by Dr. Charles Ngoma
There is no doubt that on paper; Zambia has made significant progress in macro-economics. The Jesuit Centre has acknowledged that. We have grown our economy consistently over the years and we have more ‘development’ going on all around us. What many Zambians keep pointing out is how this development and the high copper prices do not seem to be having any effect on the great majority of the Zambian people. I think this is an important point and the government of the day ignores it at its own peril.
Much of the infrastructure that was in very good condition in mining towns has fallen to the force of entropy. This disastrous situation is a consequence of both local government and individual failure. In every town and city, one finds numerous unfinished building projects; due to squandered redundancy cash and now cardboard plays for windows and every piece of metallic junk for roofing, kept down by stones and bricks. Others died before they could see their projects to the end. No sooner had they been buried than the asset striping, widow robbing relatives pounced and took everything that the deceased had, leaving the widow destitute with 6 hungry mouths to feed, clothe and educate from nothing!
Children leave home to etch a living on the streets. Some have no home to leave but streets are home. The so called ‘street kids’ are innumerable. I just wonder whether the census included them. The once so called ‘site and service’ townships are hurtful to sight and there is no service. One wonders where the town planners are. Illegal structures are everywhere and just pray that there is no worse natural disaster than floods. Trenches take away the sewer but only as far as inclination and gravity can allow, if not blocked by the supermarket plastic bags that will only decay after the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
There are hundreds of Zambians who are truly ‘hard’ working. They smash rocks from sun rise to sunset, inhaling silica so that the very trade that is bringing them so little money is slowly killing them by weakening their resistance to tuberculosis in the short term and eventually killing them with the incurable silicosis in the long run. At traffic lights, you are accosted by tens of touts; selling anything from ‘bling’ to plastic, from fruits to vegetables, from Newspapers to toilet paper (no, just made that up)! But newspapers do the same job, because in many latrines, public or private, you are better off carrying a newspaper for a ‘poo.’ Where is the money for so many people to sell so many goods? There is consumption everywhere and hardly any production.
Come to a 10-foot-walled property, pass the threshold and as the gate close behind you, you are transported to Beverley Hills in California! Exquisite manicured gardens, numerous ‘house servants’ attending at every beck and call. Well nourished, nay, over nourished children play with the latest gadgets and mobile phones that I have not yet had the money to buy in the United Kingdom. It is a different world! Three top marques parked in the driveway, one for the wifey! While thousands of Zambians just across, have no water to drink, these have enough not only to swim in, but also to quench the thirst of their Magnolias and Aloe vera, and the Simba lawns. Who are these people? This is a new breed of Zambians that never existed in the 80s and before. They have made it amidst the difficulties their fellow citizens are going through. They are not ‘hard’ but ‘smart’ working. They have done well and they deserve every ngwee of their labours. They are responsible for increasing the import bill because they have made Dubai and Johannesburg their shopping centres. They have so much that must be secured behind the Fort Knox type of security!
Others however, live a life of luxury because of ‘filthy lucre.’ They came to this way of life by the highway of robbery or the dark and narrow lanes of corruption. Our government may have much to say against corruption, but corruption is immeasurable. What is measured is perception.
Where then should we be?
Governance. Transparency and probity are of utmost importance. It is a known fact for example, and by his own admission, that Dr F Chiluba had in the ZAMTROP account more money than could be accounted for from his earnings. Grant that that money WAS given by well wishers, what is wrong with being open about who those well wishers were? The country must enact a law that prohibits people in public office from receiving personal gifts above a certain amount from whichever source. Whatever the gift, it must be declared. Anything above the limit must be forfeited to the State. Why are our Police so brutal when dealing with demonstrations or any public unrest? They need training in crowd control. The State must provide us with a Police service that protects property, ye, but lives too.
Welfare and social security. The terrible inequalities I have depicted are a sure threat to the security of our country. Those who have fallen on hard times, not by fault of their own need the help of the State. This does not have to be in cash terms, but we have so much land that can be given to people when they fall on hard times. Those who are skilled, but unemployed could be given grants to re-train so that there is a re-balance of employment opportunities. We are dishing out land to foreigners but we cannot give to our own people! The State must offer an allowance for those who by reason of infirmity cannot earn a living. Those who are physically un-abled should be supported with disability payments. This means that a certain tax must be collected and ring fenced for such.
Education is a universal right of every child. It should be illegal in Zambia to fail to send a child to school for basic education. Obviously, the government is at fault because the education system in Zambia is contrary to the rights of the child. I will gladly support any political party that will promise to abolish segregating examinations at grade 7 from 2012 onwards and grade 9 from 2014. We can train our young people to earn a living through restructuring of the education curriculum so that no one leaves school without a trade. Education however, must go beyond the classroom. The society needs to be educated about the environment and waste management, civic responsibilities and rights. When I was a child, there were ‘Welfare centres’ in every town where the public were educated.
Housing and clean water. I am amazed that civic authorities are selling vast amounts of land to the same few individuals when the greater majority of the people that voted them into power have no descent housing. Why can’t councils build houses to let and thus earn more income from that. Indeed, the housing stock was sold off by the Chiluba administration, but that was a one off and it has probably helped many people who could have been homeless by now. However, the implementation of that policy was marred by corruption left, right and centre! How could people buy more than two properties if they were ‘sitting tenants?’ In ZCCM, many senior people bought ‘villages’ as sitting tenants! There must be a day of reckoning. It is no use building South African style shopping malls all over the cities when people have nowhere to lay their heads. That is not development. Look at Kamwala village in Lusaka. At one time that was government housing, but those rondavels are neater and more orderly than thousands of shacks in city squatters! By the year 2015, no Zambian should live in a shack.
Politics. We have not made much progress since 1991. It could be fairly argued that we have turned back the clock here. What happened to the open and democratic processes that we sought in 1991? Political positions were fought for fairly and squarely. Every human being has the right to prefer certain candidates, but it is wrong for that preference to prevent others from having a fair go at positions. It is the electorate that must decide whether one is qualified or not, for whatever position in a Party. We are also in a dilemma concerning the political parties and what they stand for. One cannot lead a party that simply wants to rule for the sake of it. There must be a clear and well thought out plan on the table to state exactly what is wrong and how one is going to correct it. The trouble with our politicians in Zambia today, is that they are not ideological but opportunistic. This explains why they jump from one camp to the other without shame. There is no clear blue water between the parties. This explains why our electoral arguments centre on personalities rather than policies. What this means is that, whoever we vote for may just carry on with the status quo. A majority of our Parliamentarians have no idea why they are in that august house. Many are so much in debt that they cannot bring government to account for fear of being deselected. This is why The Post newspaper dictates the agenda. The NAPSA deal could have been discussed in Parliament. Inept MPs contribute to voter apathy.
Health and population. Thank God for donor funded drug programme that has spared many lives in Zambia. I have written about HIV/AIDS before but this will not be the subject on this occasion. I am concerned about infant and childhood and maternal mortality, and growth rate of our population. We must try to understand the reasons for this exponential growth in population but stagnation of resources. Could it be that because people fear to lose their children that they produce more? Could it be that the general lower literacy rate among women does not empower them to make decisions about their fecundity? Could it be that the large number of young children born so overwhelms our health services leading to more deaths? These are questions that must be answered with facts, and I hope that the 2011 census addressed them.
Let me say at this point that this is not a partisan paper. Indeed, I acknowledge the many good things that Zambians from all Parties have achieved so far. Development of any community is like a relay race. One cannot run it alone, no matter how fast they run, but at some point, the baton must be passed on to another generation. What I am concerned about, is that we do not lose sight of where we are going. We must build on our successes, learn from our mistakes and advance with courage and resolution into the future.
I humbly submit that this is where we should be in 2011.
This is a very thought provoking article to which I can only add the need for Local Government reforms, in which Zambia adopts a “strong mayor” model, where mayors are elected at-large and Local Council are given consitutional powers. This will eradicate illegal shanties and bring sanity to townships, e.g. garbage collection, etc. Local Government reforms should also include land allocation in tandem with the Ministry of Lands.
It boils down to lack of responsive and responsible leadership. The formula to narrow or even bridge the chasm between the haves and havenots is really simple only we lack truly professional and unselfish leaders. People in power should be ashamed for the deplorable state Zambia is in in-spite of her wealth.
#1 London Zambian
I couldn’t agree more. This is the kind of thinking that Zambians should be aiming for, acknowledge success, state the problem, offer solutions. The Local government system in Zambia needs an overhaul and we need people who are directly elected by the people to run civic institutions without partisan allegiance. Job seekers are the biggest cause of our stagnation. It is sad that whoever makes a contribution that is contrary to ‘the boss’s’ view gets hounded out, thrown into the streets and all state institutions work towards making the fellow destitute.
And for education, what happened to ‘Wood work’, ‘Metal work’, ‘Young Farmers clubs,’ ‘Cookery and Domestic Economics.’ Such subjects would help our children in school leave with a qualification that enables them to start up in guilds or cooperatives and earn a livelihood on their own. There is no reason whatsoever for any Zambian to be unemployed.
After some serious thinking I will comment, probably tomorrow and I think my comment will end with a question.
It’s a dog eat dog world out there . Rampant capitalism and social equality do not make good bedfellows . !
This article is a bit idealistic in parts , but on the whole , a fair assessment . I think in terms of democracy as a country , we are heading in the right direction . Still on a learning curve , but we are much better than pre 1991.
Really what all this amounts to is lack of checks and balances-being our brothers keepers.The zed gov’t fails to keep its citizens in a tight spot littering,family planning,compulsory schooling and obeying the building code on shacks.The electorate fails to keep gov’t in a tight spot on corruption,better governance,better schools and water and others.
What makes the USA so effective is the penalties either side gets when wrong.If economy fails you’re voted out,if corrupt you’re out,if you fail to educate your child you go to jail,if you litter you’re fined,if you hire your relatives you’re out of office,if you violate the buiding code its demolished-in zed we’re willing to put up with so much mediocrity on either side.
A good and thought provoking article. These are the things that we as citizens should put a premium on, and encourage or even put pressure on our government to do better. And those political leaders who aspire to be in government should be articulating their plans to address these issues. To subject us to the “Lekeni Sata ateke” song is not good enough if no one wants to tell us how Sata will “teka”, and especially how he will “teka” better, provide good governance and democracy (both intra and inter party), in general how he will be better than MMD. We deserve better.
Good evening
I’ve read this article with great interest. I do believe most of the things Charles Ngoma has said are true, but for some reason, I also feel that some things are changing for the better now. I’m hope that a few years from now, we will find ourselves looking at a different, a better picture of Zambia.
oops, correction “I’m hoping that a few years from now…”
It’s been a hard day for me and I’m tired after chasing toddlers all day, so I don’t have the stamina to blog today. See you tommorow folks.
For as long as most Zambians remain largely “uneducated”, govt, today and in the future, will keep getting away with mediocrity. And by education I do not mean “Formal Education” either. What I am referring to is a situation of being aware of what our rights and responsibilities are as citizen. This requires very little or no formal education at all.
I would also submit that “LIMITING PRESIDENTIAL POWERS” would be a good start!! For as long as political and govt powers stay centralised in a few individuals, very little will change. The President seems to have his hand in all and every decision—-political or otherwise. Even how garbage collection should be done. A function suited for local councils.
Good article though. I agree with most of the things the author had to say.
It is very difficult for Zambia to realize meaningful development. Zambian is entangled in complex factors.
Such as poor national leadership, entrenched corruption in the hearts and minds of leaders, lazy and theft attitudes among some ethnic groups, inapproppriate and unfit-for-purpose governance structures etc. Unless we have a President who focus on the aspects i have outlined; Zambia will continue moving from worse to worst.
Rome was not built in a day and I believe Zambia is headed in the right direction.No-one is perfect and leaders are targets for critisim but I think after the the disaster we had of electing chiluba as president we have faired reasonably well first under Mwanawasa and now under RB. RB has done well in the 2years he’s been in power.It would have been nice to see him step aside for some young leader to continue with the MMD policy.However he’s a better bet than the rest of the ‘leaders’ standing this election year. If I was in Zambia I would vote for him.Hope next election they will allow us in the diaspora to vote.
Ba Bwalya…..Zambia has been destined for doom for many years? our leaders are greedy, and only interested in their welfare. VJ and our VP would have been dead, but thanks to treatment they access abroad. How do you expect us to progress, if we still believe on the same old people that have brought this misery…Sata and the likes? Zambia is not poor, but mismanaged.
All of us in diaspora left Zambia for a reason? only God will serve us from misery as our fortune seekers (leaders) will continue to plunder the resources. Zambians are cowards and docile, hence deserve the misery.
1) Bembas thEivious
2) Tongas usually follow number one blindly or relate to number 3.
3) lozi’s casole ( stingiest)
DAWA1 no # 11 the above sunk ZCCM, but number 1. For 46 years has caused Zambia misery, never again should Zambezi land elect a Bemba or Congolese by the way of luapula province as president.
we know what is right for our country but we are coward to provide checks and balances including our constutition planderers so called mps to govts
As much as I would not like to see RB president, he is the safest bet to prevent tribalism and excessive regionalism in Zambia. Already the pact is crumbling because HH has tonga supporters wanting him to be president like it is a birth right. Sata’s undercover agent Prof. Chirwa wants his Bemba brother to lead the pact, invoking tribal advice masked as rational. Why can’t the Zambian people elect the pact president period. Argue against my shared knowledge here but you know my words are true, it’s time the other 70 kingdoms in Zambia woke up to the truth and had their voices heard.
mwanawasa is arguably the best president democrat Zambia has has thus far. Kaunda was good on the forced moral code so he is second, only due to his dictatorial tendencies. Great article I give it an A 90%.
Dr You lost me for giving reference to the Jesuits ,who are they?Their products like Fatherless Bwalya is useless trouble maker.I wish you refered to some other authories than those war mongers.I feel you were were highly emotional when you were writing this article of yours.You can’t every blame on government, most Zambians as i know them are very lazy and thieves regardless of status.No where in the world has poverty been eradicated totally,go to USA,Uk,china ,Australia worse in South Africa.
correction to #20 you can’t blame everything on government……
Any sitting president is said to be better than his opponents because he has been observed, waving the wand. Until an opponent has an opportunity to wave a wand in similar capacity, comparing them is a vocation of nitwits. Convention has it that all variables must be reduced to the same unit of measure.
love the “relay race-pass the baton” analogy! it’s true, whether the freedom fighting generation likes it or not, their time is nearly up. soon we will have the reigns of the great stallion called Zambia, and should we steer it down the wrong path we will only have ourselves to blame.
I should like to thank you all for this very civil debate. I have hope for Zambia if we can contribute without name calling. As for YAYA’s comment, I am passionate not emotional. Government is not entirely to blame, but government enacts laws in order to enforce them. Read the bye-laws of very council in Zambia and you will find that there are laws vs littering etc. But no enforcement.
#21 YAYA FOR ONCE SPARE US THE TRASH. YOU HAVE GONE WAY OUT OF A WELL THOUGHT OUT PAPER.YOUR CONTRIBUTION CAN BE RATED WORTHLESS THOUGHT
#25 Ka Chanda Chimba 111 who told you that i should agree with everything written by everybody just because their names are preceded by some title Doctor…learn to be critical in yo small brains before you expose your malabishi man.
Doctor Ngoma i would loved to read somethigh about the colonial legacy and what it did to the current gross under development we have in Zambia,Our money ,yes our money build cities like Harare ,the coloniolist let a solid foundation in Zimbambwe and South Africa not in Zambia and Bostwana .Yes we would have loved to build the country in 90 days but that’s practically impossible .The country’s economy was stagnat for over 20 years surely Dr Ngoma what development could have taken place?Just look at the unfinished buildings in Lusaka they all tell you the story.The good thing is we developing and their is no short cut.I rest my case.
# 27 kayaya now you are trying to reason at least.But the silly question you have posed better consult your social studies or civics. You seem to me suffer from complex problem.you sound shallow anyway
#27 yaya
Thank you for your question. As you can see, this paper has 2 parts and the first part dealt with our history ‘Where we were’ and this deals with ‘Where we SHOULD be.’ We can learn from history but we should never persist in blaming colonialism etc. We have had a chance to do well and we can. Someone says that this is idealistic, but why should it be impossible? I am not blaming government for every ill in Zambia, but government should lead. Just think about litter for instance. Where are the bins for people to dispose into? Central and Local government as well as all of us have a role to play.
We need to have institutions funded by the Zambian tax payer that will hold our Leaders accountable for the decisions they make and choose not to make (anyway not deciding is deciding not to decide). At the moment it seems Government is accountable to no one.
Furthermore we should inculcate a culture of being content with what you have. For example, if your source of income has enabled you to buy just a Toyota corolla, don’t start devising means of stealing or defrauding your employer so you can buy an M3 and boast to your friends that you are clever. I know of a fela in LSK who has a legitimate business but the capital was obtained by defrauding his employer. How many employees have we have heard that have defrauded their employers of millions of Kwacha. This vice is prevalent also in the municipal councils and in government.
If legitimately you can make money from other avenues apart from your monthly salary there is nothing wrong with that.
How I yearn for this kind of thinking, but more important how do we package this message into a political one to free our people. My recent experience of 3 weeks in Zambia is clearly stated by the writer! If you are human Zambia makes you bleed, this is one country that has more respect for foreigners than its own people. I have more respect in a foreign country for my skills than in Zambia and i can still be free from corruption and still be professional and not at the mercy of corrupt politicians and the hangers on.
When the shit hits the fan your Chinese and Lebanese corrupters will be far away
Good article! Zambia’s failings are as a result of a combination of several factors most of which the author has pointed out. These factors can be summed up into three:
(1) Gross mismanagement of the national economy.
(2) A bad colonial legacy.
(3) The country just has bad luck!
There are very few countries in the world that are endowed with as many natural resources as Zambia. With the right type of leadership and a good attitude from citizens, Zambia can develop to the level of South Africa within 15 years!!!
Dragon
15 years? Keep dreaming. More like 50 years. And enough of STILL clinging on to “blame the colonialists” mentality. It’s US who are the problem. You want to reach SA’s level in 15 years yet you still blame colonial legacy for where we are today?
33 dragon,
” (1) Gross mismanagement of the national economy.
(2) A bad colonial legacy.
(3) The country just has bad luck! ”
(4) Following foreign ideologies on economics
I would specifically refer to the idiocy of neoliberal economics. This ‘magical thinking’ about ‘the market’ stepping in and taking care of everything that originates with Milton Friedman and Ayn Rand.
Minister Musokotwane’s belief that Zambia will benefit when more Zambian workers pay income tax – what an arrogant a-hole.
The truth is that Zambia has everything to develop itself, and this mantra of ‘foreign capital’ being needed is absolute garbage.
Tax the mines for 1.2 billion a year, no interest, no obligations to anyone, and use it to invest in capital projects, industry, agriculture, anything that will see a return to the economy and revenues.
Let’s have a vision for an agriculture, where any farmer can easily get his goods to market and sell them at Lusaka’s or international prices. That will go a long way in reducing rural poverty and unemployment.
Let’s have a vision for a government that is close to the people and their needs, at the local council level not the ministry level.
A vision where that local government provides all the people’s basic services – education, healthcare, policing, forms and administration.
* Tax the mines heavily or nationalize them
* Decentralize government
* Protect infant industries and agriculture
* Zambian ownership, not foreign ownership