Friday, March 29, 2024

Debt Swap well intended-Malupenga

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The government says the debt swap will provide significant relief to public service workers who are highly indebted and with the compromised capacity to service the loans.

Information and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary Amos Malupenga says the government is convinced that the debt swap will take away the pressure civil servants have had to endure in paying back their debtors which in some cases has affected their performance in carrying out their duties.

Speaking to the media in Lusaka this morning, Mr Malupenga said the idea was arrived at with the unions after thorough research into the matter.

He said that the debt swap, as an addendum to the collective agreement between public-sector unions and government, is an idea that was hatched three years ago but could not be implemented due to financial implications.

“This matter has been under discussion for over three years and a lot of work had to be done in the background. Implementation was delayed because of the financial implications. A lot of work had to be done in the background to ensure that this succeeds,” said Mr. Malupenga.

Mr. Malupenga also explained that the three-month suspension of deductions from civil servants’ salaries will allow for the reconciliation of records to establish what exactly is owed by the employees.

He said this will enable the government to reconcile the records and to determine what exactly is owed so as to come up with a roadmap to offset the debts.

“It must be understood that during this period the Public Service Microfinance Company will also look at what each employee owes and propose a flexible manner in which the debt they will take over will be repaid by the affected employees. This is like an in-house arrangement,” he said.

The Permanent Secretary stated that once all the processes are completed, deductions will then resume but under the Public Service Microfinance Company.

Mr. Malupenga dismissed views that the debt swap is connected to the forth coming general elections but instead noted that the debt swap is a well-intended initiative between the public sector unions and government.

Mr. Malupenga has since called upon various public service union officials, who brought the proposal to government, to explain the idea to their members to avoid speculation and misinformation.

19 COMMENTS

  1. Bamalupenga… Please answer this one quation” Please tell us where the government takes the money they deduct from civil servant salaries every month without remiting to lending institution? Have you asked all lending institution when was the last month government remitted? otherwise nichilemba

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  2. Dude, you are a civil servant not a politician. Why is this debt swap being propagated as a PF campaign promise?

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  3. Chapter 419 of Nigeria Criminal Code Act. Any person who by any false pretence, and with intent to defraud, obtains from any other person anything capable of being stolen, or induces any other person to deliver to any person anything capable of being stolen, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years. Transported to Zambia this includes stealing votes, innocence, virginity etc

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  4. These lending institution are crooks and financial sharks who deserve nothing from what we borrowed from them. This is a very good move by govt to save us from the sharp teeth of the lendors. Welldone Malupenga and Team.

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  5. Even malupenga doesn’t seem to believe what he is saying. His tone is like he is trying to convince himself.

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  6. When HH says we shall restructure the govt debt this followers cheer him . When Malupenga says we have restructured civil service debt imwe ati ni booza. HH say HE WILL DO……Govt says we HAVE DONE.

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  7. A debt is a Debt is a debt
    Government is out of step here
    Stand by and watch the consquences unfortunately they will only be seen after the election
    Also I dont thonk there is a civil servant who even understands the meaning
    and even less where the money is coming from !! As government is already heavily indeted them selves
    and defaulting
    Cheap politics DONT work

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  8. Zambian – This HH is not the govt why do you compare him to something that is already done and is costing taxpayers more. Ask how civil servants ended up in this situation? Go and read the small print of the debt swap…I mean the terms and condition. How can a govt that can not pay its own external and domestic debt start wanting to relieve people in debt…think think ..really laughable.

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  9. “That’s what puzzles me because I don’t know where the money will come from. Maybe they will borrow money from ZANACO (where government has some shares)…’because you are our parastatal, we shall pay you in five years’. And then it adds to the current local debt which is about US$ 7 billion,” Magande said. “What the government is saying is they will take over the debt of the civil servants and at the end of it those civil servants will exchange that with leave days and terminal benefits. However, we don’t know when the officer is resigning, if it’s in 10 years that’s when they will recover the debt…I don’t know how interest will even be calculated on those debts.”

  10. Magande wondered why the government was getting involved into the personal issues of civil servants, when they could not even measure the sustainability of the things the workers spent their monies on, as some could have even used the money just to buy furniture in their living rooms.
    He said during his time as finance minister when the economy was booming, government deliberately set a limit that civil servants could not borrow amounts beyond 70 percent of their take-home pay, so that they could remain with something to take to their families at the end of the month once debt deductions were made.

    Former finance minister Ng’andu Magande

  11. DEBT SWAP OR DEBT TRAP? ME I DON’T KNOW TEACHER – Maiko Zulu
    They can’t manage their own debt and you think they will manage yours? It like you live in Kabwata in a house you bought and you go to the rail line near Misisi to go and consult a N’ganga who says they can make you rich yet they operate in a makeshift sack structure with a hand written banner

  12. This is a Clever election plot. If you fall for this then you were born yesterday. A debt restructured to be paid later will carry more interest for the borrower. In Economics we all know, there is no such a thing as Free Lunch. Laugh now, cry later.

  13. How are they going to win the support of those civil servants who do not have any debts?….Because clearly this gimmick is intended to win the support of indebted civil servants

  14. Let me put one iota of thought on your thinking ……It still not possible.

    You mean God will come through for thieves, who stole the money that the employees paid to the lenders but the government did not remit but instead gave it to its cadres and kaiza zezulu? How can you use the name of God in the same sentence with thieving? It must be another god, but our God in heaven. God does not endorse sin, “Thou shall not steal”.

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