By G.USENGA
We have observed several inconsistencies among the PF government officials and this is really setting some doubtful lines of competency. I always wonder whether these guys really consult each other before stating anything. This is the reason why people are doubtful as to whether PF government has any economic policy framework or not. If they had a clear economic agenda properly codified, they would have been referring to it all the time before opening their mouths and start making eye-blink comments which are usually not consistent with what another ministers talk about.

Recently when the President was in United Kingdom, this is what he said to the investors
Quote from Times of Zambia, 8 June, 2012
PRESIDENT Michael Sata has assured investors that his administration will not impose restrictions on those doing business in Zambia from externalising their profits. The President gave the assurance in his keynote address to the Commonwealth Economic Forum in London yesterday when he addressed more than 300 United Kingdom-based entrepreneurs as well as Zambians in the Diaspora.“One thing you can be assured of is that there will be no restrictions to profit repatriation. You can send to wherever profits you make anywhere in the world. You can send to Timbuktu or Canal Islands. We shall allow you to do that,” Mr. Sata said.(times of Zambia,June,8,2012)

But in today’s paper, Times of Zambia (27/06/2012), Chikwanda who mostly has come to the rescue of many misplaced economic statements from the President and Bob Sichinga, is quoted as follows;
GOVERNMENT will introduce policy measures to stop companies from externalising all their export earnings, Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda has said.
Mr. Chikwanda announced in Parliament yesterday that the move would help create a conducive environment for both investors and Zambians. He said the MMD administration erred during its reign to allow investors, especially in the mining sector, to externalise all export earnings, placing the country at a disadvantage in terms of benefitting from exports. He was responding to concerns raised by Sinazongwe Member of Parliament, Richwell Siamunene (UPND), on what measures Government was taking to ensure that not all profits were externalised.“We are in the process of enforcing policy to ensure that export companies including the mines do not externalise all their export earnings.“This has been disadvantaging the country. This enabling environment was introduced by our colleagues in the opposition who we replaced, but we want to correct this and introduce an enabling environment for both the investors and the people,” he said.

But you can start wondering as whether there is any collaboration among these officials because there is only a space of less than three weeks between when these opposite statements were produced. This shows these guys don’t seem to have any economic plan but purely on trial-and-error.

In fact Chikwanda should realize that the mistake by the previous government, MMD, of allowing profit-flight, is still being repeated today, except that with PF government, this has been fully allowed and blessed by the Head of State, H.E. MC.Sata.
Now what mistake are you correcting when for the first time, the President has fully allowed investors to externalise the profits?
PF government should be serious and get back to work; they are no longer an opposition group.

PRESIDENT Michael Sata says his Government is working to stamp out casualisation by creating long-term permanent jobs for Zambians.

And the President has directed local authorities in the country to improve their town planning by learning from countries such as Brazil.

Mr Sata said he was impressed with Brazil’s planning and development when he attended the Rio+20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro recently.

President Sata said councils should take a leaf from Brazil on how best to plan and develop cities and municipalities.
“I didn’t see a single space… we need to send some people there to go and see for themselves,” Mr Sata said.

On creation of job opportunities, Mr Sata said the Government was planning to create and offer Zambians decent long-term jobs unlike what was currently obtaining.

“If there is employment, we don’t want casual employment. We want to provide employment where when somebody has been provided employment you forget about it. And when you provide employment for one person he will create some more employment.

“For example if you have people working, then people in the market will also be employed because they will have people with money who are going to buy the goods,” he said.

He said there would be increased expenditure in the economy coming with the creation of more jobs by Government and consequently lead to increased revenue for the provision of social services to the people.

Mr Sata said this in an interview yesterday at South Africa’s Oliver Tambo International Airport en-route to Lusaka shortly after connecting from London, where he had earlier connected from Brazil.

This is contained in a statement released by First Secretary for Press at the Zambian High Commission in South Africa, Patson Chilemba.

Mr Sata said Zambia should utilise its comparative advantage to normalise the trade imbalance with countries like South Africa.

He said South Africa exported more to Zambia because that country understood what was relevant for the Zambian market through planning.

He said if South Africa imported meat from Argentina, it could also buy meat products from Zambia, especially that the two countries were only two hours away by air transport.

‘You need proper meat commissions to ensure that our animals are sickness free. And it is not for us to say so, it is for South Africa to prove that our beef is sickness free.

Those are the simplest exports you are talking about, because if we can prove to the South Africans that we can provide them with disease-free meat that is one of the biggest exports since consumption of meat is almost every day,’ he said.

GOVERNMENT will introduce policy measures to stop companies from externalising all their export earnings, Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda has said.

Mr Chikwanda announced in Parliament yesterday that the move would help create a conducive environment for both investors and Zambians.

He said the MMD administration erred during its reign to allow investors, especially in the mining sector, to externalise all export earnings, placing the country at a disadvantage in terms of benefitting from exports.

He was responding to concerns raised by Sinazongwe Member of Parliament, Richwell Siamunene (UPND), on what measures Government was taking to ensure that not all profits were externalised.

“We are in the process of enforcing policy to ensure that export companies including the mines do not externalise all their export earnings.

“This has been disadvantaging the country. This enabling environment was introduced by our colleagues in the opposition who we replaced, but we want to correct this and introduce an enabling environment for both the investors and the people,” he said.

He said total earnings from copper, cobalt and gold exports during the interval March 2009 to February this year hit more than US$18.2 million.

He said among other measures to help boost mining performance in contributing to the treasury, was the already implemented mineral royalty tax increased from three per cent to six per cent, adding that this was sufficient to help bring about development.

The other measure was to strengthen capacity of monitoring and ensure that all taxes related to mining were adhered to.

Mr Chikwanda said the taxes would help the country to improve infrastructure, social amenity provision and help boost the performance of other sectors such as the processing industries.

He assured that a different economic scenario would avail itself once the measures were in full effect.

On calls for the re-introduction of windfall tax, Mr Chikwanda firmly said the Government would not bring back the measure.

[Times of Zambia]

Energy minister has reiterated that the fuel shortage in the country had nothing to do with the recent donation of fuel to neighboring Malawi.

Recently the Zambian government donated five million liters of fuel estimated at 5 million united states to Malawi to help with the help facilitate the funeral arrangements for its late president Bingu Wa Mutharika.

Energy minister Christopher Yaluma says it is unfortunate that politicians have continued to attribute the recent shortage of fuel in the country to the donation made to Malawi.

Speaking to QFM, Mr. Yaluma says people should understand and believe that the shortage was due to a leak in the pipes stating that the problem has since been rectified.

QFM

Some farmers who have not yet been paid their money by the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) in Kalomo have given government a one week ultimatum to settle their dues or take the law into their hands if their demand is not met.

The farmers also demanded that their money which is being held in various commercial banks be paid with the current ruling bank interest rates claiming their money has attracted some interest. This action follows the delayed payment of their dues for the maize they supplied to FRA last year.

Some farmers stormed ZANIS today to air their grievances while others trekked to the local police station to ask what wrong they have committed for them to be subjected to what they termed miserable experience leading to hard lives due to delayed payment of their money.

The farmers are also threatening to collect the remaining maize that is still stacked in the outlying satellite depots and resale it to other millers to raise money for their families.

The farmers said out of the 21 FRA maize buying satellite depots which included those from Sikanga, Katundulu, Bbilili and Kalemu sheds to which maize was supplied to, no payments have been made due to the ongoing investigations for suspected fraudulent practices by some buyers in certain satellite depots while some are already in courts, leading to further delay in payments.

They claimed that investigation in the matter were taking too long while other suspects whose property were impounded were seen moving scot free and have even started buying maize from unsuspecting poor farmers.
The unhappy farmers have since urged government to speed up the investigations. Charles Munsanka who is one of theaffected farmers said he has not been paid his money for the maize sold to FRA last year.

‘You see, it is really annoying, I sold my maize in August last year and up to now I have not been paid, it’s like government is neglecting us, even on the cotton price it is still quite. Now that there is an outbreak of lumpy skin disease and corridor, our animals are dying mercilessly because we don’t have money to buy drugs and our children are failing to go to school,” complained Charles Munsanka.

However, Kalomo District Commissioner, Omar Munsanje has constantly told farmers who relentlessly visit his office of the late payment assuring them that their money is available only that government was cleaning the mess so that what happened do not repeat itself for the benefit of the genuine farming community.

In another development, the farming community in Mabombo area are up in arms with cotton ginners for buying the crop at K1,600 per kilo gramme, a move which they said was exploitative and discouraging farmers to engage in cotton growing as it was becoming grossly unprofitable.

Speaking on behalf of other farmers, Mabombo cotton growers group Chairperson, Edwell Kaale of chief Chikanta’s area said the negotiating team’s delay to come to an agreeable price from that of the proposed K3,200 per kilo gramme had a negative effect on cotton growers.

He said some ginning companies like Dunavant, Alliance and Continental agents have already invaded his area getting the cotton at the low cost of K1,600 per kilo gramme as farmers have no other means of revenue coupled with the fact that some have not yet been paid their money by FRA.

ZANIS