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The Cost of sustaining 70 ministers and other ways the PF government has wasted money

By editor
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The lucrative Benefits the President and ministers enjoy

The challenge thrown to the opposition Members of Parliament regarding giving up the 10 % salary increment is a step in the right direction by the PF leadership in government. I also agree with the public’s concerns that at the time when:

  • we cannot reasonably pay our civil servants
  • we cannot fund our students in tertiary institutions at home and abroad
  • we cannot provide adequate social and economic infrastructure and services
  • we cannot create the necessary jobs for our citizens

we should consider leading by example through sacrifice.

While offering to give up the 10% salary increment, the PF should avoid being hypocritical by ignoring the bigger costs with which society sustains the 70 ministers. Lest we forget, the table below reminds us of the cost items that are far much bigger than the 10% salary increment and ideally, which the President and his ministers, must consider giving up rather than fooling people with the offer to give up the least of the costs to the public. We in the opposition are willing to continue not to benefit from cost items no. 1 to 9 in addition to giving up cost item no 10 which is the 10% salary increment:

CATEGORY OF LEADERS AND COST TO THE PUBLIC
President Estimated Cost to the Public Cabinet Minister Estimated Cost to the Public Deputy Minister Estimated Cost to the Public Member of Parliament Estimated Cost to the Public
BENEFITS
Free House YES Unknown YES Unknown YES Unknown N/A 0
Free furniture YES Unknown YES Unknown YES Unknown N/A 0
Access to govt planes YES Unknown YES Unknown YES 0 N/A 0
Access to govt helicopters YES Unknown YES Unknown YES Unknown N/A 0
No of Govt Vehicles Several Unknown 2 Plus K2 million 2 Plus K2 million 0 0
Access to free fuel Unknown Unknown 1400 Ltrs per month K12,880 1400 Ltrs per month K12,880 0 0
Air time YES Unknown YES Unknown YES Unknown 0 0
Vehicle Mtce YES Unknown YES Unknown YES Unknown 0 0
Vehicle Insurance YES Unknown YES Unknown YES Unknown 0 0
% Increament 27% Unknown 10% Unknown 10% Unknown 10% K871 Net of Tax

We must also remind ourselves that the only reason the President and his ministers are playing politics that they can give up the increment is because they will easily replace it a million-fold through corruption which by their own admission is prevalent in their rank and file.

As for the President, whose increment is even higher than 10 percent, it is so easy for him to forgo everything including the existing salary before increment. I wonder whether the bank statements for the account into which his salary is paid shows any monthly withdrawals. Mine and those of Hon. Mushili Malama, Hon. Sydney Chisanga Hon. Howard Kunda and I suspect Hon. Stephen Katuka, and Hon. Elijah Muchima show immediate withdrawals on the day the salaries hit the accounts. A lot of ordinary people can relate to this type of life! History reminds us that the late Republican President, Fredrick Chiluba’s salary was looted over a period of two years without him noticing. This shows that a President can do without his salary thus making offers to reject an increment while keeping several benefits just mere poking fun at the opposition MPs and the public.

How the opposition Mps has tried and failed to curtail PF wastefulness of resources

For us opposition MPs, we have tried our best to assist the PF government maintain fiscal space by avoiding wastefulness. In particular, the following is what we have been doing:

a. Fighting the unnecessary creation of districts;
(Instead the President went on to create 28 politically motivated districts)

b. Fighting the unnecessary by elections;
(Instead the PF has so far created close to 20 unnecessary by elections at a cost of over K140 million and according to Mr Kabimba, more are yet to come until all the 150 seats are taken by the PF)

c. We fought hard in attempts to make the government reduce fuel costs by realizing potential within the eleven unnecessary elements in the comingled crude oil value chain from procurement to point of sale;
(Instead, the PF government suddenly and without warning, increased fuel prices by removing subsidies)

d. We spoke against unexplained and sometimes unnecessary trips abroad by the President and his Ministers;
(These trips have not stopped and Mr. Kabimba is amongst those making the most unproductive trips at great cost to the suffering masses)

e. We spoke against the recalling of all career diplomats only to be languishing home on full pay;
(The PF, instead, chose to replace career diplomats with PF cadres, relatives, and friends)

f. We spoke against the corruption in the link-8000 road project;
(Instead the PF illegally transferred RDA to State House and increased the cost of construction of a kilometer of bituminous road from the MMD and SADC regional standard of US $1 million to a higher rate)

g. We moved several private members’ motions on the floor of the House to urge the PF government to take certain measures to ensure a more resilient and sustainable economy and society;
(Instead the PF rejected most of these well meaning motions just for the sake of it. On those motions that went through, the PF arrogantly reminded us that we were pushing open doors and that in any case, the government was under no obligation to implement Parliament’s recommendations)

h. We advised the PF not to rush to the capital and financial markets without first identifying projects and ensuring that the debt instruments so accessed matched the projects in terms of:

1. Timing of availability of financing
2. Qualification to accessing borrowed funding
3. Bankability of the projects
4. Creativity in choice of funding instruments/strategies
5. Realisation of economic benefits from borrowings
6. Ability to repay the loans if possible from the project cash flows or benefits
7. Achievement of reproductive capacity and resilience of the economy
(Instead, the PF, chose to rush to the market, issued a US $750 million bond and proceeded to either attempt to loot the money or simply put it in the bank. Today about US $100 million and been spent on fees and interest payments)

i. We advised on the management of the agriculture sector;
(Desire to create opportunities for corruption and pure incompetency have reduced the sector to underperforming status thus threatening food security)

The PF government has failed to honour its promise to civil servants. It has failed to take care of students abroad especially in Russia. It has failed to maintain a reliable and regular supply of medicines in our health centres.

The implication of the PFs arrogance, lack of a defined developmental strategy, corruption, and lack of fiscal discipline is that the economy has suffered irreparable damage to its resilience and has massively lost opportunities to create reproductive capacity from the liabilities it is taking on.
Ideally, when you borrow, the borrowings must immediately create an asset to match the liability.

Further, the creation of that asset must achieve local wealth retention so that the money contributes to the creation of the reproductive capacity to assist the economy have capacity to repay the loan.

Currently, the assets we are creating do not match the liabilities and because the contractors are Chinese companies, the funds are growing the Chinese economy rather than our own. The end result will be that we will fail to repay these loans and we will need to refinance through further borrowings. The problem is that these borrowings will be more expensive because our credit rating will have dropped.
PF should not score cheap political points – the PF caused the challenges we are faced with and the PF leadership should give back the increment and offer to give back many more incentives – that will be in order. But the PF must do more – they must resign and disband. The sooner the PF goes the better for our nation!

By Lucky Mulusa, MP.
Solwezi Central.
28/10/2013.

editor
editorhttp://www.lusakatimes.com

48 COMMENTS

  1. They are saving the people of zambia
    You want them to work for free?

    All you want is to look clever with repeated articles atA

    • No, not for free. We want them to work for all the Zambians and not for family members, political associates, members of PF only……

    • This must be george Chellah or Kabimba or someone mmenme has hired to blog! Why don’t you articulate the points raised.Government is wasting money that Zambins frankly can not afford to lose.What work have they really done? We are in very bad shape and have been taken backwards.

    • What is the PF Govt saving us from, the ills of MMD? Or you meant ”serve” as in performing duties and services. These fockers are just there to serve themselves and their pals.

    • Only a dimwit like you can see and analyze the sense from what honourable Lucky Mulusa has written in his article.

    • Jo, your comment was physically painful to me…. felt a sharp stab in the chest from mostly sadness at the fact that some people can fail to read the article and be objective. I bet you rushed to comment without reading coz the article is critical of your beloved party. Am really sad. You just ruined what was turning out to be a good day for me…..

    • Jo, typical of your kind from this party, rarely showing any sign of reasoning. Who works for free, PF should do as they preached in 2010 and before on social injustice which now they are inflicting on Zambians by wasting their money, through what has been articulated by Hon Mulusa.

  2. Its time that we demanded to know all those unknowns on the table! Its time the Mps in Pf went to their constituencies and explained why they vote to have our resources wasted.Of what benefit are by elections,of what benefit to mother Zambia is having a parliament dominated by PF cadres,why are relatives being appointed to diplomat positions?Why are we paying $1milliom for road construction,why is the supreme court headed by an illegal CJ? why why why so many questions.

    • In my humble opinion, so long as the illiteracy rates especially in the rural areas is high and there is political apathy from the middle classes, Zambia will continue to be taken advantage by politicians. The first category of people do not fully understand their rights as they hold MP’s in awe. The second group feel it’s pointless exercising their civic rights as the political clique are there to fulfill their own agenda and don’t listen to other voices. Just look at the quality of MP’s especially in government, not inspiring to say the least.

  4. PF govt has made things difficult for it to aspire for another trust from Zambians.
    The sign is seen on the wall through loss of by elections in results.
    The anger and resolve taken by Zambians for PF govt to waste money on politically induced by elections instead of development needs is/will have a humiliating back lash in results of these by elections.
    Bring it on, Zambians show PF govt the power of a vote by votolola.

    • Some of you were having money in MMD, such that when this was cut you want us to Votolola PF. Awe Mwalile Mweka Daddy. Ifwe we did not benefit anything from MMD, at least we are seeing projects which are being done by PF. So the Solwezi MP can hang. Quasquas must know that PF lost elections in Constituencies which belonged to MMD. in fact it was a gain. 4 MMD seats. UPND picks 2, MMD picks 1 and PF 1 it is MMD who lost.

  5. Stop wasting time writing long and useless articles. You can be productive by writing an education book or something.

  6. The real question is are the M.Pigs ready to forego their increament. I havent seen in this atticle were Mulusa is saying they have decided to forego or it is that I missed it.

    • “….We in the opposition are willing to continue not to benefit from cost items no. 1 to 9 in addition to giving up cost item no 10 which is the 10% salary increment…..” It is up there in the article in black and white. Read and understand you %$#&@!

  7. The best Ba Lucky some of us knowing you at personal level is to continue winning your fellow MPs to collectively push your good ideas, otherwise such articles/analysis have been written by many not only academicians like yourself but brilliant other frustrated Zambians at large. Use the opportunity you have while in Parliament to woo support and be a strong united opposition for better checks and balances otherwise once you leave the house you will end up like us talkers who are unheard by the politicians

    • Don’t be dull @Chambishi! What do you understand by: “…We in the opposition are willing to continue not to benefit from cost items no. 1 to 9 in addition to giving up cost item no 10 which is the 10% salary increment….”?

  10. The problem we have with Zambian politicians is that they are all selfish. This Mulusa wants to come out clean but he was in parliament when the increments were being decided. On top of that he is keeping the same benefits he is condemning. You have to lead by example by refusing the increments and all the benefits you have tabled. Talking about relatives and all given a chance we will see how many Tongas we are going to have if UPND ruled. Already HH declared the top position for UPND to be a tongas only. The people that are bitter in the country as far as I know are the UPND. Zambians are NOT UPND so do not speak for others. Speak for yourselves.

  13. other than wasting time writing a long article, just forgo your 10% and other benefits that your think a wasteful. Or simply resign in protest.

  15. Great article like Paul ngozi’s song bauze … Tell them when things go wrong
    We don’t have to wait another 20… 24 years before we know we are in trouble
    Politician’s interest is self first others next time.

  16. That’s exactly what you get from voting for useless uneducated pigs!! this article says it all. the Pf government is pending too much money on themselves!! they are way too many ministerial position and creation of new districts is stupidly stupid!!! this should be a lesson to all Zambians! they should vote for the right party come 2016. should the PF be voted in again, I’ll be forced to start a revolution…

    # The fist for president!!

    • The change of government which happened in September, 2011 was necessitated by God. The will of the people should be respected, as Sata won the elections. On the creation of the districts, this is good as it will bring development and employment to the people.
      There is no right party, its not easy to govern the country. We should appreciate what has been done so far in 2 years by Sata and PF.
      Infrastructure development for new districts, track rehabilitation and revive of the national railway line. Tremendous increase of non traditional exports.

  17. they forgot the incompetent, shady and lazy ZCCM-IH chairman Wila Mung’Omba who is annually paid $250,000 (!!) while the state-owned ZCCM-IH is so-called insolvent ! In the same time the management failure at ZCCM-IH has lead to a loss of $1 billion income !! what a mess!!

  18. Lucky, keep hummering these goones centre and left. U are the brains we need in this country which is being looted in broad daylight by the PF thugs. Honestly, 70 ministers,why and for what purpose – for appeasement ? No wonder this country and continent at large shall never ever see development. Truly, I cannot be wrong to conclude that even those 70 ministers in a small country like Zambia, they do not even know their duties and true responsibilities, that’ s why they are just noise makers. All they do is to talk and talk in order to be heard by their master that they are doing something and that they exist. When are the Zambians going to wake up please ? In a bigger nation like the USA, the cabinet is very small and reasonable, why do we have such kind of governments in Africa ?

    • Especially after being reminded by Sata that they should respond to issues raised by the opposition, they have all become noise makers.

  20. Lucky please check your facts, its MMD that replaced career diplomants with cadres, relatives and friends, this was a mafia-type criminal net work.
    It is impossible to satisfy everyone at the same time.

  21. #14 you are right! Zambians have to learn from these uneducated politicians who have no heart for the people, but their own relatives. It is sad to see such a country being ruined by cheap and useless politicians like Sata, Kabimba, Chikwanda and GBM, who do they think they are? No respect for people. Banda maintained low level debts not these f**kers who stealing day and night, coupled with silly bye-elections and stupid judges! This got to stop and let us wake up and remove this government from power.

    • Mwana the same uneducated Zambians you insulting put the same so called educated corrupt politicians in office and are majority voters too being used

  22. Mmmmmmmmmm! 70 Ministers? World record pa Zed. Yet urine bag was promising a small cabinet. What has gone wrong ba SATAn presido?

  23. Congratulations Mr. Malusa, very articulate indeed. Though it is interesting that it took the challenge and threat to his OWN SALARY that he made this brilliant effort, just saying.

  24. but all these ministers are Zambians, I don’t see any reason they shouldn’t work with in their country, in fact they are your relatives and part of your family members and they are working amongst you, that is part of job creation Zambians you should learn to think deep, any minister has an extended family to support as per Zambian culture I don’t see how you would want him to be sacked

    • Nshilubemba, you do not cease to amaze me with your views my brother/sister. There is a subject called Economics which people study for years to get degrees in order to understand how best to optimize a country’s resources to achieve the highest levels of social and economic development (SED). SED means more classroom space for our children, more beds, medicines, motivated health personnel in our hospitals, better roads, motivated productive workforce in both private and public sectors, more exports and imports, no cholera, good drainage etc, etc etc. A big public service cost is counterproductive in a small economy like ours. Make friends with a good economist for free lectures. Pipo study economics for a very good reason, my friend.

  25. have come to the conclusion and I agree with Dambisa Moyo. What Africa need in order to develop is a benovelen dictator. It explains why the countries that have made strides in Africa e.g Libya during Gadafi, Rwanda, Egypt before the distaster. You can not develop when policies change every 5years or ten years. Pot bellys are always ahead of the brain and all this s.tupidity of the president saying that and the opposition promising a pure falacy…

  26. So we have people who can see 70 ministers, huge expense on few individuals, closure of public media, telling someone to stand up, showing signs of fear for their own shadows normal?????????????.
    Thus being criminal to yourself

  27. For an MP, Mulusa seems not to know much! He is arguing from an ignorant point of view, most of these conditions of services were introduced by the MMD and it is the MMD which set the precedent of MP’s increasing their salaries themselves in parliament, it never used to happen under UNIP. Miyada as Vice president was the one in fore-front to push for parliament to table salary increment among themselves and even the gratuity for RB was illegal but MMD had to bend the law to satisfy themselves. The law was clear on who should be entitled and RB served less than 3 yrs as required by law!

  28. Why is it that only Hon. Mulusa has been sharing his views for all to read and reflect on while the other MPs are just quiet? Are they afraid of coming out lest they are not targeted for possible jobs in government? In fact, PF should be considering hiring Hon. Mulusa not only because of his articulate views both inside and outside Parliament but because he is courageous. You need such qualities in a leader.

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