Government says Civil Society organisations are formed by people who have failed to make ends meet. Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda said this in Kitwe when he graced the Youth Day commemoration activities held at the Kitwe Playing Fields (KPF) under the theme ‘Zambia at 50, promoting mainstream for sustainable national
development’.
“People just rise one day and they form an organisation and they call it a civil society organisation for the purposes of living, most likely they have failed to make ends meet, they have never had anything that has made a contribution to the development of Zambia and probably this group they have formed is driven by external interest who provide the funding for them and then they think that only they themselves are entitled to have a view on Zambia,” Mr Chikwanda said.
He said it is morally unacceptable for a few civil society organisations to assume the role of constitution making on behalf of all Zambians.
Mr. Chikwanda said the PF government will not leave the role of enacting a new constitution to a few NGOs.
Mr Chikwanda said Government has a moral duty to play an active role in arriving at the next constitution.
He further said President Sata just like any other citizens of Zambia has an opinion on how best the process should be handled.
Mr Chikwanda has accused some NGOs pushing for the enactment of the new constitution of serving unknown foreign interests.
“Let me say this, Zambia is a common property for all of us, a child born a few minutes ago has the same stake in Zambia as President Sata. We are all stakeholders, therefore every Zambian is entitled to a view about the way Zambia is governed,” Mr Chikwanda said.
He added, “We know that people would be entitled to views about the constitution but we do not accept that a few Zambians who have never even come to the electorate to seek a mandate should be allocated the right to speak for Zambians, they make themselves synonymous with the Zambians. It is morally unacceptable and implausible that a few individuals allocate themselves the right to speak for Zambians.”
Mr.Alexander Chikwanda also said said there is need to empower youths with life survival skills such as carpentry and farming if the country is to benefit from them in terms of national and social development.Mr Chikwanda said Government would furnish the youths with the necessary tools that would help them develop into productive citizens
for them to contribute to national development.
It seems idi-ot-cy is highly infectios within the PF. Here is a man who had a modicum of dignity and his logic has been overtaken by PF illiteracy- awe ine na papa. Despite your faults sir I never expected such a statement from you whom I considered level-headed.
Read!! this is meadia spin ! the key word is MOST LIKELY “People just rise one day and they form an organisation and they call it a civil society organisation for the purposes of living, MOST LIKELY they have failed to make ends meet, they have never had anything that has made a contribution to the development of Zambia and probably this group they have formed is driven by external interest who provide the funding for them and then they think that only they themselves are entitled to have a view on Zambia,”
I have worked in the NGO world for a long time and this unfortunaley is what prevails. its more about survival than the core purpose of what is written on their papers. Thieving, fabricating workshop reports, annual target reports, name it.
In all honesty I have more respect for men and women who try hard to think outside the box and form NGO to make ends meet than Chikwanda, Sata and all the PF stooges who are enriching themselves by stealing poor people ‘s tax revenue.
People who run NGO do 10 times more to help the poor than the PF does currently. So demean them when they work hard to supplement government efforts is utter stupidity.
PF stooges of all people should be the last ones to condemn the civil society because they rode on their back massively when they were trying to get into government. And they should not forget that the reason why the NGOs supported them was to deliver on their promises. Now that the NGOs who campaigned massively feel cheated they have every right to make demands on behalf of the…
there are genuine NGO’s but many of them are fakes. I can attest to that fact. and by the way this has nothing to do with Action Aid. and this is the same reason most of them do not want to register under the new NGO act which although well intended I think is too rigid.
Thumbs up to NGOs executives for they work hard to get funding. Unlike the PF stooges who take poor people tax revenue and steal it after concocting a tyranny of lies to let people vote for them.
Now its 99% of what Sata and his PF promised people that won’t be done.
The only comforting thing is that most people up down the country have now realised that PF can not be trusted with instruments of power once more. And come 2016 they will not vote for them.
The CB and most parts of Muchinga , Luapula and Northern provinces are feeling cheated are slowly losing faith in Sata and his PF.
UPND and HH the only way forward for a better and fairer Zambia in which all freedoms will be guaranteed.Shame on PF for arresting young girls for demanding the constitution. On this action PF…
Ba Chikwanda shikulu, elyomwapwafye ( you are now finished). Some Civil Society Institutions will even support your party and you claim to be working with them when it suits your agenda… Really, now you are shifting name calling from your party to CSOs what a shame. you could have left this calling of each other useless, to your party which has useless MPs, thanks to HE for confirming this factor.
Its seems Ukwa is infecting everyone with stupidity
IT IS TRUE THAT NGOs MAINLY SERVE THE INTEREST OF AN OUTSIDE DONNER AND NOT ELECTORATES. SO, THEY SIMPLY HAVE NO MANDATE FROM ZAMBIANS BUT OUTSIDE DONNER. SO THEY SHOULDN’T BE LET TO SPEAK FOR THE CITIZENS FROM WHOM THEY DID NOT HAVE ANY MANDATE. BUT ZAMBIANS ARE MOSTLY THICK-HEADED THEY WOULDN’T KNOW THIS. AN MP FROM ANY POLITICAL PARTY CAN SPEAK FOR THE CITIZEN BY VIRTUE OF THE MANDATE BESTOWED UPON HIM/HER.
This is true Mudala, let anyone running an NGO show us if they did succeed outside any NGO work. These people running NGOs are failures and sellouts and out to sell the nation for the mighty dollar. They are FAILURES should not determine the destination of the nation. These FAGOTS actually deserve to be sent to the gallows because what they are doing is tantamount to treason of the highest order
Surprising that when these NGO’s support government these shallow sentiments are not articulated. Immediately, the NGO’s oppose the government in the slightest way, they are failures and called all sorts of names. You guys are pathetic!
Why not demand that Sata shows you what he has achieved without being part of a political party or running a political party.
HH is the only political leader in Zambia who has shown all the youth that they can make it without politics through hard work and good thinking.
Your Sata can not survive without attaching himself to any political party. If it happens that PF loses elections to another party, you see Sata defect to join another and start condemning his own party. In any case he has already started by calling his own MPs stupid.
So dont be in harry to point fingers at others when the one you worship Sata, is even worse than those F.o.olish Chikwanda is accusing.
If they can’t think out side the box , what can Chikwanda offer them to survive when he is destroying the…
This is a very demeaning statement coming from a very senior Minister (by age and by ranking) in a democratic nation! What makes it dangerous is that people such as @Kadobi will parrot and call all NGO’s “These FAGOTS” as if all Zambian belong to one hybrid. Interestingly, one of the cardinal principals of a democratic society is the separation of powers between the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature! Statements such as these by ABC, locking up youths (paradoxically whose day we were celebrating) when they wear T-shirts not pro ruling party, when they label anyone with a different opinion or view as sour from losing the elections even 3 years after the fact, smirks of incompetence. I supported PF and unfortunately, if they don’t take immediate stock, they will lose the plot!
Kadobi and the Matrix may God forgive you. Blaming you will not help.But kindly ask yourself a question Father Frank Bwalya ended up forming an NGO, to whose advantage was it? just to sight one out of the many NGOs.
My uncle is now loosing it… Please address the loosing Kwacha. CSO have there role just like Govts, churches, the media etc… lets appreciate their role
Actually this shameless FOSSIL is not only losing it because he NEVER had it and no one even elected him to parliament because he was just nominated! This mother fuc.ker will leave the economy literally dead!
This is a stupid statement.
Why do people become so obsessed when they are in govt? When they are in opposition they make a lot of sense. But put them in power- aaaa something else. They use these same NGO to get their support. Once they are in power they turn against them and form all sort of laws just to silence them.
The late president Chiluba used the trade union to ascend to power.People had a lot of trust in him. But when he became president he and Sata liberalised the Union by passing that stupid Act. To day the union is useless and toothless because of too many splinter unions. How can such people claim to represent the poor if they can destroy institutions that empower the people? Sad statement from this man indeed.
What an i.d.i.o.t.ic thing to say, especially by a senior government official. See, countrymen, this is why I am calling for a revision to the balancing of leadership at the top; these geriatrics (again, no disrespect meant to the elderly) know they have nothing to lose at this stage by making such unfounded assertions.
It is ironic that when we really had no choice at independence, our leader was a 40 year old (or barely there) – AND now that we do have a choice, our leadership is tipped towards people whose sale-by date reads “best before 1980″… is this reflecting the sort of society we have? So then this is acceptable as a day’s work for a speech writer???
This is unbelievable backwardness coming from a minister of finance who in his capacity should have a better understand of the critical role the civil society plays in a society than an average Zambian on the street. It is disgusting that he made such a speech to the youths. What about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation?
These are really the last kicks of a dying horse. The Civil Society plays an important role in government due to their non political affiliation and simply by the nature of their establishment which is solely based on championing the interest of the public without fear or favor or profit maximization. In addition to helping the poor and needy; yes! The civil society can form to petition government to enact a people driven constitution against obstructive regimes.
Mr. Chikwanda, in what capacity are you speaking on behalf of the people of Zambia?
IN OTHER WORDS, WHO ELECTED YOU? AND WHERE?
Just like politicians like him go into politics to steal from the poor. Who is better now between the two.
If CSOs do nothing, at least they steal from sponsors (rich nations), not them politicians like Chikwanda who steal from the poor.
From just after independence, he has been a parasite on the nation’s purse pushing us into huge debt over and over the same person and today has the audacity of calling the people who are protecting the masses (for whatever reason, survival or otherwise, but they are doing a good job for us) from these vultures. Without CSOs, we are dead meat with the kind of vultures, hynas and foxes like him we have in government.
What theme was that? Ama incompletes yekayeka. Promoting mainstream what?
Pamela Chisanga. Thank you. I am glad it was not MacDonald Chipenzi, Lee Habasonda, Muwanei Sikota and other ‘bantustan proclaimed tribes by Sata aka Membe’.
Membe aka Sata vuvuzela would have been calling HH all manner of insulting names and suggesting he is arrested for treason. But thank God it is Pamela CHISANGA (bemba).
Now all bemba tribalist can just insult and intimidate NGOs and not organise PF militia to molest this courageous woman. Thank you Pamela CHISANGA for shielding HH and according to Sata aka Mumembe the tribes that will never have a stake in government other than those who bastardise their ethnicity like Munkombe, Siamunene, Monde and such other selfish and greedy people.
It is true, out of 10 NGOs, 9 are fake. Take stock of these NGOs, you will be shocked. Just like MPs, most of them it is ‘kandile’ type of arrangement. The go their to enrich themselves. They forget about the electrorate that put them in parley.
Stupi.t minister
‘promoting mainstream for sustainable national development’ , what does this sentence mean???? Me am scratching my head
Look at who’s talking – a fossil that has outlived its usefulness. Your job bwana Chikwanda, whatever your name means, is to deal with the failing economy, not talking about NGOs that are actually trying hard to help you and your fellow failures get things right.
Media propangada from the minister i guess…Part of what the word “civil” implies is tolerance and the accommodation of pluralism and diversity.The first and most basic role of civil society is to limit and control the power of the goverment or president.
There is nothing wrong with any person who feels they should be part of an NGO or form one, just as its right for a politician to form a political party ie SATA formed pf because he thought he could contribute to the “development” of the country.
this is what exactly what these actors from NGOs are trying to do. contribute to zambia’s young democracy and the development of zambia as a whole.
This is not a bunch of people wanting make ends meet. BUT playing a role in building and strengthening democracy. voluntary or…
Mr. Chikwanda, this is an extremely irresponsible and disappointing statement. Posterity will judge you harshly.
Your children must be squirming with shame!!
Forget about judgement of posterity. He need to be judged now for last two and half years of gross mismanagement and absolute incompetence.
Well spoken MR Minister, these NGOs are failures, they just represent themselves and their families. They are *****s, claiming to speak on behalf of Zambians my foot.
And put your foot in your **** jerk
Unlike you Minister Chikwanda, they are at least not stealing tax payers’ money.
MP’s stealing Zambian taxpayer’s kwacha. NGO’s stealing foregein taxpayers money
Mr Chikwanda you have been in government for so many years and now you are part of sebana wikute unlike NGO you are busy making your ends meet by stealing zambian money because you are in office illegally you have passed you retirement age, so what do you expect when old people like you are still licking the president’s ass where do you think young people will go that ‘s why they are opening NGO’s because they also need to survive so mr mundala you are the wrong person to talk about ends meet you have also betrayed the benbas because you need to feel your stomach zambian politics is politics of the stomach that why sata insults them everyday and they are still there sorry for the big man you can do better.
Chikwanda you really lost your completely become useless just like the rest of pf ministers. Can chikwanda tell the nation why pf government constituted or set up at colossal expense the annel silungwe constitution commission when pf is not willing to come up with a new constitution. Talk of abuse of public resources. Time will come for pf to account for all the wanton abuse of human rights and financial resources.
There is nothing wrong with the Clause that refers to all Land being under the custody of the president. All Land, water, natural resources, state built infrastructure falls under the custody of the president ultimately. This is not a chiefdom where chiefs are ultimate custodians. Let them advocate for a kingdom like Swaziland if they want ultimate power over land. This is not old Barotse kingdom.The president delegates some powers to chiefs to manage land issues wrt subjects. It is just like how Councils, ministry of lands have powers over land in certain respects. They are not ultimate custodian. So chiefs are ignorant about the fact that the ultimate custodian of all land in the nation is the president and not them? If it wasnt like that in the old constitution, then it must be changed.
opposition parties are silent about that and yet the whole constitution is now being put in the back seat with ease because of the voice of bought chiefs like Chieftainess (Nkomesha or something) of Chongwe whatever her name is.
Nothing has changed but the post is trying to confuse chiefs that land has been taken away from them through liar chief Nkomeshya. Before land was vested in the president. in the draft constitution, land is still vested in the president as follows:
296. (1) Land is vested in the President and held by the President in trust for, and on behalf of, the people of Zambia.
(2) Land shall be administered and controlled for the common benefit of the people of Zambia.
297. (1) Land shall be delimited and classified as State land, customary land and such other classification, as prescribed.
(2) The President may, through the Lands Commission, alienate land to citizens and non-citizens, as prescribed.
(3) Land shall be held for a prescribed tenure.
Current Constitution:
Customary land is administered by local traditional leaders. Zambia has 73 tribes, 240 chiefs, 8 senior chiefs, and
4 paramount chiefs. The chiefs and village-level headmen have authority under formal and customary law to
oversee customary land and protect their community’s culture and welfare. The traditional leaders grant
occupancy and use-rights, oversee transfers of land, regulate common-pool resources (opening and closing
grazing areas, cutting of thatch), and adjudicate land disputes. They are often the only point of contact between
state officials, donors, and rural communities (Chileshe 2005; Brown 2005).
The 1995 Land Act vests all Zambian land in the President and recognizes two tenure types: customary tenure and leasehold rights to state land…
When registering NGOs, it should be clear what their role is. All NGOs at the moment are behaving like opposition political parties or their surrogates. The registrar of societies should deregister any NGO which departs from its intended purpose. Why is there no NGO advocating for infrastructure development.
Iyeeee ba Chikwanda, you have committed a falacy of generalisations. Cheshire Homes is an NGO run by catholics. It assists thousands of abandoned children with different extreme disabilities providing them with love, care, compassion, education and support. Surely how can you say those wonderful people providing such a very important service in Zambia have failed to make it in life?
I am sure you know CHAZ (Churches Health Association of Zambia). It is an NGO. They run 40% of all health services in rural Zambia – how dare you say the men and women working in CHAZ are stranded, they are there because they have failed to make it in life.
Ba Chikwanda, you are shame! Go back to logic classes so you can avoid fallacious thinking.
Mr Chikwanda, I have a two Masters degrees and a Doctorate from top rated Universities. I find your comments ancient and retarded and challenge you to a live debate on National Television on the subject matter.
Mind you God is watching and so is the whole world, you will account for your service to this country one day and in eternity before God Almighty.
It will be intersting is what you Obituary would look like if you were to die tomorrow.
I rest my case! please dont insult Zambians that are trying to make an honest contribution to our great nation.
Is hon. Chikwanda happy with the outdated constitution which favored the minority white? And now it favors the minority in government. Mr. Chikwanda has stopped thinking like an educated person, he is thinking like a person who doesn’t understand the constitution. The Constitution should have been in place last year. Because of such ministers we can have no answers to what happened to Gabon Air disaster, to the late Hon. Paul Tembo etc. Time is precious. Time do not wait for a person. Time passed and KK, the late JTC, the late Mwanawasa and RB failed to give us a new constitution. 2 and half years has passed and president Sata has failed to give us a new constitution. Failure to give us a new constitution confirms that reducing poverty is just a mere dream by PF government.
What people do not appreciate is that the president is dull and not educated. If you happen to be appointed into his government educated as you are and you want to parrot your tuma credentials around thus amplifying the fact that sata is a total dunderhead, then you will be gotten rid of my friend. Join PF and the government, subdue your intelligence. Just speak nonsense like my dear MOF and you are well with sata. I will not lie, it is extremely painful for me to be ruled by a grade 4 but i have decided to grit my teeth and wait for 2016 although the thought of the amount of damage these chaps will have done by then is very very scarey.
this is what old age can do,
Greed, Arrogance, Stupidity, Theft and the list goes on and on to descibe this ancient waste of space.
Hon Chikwanda, the people you are insulting are the same people who have made you to be the richest in PF Govt . This are tbe same people who elected Sata , now they have become y
Useless in your mind . Time is coming when they will become useful . Akape walilapo kaba kalwani. Umwaice alile imo , ashika nobuchinga . Remember mumembe eminine , aletelela nabalele . Ulusale lumo lono umwanda . Ichonanswa, chitula kumwela. Ipalama nyina lyalaisa mu 2016. Fulunyemba ukwenda amako , nipabamwishibe . Uwakwishiba akapona .
Mr. Chikwanda can you justify the colossal amount of money spend on the constitution making process? Surely all that was not in vain? How can we spend so much money on an activity then throw such a thing kumalabo, waste heap? You owe us that much to explain the expenditure. Our cries are not out of nothing. Take this constitution to a referendum, then you can tell the Civil societies to go hang after that. As Finance Minister you need to be concerned about wastage of money. Do you want the coming new government to have another constitutional review commission? It is not disputable that the current constitution is faulty, otherwise why did you form a review commission in the first place? Was it out of nothing?
This reminds me of RB who was laughing at the hungry (Njala yamupaya). But at least the MMD became arrogant after 20 years and not after 2 years like the PF. PF, you cant afford to fight everyone. Remember just yesterday you were with NGO’s and they blindly supported you. But remember also that the same way you came that’s the same way you will go ( ballot) but unfortunately for you it will be more painful because it will be a one term reign. It is said that you should not burn the bridges after crossing because you may need them later. Honestly what is the PF doing right?
1. Economy- souring
2. Debt- Going up
3. Governance Index- Worsening
4. International Community Confidence- Diminishing
5. Investor confidence- Eroding
6. Relationships-Souring
Honarable Chikwanda, are you telling us that all MP’s have gone into parliament to develop Zambia? At least we’ve had confessions of MPs who have gone there to eat
Mr Chikwanda, i agree with you that NGO’s are trying to make ends meet but whereas you are looking at it from the negative, let me educate you that what you are talking about is actually called creativity and job creation. Have you the statistics of how many people are employed in NGO’s and how much they are paid? Its a shame for a person of your status (Minister of Finance), whose many preoccupation would be to encourage job creation is busy speaking against the very principle. If it was in other countries, your statement is enough to force you to resign. Honestly how do you mock people that are creating decent jobs when your government is failing to do that? Now i understand why Edith has been very critical of your capacity to be at the helm of the most important Ministry