Mr Sinkamba said the President will start the journey to 2021 on a wrong footing with a bloated cabinet when the country should be serving.
He said creation of new Ministries is imprudent considering that the country’s economy has shrunk by by about US$8 billion in one year.
“On ministries, our take is that the creation of new ministries has made cabinet to be too bloated. From the bloated cabinet, it is very clear that President Lungu is starting the journey to 2021 on a very wrong foot. It is very clear that President Lungu is inconsiderate of the economic fundamentals that he set himself to achieve
” With an economy that has shrunk by about US$8 billion in one year, we the Greens find it extremely imprudent for President Lungu to create more ministries. From all angles, creation of ministries appears to have nothing to do with actualization of the Industrialization and Job Creation Strategy and Youth Empowerment Action Plan, which primarily form the cornerstone of PF economic growth agenda. It is now very clear in our minds that President Lungu will run a highly consumptive government, and a management approach certainly runs afoul of IMF austerity regime. The future looks bleak,”he said.
He wondered how the PF government will achieve its macroeconomic objectives for 2016 when it failed to achieve an annual real GDP growth rate of 5.0% last year.
“Take for instance the macroeconomic objectives for 2016. First, his government has failed to achieve an annual real GDP growth rate of 5.0 percent. In 2015, GDP shrunk by US$4.9 billion, and is set to sink further by about US$3.3 billion by the end of 2016; government has failed to increase domestic revenue mobilization to at least 20.4 percent of GDP from 18.1 percent of GDP projected in 2015. It is unlikely that revenue collections for 2016 will exceed 15 percent; government has failed to reduce the budget deficit to 3.8 percent of GDP from 6.9 percent of GDP projected in 2015.
“Deficit is expected to 10 percent of GDP; government has failed to limit domestic borrowing to 1.2 percent of GDP. Domestic borrowing is in excess of 3 percent of GDP; government has failed to maintain single digit inflation with an end-year target rate of no more than 7.7 percent. Inflation is now hovering around 19%; government has failed to accelerate the diversification of the economy, particularly towards tourism, energy, agriculture and agro-processing as there has been nothing tangible to show for 2016; government has failed to maintain international reserves at no less than 4 months of import cover. The cover is less than three months,” he said.
He also said pronouncements on job creation has been mere rhetoric as there is nothing to show for all the strategies on job creation.
“Government has failed to create employment opportunities through accelerated implementation of programmes such as the Industrialization and Job Creation Strategy and the Youth Empowerment Action Plan. Up to this point in time, these strategies are mere rhetoric as there is nothing tangible to show at the close of 2016,” he said.
In the absence of the largest opposition party taking on the government, the Green Party will have to provide the checks and balances. Well done.
He is actually right, though I dont think much of him
Thanks
BB2014
OKAY! ONLY SMOKING GANJA IS WELL TIMED IN YOUR HEAD FOR YOU WEED SMOKERS, HEY! JUST GO AND CONTINUE TO SMOKE IT UNDER YOUR DUVET, SIR.
Wawawiwa!
Do we have editors in Zambia anymore surely how do you okay something like this “…..a bloated cabinet when the country should be serving.” …really laughable.
Good point but knowing PF and their leader EL, They will just rubbish this and when their leader EL will be challenged by the same, He just call for prayers to blind ford his followers who think he is God sent and yet he is the devil in sheep skin who is busy amassing wealth with RB while majority live on less than $1.00 per day.
Sinkamba thinks in billion dollars, the economics of Qatar. I don’t think Zambians are interested in honest richness, no wonder they rejected HH and Sinkamba’s dollar projects, like dobo trading.
Lungu is about people, human resources. his go is to create 1 MIllion jobs. He has to lead by example, enjoy as many people as he can do himself.
I actually agree with Sinkamba on this one. How I wish other political Parties would engage Govt the way The Greens have done here. If these statistics are true and can be substantiated, then kudos to Sinkamba for doing his homework before issuing this constructive criticism to Govt. Any Govt would be disweded from going forward with more MINISTRIES with a shrinking budget—impressed with Mr. Sinkamba’s approached though, with facts!
Oops, meant “Dissuaded” and NOT “Disweded”!!!
Well said. Creation of new ministries can wait for now..! Our budget should be more of productivity nature than that of consumption..! We are all ready to sacrifice the imf conditions provided our politicians do the same. Long live Pf..!
The drunk sick pr!ck lungu is busy creating jobs for his fellow thugs
You only resort to insults because you can’t articulate. Mr Sinkamba is on to a good thing, don’t undo it with your venom. Unnecessary.
It’s dununa reverse for sure
Chakolwa Edgar Kaloba Wrungu can’t behave well.
Iyee ba nez kikiki! Ubutonga bweka bweka! ECL is Presido for next 5 years!
kikiki ati tonga. mune am not tonga, my tribe is not important. It is people like you who believe in wako ni wako who have led to buffoons like lungu getting power and then abusing it by stealing votes just to remain in power.
You should be ashamed of yourself. This has nothing to do with tribe.
This is not primary school mockery, I don’t see how tribe comes into this and how the duration PF will remain in power helps the situation. PLEASE learn to put caderism aside and just look at issues as a Zambian …..looks like people just don’t learn in Zambia we have short-lived partys very soon the PF will be a distant memory just like the ones before it, but we still have our ZAMBIA and it’s issues to grapple with
Coz you are used to drink diet water this is why you are condemning new ministry’s , thoug the president has arcknoleged to religious ministry
lol you cannot even spell. How then, can you comprehend national issues? Educate yourself first, and learn to give credit when its due. Stop caderism! If the numbers Sinkamba is quoting are true, we are doomed!!! You may eat with the PF in this generation but your spawn may not have that same privilege!
Mr Sinkamba is right, this is not the time to create new ministries. The challenge is to work out how to squeeze in all the work into fewer ministries. Tanzanian model?
WE DO NOT NEED A CABINET MINISTER FOR RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS FOR INSTANCE.
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Sinkamba is 110% correct. E.g The proposed portfolio of religious affairs keeps my eyeblows raised. No need Mr. President. We need the church that will offer checks and balances independent and free from shackles of government’s influence.
The president has shown interest but the onus is on MPs not to allow it. Yes son of man, God wants you to build his house not a Ministry in this highly emotionally charged political landscape.
Yes, people will be watching, checking and comparing PF’s performance against metrics and promises made during the campaigns and the keynote parley speech. This is important. I understand that the president feels obliged to pay back to the church for there unwavering support but the ministry is not the answer. Don’t blot your government please.
The temptation of pleasing every Jim and Jack with a ministerial job for their support is extremely high and blinding. There can only be so many slots for Ministers. Kindly calm down and keep your eyes on the ball and the big picture. The 5 year tenure is just a drop in the ocean and its end is just around the corner. We don’t want you to hand over power to freaky HH in 2021 through your actions now. There is so much at stake here.
Lungu is Lazy ..near run a successful anything …what would he know about saving for a rainy day!!
Instead of discussing Lungu why don’t you elaborate what you and your party can offer.
You have no idea! People comment on the stoopidity in front of their faces. Right now it is Lungu’s that needs shedding.
Why should other people be teaching the government. You were supposed to vote for people who know what to do. Not these job-on-training chaps.
” Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied”. (From the Good Book) Ba Sinkamba, you are on point and I m with you in this instance. You are becoming a quality opposition leader, slowly and surely. Consistency is all that is now required.
What Good book? You mean your oppressor book that is written in third person to keep you down and docile
He is correct, Lunch is creating jobs for his friends. Think of how much they are going to spend on new cars for the ministers, allowances, corruption, gratuity at the end of the term of office……. you not talking about thousand of kwach it’s millions. You may think this is right wait and see. For example minister of Traditional affairs what is he going today all year round for 5 years. We are in debt and you are their creating ministries. It’s the citizen tax payers who will fund them and make these guys rich when you are spending a $2 per day to feed your families. Open your eyes and not think of tribalism.
No vision and no future. So it is now surprising that Lungu has no idea on fiscal balance. All he knows is spend and spend. Following the disputed elections IMF should consider withold financial assistance to this wasteful govt. The USA,EU and Western Creditors should stay out of Zambia until Lungu returns to legitimacy and legality.
He can appoint up to 30 Cabinet Ministers out of which he has created 4 new ones.
The weed president of the weed party should not be so ignorant. The country is actually going to save. What the president has done is to simply realign departments from certain ministries to the new ones. In the immediate past, there were 20 ministers, 37 deputies plus 10 provincial deputies, making a total of 67 respected leaders. Now we will just have 30+10. There will be no increase downstream but just transfers of departments. Think, it doesn’t hurt!
Ba @Dununa; How does what you have stated justify creation of Ministry of Chiefs and Ministry of Religious affairs – for example? How will these Ministries help bring down the inflation and the current fiscal deficit ( which by the way was created by this same PF government)? Progressive people learn from past mistakes like analyzing how we came to be in this state in such a short time of PF rule.
It’s not ill- timed. It’s just plain stup!d and irresponsible, that’s what it is. The country is broke and doesn’t need unnecessary ministries set up as pay centres for PF cadres. They need to cut costs not increase them.
Sinkamba, is right, we dont need, these more minstries or big cabinet
1. Chiefs affairs
2. Community development & social welfare
The two can be departments under ministry of local governement and assigned ps or director to head them especially now that we a heading and implementing decetralization.
3. minstry of Gender should be a department in in cabinent office or attached to minstry of sports and headed by ps.
That is one way the reduction can be done
We can also have one Ministry of Education, why 2?
Again, 40 ministers for a small and poor country like Zambia is just too much.
Even after the elections, I am yet to see the Roadmap or plan how PF wants to lead this country in the next 5yrs, all I am seeing are “bloating” ministries and pronouncement not different from those during campaign.
Campaign is over, we want to see tangible plans and not pronouncements. So many ministries just brings in bureaucracy, and bureaucracy is a breading ground for corruption, which is a killer of national development
Sinkamba right on! @ Kanene I also did not see any road map to a sustainable economy, I only saw intentions which need to be backed by action. Oh how I miss late Mwanawasa!
@6.1 NEZ, be more articulate, so what exactly are you saying? So in your opinion, buffoon Hakachilema would be better than “buffoon” Lungu? What kind of logic is that, no wonder someone is trying to make sense out of you by putting you in a tribal category.
Look Mr NEZ, Hakachilema lost his claim to good economic management the moment he went into alliances with Mmembe, muzungu wopusa, and last nail in his coffin was when he appointed GBV as running mate, a sick joke with our country’s future and Zambians had no time for jokes at the ballot.
With the composition of UPND introduced by HH including those corrupt elements discarded from PF, UPND is really like a cancerous growth from PF and should really be called U.PF.D or UPND-PF.
On cabinet size much as I would want to agree with my friend Smokes Sinkamba, I also observe two things which mitigate the size of cabinet.
1. Sometimes a larger structure can tackle more problems by allocating more human resources (ministers) to increase focus.
2. The Constitution as amended has also somewhat addressed the so called large cabinet by doing away with the cost of deputy ministers. On the balance now, even with a 30 member cabinet the total number of ministers is much less than it was before with each ministry having one, two or even three deputy ministers in some cases.
Prudence and frugality is what is needed here! Sinkamba is spot on! we do not want to endup like Zimbabwe, check this, from Independent news and I quote, ” Meanwhile, time is running out for the debt-ridden government to settle its US$1,8 billion arrears to preferred international financiers — World Bank, IMF and AfDB — in order to access AfDB bridge financing for distressed countries like Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe.
The country’s debt overhang at US$10,8 billion continues to be a major impediment to its re-engagement with the international community and limits access to concessional funding.
According to an AfDB internal memo titled Zimbabwe Processing of Debt Arrears Clearance Information Note for July 2016: The African Development Fund-13 Report, the regional bank’s deputies…
Contd…The African Development Fund-13 Report, the regional bank’s deputies agreed to ring-fence Transition Support Facility Pillar II resources for arrears clearance of Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe on a first come, first served basis.
This means should Zimbabwe, which has already missed its June 2016 deadline, fail to meet its commitments and fail to repay arrears, the window could be closed.
Meanwhile, Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya and other government officials are expected to be in Washington from October 3-9 for the IMF annual meetings. Zimbabwe will however not be on the agenda.