By David Kapoma
The things that are happening in our governance system indicate that we have confusion in our midst. Many times I think that our leaders must be very happy that our people don’t have a reading culture and that we actually forget very fast. If we had the character of reading and holding our leaders accountable, am sure by now the ordinary citizens could have stated asking some difficult questions. Yes some people are beginning to sense danger but only talk when under the blankets due to paranoia.
I have spent the last few weeks observing and trying to understand where we are going as a nation. My feeling is that one can’t tell whether we are going forward, backwards or sideways. The only thing I know for sure is that our head of state is being told a lot of lies by those close to him or he himself is not interested in sorting out the mess we found ourselves in.
Just a reminder, currently every Zambian citizen owes the international lending institutions that provided us with the loans approximately 800 USD (ZMK 8,000) through the debt we have accrued in the last four years or so. We are expected to start paying back this debt in 2022, meaning that as we are ‘pretending’ to be feeling the pressure now, we may only be able to feel the real heat starting from 2022 and beyond. The problem our country is faced with therefore is not a small matter that our MPs will just laugh and joke about in parliament.
When opening parliament, the president stated as I quote “Our efforts to move the economy from its current heavy dependence on copper, to one based on agriculture, livestock and fisheries and their entire value chain will continue in a more robust manner”. This statement means that as a country we will put our focus on improving and strengthening the country’s agriculture sector. Many people including some senior citizens have argued that Hon. Dora Siliya is better suited to be the minister of agriculture. Their logic I don’t understand.
I find it strange that after making such a powerful statement regarding making Zambia a food basket, the president went ahead and appointed Hon. Siliya as minister of Agriculture. This is someone who does not even understand whether ZAMBEEF keeps cattle or not. For heaven’s sake we are talking about a person who won’t dare step in the mud with her high heeled ‘skuna’ and yet we put her in charge of the dustiest ministry and expect that she will perform miracles. Did we really have a shortage of individuals who can man that ministry properly? Am I wrong to suggest that it is a contradiction to think that we can make the agriculture sector the backbone of our economy and yet we get a minster who I believe is better suited under ‘pencil’ ministries?
“My government will continue to undertake austerity measures to stabilise the macro economic situation and build greater investor confidence. Further, we will ensure that our macro-economic policies are consistent and predictable, to enable the public and private sector plan effectively in the medium and long-term”. This is a direct quotation from the speech the president presented to parliament.
The term ‘Austerity measures’ refer to official actions taken by the government during a period of adverse economic conditions, to reduce its budget deficit using a combination of spending cuts and or tax rises. With this pronouncement, the president went ahead and created four (4) more ministries, an indication that he either did not understand what he meant by ‘austerity measures’ or such pronouncement was just another political rhetoric. Creating new ministries does not show signs of seriousness by government to reduce government expenditure as stated by the president himself and the Minister of Finance. At a time like this unfortunately it becomes very difficult to believe what our leaders say.
Almost two (2) weeks ago, the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) announced a sharp rise in fuel prices. Petrol increased to K13.70 from K9.87 while diesel was increased to K11.40 from K8.59. The ERB attributed the upward adjustments to the volatility of the kwacha which has fallen by 30 percent against the US dollar since the last price adjustment was announced in July 2015. On the other hand, government stated that the increase of fuel was as a result of the removal of subsidies. So far we don’t know who is telling the truth and who is lying, all we all is that the price of fuel increased and the ministers got more money in their pockets through their fuel allowances. The increase is despite government signing a very good oil deal with Saudi Arabia, a deal that was initially going to drop the price of fuel to at least K 5.5 per litre. Such is life and I believe we better get used and get going.
Before the August elections, load shedding reduced and even ended in most parts of the country on the premise that Maamba Collieries had started the generation of about 150 MW electricity. A statement was made to this effect on July 25 2016 indicating that load shedding was going to be the thing of the past by December 2016. Again this must have just been another statement since the exact opposite is now happening. We have more load shedding and no one is issuing a long statement to tell us whether Maamba Collieries plant has collapsed or we have new challenges in the energy sector altogether.
Good governance with good intentions must be the hallmark of the government. Implementation of policies with integrity should be the core passion of our leadership. The fact that we are going through a crisis is an opportunity for Zambia to be more coordinated and more integrated. There never is a good time for tough decisions. There will always be an election or something else happening that prevents politicians from making the right decisions. President Lungu must therefore pick courage and do the right thing. He must stop listening from those telling him ‘Boss’ things are okay because things are not okay, our people are suffering in the communities. Governance is about taking tough and sometimes even unpopular decisions. We don’t need a bloated cabinet when the country is going through real hardships. This is no time to please everyone but time to do the right things and shake up the heads.
If the president does not change his style of conducting business then this country is headed nowhere. There is real need to show leadership and President Lungu must surely rise up and be that leader. Not what we are seeing. I call the status quo ‘CONFUSION’
God Bless Zambia.
WELL ARTICULATED, FOCUSED ARTICLE. WE ARE IN A STATE OF CONFUSION FOR REAL.
ITS A TRIAL AND ERROR LEADERSHIP.
Nice article but we Zambians are used to this kind of mediocrity. I pray that by the end of the 5year period, Zambians we will be able to appreciate the importance of voting using brains and not stomachs.
I don’t get why Zambians always claim that the President must be surrounded by bad advisors! Surely any CEO who surround himself with inept advisors had nobody to blame but himself. The boss is always accountable for the failures of his juniors and it is his prerogative to fire them if they do not perform.
We told you before you voted, after your voted is counted twice then you come telling us “there is confusion”.
thank you kakoma for this article.
this is what is called “checks and balances” as opposed to inciting people to rise against govt.
our president should seriously take stock of the dwindling economy NOW before get out of hand.
how and why should a “caring govt” exploit its citizens by overtaxing instead of rebating them.
be serious or else…………..
Where is the “LEADERSHIP” ???? I cannot see any. Leadership implies people working for the good of those being “led”. Clearly those in power do not have any integrity to tell Zambians the truth.
More like TRIAL AND ERROR CONFUSION. The simple fact is that a drunkard kleptocrat has stolen an election for his own selfish benefit, aided by a group corrupt individuals that have collectively hijacked Zambia.
They are trying now to sweep their evil deeds under the carpet while the looting continues unabated. They know it will be our children that will pay for their misdeeds.
He is very right about poor reading culture, he equally forgot to read about zesco abandoning the 40 million importation of power from Mozambique. I hope the author knows what that means. Reading culture my foot. Just because you had an opportunity to go to school doesn’t mean walikwata Amano
Fantastic analysis there. I don’t normally shara things on social media but this one I will…
Well said except u also have a poor reading culture concerning loadshedding. ZESCO issued a comprehensive statement, where were u? This increase is up to 12 Nov.
As for Dora Siliya, am tempted to think the President was high on Jameson…u need a technocrat in Agric. I wonder if she even knows the difference between basal and top dressing. She is a gud talker but action???
Zesco statement is a bunch of lies. Loadshedding will be with us until March 2017. Zesco has failed to connect Maamba Power Station and Itezhitezhi. While these new power stations can produce power, there is no way of delivering it to customers who need it because the PF cadres at Zesco could not plan and build the interconnectors in time – as if these projects were not in the works for several years.
He referred to the earlier statement, how many times is Maamba going to be connected to the grid, is it now or was done in July?
I have not read the whole article but Mr. Kapoma, you do not need to be a farmer to run the Ministry of Agriculture, just as you do not need to be a Medical Doctor to run the Ministry of Health – all you need to be is a good manager. Mr. Kapoma does not seem to understand management. If you need to be a farmer for example to be Minister of Agriculture, which area of farming should you come from – maize, sorghum, rice, wheat, fish, livestock, etc, etc? Same with health.
David kapoma you are one of ECLs voters so do not complain. Ecl is not a material for a great leader like mangufuli of tanzanya and also Botswana. Our president is of calibre of Mugabe and Mseveni. Look at his advisor in the name of Rupiah banda and you expect results. These leaders in zambia are liars and they will continue lying. why, because zambia are docile. Me for now i better live in Australia where leadership is workinh with real development
This is a truly well articulated article baba. In any case, what do you expect from the ”DUNUNA REVERSE GOVERNMENT” of Edgar Chagwa Lungu? Absolutely nothing and as a nation, we are yet to be subjected to more sufferings than before.
If you trade the markets and Zambia was one of the instruments on a chart you could easily see this particular instrument isn’t going up but down very fast. You would therefore sell it (dump it). The managers of Zambia don’t inspire confidence.
This is a government of failures by failures and for failures.
Get it loud and clear , nothing good will ever come out. Zero plus zero is always equal to Zero.
Article could have been good, but sounds like one from a sour graper. True analysis should start by mentioning some positives before going to negatives. Anyone who thinks PF has done completely nothing good is either a dreamer or a jalousy fellow who should quickly relocate to other planets where angels live. Yes they have made mistakes, but they have also done some great works on roads, schools, health facilities, even agriculture hence producing bumper harvest. Even general development through new districts. As individuals what is our contribution to mother Zambia? The blame game will take us nowhere.
It seems the hallmark of the current regime is to never mean what they say. Which is terribly unfortunate for an authority people are supposed to look at for solutions.
There stay in government began with summersaults on the 90-day fiasco. They went to stretched out lengths to reinvent what they meant with 90 days. From then on it has just been safe not to take this government on its word.
The current confusion, as the author rightly puts it, is the latest addition to their litany of inconsistencies. This is truly unfortunate to people who want to get some assurance that the government is in control of making things better.
THE ARTICLE IS FOOLISH AT BEST. THE AGRICULTURE MINISTER DOES NOT NEED TO STEP INTO DUNG IN ORDER TO PROVE THAT SHE IS WORKING. UNLESS YOU ARE A UPND NINCOMPOOP WHO ONLY SEES BAD THINGS FROM PF. MINISTRIES ARE RUN BY TECHNOCRATS AND DIRECTORS. MINISTERS CAN BE CHANGED REPEATEDLY.
Confusion is when Zesco issued their statement ONLY when we were deep in the middle of the 14 hour blackout. Since the works on the Maamba line were pre-planned, could Zesco not have made the announcement a few days before so that citizens could plan accordingly ?
As for works to be finished by 12th November, Zesco has today issued their new loadshedding schedules for the whole month of November, its not just till the 12th !!
this is so true but surely the usual’s of us Zambians is we will still put a blind eye to it.
@Dombwa:so for you voting using brains is when one vote for hh?kikikikiki how many very experienced economists do we have in Govnt today?all gonna be well soon because God is in control!!!its hh’s evil petition which made Zambia to be on standstill for almost 3 months.before 11/08/2016 things were better.but hh’s evil presidential petition has caused this damage to our economy!!!
Yes it’s grobo ,it’s China ,it’s the weather, it’s HH, it’s copper.
In the mean time music pleas.
Dununa reverse ayeee …..dununa ……
Good one Spaka like lilo.
@ Eddy, for the enlightenment of ignoramuses of your ilk, please be informed that LOAD SHEDDING has been caused directly by the actions of the PF Government. This was done by the CANCELLATION of the Kafue Lower gorge project contract in 2011 as soon as PF came to power. Last year it was finally restarted by Lungu. FOUR YEARS LATER! The completion time is FOUR YEARS! So it should have been operational now.
Also, in 2011 ONE WHOLE YEARS SUPPLY OF WATER was flushed out and wasted from Kariba Dam by incompetent PF appointees with no understanding of how it works. This, more than any other factor, has caused the power deficit as it takes YEARS to refill the dam.
To try and hide these failures, Lungu and his PF have been wasting huge amounts of borrowed money…
To try and hide these failures, Lungu and his PF have been wasting huge amounts of borrowed money with solar milling plants and coal stations to “sonta”, but the simple fact is they have CAUSED this situation.
Not one of these spineless unprincipled looters, including Lungu has the guts to stand up and tell the nation the truth!
Real time article! It took violence to have ecl as pf president. We all witnessed how things were unfolding after the demise of Sata. As such ecl is indebted to thugs who intimidated anyone who appeared to be threat in any manner. That’s why today ecl can’t make any decision without the approval of those same criminals. I have come to a point where I can only trust the opposite of what this government says
Great article. I couldn’t agree with more.
Now they are starting to wake up like this David…we read your articles before the elections you really though Lazy Edgar would change…impossible..brace yourselves for more lies and more prayers enjoy your K5.50 petrol.
When your very government is struggling paying the current civil service salary bill, you go and create another four! What kind of logic, merit or commonsense is that when the functions of the new ministries could have been carried out within the existing structures!! Proper dunana reverse! Even Mutati the economic Manager could not advise his boss that it is preposterous to be going that route?? What a circus!! Then you turn to donor community for budget support; the donor must question your sanity at ridiculous moves that bleed the national fiscus! No think through at all!
excellent,most zambians think like what lungu is doing.my cuz organised her birthday party expecting me to fund it.ooh hell no i told her,with lungu mindset zambians will go nowhere.
AS TO ZESCO PLEASE DON’T WORRY MUCH. DANGOTE WILL BE RUNNING IT IN A YEAR. ZAMTEL WILL SIMPLY FOLD AND CEASE TO EXIST. WE WILL BE FINE EVENTUALLY!!!! DORA AT AGRICULTURE?TOO EARLY TO MAKE CONCLUSIONS!!
you expected an appointment. Deny this so that we can discuss
Good write-up from Kapoma & that’s all we are good at. Good write-ups. When do we pick our asses up & do something about our situation.
Next tyre you see burning that’s me. I’m tired of good write-ups.
From the start, the PF was just trouble and most Zambians who followed Michael Sata’s exploits knew that nothing was going to come out of this group which serms to be powered by confusion to date. All important sectors like education, agriculture, health etc that mean a lot to citizens have been thrown into reverse gear thereby dealing a debilitating blow to people’s livelihoods and standard of living. It is time we took this government to task and made them accountable to the electorate by holding a series of demonstrations. This is the only way they will take us seriously. In progressive countries, citizens pay a lot of attention to issues that affect them. Here, we all act like we have been injected with a tranquiliser. At this rate, we may shortly graduate from third hungriest…
At this rate, we may shortly graduate from third hungriest nation on earth to the number one position. True dununa reverse. How prophetic JKs song was!
How can you be hungry when you are feeding the Malawians with maize…if they were smart they would have barter exchanged with Fish, Tea and Malawi Gold.
PLEASE IS THERE SOMEWHERE IN THE CONSTITUTION WHERE WE THE PEOPLE OF ZAMBIA CAN HAVE A VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE IN THE PRESIDENT? IT IS BADLY NEEDED
Yes. It is called a general election. Held EVERY FIVE YEARS.
So be prepared for another five years of looting and raping Zambia by this gang of thugs.
Zambians, you had your chance to improve your lives and you really F**KED UP!
Enjoy your chitenges and dunna reverse while you starve.
Do you know how much each American owes although they cheat you by giving you borrowed Chinese money and fining heavily multinational corporations that “flout” their so called best laws on earth? Are you going to turn Zambian into Heaven on Earth? How many presidents have we had and which one of them didn’t you blame? If you want real governance, wait of the Lord to return.
that’s what happens when you use wrong material to do anything.
Comment:
but surely how can u create more ministries wen u can strangled jst to sustain 1 of them. it like a foolish father marrying 4 more women wen the last tym he bought a peace of chitenge for the first 1 was ten yes ago .those ministries will strains the wasted pocket already!!!!! wat our so called honorable do in parliament kanshi?
The headline is just too Sensational!
This is what patriotism is about, arguing real issues constructively. I agree wth you there will never be a right time to confront critical issues head on. Most of beneficial decisions , especially those whose benefits only trickles down slowly and in a distant future are often unpopular. Let’s face it we have huge challenge as a nation, but if we initiate objective and articulated counter measures we are assured of redress at the end of the day. This intelligent sober mind is willing to help realize a nation befitting people of dignity
This is what i call as a constructive piece pf well researched and thought artical.
From 2011 we have known where the problem has been but we decided to ignore hoping things will get better with time.
Some people told you this Govt. has no clue in managing the economy,you refused to listen and voted for them,when things manifest you start accusing the Zambian people of being docile or that we have a poor reading culture.Lies have short legs so all the election lies will be exposed with time.Don’t blame the people point your fingers at the people who were telling lies.
muti WE DID VOTE FOR THE RIGHT CANDIDATE BUT OUR VOTE WAS STOLEN AND NO ONE WANTS TO LISTEN OR GIVE US A CHANCE TO SHOW PROOF OF IT.
@kubweka, what good will showing proof of it do? The thieves will just ignore it the same as Lungu ignored the Constitution.
Zambians must take matters into their own hands. Nobody will deliver Justice for you on a plate! Get up, Standup, — for your RIGHTS!
Bob Marley
Dora siliya Biograph.
0. Born in 8 October 1970 (46 years old) Single.
1.Grade 12,
2.BA-Mass communication
3.Mphil-Development economics
4. Member of Parliament
Clearly, Dora has no back ground in Agriculture, she could have better suited in Ministry of of Information
But Again, there are many of such individuals. The problem is for us Zambians we rejected thee government which to me has technocrats which could assembled a reliable team of experts.
Dora Siliya has never dug a mouse for relish from a maize or groundnut field.
She scr*wed up the Energy ministry with lies, lies and more stealing.
While she is good for scr*wing, she should not be allowed to fu*k our Country any more.
Can OP please keep Edgar sober to help provide leadership, else get rid of him where he can enjoy his Jameson or rot? How do you take Museveni to Sata’s incomplete grave? Sata is insulting you in his grave with such conduct. No wonder the Sata family left PF.
Zambia please find a way to put pressure on these monkeys else you will sink with their stupid boat.