UPND Leader Hakainde Hichilema has been denied an opportunity to interact with the people of Mpika after District Commissioner Moses Katebe disallowed the radio station from hosting the opposition Leader.

Mr Hichilema confirmed in a Facebook posting that Mr Katebe cancelled the program and Journalists have been threatened if they go ahead with the program.

Mr Hichilema said he was scheduled to connect via phone for a paid-for program.

The opposition Leader is saddened that the radio station has been denied revenue which they have been forced to refund after the cancellation of the program.

Mr Hichilema says he is consulting his legal team to understand which powers the District Commissioner used and how they will proceed to correct this behaviour.

“In the meantime, abena Muchinga mwisakamana we will soon get back to you. Mulibantu besu. Nga bena Zambia, you have the right to listen to your leaders and anyone stopping us interacting with you on radio does not love you”, said Mr Hichilema.

And in an audio that has gone viral on social media, Mr Katebe is heard telling the station Manager Mr Allan Dumingu that he does not want to hear the voice of the Opposition now in Mpika but COVID-19 messages only.

Mr Katebe said the Opposition who do not have any project in the District and should wait for the campaign period for them to appear on a radio station.

The District Commissioner said the interests of the Opposition will only be heard during election time.

“I do not speak for Kasama, Nakonde, Serenje or any other place but Mpika and if you go ahead with the program you will be using your own powers and not what I have told you”, Mr Katebe said.

He accused the Board of the radio station of allowing indiscipline people to run the radio station.

Mr Katebe also accused the Station Manager of belonging to the UPND and has warned him against hosting Mr Hichilema on the radio station.

He told the station manager to adhere to the police directive not to go ahead with the program.

And station Manager Allan Dumingu has accused Mr Katebe of interfering with his job as station manager of the radio station.

Mr Dumingu said he has a duty to pay salaries to the workers which will not be possible with government interference in the running of the station.

Information and Broadcasting Services Minister Dora Siliya has cautioned the public against making unsubstantiated allegations over Covid-19 donations as it has the potential to erode the confidence in the fight against the pandemic.

Ms. Siliya says the problems that have come as a result of the Covid-19 are real, hence the need to send the right message during the pandemic.

She noted that the media have the responsibility to save the image of the country by accurately informing the public on what the Government is doing towards the Covid-19 fight.

Ms. Siliya was speaking during a joint press briefing in Lusaka with her counterpart in the Ministry of Labour JOYCE SIMUKOKO, which was also attended by the Ministry of Higher Education Permanent Secretary KAYULA SIAME .

And, Ms Siliya said Government is supporting businesses affected by the Covid-19 through the 10 billion Kwacha relief package, while smaller businesses will be availed with the Covid-19 bond so that jobs are maintained.

She said education and skills are important in the post-COVID-19 so that people remain relevant to the labour market.

And, Mrs. SIMUKOKO has cautioned employers to observe the requirements of the law when dealing with labour matters such as dismissal, non-payment of salaries and illegally sending of employees on forced leave.

Mrs. SIMUKOKO said the office of the Labour Commissioner had received several complaints since the outbreak of the Covid-19.

She said her ministry has continued to make consultations with its social partners on how best employment and labour market relationships can be regulated amidst the Coronavirus pandemic.

Mrs. SIMUKOKO said Government will, however, continue to monitor developments on the labour market during the crisis period to help maintain harmony and productivity in the sector of the economy.

She said the Ministry will also ensure that provisions of the new Employment Code Act number 3 of 2019 and other employment regulations are observed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Higher Education Permanent Secretary KAYULA SIAME said the Seven public Universities and the 28 Colleges have also extended their online teaching to students further stating that most platforms are free.

Ms. SIAME said the Ministry has also built capacity in the lecturers so that they could implement the e-learning services during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

She, however, said that the ministry is in dialogue with various internet service providers to ensure that they provide affordable bundles to enable students to have access to the learning platforms.

Zambia’s request for emergency coronavirus funding from the International Monetary Fund may be scuppered because of the southern African nation’s growing debt burden.

The Washington-based lender last year cautioned that the nation’s borrowing was on an unsustainable path.

And now, even as the fund makes as much as $100 billion available to member countries, the IMF warned it won’t lend money to governments if it’s not sure it will be repaid.

“In cases where the debt is unsustainable, the member must take steps to restore debt sustainability in order to access fund financing,” the IMF said in response to questions about whether Zambia’s levels of borrowing could hinder its access.

“This could require the government to strike a balance of fiscal adjustment that protects critical social spending and debt relief.”

The global economic crisis the pandemic has caused is exacerbating existing economic risks in Africa’s second-biggest copper producer.

Foreign-exchange reserves were at a record low in January, already below levels to cover external debt servicing this year. Government debt will reach 110% of gross domestic product in 2020, and the economy will shrink by 3.5%, according to the IMF.

Zambia has already started the process to hire financial advisers for a liability-management exercise of its foreign debt, which rose to $11.2 billion by December from $4.8 billion five years earlier.

The government is shortlisting bidders after it issued a tender in March.

Talks with the IMF over an emergency loan are ongoing, Chileshe Kandeta, a spokesman for the finance ministry, said by text message in response to questions about the emergency virus funds.

Strained Relations

The nation’s Eurobonds have plunged this year on concerns about the ability to repay the debt, with yields on securities due in 2024 more than doubling this year to 41%.

Zambia could qualify for as much as $1.3 billion in relief to deal with the economic fallout of the coronavirus outbreak that has infected 441 people and closed borders with neighbors.

Relations between the government and the IMF have been strained in the past, with the lender yet to replace its resident representative after Zambia asked the last one to leave the country nearly two years ago.

Starting debt restructuring negotiations may be enough to convince the IMF to allow the country to access emergency funds.

Mozambique was able to access emergency IMF funding after suffering two powerful tropical cyclone strikes last year, despite it being in default and with a higher debt-to-GDP ratio than Zambia.

That Mozambique was in advanced restructuring talks with Eurobond holders, and the promise of future massive natural gas revenues were enough for the multilateral lender to approve assistance.

“If a country’s debt is unsustainable, the fund can only lend if it has adequate assurances that the member is on track to restore sustainability,” the IMF said. “If such steps involve a debt restructuring operation, we take into account its prospects for success in restoring sustainability.”

Zambia had already requested an economic package from the fund in December, before the virus relief request.

The response prompted Finance Minister Bwalya Ng’andu to complain about being told to first deal with the debt trajectory.

“When you say that we can only have a program after you have exhibited debt sustainability, it’s like you are only given an umbrella after the rains,” he told reporters in February.

[Bloomberg]

A senior Medical Practitioner has pushed holes in Zambia’s response to Covid-19 stating that the response is characterized by confusion.

Dr Mwaba Kasese-Bota, a Public Health Expert and Epidemiologist who is currently undertaking a Harvard University Advanced Leadership programme in the U.S.A says the Zambian Cabinet is in a dichotomous state of affairs with a fairly sized lacuna in the middle.

Dr Kasese-Bota has lumped the blame squarely on Health Minister Dr Chitalu Chilufya stating that the Minister is making statements which are re-interpreted in less than 24-hour period by rank and file without the science and the political economy astuteness.

She also accused Dr Chilufya of mismanaging the experienced human resource available that the Ministry.

“The Ministry of Health is one ministry that has had a rich investment in the skills of the administrators and the health workers albeit inadequate resources for tools of the practice (technology, drugs, PPE). The Directorate experts including those in Public Health and Zambia National Public Health Institute are seasoned technocrats who have prevailed over various epidemics including HIV par excellence as the case could be, given our environment and circumstances. What is it that is making them fail to come to the grade expectation of their potential with Covid19? Why are they failing to provide the necessary advice worth the science so akin to them?”

She added, “In 2017 alone, the Directorate of Public Health had 4 directors changed one after the other. Furthermore, the roles of the directorates and those of the PS seem to fuse into the Minister’s job.”

Dr Kasese-Bota who also served as Zambia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations under late President Michael Sata stated that Zambia is downplaying the seriousness of Covid-19.

“In Zambia, I see a tendency to minimize the seriousness of covid19 and always bring in another disease as being responsible for consequences including death. The press statements on mortality are relegating Covid19 and giving a sense of affected people as in a moribund state and covid19 being incidental finding.”

Dr. Kasese-Bota received her medical training at the University of Zambia, and earned her Master of Public Health, with an epidemiology major focused on HIV research, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the United States.

Below is her full statement

DR. CHITALU CHILUFYA MUST GO BACK TO HIS MINISTERIAL DUTIES

By Amb. Dr. Kasese Botha, Medical Doctor and Epidemiologist

My 2 cents worth No 2: May 10, 2020

DIAGNOSIS: MISDIAGNOSIS OF ZAMBIA RESPONSE TO COVID 19.

It is interesting to see ourselves as a country in such a frenzy of short shifting decisions and pronouncements over Covid19 leaving people of Zambia in a memory hole including my 13 year old daughter who has been asking such pertinent questions around decisions made on covid19, which remind me of the Emperor’s new clothes.

Covid19 has demonstrated the uniqueness of the globalized community and interconnectivity as well as interdependence of human race on each other including the whole environment as a place of commons in spite of the artificial borders and boundaries. With the world so globalized today, one wonders why Real time communication of events could not have helped us to prepare a better and well-coordinated response to Covid19.

Stately seems to be making statements which are re-interpreted in less than 24 hour period by rank and file without the science and the political economy astuteness.

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS No 1:

Mismanagement of Human Resources at MOH.

The Ministry of Health is one ministry that has had a rich investment in the skills of the administrators and the health workers albeit inadequate resources for tools of the practice (technology, drugs, PPE). The Directorate experts including those in Public Health and Zambia National Public Health Institute are seasoned technocrats who have prevailed over various epidemics including HIV par excellence as the case could be, given our environment and circumstances. What is it that is making them fail to come to the grade expectation of their potential with Covid19? Why are they failing to provide the necessary advise worth the science so akin with them?

MOH has had 3 incidences in its journals where doctors have lost jobs enmass: The First one was under President Kaunda and the second one was under President Chiluba with Prof Nkandu Luo as Minister. In both instances, the doctors had declared a labour dispute boycotting delivery of health services over a period of time. One can argue the pros and cons of both actions but that is not in point at this juncture. The third round is under Minister Chitalu Chilufya where doctors have been fired, retired, demoted, and relegated to the observer positions except in the wards, without any industrial dispute or any documented stimulus framework requiring such action. In 2017 alone, the Directorate of Public Health had 4 directors changed one after the other. Furthermore, the roles of the directorates and those of the PS seem to fuse into the minister’s job.

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS no 2; Mis-quantification of morbidity and mortality.

Covid19 is a new disease that has a whole array of symptoms and signs with the list evolving every week. Top-class scientists are locked down in labs to try and understand what the new disease is about and what it is doing to the human body. I was talking to a colleague whose perfectly healthy young brother suffered Covid19 and has sequalae of myocarditis post Covid19. The other suffered a blood clot etc…These cases are outside Zambia.

In Zambia, I see a tendency to minimize the seriousness of covid19 and always bring in another disease as being responsible for consequences including death. The press statements on mortality are relegating Covid19 and giving a sense of affected people as in a moribund state and covid19 being incidental finding. Having a quality and productive life with chronic morbidities is very normal in our environment ( as many people are from the 4th decade of life). Death due to covid19 is a preventable death even in one with comorbidities. The cause of death on the death certificate should be what transpired in the last minute of life and include as a consequence of Covid19 on existing conditions e.t.c. asthma if any. Briefing communication will give Covid19 as the cause and nothing less nothing more.

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS No 3: Mismatched balance of Social and Economic Covid19 Response

It’s common knowledge that Zambia is in a difficult position for economic buoyancy. BOZ and the Minister of Finance have both given the difficult position that the country finds itself in. WHO has also given the position of covid19. Furthermore, Zambia itself has tested the effects of covid19 with significant disruption in health services even with such small numbers of confirmed cases. While covid19 has brought so much panic and fear for the disease by its very nature of infectivity and the severity of the disease in both wellness and existing morbidity state in people including the Minister of Health, the cabinet is equally panicky over covids19 effects on the economy. We saw one minister completely overlooking his public service role to inciting the union to rise against an employer. We saw Government detain a foreign national investor, grabbing his phones and stopping him from leaving the country until he reversed his company’s covid19 response which was not anyway different from what others were doing the world over. It would seem to me that Cabinet is in a dichotomous state of affairs with a fairly sized lacuna in the middle.

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS No 4: Misdirection of Science in Policy Statements:

Zambians both young, old and all walks of life have received covid19 policies with some disquieting enthusiasm due to disconnect in policy with the Covid19 issues.  We now have the policy of the New Normal which is likely to drive down the efforts of fighting covid19. Globally accepted and agreed principles of disease epidemiology define a new normal as an endemic state. Endemic refers to the constant presence and/or usual prevalence of a disease in a population. Hence Inference of a new normal for Covid19 entails endemicity with covid19

MANAGEMENT: Is as per the differentials…

1. Stabilization of MOH.. the minister to go back to his job of policy guidance, PS to take over the realms of controlling officer and Directors to be themselves as Technocrats and advisors who discharge their professional services without fear or favour.
2. Cabinet to possibly move from the fences and fill the space of the lacuna in the middle. That’s where the political economic solutions balance is.

Amb Dr. Mwaba Kasese-Bota
Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow 2020

Ambassador Representative to the United Nations 2012-2017

Medical Doctor/Epidemiologist
Political/International Relations/Public Health/ Sustainable Development Consultant