, undefined and misunderstanding of the roles of the structures in place. This perpetuates sub-standard living

  137. #137 thats a good thing you have said!! But trust me this will never be the case with the likes of Parties like MMD, PF even UPND……… What we need is a new all inclusive party with young, educated and vibrant people. Come all you who are tired and need progressive change with new minds and new people!!

    Yes we will……………………..

  138. #208 cont’d

    and ultimately translates into stagnation. If the majority of our people could have decent living conditions, we will have hope for real economic growth. No real and serious investor would come and set up business in the middle of seriously incapacitted communities. Shanties represent the failure of government ot deliver basic services. Taxes are rarely accounted for in the Zambian situation. The population has become immune to understanding the reason for tax pay. Service charges are demanded from people but nothing shows forth in benfit of the tax paid. A person building a house in let say chalala has no hope of a road being provided in his area inspite being charged.

  139. I woke up today on a good note,In case you havent heard OBAMA is the first Black American president.Am just proud that he is black,but that the guy has managed to change the way politics is payed not just in Africa,but the world over.

    I last week bought his book from Book world titled “The audacity of hope”, in this book the man has some kind of socialistic adeas like redistribition of wealth, tough regulation etc.He believes the Govt has a stake to play in a free market economy.

    He believes in govt investment in Education, he make references of counties like China,India which have made progress in this vein.

    Total reliance on the market has proven to be a failure.

  140. NO 204 ANONYMOUS- CHECK THIS OUT. Tender for consultancy to undertake a baseline survey for councils in Zambia. The Ministry of Local Government & Housing inconjunction with UNDP has funds towards the support and implementation of the National Decentralisation policy. The Ministry now intends to apply part of these funds to design and conduct a baseline survey to depict the current status of Zanbia’s local government system as well as to identify capacities and capacity gaps. The study will be particularly focused on the 72 councils which are the primary institutions of democratic local governance in the country. 204 PLEASE SUBMIT TENDER.

  141. The tax revenue collected is channeled for use for unrelated activities. Service charges should translate to provinsion of roads, sewer systems, electricity lines, garbage collection and so on and so forth. This is a forgotten thing in Zambia. Grz has no capacity to rectify the situation and there is simply no structure to address the situation. That is why the private sector should be engaged.

  142. Speaking as an Economist, if anyone has to get out of poverty they have to work there way out of it. However, if the environment they live in can not facilitate this, then poverty shall remain the order of the day. The government comes in here- they ought not give hand outs to rid people of their poverty…NO NO NO, there role is to foster an enabling environment for peoples hard work to lead them out of poverty.

  143. #212 GIRL CHILD

    That is great and I hope whoever gets this tender will be the right candidate. This is where it matters most. This is such an urgent thing and it is in such ventures that corruption does our country harm. Because if this tender will end up in the hands of wrong people, we will continue to mere wishes and unfufilled visions.

    As good as the intensions are, without accountabillity, such ventures will simply cripple our capacity further down.

  144. The villager lives in a much cleaner environment that some people I see in town. The more people are encouraged to farm, the better. The rural areas are a seriuos potential for economic growth and all that is needed is for GRZ to provide basic services. This is of course a huge task but with consented effort easily achievable. The approach by government previously wa to provide health, education and electricity and if you have cared to see, this did not work. Engage Private sector and see what ideas people have out there.

  145. Poverty is a mindset.
    How else can you explain children in the same family given the same opportunities and some children become well off while others dont. No one can take poverty away from a person, its a personal decision. Regardless of how many handouts you are given, you can choose to grow out of that state or continue waiting for more handouts year after year. Yes, it takes hard work and you dont need anyone to tell you that!
    Regardless of what president this country has, poverty will always be there if you dont create opportunities with whatever little you have.

  146. Examples include retrenchees. Some use that money to become farmers or other businesses while others use it for a short-lived good time. These are the same people whose children will not go to school and the cycle of poverty starts. I know a person who started life with little advantage and got a job as a messenger, through sheer determination and doing extrodinary things with the little they had, this person is now an Accountant, taking their own children to an elite school here in Lusaka.There must be others like that. It can be done. Those should be the role models we should be looking at instead of waiting for government to pull us out of poverty.

  147. The CEEC is now in existence. We have a lot of graduates, loitering the streets, who can articulate business ideas. Use that channel to get funding. Don’t just assume that that money will only be given to ‘their’ relatives. if for some reason, you believe that, contact the ACC. Let them deal with that. We have all these intitutions and we , ourselves dont make use of them.We can transform the way our institutions run. Where govt can asist, lets use the facilities. Govt is always singing about good governance – we the citizery can hold them accountable to that because we vote them into power.

    Lets change our mindset. Govt should know we are the masters from this point on.

  148. We will remain poor as long as we neglect education.
    By the way RB is going to Mfuwe for a holiday like KK used to do and
    when he comes back press conference.VP will come from Western province although RB wanted a woman as VP and had proposed Maureen
    Mwanawasa.Others listed for VP were or are,Bwalya Chiti,Teta,TK,Saki

  149. uys are more democratic than USA?Us had only two prewsidential candidates yet we had three even if its for three yrs only.What a way of wasting money.

  150. Poverty can only be killed starting from our homes. How many houses in zambia today have gardens in their back wards?. In some villages in the old days every family was to have UBUTALA as law. Lets not blame the govt, political parties, but lets start with ourselves. CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME.

  151. Zambians believe poverty is part of their livelihood-Ngulube

    LT, THE HEADING ON TOP SHOULD READ…SOME ZAMBIANS AND ZAMBIANS,WHY GENERALISING THAT?NOT ALL ZAMBIANS BELIVE THAT!

  152. the majority of urban people are well informed about what goes on each single day. the rurals will continue to look scaring as long as there is no co-odination for change-change from poverty of the mind and material, change from perceiving that campain material distribution means permanent empowerment.i simply say,there are really differences in examining political issues between the ‘RURAL’ and the ‘URBAN’.

  153. Yes that’s what they believe as evidenced in the way they vote. They know too well that the ruling bunch of job seekers only want to enrich themselves and dont care about our welfare but they still vote for them. Zambia shall only develop if we contribute +vely. Wise up my pipo

  154. #229, you seem to be a very disgruntled personality. c’mon be a true Zambian and contribute positively. Nagging won’t make you popular on this blog..

  155. Zambians have been taken for granted by the rich few who
    are the politicians who can go to any extend just to keep
    their jobs and start dishing out 2 kgs sugar to the illiterates
    in villages. sad

  156. Brother #233. they are not rich but a bunch of organised thieves and plunderers of our resources that reap where they did not saw

  157. That is why I migrated in order to pursue happiness.Things work on the other side of the pond.As for Zambians they like to suffer peacifully. At the same time plunderers are having a field day.

  158. Ala Peter some of the things you say are true and some i take with apinch of salt.I still believe that if more zambians got off their back sides and really invested in agriculture ,zambia will be a better place.I grew up in an era when we used to accompany our parents on weekends and school holidays kumabala mukulima imbalala,ifipushi,intoyo,imyungu amataba ,you used to have plenty of food ,and never used fertilizer at all.Abafyashi balibashimaini,we had bananas pang’anda,ifisali nimusalu nomba nsinonshiku ulwimbo ni fertilizer,fyonse nefyumbu kubika fertilizer.What happened kukushila mumabala to have own compost? Look at Tanzania,look at the semi desert Botswana-pipo there work hard.

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