SACCORD Expectations Statement on President Edgar Lungu’s State of the Nation Address as Parliament Opens
15th September, 2015
As President Lungu opens Parliament on Friday 18th September, 2015 and gives his State of the Nation address, the Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) has a number of expectations. We hope that the opening of Parliament will be conducted in an open manner without having any Journalists or media houses being barred from observing the President as he delivers his State of the Nation. The State of the Nation is weak and as President Lungu opens Parliament we expect the following issues to be addressed comprehensively:
Energy Debacle:
The country has for a number of months been undergoing one of the worst energy crises in its history. This has severely affected productivity to the extent that mining companies are either threatening closure or laying off workers and most businesses are struggling to cope with lack of power. We expect the President to be comprehensive in addressing the issue of loadshedding in terms of solutions to mitigating the crisis, but also the future outlook that seek to prevent the country from experiencing such an energy crisis. We hope that the President will rise above board and move away from negative energy by comparing the country’s crisis to other countries in the region that do not have similar energy potential to Zambia.
With all the water bodies and potential to generate energy we hope the President will advance positive energy that will seek to compare Zambia with other countries with similar potential so that we do make loadshedding look normal when it is a very abnormal state of affairs. We expect the President to give practical measures to diversify the energy sector in the country in the short, medium and long-term. We also expect the President to inform the nation on the plans that his Government has to maintain and renovate dams that are feared to be in a dilapidated state such as Kariba dam. Long term measures that seek to consider alternative sources of power should be prioritized by the government. Government should come up with ways in which it will raise funds to support alternative sources of energy. We implore government to start considering priority setting which corresponds and responds to the challenges the country is facing.
Weakening Economy and Kwacha Depreciation:
The economy and the Kwacha have continued to perform poorly and this has resulted in many people experiencing hardships. We expect the President to provide leadership by avoiding to blame external factors for the economic challenges and instead provide solutions to the internal inefficiencies some of which include lack of fiscal disciplineand poor long term planning. We hope that the President will also consider calling for a Crisis Meeting with relevant stakeholders to share ideas on how to halt the negative downward spiral of the economy and kwacha.We also expect the president to propose practical economic steps that his government will take to increase exports and resuscitate the manufacturing industry. Instead of being defensive all the time, the president needs to acknowledge the challenges we are currently facing and focus on findings solutions and answers that will improve the economy both in the immediate and long term future of this country.
Diversification of the Economy:
In view of the unreliable fluctuating copper prices on the world market, it is expected that President Lungu will provide guidance on how the country will diversify its economy in the shortest possible time. We hope that diversification of the economy will also aggressively address employment creation in the country which is struggling with severe youth unemployment. It is also expected that President Lungu will inform the nation on plans that the Government has to reduce on the costly international travels with entourages that gobble a lot of resources for a struggling economy like ours. SACCORD expects government to reduce expenditure on excessive travel by government and save funds for programmes that will mitigate or resolve the problems the country is facing. We would like to see practical proposals and measures on how Agriculture and tourism will be improved as alternatives to the mining sector. We also expect the President to offer direction on his government’s intentions for the Universities such as University of Zambia (UNZA) and Copperbelt University that have faced a lot of problems in the recent past.
Standoff with Mining Companies:
The weak economy and energy crisis has led to mining companies threatening to close or lay-off workers. The closures of mines or laying off workers will lead to higher unemployment rates which will be a security threat to the country as it will contribute to social vices such as increased prostitution, violence and crime. We expect and urge President Lungu to offer attractive incentives to the mining companies through constructive dialogue as opposed to adopting a policy of intimidation and directives to companies that are facing economic hardship. Such a policy will only seek to chase away investors to the detriment of the nation.
Constitution-making Process:
This process has seen so many u-turns on almost all the promises that were made by the ruling PF since 2011 including the enactment of the constitution through a referendum. We expect and urge the President to consider holding a referendum to enact a new constitution before the 2016 tripartite elections and thereby provide confidence in stakeholders once again in this process. The piecemeal proposal to enact the constitution through Parliament risks jeopardizing the people’s wish as there is no guarantee that Parliament will uphold all the submissions of the people before the Technical Committee (TC). Should Parliament fail to pass the wish of the people, Zambia would have once again failed to deliver a people driven constitution which has been elusive since independence.
Implementation of the Revised Decentralization Policy:
We expect President Lungu to underscore the importance of decentralization and also share plans that his Government has to expedite the process of amending the Local Government Act. The amendment of this Act is key to expediting the devolution process in the country.
We hope that the above issues among others will be comprehensively addressed by the President. We also hope that the State of the Nation address will once again inspire hope in the people that better days are ahead. In the near future, we would like to see the president holding more engaging press conferences to allow interaction with both the public and the media.
The route of holding formal press conferences to address serious national issues shows more commitment and seriousness in terms of providing guidance, leadership and direction to the country. It also reassures the nation of the desire of the leadership to progress and provides the opportunity for reaffirming the aspirations of the people.
Boniface Cheembe
Executive Director
SACCORD
