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Former Finance Minister Ng’andu Magande has said that the removal of subsidies is not the solution to addressing budget deficits.
Reacting to Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda’s statement that the removal of subsidies was simply to make the budget deficit bearable, Mr. Magande told Qfm in an interview that covering up a deficit spent on a few Zambians at the expense of the majority Zambians is wrong and unfair.
Mr Magande who is also National Movement for Progress president said that the loans government has to pay from the removal subsidies do not benefit all Zambians but a particular group of people.
Mr. Magande noted that subsidies were benefiting the majority Zambians who cannot afford the high cost of living they have now been subjected to following the removal of subsidies on maize and fuel.
He added that any budget is meant to spend tax money on commodities and services for the people, stating that if government spends money to make transport or food cheap, then the tax money is working for the right purpose.
Mr. Magande has urged government to think through its decision to remove subsidies for the sake of the majority Zambian people who cannot feel the positive impact of the removal of subsidies on Fuel and Maize.
And the Black Friday consortium of civil society organizations has said that it feels vindicated that government has now acknowledged that there are no funds being served from removal of subsidies.
On Tuesday,Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda told Parliament that the removal of subsidies on fuel and maize by government has simply made the budget deficit bearable.
Consortium Chairperson MacDonald Chipenzi said that government should apologize to the Zambian people for earlier giving them an impression that funds will be saved from the removal of subsidies.
Mr Chipenzi said that the open acknowledgment by the Finance Minister that there are no funds being saved from the removal of subsidies also implies that there is no money being spent on projects the government had said it would channel the money to.
He has since advised government to stop unnecessary creation of Districts and avoid budget deficits by controlling its expenditure.
And the Southern African Center for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) has also called on government to give a projection of how much the country will be able to save from the removal of subsidies in the next two years.
SACCORD Executive Director, Boniface Cheembe has told Qfm News in a separate interview that the government should also clearly state the exact projects on which the saved funds will be spent.
He said that his organization is of the belief that such information is important as it will help government command the confidence of the people on how it is using taxpayers’ money.
Vice President Guy Scott has revealed that very strange things are happening at Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) where the owners do not mind the company being declared bankrupt or placed under receivership in order for the company’s liabilities to be taken over by government.
Dr Scott told Parliament this morning during the vice president’s question that it appears KCM has externalized huge amounts of money, and that government is keeping a close eye on the company.
He said the mining company has liabilities in excess of $1.5 billion, adding that the company has not paid its creditors and repaid bank loans.
Dr Scott added that KCM also owes other mining companies monies for the processed copper concentrates which is also threatening the affected mining companies with reduced production and increased costs.
The Vice president added that government has also discovered that there are two companies known by the same name Vedanta, with the one owning KCM not being bound by the regulations of disclosure of the London Stock Exchange and the Financial Services Authority in Britain.
Dr Scott said Vedanta is hiding information from government.
He stated that Zambia stands to lose billions of dollars if the country does not stand together and show that it will not be taken for a ride.
Former Zambia Under-23 and Kitwe United team manager Fred Zimba will be put to rest on Saturday.
Zimba died on Wednesday in Chambishi after a short illness.
His burial is expected to take place on Saturday morning after church service at UCZ Chambishi congregation at that will start at 09h30.
Zimba was Zambia Under-23 team manager under the late Ben Bamfunchile who won silver at the 1999 All Africa Games in Johannesburg in a team that included Moses Sichone, Numba Mumamba and Bernard Makufi.
He was also one of Chingalika Kitwe United’s longest serving team managers between 2000 to 2005.
Cleo Ice Queen released the video for her latest single off her upcoming album “Geminice” . The song is called Timi Mekoko .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz7n0StgBPs
NGOCC chairperson Beatrice Grillo talking during the meeting that was held to demand for the release of the draft Zambian constitution
The Non Governmental Organization Coordinating Council (NGOCC) has charged that it is shameful for President Micheal Sata to shelve the draft constitution after spending colossal sums of tax payers’ money on the constitution making process.
NGOCC Board Chairperson Beatrice Grillo told Qfm News in an interview that it is disappointing for the president to dribble Zambians who had put so much trust in him to deliver a people driven constitution.
Mrs. Grillo said the civil society will not relent in pushing for the release of the draft constitution because it belongs to the Zambian people.
She said that President Sata’s statement discouraging constitutional office holders from talking about the constitution and ignore those who are talking about the constitution is unfair and unacceptable to the majority Zambians.
She stressed that there is need for the president to have a listening ear to the many complaints and cries from the people who voted the PF into power.
Mrs. Grillo added that it is worrying because even donors who had put in so much money for the country to begin the constitution making process will now question the logic of doing so.
POLICE in Nakonde have arrested a 23-year-old woman for allegedly posting nude pictures on her Facebook page.
Muchinga Province deputy commissioner of police Bonny Kapeso said in an interview yesterday that the incident happened between February 3 and February 5.
Mr Kapeso identified the suspect as Romana Banda, a clearing agent, of Katozi village in Nakonde.
“We have arrested Banda and we have charged her with circulating obscene materials with intent to corrupt public morals,” Mr Kapeso said.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Zambia has congratulated the Zambian Government on the positive strides it is making in enhancing public access to information.
UNDP Interim Resident Representative in Zambia Elizabeth Lwanga says her office has noted with admiration the penetration Government is making in bridging the information gap between the rural and urban areas of the country.
Ms. Lwanga hailed Government’s ongoing Rural FM Radio expansion project under the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) and the growing number of community and commercial radio stations which now stands at 70 countrywide as some of the landmark developments aimed at taking information closer to the people.
Ms. Lwanga said this when she and UNDP Country Director in Zambia Ms. Viola Morgan paid a courtesy call on Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services and Chief Government Spokesperson Mwansa Kapeya at his Office in Lusaka yesterday.
This is contained in a press statement made available to ZANIS in Lusaka today.
Ms. Lwanga spoke highly of the Zambian media saying the country has and continues to maintain high journalism standards.
She said UNDP is keen to supplement Government’s efforts in orienting Zambian media practitioners towards development-based journalism.
She observed that journalists in Zambia tend to focus more on politics at the expense of other developmental issues.
The UNDP Interim Resident Representative disclosed that her organisation would like to help reverse this trend by orienting and promoting specialization among the Zambian Journalists so that they consider reporting on developmental issues.
“Journalists tend to focus more on politics at the expense of developmental issues. The UNDP would like to help reverse this trend by orienting and promoting specialization among the Zambian Journalists so that they accord developmental issues the priority they deserve in their reporting,” said Ms Lwanga.
And Information minister Mwansa Kapeya said in line with its PF party manifesto, Government under the able leadership of President Michael Sata has freed the media so that it plays its full and rightful role in national development.
Mr. Kapeya said the Patriotic Front Government has decided to give the media total independence so that it regulates itself professionally noting that it has operating for 50 years now.
“After 50 years of independence, the Zambian media has matured to regulate itself. That is why as Patriotic Front Government, we have freed the media so that it regulates itself professionally. As Government, our role is simply to provide guidance in terms of policy,” said Mr Kapeya.
Mr. Kapeya said President Sata is passionate about effective information delivery and dissemination to all parts of the country.
He said the Head of State has since tasked his Ministry to ensure that people in all parts of the country have access to clear radio reception through the ongoing Government funded Rural FM Radio project.
The Minister indicated that all districts throughout the country would be installed with FM radio transmitters facilitated by the national broadcaster, ZNBC.
He said Government was determined to change the status quo where access to information has only been a preserve of the people along the line of rail since independence.
“Since independence, access to information has been a preserve of the people along the line of rail. But Government is determined to change the status quo. His Excellency the President has since tasked my Ministry to install FM radio transmitters countrywide to ensure everyone around the country has access to ZNBC radio signal. So far, the project is progressing well,” Mr. Kapeya said .
The Minister reaffirmed Government’s continued collaboration with the UNDP in the development of Zambia’s media industry.
TRANSPORT, Works, Supply and Communication Minister Yamfwa Mukanga commissioning the laundry machine for Ronald Ross Hospital rehabilitated by Mopani Copper Mines
Government says works on the new Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport in Ndola will begin in June this year.
Works and Supply Minister Yamfwa Mukanga told ZANIS in an interview in Ndola yesterday that about US$580 million is required to construct the Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International airport in Ndola.
Mr. Mukanga however said government has a big challenge to look for funds to construct the new Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International airport.
“The big challenge we have is to look for funding to ensure that the works are executed on the new airport”, said Mr Mukanga.
He added that government has been trying to look for the funding that is required and when available the project will be executed .
“Our target has always been by June, 30, 2014 to start the project, so we are doing all we can,” Mr. Mukanga said.
He said the contractor HAVEK from China and that government has to do everything possible to ensure the airport comes on board.
Mr. Mukanga said if the money is not going to be available in good time, government will rehabilitate the old airport as it will continue to source for funds for the construction of the new airport.
And Mr. Mukanga has said there is need to procure special buses for the physically challenged.
He said government together with private bus owners will soon implement the project so that the physically challenged could have their own buses.
“We need to have special buses for the physically challenged and we believe that people who are differently challenged should be given an opportunity to get on a bus properly.So we will try to look at how best we will implement these measures in order to enable bus operators and those who own private buses to procure buses that will be able to accommodate our people,” he said.
Mr. Mukanga said every public building or government building that is being constructed should have a provision for people who are physically challenged so that people on wheelchairs can have access to the facilities.
He said it was sad to note that companies are constructing buildings without providing facilities for the disabled adding that government is going to inspect buildings and shopping malls that are coming up to ensure that they provide proper facilities.
FILE: Acting Chief Justice Lombe Chibesakunda (far left), Tourism and Arts Minister Sylvia Masebo (second from left), Director of Public Prosecutions Mutembo Nchito (second from far right) and Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba (far right) at the just ended 2013 Southern African Chief Justices Forum and Conference and Annual General Conference at Zambezi Sun Hotel in Livingstone.
ACTING Chief Justice Lombe Chibesakunda will today swear in three members of the tribunal appointed to probe Minister of Tourism and Arts Sylvia Masebo’s alleged professional misconduct.
Ms Justice Chibesakunda will swear in acting Supreme Court judge Rhoyda Kaoma as chairperson and Livingstone High Court judge-in-charge Ernest Mukulamutiyo and Lusaka High Court judge Chalwe Mchenga as members.
This is in a matter in which former Minister of Transport and Communication William Harrington applied for judicial review of the State’s decision against setting up a tribunal to probe Ms Masebo’s alleged professional misconduct.
The tribunal has been set up following Mr Harrington’s complaints against Ms Masebo’s alleged abuse of authority of office regarding operations at the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA).
Judiciary public relations officer Terry Musonda confirmed the swearing-in ceremony of the three-member tribunal in an interview in Lusaka yesterday.
“The acting Chief Justice will tomorrow [today] swear in three members of the tribunal constituted to probe Ms Masebo. The members include Mrs Justice Kaoma as chairperson and High Court justices Judge Mukulamutiyo and Judge Mchenga as members,” Mr Musonda said.
On Monday, Lusaka High Court judge Dominic Sichinga lifted a stay which halted the setting up of a tribunal to probe Ms Masebo.
The High Court, upon hearing the judicial review, refused to give an order to Justice Chibesakunda to appoint a tribunal.
The court also refused to grant an order of certiorari (writ seeking judicial review) to remove in the court the decision of the acting Chief Justice to refuse to appoint a tribunal to investigate allegations against Ms Masebo for the purpose of quashing it.
The court instead made a declaration that the applicant was entitled to be heard by a tribunal in accordance with the law.
This prompted the state to apply for a stay of execution of the court’s decision pending determination by the Supreme Court, which was granted.
But in a ruling on Monday, Justice Sichinga said a declaration is a formal statement, proclamation or announcement and that a declaration sets out what the law is or the rights of the party.
He said a stay temporarily halts or pauses proceedings which can be granted for various reasons and is normally lifted once the reason no longer applies.
Justice Sichinga said a stay of execution of judgment was granted pending the outcome of the appeal to the Supreme Court and that the stay was granted in the view that no further steps would be taken.
Sports Minister Chishimba Kambwili has appointed First Republican President Dr. Kenneth Kaunda as Zambia’s 2019 Africa Cup bid Ambassador.
Kambwili made the announced during the 2013 MTN FAZ Football Awards gala held on Wednesday night in Kitwe.
He said as Zambia’s Ambassador for the 2019 Africa Cup bid, Dr Kaunda will tour various African countries to lobby for support.
“As we bid for the 2019 AFCON which I am very sure we will be awarded let me take this opportunity to officially appoint Dr Kenneth Kaunda as the ambassador of the 2019 AFCON bid,” Kambwili said.
“Dr Kaunda will visit all the countries that form CAF to try and lobby them to give support to Zambia,” he said.
Kambwili expressed confidence that Zambia will win the bid to host the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
“I am very sure we shall be awarded because I have never started a crusade which I have failed,” he added.
President Sata disembarks from an Emirates plane at the Kenneth Kaunda international airport
By Field Ruwe
Before I tip my hat to the above-mentioned persons, I wish to appeal to State House to correct or pull down Dr. Christine Kaseba-Sata’s profile at www.1stladies.org/wp-content that shows her date of birth as 1963. A “Christine Mwelwa Kaseba-Sata Profile” search on the Internet results in a pdf curriculum vitae bearing a State House address and a wrong DOB. The CV also contains her State House phone number, mobile phone number and her email address. It is misleading. I have since made the correction in my last article which can be accessed at:
Let me also take this opportunity to address Aruna Mwangaila (nom de plume) who is an employee of the Network Rail, the company that has taken over the running of British Rail infrastructure in England. Mwangaila writes:
“The data we have is that he [President Sata] worked for our company at Victoria Station and other platforms around London not as a shunter, conductor, and locomotive driver (as per the author’s research) but as a restrooms and locomotive janitor [cleaner].” Mwangaila continues: “There were so many West Africans and Jamaicans working with him, some recently retired from the company. From what they said, he simply didn’t take orders from his superiors especially fellow blacks hence he was moved from one station to another within London. I hope this clarifies things a little bit.”
Finding information on Michael Sata
During my research I came across similar information, but it was all secondary. I made an effort to contact Network Rail and received the following reply:
“Please contact the current Department of Transport in the UK who may be able to help you further, as our company has been in existence for 17 years.” I sent a query to the department and have not heard from them since. Nevertheless, from what I gathered in the two months of my research, it is very unlikely that Sata worked as a shunter, conductor or locomotive driver.
I would like to thank people like Mwangaila who are coming forward to help document the life of President Michael Sata in its entirety. Also, sincerest thanks go to a blogger named “Native” without whom I would have been at a loss how to proceed. In “deep throat” style, he/she is credited for providing the thread to the needle in the haystack. On December 3, 2013, “Native” blogged:
“Field should ask the Catholic Church in Zambia, they will probably give him a testimonial of President Sata’s academic excellence at Lubushi Mission. I’ve given him a pointer and from that he can research.”
Indeed, “Native” provided the master key: “LUBUSHI.”
I immediately sent a query to Father Alfred Mupeta compiler of Lubushi Minor Seminary alumni at https://sites.google.com/site/trustlsss/past-pupils. When I did not hear from him, I used his list to put together names of Sata’s peers at the seminary — Lazarous Bwalya, Emmanuel Chikopela, Pontianus Funga, Paul Makasa and others. I also included some of his seniors such as Abel Bendela, Stanslaus Chilamo, Marius Chimenya, Christopher Chisense, Celestine Chitalu, Emmanuel Katati, Barnabas Lobati, Mattias Ndefeti, and Jacob Lombe Tembo. I made an effort to contact some of them, most who have retired. It was a daunting task.
After my queries produced naught, I resorted to the Internet. There is virtually nothing on the Internet about Sata’s early life that we already don’t know. On Ancenstry.com, I found a Michael Sata who boarded a ship in 1956 from New York to London. His nationality was Japanese. I also found three more Asians with a similar name, one a very fat sumo wrestler.
I also sent an email to the South African-based Telegraph reporter Asslinn Laing in an attempt to share her notes from the 2011 interview, but drew a blank. When Sata became president, Laing travelled to Lusaka from South Africa for a one-on-one interview with the newly-elected president. I was hoping she had asked him about his childhood. She did not respond.
I was about to throw in the towel when it occurred to me that the Boston University has one of the well-stocked African Studies libraries in the U.S. Located on the 6th floor of the Mugar Memorial Library at 771 Commonwealth Avenue, the library contains over 200,000 volumes and research collections on Africa, and hundreds of book titles, magazines, and newspapers on Zambia, dating back to the Cecil Rhodes times. It was my last straw. In BU database I first entered keywords: SATA, Michael” and “Africa Confidential” popped up. I read about how FTJ with his G5, that included Sata, plotted to have KK deported, among other very dark stuff. But that’s not what I was looking for.
I added “LUBUSHI” to his name, and god behold! The following appeared:
Africa Year Book and Who’s who (1977) – Page 1319: SATA. Michael Chilufya. Zambian businessman, managing director, Tanners and Taxidermists (Zambia), executive…Katibunga Seminary, 1947-48, Kantesha, 1948-51, Lubushi Seminary, 1951-56
… I had discovered gold!
After a gruesome month of search in the Boston Public Libraries, I had finally made a breakthrough. With the help of other records I was able to sew together Sata’s life from 1937 (1936?) to date. Lest I forget, credit should also go to that son of the soil, retired Detective Blackwell Barrow Chifita who, in 1958, arrested Sata. His statement, true or false, helped to fill the gap between 1957 and 1960. It is now up to the warder who booked Sata into his prison cell to tell his side of the story.
A Book that explains Sata
By the way, it was in the Boston University library that I found Dr. Henry Meebelo’s book: African Proletarians and Colonial Capitalism: The origins, growth, and struggles of the labour movement to 1964. I encourage Zambian scholars and those who wish to study the life of president Sata to read the book. Published by the Kenneth Kaunda Foundation (KKF), it shows why Sata is an authoritarian and displays signs of dictatorship. It is clear from the book that Sata has always been obsessed with power. Each time he has assumed a role of leadership he has ensured that no one in his close circle is able to establish a power base. It is on this premise the Patriotic Front (PF) is based.
Evidently, it has become apparent even to those mediocrities and lackeys who surround him with cunning opportunism that he is responsible to no one, not to the people who put him in power. He obeys no laws other than those of his making. Just now he has subjected the draft Constitution of Zambia to his arbitrary conduct and cast doubt on its execution; he has instructed his Minister of Education to introduce local languages from pre-school to the fourth grade, an act that will deny children of the poor an education compatible with the fast-changing world; he has approved the excavation of a massive hole in the Lower Zambezi National Park by an Australian mining company with no regard to ecological negatives; and of course he can decide to blow the poor man’s taxes at some unknown beach if he so wishes.
Pardon my digression. This article is about thanking Fred Mmembe, George Chellah, Amos Malupenga, and other “intrepid” journalists at The Post without whom the biography of President Michael Sata would have been possible.
The Boston University has archived all their stories. With finesse Mmembe and his team dug into Sata’s life and came out with words like “liar,” “thug” “unprincipled,” “unfit” “corrupt” “plunderer, demagogue” and “thief.” Believe me, each time I entered the name “SATA” in the database and tagged any of the above words, I was referred to an article written either by Mmembe, Chellah, or Malupenga.
Mmembe’s quotes about Sata found at Boston University library
Interestingly enough, I also discovered that Western scholars and authors of books about Zambia like Miles Larmer, Alastair Fraser, Jeremy Gould, Mary Fitzpatrick, J. Tyler Dickovick, Scott D. Taylor, to mention but a few, find The Post a credible source. They pleasure in titles like “Sata is a political prostitute,” “Sata is not a Messiah,” and “Watch satanic deeds.”
In fact, the most sought are Mmembe’s quotes like
“No one should believe the satanic pie in the sky promises.
We all know this man [Sata] and his satanic deeds. His deeds are there for all to see.
They speak of him and who he is.” And also:
“It is clear Sata will say anything if it helps him to get elected…this is why people must listen very carefully to the promises Sata is making. They must ask themselves ‘what is this man’s true legacy?’ It is true he has done some good here and there. But his destructive traits far outweigh any benefits.”
As I sat up there on the 6th Floor of the Boston University African Studies library, compiling Sata’s life from various sources, I, for once, concurred with Fred Mmembe. Yes, Sata’s destructive traits far outweigh any benefits. Mmembe is right on the money. It is therefore my added pleasure to here acknowledge the indispensable help Mmembe, Chellah, and Malupenga rendered. Their articles prodded me in the right direction. I thank them in more ways than one.
Finally, I wish to thank President Michael Chilufya Sata for not regarding his biography as an invasion of his privacy, defamation, or slander. I sincerely hope he will not resort to methods of banishment and lawsuits like he has done in the past. I wrote the biography without malice. People of Zambia have a right to know their leader. Nothing big or small should lie outside his life.
ActionAid welcomes commitment by government to prohibit displacement of communities in Musele Chiefdom
ActionAid today welcomed assurances by the Minister of Mines, Hon. Christopher Yaluma that communities located in the areas surrounding the Kalumbila Mine in Northwestern Province would not be displaced.
This follows a question raised in parliament on Tuesday regarding current lobbying of influential individuals by Canadian company First Quantum Minerals (FQM) to obtain a title to over 500 square kilometres of land. Honourable Yaluma responded that he was not aware of this lobbying; but that government would not allow any displacement to take place.
He also confirmed that an inter-ministerial committee has met and resolved the issues around Kalumbila and that that the issue of land allocation has been delegated to local government.
FQM acquired 518 square kilometres of land in the Musele Chiefdom through an agreement with Senior Chief Musele in 2011, however a ministerial task force later determined that Zambia’s Lands Act forbids any chief from selling more than 250 hectares and that only the president can authorise the sale.
ActionAid is supporting communities in the Musele Chiefdom to engage with FQM and government over this issue through the Musele-Nkisu community taskforce.
ActionAid Zambia Country Director Pamela Chisanga said:
“We welcome this commitment by the Minister as it is vital that communities are not displaced from the land that they depend on for their livelihood, and that any displacement should be discussed and agreed with communities and adequately compensated.
“We trust that the ministerial committee resolutions on Kalumbila have been completed in respect of the Musele community submissions submitted on 26 March 2013 and that no unilateral decisions have been taken by the government in terms of the size of land, equity and nature of the compensation.
“We hope that respect has been given to the fact that this is customary land and that the community’s input is necessary before any public announcements are made. This is because time must be provided to the community – who have so far not been engaged by the ministerial committee.
“We are aware that the community at Musele is not aware of many of the decisions that have been made and read or hear about these decisions through the media. We wish to implore the Minister to go a step further to ensure the meaningful dialogue with the community, the company and government so that all controversies regarding the Kalumbila project are resolved.
“The community so far seems to have been left alone to deal with a powerful multinational company while government seemingly took a back seat. We are happy that government has risen to the challenge and we hope to see this matter expeditiously concluded so that the people of Musele can carry on with their lives that have been disrupted over the last few years due to uncertainty and fear of displacement.”
Police officers praying during the prayer day for defence forces personnel n Lusaka
By Rev Kapya John Kaoma
On January 17, 2014, the Zambian government allowed an Australian company, Zambezi Resources to open a massive open-pit mining project in the Lower Zambezi National Park, which the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization was to declare a World Heritage Site. Although all traditional chiefs of the lower Zambezi, the Zambia Wildlife Authority, and the Zambia Environmental Advisory Agency opposed the move, Mr. Harry Kalaba, the Minister of Lands acting upon President Sata’s permission allowed the project to proceed—which will cause an ecological disaster—worse than the one experienced during the construction of the Kariba Dam in 1958. Unlike the Kariba, however, mining will displace millions of animals, pollute the waters and poison hundreds of thousands of nonhuman species. Who knows what President Sata and his cronies are set to get out of this venture? Well, Bemba say, “uubomba mwibala, alya mwibala” (the one who works in the field, eats from the field)—the only problem is, it is corruption in a Christian nation.
Corruption
Corruption is the abuse or misuse of public office, public resources, or some public obligation or duty for purposes of private (personal or group) gain. The negative effects of corruption on Zambia is frightening. “An insidious plague that has a wide range of corrosive effects on societies,” is what the then UN Secretary General Kofi A. Annan called corruption in his foreword to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). While this insidious plague is found across the globe, in Zambia, it undermines good governance and economic development.
Seriously, am I the only one who questions the relevance of the mantra of “Christian nation” in Zambia; am I the only one who thinks the mantra is used to blind us from exposing coruption? Well, every Zambian president claims to be a committed Christian, and so does his cabinet. In fact, every president has vowed to defend the Christian nation clause while presiding over a corrupt administration—which is an oxymoron.
[pullquote]In Zambia corruption is the only way to get what is legally yours[/pullquote]
Corruption erodes trust among the electorate and undermines the Government’s “ability to provide basic services, feeding inequality and injustice and discouraging foreign aid and investment.” In 2002, the African Union (AU) report revealed that the corruption cost Africa over $150 billion annually. The AU advocated the establishment of Anti-Corruption Commissions on the continent—leading to the establishment of the “African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption,” adopted in Maputo, on July 11, 2003. Article 19 of the Convention criminalizes “secret commissions and other forms of corrupt practices during international trade transactions,” but these practices are prevalent in our nation.
The ACC
We have the Anti-corruption Commission, but as S. O. Osoba contends, in Nigeria as elsewhere, these structures are “controlled and operated by, and in the interest of, members of the ruling class who have a vested and entrenched interest in sustaining and even extending corrupt practices.” The failure to prosecute Wynter Kawimba (until now) and GBM (until after he resigned from the Patriotic Front) despite being cited for corruption in the past confirms Osoba’s point. Is it that our anti-corruption commission is itself corrupt or toothless?
We are all victims and perpetrators of corruption. We are a corrupt Christian nation with corrupt citizens. Amidst extreme economic inequalities, lack of employment and social services, even poor people depend “on petty corruption and bureaucratic extortion in their efforts to secure basic services.” Who does not know that corruption is the norm in today’s Zambia; who does not know that corruption is the only way to enroll at government colleges or joining the civil service? Be it at the passport office, police station, and at courts, corruption is the only way to get what is legally yours.
In today’s Zambia, education and interviews do not matter anymore—corruption is the only way to get employed, join the army, and even become a security officer. Surely, we are a Christian nation of corrupt Christians!
The fight against corruption is a signiture phrase in Zambian political discourse. While the charges brought against the Chiluba and Rupiya Banda administrations suggest the rampart levels of corruption, Blaine Harden’s description of an African leader in the early 1990s still rings true today:
“His photograph hangs in every office in his realm. His ministers wear…tiny photographs of Him on the lapels of their tailored pin-striped suits.–His every pronouncement is reported on the front page.–He scapegoats minorities to shore up support. He rigs elections. He emasculates the courts. He cows the Press. He stifles academia. He goes to church.….He awards competitive, overprized contracts to foreign companies which grant…his family and his associates large kickbacks….He affects a commitment to free-market economic reforms to secure multi-million dollar loans and grants from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund…His rule has one overriding goal: to perpetuate his reign as Big man.”
Our constitutional identification as a Christian nation is contradicted by corruption. Harden’s point about politicians’ commitment to economic reforms to secure multi-million dollar loans deserves highlighting. There is no doubt that Zambian politicians are committed to free-market reforms to achieve their own financial security—the PF government seems to be doing exact that.
I am not saying that politicians are the only ones involved in corruption—the majority of church leaders are equally corrupt. As religious leaders, we often condemn corruption in government without stopping to critique fraud in our own institutions. Based on my experiences and interaction with African Churches, misappropriation of funds (mostly donated by international churches to address the plight of the poor) is common. No sooner does this money arrive than it is spent on building mansions for bishops and senior pastors. In Zambia, the plight of the masses remains a diamond mine for both religious and political leaders. While some politicians have been arrested and put in jail on corruption charges, prominent religious leaders have yet to taste justice for misusing Church resources. But, corruption and Christianity are not bedfellows unless you live in a Christian nation of thieves—Zambia.
