Former Finance Minister Ng’andu Magande has said that the removal of subsidies is not the solution to addressing budget deficits.
Reacting to Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda’s statement that the removal of subsidies was simply to make the budget deficit bearable, Mr. Magande told Qfm in an interview that covering up a deficit spent on a few Zambians at the expense of the majority Zambians is wrong and unfair.
Mr Magande who is also National Movement for Progress president said that the loans government has to pay from the removal subsidies do not benefit all Zambians but a particular group of people.
Mr. Magande noted that subsidies were benefiting the majority Zambians who cannot afford the high cost of living they have now been subjected to following the removal of subsidies on maize and fuel.
He added that any budget is meant to spend tax money on commodities and services for the people, stating that if government spends money to make transport or food cheap, then the tax money is working for the right purpose.
Mr. Magande has urged government to think through its decision to remove subsidies for the sake of the majority Zambian people who cannot feel the positive impact of the removal of subsidies on Fuel and Maize.
And the Black Friday consortium of civil society organizations has said that it feels vindicated that government has now acknowledged that there are no funds being served from removal of subsidies.
On Tuesday,Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda told Parliament that the removal of subsidies on fuel and maize by government has simply made the budget deficit bearable.
Consortium Chairperson MacDonald Chipenzi said that government should apologize to the Zambian people for earlier giving them an impression that funds will be saved from the removal of subsidies.
Mr Chipenzi said that the open acknowledgment by the Finance Minister that there are no funds being saved from the removal of subsidies also implies that there is no money being spent on projects the government had said it would channel the money to.
He has since advised government to stop unnecessary creation of Districts and avoid budget deficits by controlling its expenditure.
And the Southern African Center for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) has also called on government to give a projection of how much the country will be able to save from the removal of subsidies in the next two years.
SACCORD Executive Director, Boniface Cheembe has told Qfm News in a separate interview that the government should also clearly state the exact projects on which the saved funds will be spent.
He said that his organization is of the belief that such information is important as it will help government command the confidence of the people on how it is using taxpayers’ money.
Govt for thieves,They thought of making more money in their pockets through subside.
Now it has just come a dream.
PF on a mission to make the poor poorer and the rich richer!
Well analysed Mr. Magande. You always say sensible things. Plse keep it up. PF lied day and night that removal of subsidy will benefit the poor. Do we need to trust them any more?
Chipenzi has the mind of a child, he has no idea about budgeting! People should learn the impotance of self reliance not to depend on other people or the government! Magande should not pretend as if Zambia is a very rich nation with a welfare system, he was a Finance Minister he should know better that the government spends what comes in and borrows if their is a deficit. ‘SAVING’ only means shifting from one expenditure and spend it on other priority areas like building higher learning institutions and roads!
Rich Zambians do not send their children in Zambian universities or colleges, only the poor Zambians will benefit from the increased places in the higher learning institutions and knowledge can breaks the shackles of poverty. Think long term, not with your stomach, Chipezi!