Government spokesperson Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha says government would go ahead and implement national indaba recommendations despite their financial implications to curb the effects of the global financial crisis.
Lieutenant General Shikapwasha told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka, today, that despite parliament having had already approved the 2009 national budget, government would follow a financial law which would enable it to make adjustments to the approved budget in case of an emergency.
Gen.Shikapwasha, who is also Information and Broadcasting minister, said the indaba recommendation were important but with financial implications to be taken into consideration.
He said that government, in cases where more funding was needed to deal with an emergency had a right by law to go back to parliament and solicit for supplementary expenditure.
Gen.Shikapwasha said the national budget was flexible enough to accommodate urgent needs that could arise adding that the law also allowed government to divert money allocated in budget to other urgent matters that may need to be addressed.
The spokesperson added that some opposition parties that had shunned the just-ended Indaba citing the budget approval as one of the reasons for their boycott were just narrow minded.
He has however thanked all the stakeholders that participated saying that they should not always wait for the government to call for a big national forum such as the just-ended Indaba but instead should engage in dialogue even at smaller stages.
Gen.Shikapwasha said President Rupiah Banda and other government departments were ready for dialogue in order to advance national development whenever need arose.
Meanwhile, government has urged all those calling for the release of the findings in the investigation of the Zambian Airways alleged mismanagement of funds to be patient.
General Shikapwasha said it would be known once the investigations are completed on whether the Management at Zambian Airways would be found with a case to answer or not.
ZANIS/MP/ENDS/MM
What a joke!!!!!!!
really?
Shikapwasha, government or running the story??? We should brave ourselves for some extremely rough times.
When Ba Presido was busy trying to please those cadres at state house by attacking the post over Zambian Airways, i thought he had evidence but now after a month no charges have been laid and no one has been arrested. Cant wait to see how and when this case will end.
Do we have a budget? i thought we just spend at will.
As expected. Too much zungulila
These guys are not serious. Is this how you run a country?
I think Shikapwasha is right or should i say government. A budget is not a fixed and hard rule like steel and rail that isn’t malleable enough irrespective of extenuating circumstances.
Implementing contributions of participants to the National Indaba will give effect to the essence and aim of the indaba itself otherwise it would be useless and a sheer waste of time and resources. Why call suggestions you would not implement? Bravo government go ahead and implement provided you seek parliamentary approval.
Only the ones that suit you and your GRZ will implemented ,we all that the Zesco recommendation won’t be implemented .
While a budget is not fixed. Flexible and discretion leave opportunity for the abuse of public funds. Any diversion of funds has to be done in the open and through Parliament, even if it is a rubber stamp.
Ba Observer
The budget helps to live within our limits and is the most basic thing to adhere to, be it an individual, a home, a company and more importantly a state. If we go haywire with spending, do you think will be able to achieve a state of accepted living standards for all or the margins between you and my mother in flooded Kanyama will keep growing? Corporate Zambia has really gone to the heads of my fellow youths and this has turned everyone into ‘plastics’ just to fit in.
Can’t this guy just make his point without calling other people names?
Ronie, you may be a good transport plane pilot, but that does entitle you to insult oposition colleagues, who did not attend the indaba, as “narrow minded”.
Supplimentary budgets are not to be lightly turned to baba. Ask Dr Situmbeko, Dr Fundango or Magande(if RB can allow you).
Ati Ubuchushi !!! but its living beyond your means. Learn to save for the rainy day. Mukachoka apa lubilo ku ma Donors, ati “tandizo bane ife kuno njala”
In future, please call for indaba first, before the budget presentation!!!
Mmmmmmm! a day hardly passes without any negative news pa zed! makes think four times why i should come!
cruuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUched bonsefye.
Hmmmm I wonder how many of us actually stick to our domestic budgets. Let the one who strictly adheres to his budget throw the first stone.Having said that has there ever been a time the govt stuck to its budget? It will make news when they say they have stuck to their budget and not needed donor aid.
so now we know the real reason for the so called “indaba” was to rubber stamp this abominable decision.
# 18 Why kuzipanga nga ulibe? I do stick to my budget and Im a good saver too. I calculate to the last penny what I need for my basics and the rest I save (I learnt from the best, the mwenye way)
These thugs just realized their budget did not actually include anything on the credit crunch and so called for that so called indaba as a way to make up. What lack of foresight. As late as November last year they were saying the credit crunch will not affect Zambia. Why wait for problems to reach neck high before you start sorting out? Albert Einstein said ‘Technocrats solve problems, but geniuses prevent problems’. Anyway lets hope they will actuate the Indaba recommendations and not just lip service it. Ubufi nabo balikwatisha ba fyatile aba.
INDABA Means
Ignorant
National leaders
Dont ever
Amend
Budgets once
Approve by parliament
Shikapwasha is just tying to respond to HH ‘s challenge to government to tell the nation how they will implement it despite that the budget which is approved by the law is already in place.Are they going to break the law?
I feel pity for you General/Reverend for the role you have as a Chief govt spokesperson, such jobs fit the likes of VJ, Mike, Teta without any sense of shame when telling lies with the ability to tell it so sweetly. As for ZA , I am sure the Post and its team are laughing at your statement.
Apapene?! Fiscal year hasn’t even seen the light of day and you are already talkin of not meeting targets? Do you people plan anyway? You should have held the so-called indaba first then presented your ka budget. First it was failure to host All Africa games coz of levy’s funeral,then all sorts of excuses coz of credit crunch! Angola is going on to host CAN 2010 despite nose diving of oil & diamond prices,they simply planned and are committed! With the flooding going on, wonder what else we’ll lose out on. No more scapegoats!
Shikapwasha and your friends,this is what we call poor planing.Didnt you know about the credit crunch before you came up with the budget? What sort of people are these? What you talked about during that indaba of yours,those are the issues people have been raising. Why should it take that lady from IMF to come and tell us things that we already know.Just a waste of time and money.You know what problems people are facing just get down to work and stop bla,bla and bla.
#24 Sambman that mouth which is wide open is it of a human being or a crocodile?
Anyaway,the all essence of the indaba was to get a broader view on how to tackle the current crisis and not implementing the resolutions of the Indaba will defeat the whole purpose of having had the Indaba.This is a virtue of a listening Govt and remains largely to be seen if the resolutions will really be implemented and afterall the budget is suppose to be flexed.
Chewe,Jamaco and Ba Sharp shooter how are you mwe lupwa? Guys to tell you the truth Iam tired of this govt.I have lost all the hope I remained with in this govt,coz the things they do awe ngamukashi nganalitwala kuli banacimbusa abamufundile.
reduce the size of governement, use the money you’ll save by pumping it into the mines, tell Bwezani Banda to make use of his minister of foreign affairs rather than him travelling all the time, then use the money you’ll save by bring back forgotten industries like NCZ, that way food prices will go down coz the price of farming commodities will reduce, then take advantage of the situation in Zimbabwe by exporting food to that country. it wont be much but we can start from somewhere to be economically independent.
#26 chewe the virgin,its actually not wide open but a WIDE GRIN!Look it up. Could be a croc ,afterall tuli bena ng’andu!
Its called flexibility in English
This economic “crisis” was created (by design) via the Central Banking Cartel. Thanks to fiat currency, pending hyperinflation, fractional reserve banking & incessant usury, the Globalist Elite are leveraging this manufactured crisis to move towards not only Global currency, but a One World Government(as openly alluded to by Gordon Brown).
The King of Zero Tollerance on Corru[tion went to Parliament and accussed President Chiluba of many things and had Immunity removed. It took more than a year before President Chiluba was arrested. It also turned out that the charges are not what were stated in Parliament. All those castigating President Banda either have short or selective memories.
But Zambia is a joke of a state.When producing a budget all the neccessary events have to be accounted for.This bunch just want to ensure that there is a provision for “zamtrop”.If you are in Zambia i feel for you..
Fikayisova ifine kuntanshi.
#24 sumbman taumfwa boyi ayi. Matworld tulifye bwino boyi.we want to beat liverpool today.
Listen imwe ba LT dont even moderate it just spike it out after all fya free and you hold the final say.ooooh,naisukilapo.it is because i have mentioned Zambian watchdog.so it’s like iam trying to sway pipos to change the site.ooooh.awe,kanshi nindufyanya njeleleniko.it’s like going with a pack of KFC and start eating in MCdolnalds.ok naleka.
This Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha is a joke and a muppet. How can this chap be making these serious policy comments on the Budget which the learned and competent Minister of Finance should be making. How can RB’s Indaba, of no legal backing burst the national budget and why was it not budgeted for if it was in national interest ? Is it that only the RB 2011 campaign was aware? Let us not forget that our budget is donor funded, but what will our co-operating partners think about this? Our politicians are really unbelievable.
when the UPND said it is a waste of time, some of us we called them names. but it seems to me now we are in agreement with their stance. this government has a lot to learn. yes, a budget is not written in a stone but allowing changes when you pass it, brings in corruption as anybody can come up with project in the name of credit crunch. instead of us turning to the budget, the government should tap into our reserves and put through a stimulus package. this should be approved by parliament for some projects recommended by the Indaba. surely we should have done that before passing the budget and we will be better off than going in circles. the government is pretending to be listening just because they have failed. this just goes to show that our GRZ doesn’t know what they are doing.
If you call people narrow minded then do not expect them to contribute freely. Why did you call for that meeting if you had solutions to the problems that the country is facing? As a party in govt you have lamentably failed to find solutions and you are disgrace to say the least. Why do you need a meeting that involves every jim and jack to find solutions when you have professionals that understand issues better? Most of those people who attended an indaba did not even their mouths when they were there, so how did they contribute? Only a few people’s views among those who attended an indaba will be implented if they are lucky. So it was waste of money because you were told of what to do a long time ago but ignored. MMD is rubbish and Zambia is sinking fast
Prepare for hard times ahead.
#11, on the same token, circumstances may arise which demand that you exceed a budget. What if you plan to spend a certain amount on food next year, but prices double then? Will you stick to your budget and go hungry? People are criticising this decision, and although I agree that it leaves room for fiscal irregularities, I don’t quite understand how else people expect the government to implement the advice it was given at the Indaba. That’s the problem with Zambians. If government says it has no money to implement any of the proposals, you’ll criticise it for not listening to people and wasting tax-payers money. When it points out what it needs to do so, which demands some restructuring and flexibility, then it’s not serious. THINK before opposing government just because its…
like # 42 citizen has said , what is the way forward gurus of economics please lead the way. We certainly have a crisis at hand what are the solutions , the Madagascar way was condemned on this blog so we wait for 2011, until then ,what is the remedy??????
#18 Bob doe is a RB man – shu shu shu
@ 42. Their slowness in reacting or is it lack of foresight is the reason I critise GRZ. Dont you think the INDA BA contributions would have more value had they put up an assessement team before budget presentation, to study the current economic and social trends inconjunction with the polutation?? Its time to move from this habit of holding on to positions with nothing to show for it. Let us be seen to be working to avoid bad mouthing.
#38, I thought Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha was government spokesperson: that means someone who speaks on behalf of government!! If not him, who do you suggest take up his duties? Did you know that he gets paid by tax-payer money and its his duty to communicate gov. policies to the public? By the way, every smart budget needs to be flexible, it would be *****ic to set any budget, state or personal, in stone.
#38, I thought Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha was government spokesperson: that means someone who speaks on behalf of government!! If not him, who do you suggest take up his duties? Did you know that he gets paid by tax-payer money and its his duty to communicate gov. policies to the public? By the way, it would the height of idiocy to set any budget, state or personal, in stone.
This is why i mentioned earlier that this indaba should have been held before the budget was prepared. I want to believe that this indaba was an after thought or RB never thot of it. In as much as the govt would want to accomodate recommendations made during indaba, govt shd not excessively over spend. The budget shd still be a guide to govt expenditure otherwise we would run into economic problems.
#42, I understand your point, though I don’t think it applies in this case. Government may be slow in responding, but it nonetheless responding now. Whether it responded three months ago, or responds tomorrow, it will still need money to implement proposals. Do people think that money just appears from thin air? A budget is useful, and necessary for fiscal planning and allotment, but as Yambayamba has said, it can’t be set in stone. If you decide to budget prudently in the next few months by spending only a certain amount of your income, and then something unexpected arises like your child falling sick. Will you stick rigidly to your income, or infringe your budget to pay for health care? The economy is in the same spot – it is sick, and needs care. Look at how Obama is spending like…
no one ever had before to heal the economy. He has necessarily had to exceed any sort of budgets they had in mind. Such is the flexibility demanded of a government when the need arises. Rather than complaining about it not being serious, or not sticking to a budget, start demanding that it shows you exactly where the money is going. No one wins by having money stashed in an account somewhere when there are demands left, right and centre for it. I can even give the government credit for being transparent enough IN ADVANCE about their proposed budgetary spending, rather than us getting a rude shock down the line about the government spending more than they told us they would.
Following “The spokesperson added that some opposition parties that had shunned the just-ended Indaba citing the budget approval as one of the reasons for their boycott were just narrow minded.
He has however thanked all the stakeholders that participated saying that they should not always wait for the government to call for a big national forum such as the just-ended Indaba but instead should engage in dialogue even at smaller stages”, why is the Minister failing to use the NAME of the only OPPOSITION political party UPND that made the statement? Also, the two quoted statements seem to be contradicting each other as the UPND had dialogue with GRZ on a smaller scale while they put forward sensible reasons for not attending the INDABA which proved to be a waste of National funds.
Maestro, while it is commendable that UPND dialogued with govt, the Indaba was a good forum for their views to be debated and reviewed by the stakeholders. It was selfish of UPND to meet with govt privately but not publicly. UPND is acting as though it has the monopoly of wisdom. As for PF, they just acted according to their kind.
On ZESCO tariffs, these will go up because ZESCO has borrowed large sums of money for the rehabilitation exercise and who knows, it may have been the condition laid down by the donors to give the money. Privatization of ZESCO has been resisted by all administrations since KK’s, but it will happen.
Govt of National Indaba by National Indaba for National Indaba.Zambia is on auto pilot.Bwezani has no idea of what is happening around him
this indaba business is all a sham. the government is just trying to use other poeples ideas because they themselves have no vision. they need to go. there is no way all a government can do is try to lure investors to the country whilst there own people do not parttake sufficiently enough in the economic workings of the nation because at the end of the day all the money these investors make is diverted back to the countries of origin leaving us in the same predicament as we started with. and also this habit of solitciting debt from which ever hand is giving it is absurd. if the nation was an individual it would have been branded as a failure within our society. we are going back to unip days and exravagant national debt and this we all know greatly stagnates the growth of our nation
Bloggers let us all agree that this bunch of jokers must go enmasse in 2011 but PABWATO is not an alternative. We need a team ioof well learned level headed people to manage the affairs of Zambia. We need to rid Zambia of all these polticians who think politics is about mobilising party cadres. They must all go and leave room for sensible people to operate freely in order to advance the plight of Zambia.
#55 Those people you have mentioned ‘well learned, level headed’ its true we need them. But they ll have to be born first/before 2011 i.e. Or that MMD will get it again what a shame.
#56, The people I am talking about are walking the streets of most Capital cities in Africa, Europe, America and some in Zambia. All they need is a stimulus and they will flood govt offices and shape Zambia genuinely. We are truelly sick and tired of criminals masquarading as leaders. They know deep down their hearts that what they are doing is criminal but, hey, they have the courage to continue pilfering from their own citizens day and night. Unbelievable!!!
I thought we were told that RB had evidence that Magande had planned to write-off ZA debts. What are they still investigating? They must show the evidence they have so that we judge for ourselves who is telling us lies or not. We are not kids to be told aka red na ka black. ZA was a business entity and I don’t see how a president involves himself in a private business director, no matter how much they may not agree. Businesses operate on existing policies and that is what govt regulates. Leave the individuals alone as long as you can regulate the industry. Failure due to improper regulation is govt fault not Mmembe or Nchito.
#55, you’ll burst a vein trying to reason with people here about that. Unfortunately we have revered politicians to such an extent that we look for smooth talkers before we consider people with any realistic abilities to develop our country. People start reminding you of Kamuzu Banda, as if being educated automatically makes you a dictator, and being a politician doesn’t. If you mention that we should give HH a chance – no, he’s big-headed and a tribalist. You mention Prof. Clive Chirwa – no, he doesn’t understand Zambia’s problems. So, who do Zambians want? The person who relates and appeals to the common man. The smooth talker with populist rhetoric and promises anew and aplenty but who represents the same of the old.
@56 The people we need are already around .. go to mwape.com and see we have a plethora of educated Zambians developing other countries because they can’t be bothered to spend all day politicking. They’re busy getting on with things, but Zambians are so fixated on superficial issues like a person who can make them laugh, cracks insulting jokes, and says what they want to hear that they fail to see behind the facade and look for leaders who can actually propel us forward meaningfully. Yet trust, they’re the first ones on here complaining about everything under the sun.
#59, Thanks a lot for that well thought analysis. I totally agree that Zambians want people who tell them lies and yet they know deep down their hearts that they can never possibly do any of the things they claim. Yes, I only wished HH and clive could strike a code and move zambia forward because the rest of these clowns are people we know can say anything in order to get power. We saw it for ourselves with Chiluba – 17 yrs blaming KK and yet all he wanted was the presidency and when he got it,- what happened, he was worse than KK in everything.