By David Kapoma
I have spent a few days thinking about what will happen to my country in the next five years and beyond. It is obviously benign for one to argue that no one apart from God knows our tomorrow. But as human beings we have the free will and the right to anticipate and imagine things. After all everything starts from imaginations.
I have also been thinking and imagining what name Zambia could be given if this country was a movie. I did come up with something that suite my imaginations, ‘HUNGER MANAGEMENT’. Fortunately this movie according to my imaginations wouldn’t be a horror or science fiction but just a stimulating thriller full of qualms. This can be a movie that once produced everyone would be looking forward to see. Anyways these are just my wired thoughts over my country ‘Hunger Management’.
Let me address something a little serious and important to us. When I look around and observe the happenings in our country, it appears so evident that things are not as they used to be years ago. We now have more ‘beautiful’ roads, huge shopping malls and some ‘few’ other things such as new hospitals, schools and clinics to mention but a few. Most of this construction was started by the man of action late president Michael Sata (MHSRIP) and completed by our ‘Humble’ man president elect Edger Chagwa Lungu’s government. I imagine where we could have been by now had the MMD started with the infrastructure development and accelerated it in the manner the PF has done in a short time.
Yes some good things done! I now compare Zambia to a home where the husband gets a collateral loan from a bank and spends it on things like putting tiles in the house, getting new sofas and TV sets and ensures the children are always given great meals. This money is borrowed remember, and has to be paid back with interest. This home will one day reach a time when everyone in the house starting from the father, mother and children must face reality. When the money you borrowed is finished you will even fail to afford the black tea you used to have before the loan appeared and served full English breakfast. A debt is a debt meant to be paid back.
Most of this construction was started by the man of action late president Michael Sata (MHSRIP) and completed by our ‘Humble’ man president elect Edger Chagwa Lungu’s government
The scenario above is not so different with where our country is at moment. The Zambian Economy is now in ICU and the chief surgeon, the IMF is here to ‘save’ us. The prescriptions we are yet to be given may not be sweet, and as such, Zambians have to brace themselves for a harder five (5) year ahead of us. Some more jobs may be lost. The prices of commodities will rise, and this is especially so when subsidies such as those on fuel, fertilizer, maize and electricity are removed. Yes, these subsidies have to be removed, why? Because the government is BROKE and can’t afford them anymore. I take you back to the time in 1990 when late president Chiluba scrapped off the idea of giving mealie meal on coupons because the government could not sustain them. And I hope that we shall not have a debate whether government is broke or not because the signs are they for everyone to see.
So we have to deal with the billions of dollars we borrowed. By the way it is now estimated that every Zambian including children and old people is owing at least 800 USD. So if you are one of those who boast that you are debt free, just stop it.
Now is time to be honest with ourselves and accept that the government is broke hence the salary delays, the delays in paying contractors and the abandoning of some projects. This is what happens when there is no discipline in economic governance. Not even the much celebrated Saudi Oil deal signed earlier this year is expected to cause any positive impact in the economy. But we have to be careful with who we blame. We can’t just put the blame on president Lungu. He does not work alone but with a team of men and women who surround him. The way ordinary citizens react to some economical decisions government makes contributes to a somewhat unstable economy. We are in the habit of celebrating every move the president and his cabinet makes, good or bad. Many times we behave as if we have been advised not to think and have taken such counsel.
Zambia has reached a point where the next government will really be about ‘Hunger Management’. We will be very wrong to expect much infrastructure development in the next five years. Money will just not be there for that. What we will see instead is government striving to deal with issues that affect the people directly. There will be very little to ‘Sonta’ in the next five years but much will be felt.
There is too much Anger and bitterness in the country at present time. We shall therefore need the kind of headship that will help deal with this anger, bitterness and tribalism that we are amenably preaching without shame.
Now let me get even much more serious with this as I conclude. While all this will be happening in the next five years and beyond if not careful, we will still have the ruling party and the opposition. Mostly the ruling party in Zambia and Africa is about mocking the opposition and causing defections to paint a certain picture. The opposition on the other hand is about opposing almost everything the government does. I hope and pray this time around that we can try and change our attitudes towards one another. We have to be very careful with the way we handle matters. There is too much Anger and bitterness in the country at present time. We shall therefore need the kind of headship that will help deal with this anger, bitterness and tribalism that we are amenably preaching without shame.
We need to show love and be united as a nation. We need to be more tolerant than ever before. We need to behave in a way that will bring about investor confidence. And let me mention that even as we wait for the constitutional court ruling on the presidential election petition, let us not focus our energy on those countries that are experiencing riots and civil unrest and compare them to ourselves. We are Zambia and Zambia is a ‘Christian’ nation. Let us remain calm and continue preaching love, peace, unity and reconciliation.
We are in a big hole. Unfortunately very few Zambians realise how bad out economy is. Brace!! brace !!brace !!brace!!
A good and sober analysis, this is what many of us have been seeing long before! Anyway, we pray for the best.
We are in a big hole because of someone’ carelessness.How did Jameson Vodka Chakolwa Rungu acquire $23billion in less than a year? Things will be bad in the next five years because of a visionless president…
Ba Mutototo – Sometimes mulekwatako insoni.
UKO!
Good one. Meanwhile PFs Edgar Lungu is by the constitution awaited him to hand over power to the speaker. Lungu is scared of PFs shadows.
Without handing over power to the speaker by Edgar, renders the decision by the Con Court to disqualify PF of Lungu. Edgar should hand over power to the speaker and let the Con Court make up their decision with regards to the substantial evidence.
The Con Court failed to guide on the 14 days, literally the weekend is uncounted for, only working days. Why didn’t the Con Court postpone any hearing of the petition on the weekend? Simple, they were not working.
Lungu give power to the speaker!
Which constitution are referring to. The Zambian one has no such provision, where the incumbent president hands over power to the speaker just because someone has filed a petition. The incumbent president or president-elect only hands over power when the petition is successful, i.e. the election is nullified and a 30 something day period is in effect to hold a fresh election.
THE INCUMBENT PRESIDENT OR PRESIDENT-ELECT IS NOT REQUIRED TO HAND OVER POWER JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE HAS PETITIONED THE ELECTION. That’s why the petition period is so short 14 days all inclusive.
We were telling you, but you were too busy to listen becoz u were dancing to DUNUNA REVERSE.
Just continue dancing to DUNUNA REVERSE, maybe the pain of hunger will go away.
I love that one. Meanwhile, us will continue with booze. Imagine a guy asking for beer in the club and you answer them like ” My friend go and register at social welfare for assistance” It will be nice to see how the common man suffers especially those that voted on tribal lines like the dundumwezi.
You have hit the nail on its head… We borrowed now its pay back time. It is always painful when paying back debt. Be prepared for anything. Thanks
Unfortunately the only strategy that Lungu and his dull PF can come up with to.try and solve the problem they created is to borrow even MORE KALOBA. And that is just to pay the INTEREST on the old kaloba!
When Zambians will really die from hunger will only be in 2024 when the WHOLE AMOUNT HAS TO BE REPAID!
Tell your children. Otherwise they will die from shock at the way Lungu has gotten away with stealing their future.
The problem is very big I doubt it can be solved. How many Zambians read such articles??? The sad thing is that the same called “common man” are the ones to suffer and they are they ones who where busy dancing to reserve. It’s a shame!
The sad thing is the same “common man” makes decisions for us the elite. No wonder politicians will say one thing today and change the next day. Few of us analyse and accept that not everything should be condemned and at the same time not everything should be praised. God gave us free will which i doubt the majority use it.
You have said that “There is too much Anger and bitterness in the country at present time. We shall therefore need the kind of headship that will help deal with this anger, bitterness and tribalism that we are amenably preaching without shame,” then this movie should be called “Anger Management” because this appears to be the biggest problem! Otherwise, this is a good analysis of what we are facing.
Mr. Kapoma this is so touching and powerful article. I wish most Zambians would see this but unfortunately our people don’t read. Please continue with the good works you are doing. At least you are not like Chilufya Tayali.
I love your ”Hunger Management story”. Great Script.. Thank you very much…. Please continue writing.
That fact is that the country has been taken over by the Kingdom of the dark world, meaning everyone in now in the dark, very few people will see light because there is darkness.Our King is now ruling by ignorance, deceit and he is there to destroy and kill. You will never realise this until everything is destroyed. They will be even subjecting you to prayers and be able to see miracles, but don’t forget that even Pharaoh’s magicians were able to perform miracle equal to that of Moses. So it is not easy to detect their deceitfulness’.
Kapandula, you are very correct. The kingdom of darkness has taken over the curse called Zambia. As some people have suggested let the curse be broken into North East Rhodesia and Barotseland. There is no doubt, there is nothing that binds the two regions, their Values are completely different and far apart. And you cannot have one part insulting the other and then claim one nation. Separation is the best and see how both sides will flourish as time will be spent on production than insulting and plotting how to fix the other never to rule the curse Zambia. In your heart you know very well this is true.
How I wish your today’s message could be reached by even half the country, am inspired, thank you and keep it Rowling!!! Peace….
Finally, someone who’s is exactly like me has written an article. Friends and family don’t listening to that, all they want me is to get back home and invest. But no thanks to my country at the moment to the my country I love so much. I’ve been away for almost 20 years and it was so hard to leave. I was simply tired of the same political stories of fake progress. IMF is worse than a kaloba.
It sounds scary, but its the truth. Just hoping for the best.
I’ve counted 14 cars in LUNGU’s Motorcade. What a wasteful Govt. Imagine how much fuel, allowances, accommodation etc. for each officer in the entourage. Is this the Govt expected to take the country out of it’s economic woes?
Zambians are doomed!
Many bad predictions have been made in recent past including about extreme hunger & shortages of food following drought. Guess what God is in control & none of the things predicted in the article will come to pass. Why, because we pray for Zambia & God keeps on answering our prayers. It is also folly to think GRZ is supposed to babysit all citizens. IMF package will mainly support BoP & other fiscal obligations. Growth can only come from productivity of Zambians & fiscal discipline. GRZ will not stop facilitating for growth through prudent allocation of resources even with IMF package. It’s up to us citizens to be productive.
The chosen one you are right. Every citizen should be fruitful and not wait for handouts from the government.
IMF to the rescue…He who pays the piper,calls the tune..We could be heading in the direction of Greece.
The article fails to explain that apart from expenditure on subsidies,infrastructure, admin costs including civil servants’ wages, Zambia’s earnings have dropped significantly due to low copper prices putting pressure on the treasury, leading to depreciation of the Kwacha. These have led to inflation and budget deficit calling for measures to reduce government expenditure and bring in some support to buoy up, stabilise the kwacha. This is important for ordinary people to know. Further, the article has failed to explained that even if HH,UPND had won, the belt tightening was still going to be done,the IMF was going to be invited by which ever party in power. Zambia is not alone in this:most commodity based economies are affected:Nigeria,Angola,Mozambique.. SO BE BALANCED AND STOP…
Bwafyaa the only reason you are explaining all that is because you are a PF cadre. Kapoma is not a cadre like you. He is talking about important things and you want to distract us with your cheap propaganda. Kapoma is 100% right and you are just ashamed
@17 S2c, I am not a PF cadre in anyway. Asking the author to balance his analysis does not qualify me to be a PF cadre. I am only looking for objectivity that is why I have NOT SAID that the article is FALSE but that IT IS ONE SIDED as it has FAILED TO BRING OUT OTHER CAUSES that have led our economy to where it is. By the way I even forgot to mention a NEAR SEVERE DROUGHT which has AFFECTED POWER GENERATION leading to HUGE ELECTRICITY IMPORT BILLS which is ANOTHER FACTOR AFFECTING THE ECONOMY! Please remember that BEFORE POLITICS AND PARTIES WE ARE PEOPLE WITH A CONSCIOUS so WE SHOULD NOT LACK the BASIC REASONING and OBJECTIVITY!
This analysis is myopic and by a very inept writer. There are certain things that need to precede others in order to catalyze the development process. Even in the house where a father buys tiles etc., roof over head is prime. Everything else is secondary. With new big good roads, that will simplify movement of goods between the rural and urban areas and investors can now erect there infrastructure anywhere and be able to access the requisites for them to flourish. The high cost of living is temporal. With time and when the cascade begins, the full benefits of those PF investments will be realized and life will become extremely cheap. The UK, Russia etc are borrowing heavily to invest in similar infrastructure because without it, an economy becomes difficult to grow. Uganda already…
removed subsidies on electricity and increased the tariffs. The cost of electricity went up and yes was biting but with investors coming in, competition in power generation and transmission will bring benefits to the consumers, The cost will drop sharply and they will leave us behind. That’s the way you should think mwaiche waumfwa ayi?
The only problem that you should have focused on is the “corruption” that goes with contractor engagement and theft by the same contractors. This happens between government officials and the contractors or the contractors use underhand methods to steal. I can give you an example. An Engineer is engaged to build say a pillar to support a bridge across a river. The depth of the piller below the river bed has to be 50 meters for a price of K1 million. The Engineer will go there and erect a pillar to a depth of 20 meters knowing no one will go under to verify and he walks away with more than 1/2 a million kwacha just as easy as that. Those are the things we should worry about. Hunger is for the street kids as if in farming there’s nothing one can get.
So there should be a big department at the anti-corruption commission with experts to monitor those contracts thus assuming the anti-corruption commission is not corrupt. At the rate things are in Zambia, its frightening. You have to pay for everything to anyone. Even to sign your documents etc., you have to pay. Now where did you ever see that kind of life? Its appalling to say the least. The new government has to start by creating law and order and sending all corrupt elements to jail and throw the keys. I have never seen a country with such corrupt minds of course driven by poverty but one hopes as things improve, there will be self cleansing. It will be like car jacking. As more scrap metal from Japan came in, car jacking stopped because now the scrap metal is available even…
at K2000 at all markets. The cars are like dry fish and no one will buy a stolen car. The next that the govt should do on the agenda is introduce meritocracy especially in the civil service and govt institutions. Nepotism, tribalism, petty jealousies, witchcraft mentality, stupid politics, lies etc are what has entrenched themselves all over. Qualified people got frightened and a lot left and renounced their citizenship all because of poverty stricken, power hungry scoundrels. Appointments should be based on merit and the government should introduce performance based contracts. Failure to meet targets by the bosses should instantly lead to their dismissal. That will restore some sanity. Tribalism/nepotism should be criminalized.
Next is filth. I have never seen such filth in my life like the one I saw in Lumumba road. What everyone forgets is that a clean environment will subsequently lead to less diseases and thus less money spent on health services. Littering, pissing and puffing and stuff like that should as a matter of urgency be criminalized too. For urban areas which have been struck by unemployed youth from the FTJ era when street kids started should be given land to start cooperatives. Some people have to set up basic infrastructure for them to build on and then clean the cities at night. How many trucks does one need to clean Lusaka seriously and using the Zambia Army, National Service etc. That filth should be taken as an emergency. State of emergency.
Next. Cairo road turned into a market. This is hilarious to be honest. Now you cant wear a nice suit and expect people to see it in town. Its a filthy market and all that is seen is garbage. Close all those trading stalls and give the buildings a new coat of paint. This is the new mayor’s job. This applies to all other cities.
Next: Turn the sixth national development plan into law. Its a well written master piece but to instill long term confidence in investors about changes in govts and accompanying policy changes, incorporate it into the laws of Zambia via parliament. The development has to be serial and not parallel as we saw the PF try something new and that finished the money. Too many projects starting at once. They are all their in the SNDP
David
I am happy you have put something to ink but sad because it is incongruent. your comparison of expenditure of the loan is opposing normal judgement. you cannot compare roads schools and hospitals to tiles and furniture in a house. To a development analist you have exhibited polarisation towards political analysis lacking intelligence. That has killed the whole steam of reason out of your article and rendered it a political slogan of condeming works of others.
I will ask you this question. Looking back at what was the state of the country in 2011if we had given you and Narep the intruments of power what would we be seeing today? come up with an article and dream realistically this time
So that is Chama-Lundazi Road? You are making good roads now in Zed ka?
Comrade writer there is nothing new out of what you have outlined because same has been said and written. The ideas or focasts are borrowed from previous writers and nothing strange about the whole lot to be seen like you are a mesiah unless you tell us you were born yesterday that you have never heard what you have written.
Zambia is not an island just like many other countries being dictated by the world wide economy crisis and whatever the shortfalls are the end results, whether you talk about unemployment or anything else. We do not want cheap stories like those from UPND president that when voted into power will create more jobs yet same person greatly contributed to massive job losses in the country when he hearded the Privatisation Team to cheaply pegged the sales of companies…
Cont’d ..for self gain. Today is when has come to his senses that there are people who need jobs. It is not easy as said, know that even developed countries are struggling on unemployment levels situation and none has attained a single digit to boast about.
@1 Daka, I wish you had called yourself rightly, Hachintombwe.