FINANCE and National Planning Minister Alexander Chikwanda has said Zambia’s re-classification to a lower middle-income bracket is meaningless because it has not benefitted many ordinary Zambians.

Mr Chikwanda said the re-classification was made at a time when the prices of copper – the country’s leading foreign exchange earner – rose to around US$10,000 per tonne, which influenced the figures but did not have economic benefits for many Zambians. He said Zambia remained poor and a major policy shift was urgently required by focusing on the fight against corruption while strengthening the capacity for financial management systems and improving agriculture and other sectors.

During a meeting with visiting World Bank executive director for Africa group Hassan Ahmed Taha at the ministry of Finance, Mr Chikwanda said previous governments had paid little attention to critical issues that ensure real development, such as corruption. The World Bank team is in the country to receive the Government’s economic and social development roadmap to help provide assistance, especially in the short-term targets that President Michael Sata wants to achieve within 90 days in power, as well as long-term targets.

Mr Chikwanda said the fight against corruption was important because it protected wrong actors while condemning hard workers, and that money meant for development went into the pockets of a few people.
He said the Government would listen to the World Bank because Zambia was a member and that the bank needed support for it to succeed, more so that it helped influence Zambia’s qualification to the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) completion point to win debt write-off. “I wonder if we can qualify now that copper prices have gone down. When that information was being compiled, the prices of copper went up to around $10,000 per ton,” Mr Chikwanda said.

He said Zambia was not able to finance the national Budget using its locally-sourced finances despite being graded as a lower middle-income nation and urged the Bank to continue providing Budget assistance.

Mr Chikwanda said the re-classification was influenced by the conditions that prevailed at the time and it was clear that the country had not developed since the attainment of independence from Britain in 1964. Mr Chikwanda said at independence, Zambia’s employment portfolio stood at 400, 000 people out of a population of about three million and that 47 years afterwards, the number had only moved to 600, 000 out of 14 million people, representing 25 per cent.

The minister said the population had continued to grow while the capacity of industries to create jobs had remained static.

Mr Chikwanda said minor improvements had been made such as the country’s ability to finance 90 per cent of the national Budget while 35 per cent of the previous budgets were externally financed, but that required restructuring by allowing for borrowing to save the social sector from collapsing further. He said there was need to invest in the energy and agriculture sectors to stimulate job creation while meeting the energy deficits the country was experiencing.

And Mr Taha called for improved investment in the education sector as an engine for economic development. He assured that the World Bank would continue to provide Budget assistance to Zambia despite being re-classified to lower middle-income status until it was certain that the Government could stand on its own.

And World Bank alternate executive director Denny Kalyalya, who is a former Bank of Zambia deputy governor, told the minister that the Bank had been transformed and was no longer running programmes based on restrictive conditionalities.

[Times of Zambia]

Former republican Vice President Enoch Kavindele has described as shameful the sale of 75 percent shares in ZAMTEL to Lap Green at 257 million United States (US) Dollars.

Mr. Kavindele stated that at the time of ZAMTEL’s sale, the market value for the telecommunications service provider was estimated at over 3 billion US dollars saying selling the parastatal company at a giveaway price of 257 million US dollars was unreasonable.

Mr. Kavindele who served as Vice President in the Chiluba and Mwanawasa governments said this in Lusaka today when he made his submissions before the Sebastian Zulu led Commission of Inquiry on the sale of ZAMTEL and the 98 million US dollar NAPSA deal.

And a former ZAMTEL employee Victor Mulenga has called for the immediate repossession and nationalization of ZAMTEL.

Mr. Mulenga who is among the over 2000 workers who lost their jobs after the sale of ZAMTEL said the transaction was not made in the interest of the nation hence the need for its speedy reversal.

“The previous government promised to protect our jobs and improve service delivery but after the transaction the opposite happened, over 2000 workers lost their jobs and the service became pathetic,” he pointed out.

And a former ZAMTEL Technical Director Wood Simbeye submitted that the previous government was responsible for the losses ZAMTEL made in the two years prior to the company’s sale to Lap Green.

Mr. Simbeye who worked for ZAMTEL for 22 years told the commission that the previous government was the worst settler of debts which in most cases exceeded K100 billion stretching over long periods of time.

He noted that during the time he served in ZAMTEL, the parastatal never made losses but instead accrued significant profits saying the previous government’s pronouncements that the service provider had been making losses for many years were baseless and unjustifiable.

And ZESCO Project Director for Kafue Gorge lower Christopher Mubemba narrated how ZESCO was forcefully made to sign an indivisible right of use agreement with ZAMTEL to make the telecommunications provider more attractive to potential buyers.

Mr. Mubemba said under the agreement ZAMTEL was to use ZESCO’s optic fibre network because ZAMTEL’s system was non functional.

He complained that the agreement which was signed on 17th December 2009 under extreme coercion from the previous government had stifled the expansion of the ZESCO network.

He told the commission that ZESCO got a raw deal from the agreement and intends to terminate the agreement by following the due process.

Submissions in the matter continue until Monday next week when the commission concludes its sittings.

Former Minister of Communications and Transport Dora Siliya who headed the ministry at the time of ZAMTEL’s sale is expected to appear before the commission tomorrow afternoon.

ZANIS

Zambia’s inflation rate for the month of October, 2011 has slightly reduced by 0.1 percent to 8.7 percent from 8.8 percent in September last month.

The decrease is attributed to reductions in some food and non- food prices.

Central Statistical Office (CSO) Acting Director John Kalumbi announced reduction at a press briefing held at his office in Lusaka today. This was during the CSO monthly bulletin.

Mr. Kalumbi further disclosed that Zambia recorded a trade surplus valued at K923.3 billion in September 2011 representing a nominal increase of 4.4 percent from K884.2 billion recorded in August, this year.

He said Zambia exported more in September than it imported in the same month in nominal terms.

He stated that the country’s major export products in September were intermediate goods, raw materials, capital goods and consumer goods.

He named Zambia’s major export destinations as Switzerland, China, South Africa, Congo DR and the United Kingdom which collectively accounted for 60.6 percent.

Mr. Kalumbi said Zambia’s major import products were intermediate goods, capital goods and raw materials goods that came from South Africa, Congo DR, China, India and the United Arab Emirates collectively accounting for 15.3 percent in September.

And Mr. Kalumbi has said poverty levels in Zambia were still very high despite recording some decline in 2006 and 2010.

Mr. Kalumbi said poverty had continued to be more predominant in rural areas than urban areas where he said people were wallowing in extreme poverty in Luapula, Western, Eastern and Northern province.

He explained that the poverty gap is rural areas especially in remote provinces, has continued to widen despite recording some reduction.

Luapula is leading in poverty levels which increased from 73.9 percent in 2006 to 80.5 percent in 2010 while Central province recorded the highest reduction in poverty levels during the same period from 70.7 percent in 2006 to 60.9 percent last year.

Lusaka province also recorded the lowest poverty indictor of 0.3 percent from 24.7 to 24.4 percent.

The CSO Chief expressed happiness that rural poverty declined from 80.3 percent in 2006 to 77.9 in 2010 while urban poverty was less than 3.0 percent from 29.7 percent to 27.5 percent during the same period under review.

ZANIS

Scores of irate Small scale farmers in Itezhi Tezhi District in Southern Province yesterday stormed ZANACO branch in the district to demand for delayed payment for maize they supplied to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA).

The emotional and visibly annoyed farmers from the outskirts of the district who have been camping in the township for over two weeks besieged the bank.

ZANIS reports that the Bank and the District Commissioner’s office had to call for police reinforcement from the ItezhiTezhi police station to disperse the angry farmers who bitterly complained of delayed payment of their money by FRA to pay despite sold their maize early.

“We have been camping in guest houses and open spaces while waiting for the money. The rains have already started and we have not yet bought fertilizer. Why is FRA releasing money all the money and clear us?
The farmers said it was unfair for the bank to tell them that it had no money because Government last week promised to pay them by this week.

“It is not fair for the bank to tell us there is no money after having travelled from far places. We are appealing to Government through the DC to quickly address our plight because some of us are spending nights in the cold as we do not have relatives in town”. One of the farmers shouted.

They also accused FRA officials of not following the first come first serve rule when paying money to farmers and allegedly charged that only those corrupting officials were being paid first.

ItezhiTezhi District Commissioner Charles Hampende who had a tough time to calm the unruly crowd called on farmers to not despair because Government had assured to liquidate the K9 billion balance by this week.

He said that only K 300 million was released last week and that it was only enough to pay seven farmers and had been exhausted already.

He said that so far, K11billion had been paid to farmers in the entire district while the balance of K9 billion would be paid by this week to those who have not yet received their dues.

Last week, Scores of Small scale farmers in ItezhiTezhi District stormed the District Commissioner’s (DCs) office to press Government to pay them their money for the maize they supplied to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA)

Meanwhile, Undisclosed substantial tonnes of maize bought by Government through Food Reserve Agency (FRA) were soaked by rains and have gone to waste in three quarters of the depots in Itezhi Tezhi district in Southern Province.

FRA has so far bought maize worth more than K 11 billion from farmers in the district since the maize buying exercise started in mid July this year.

ZANIS reports that the development was revealed during an inspection tour of various depots in ItezhiTezhi by the District Maize Marketing Committee headed by newly appointed District Commissioner Charles Hampende.

In Basanga area in Chief Musungwa’s chiefdom, the Committee found that FRA bought 7,000 bags of maize last year and three quarters of the produce was soaked and rotten while the exact figure of ruined maize was not yet computed despite the lapse of time.

At Namalindi depot, about three thousand (3,000) bags of maize were soaked and rotten while at Yomena depot almost the entire stacks of 25,000 bags of white maize for last year’s is rotten.

FRA has this year bought 30,000 bags at the same depot.

In Mbila area in chief Shezongo’s chiefdom, it was discovered that this year’s huge stacks of 47,000 bags of white maize were still unsecured as they remained in the open.
The Maize Marketing Committee also discovered that undisclosed but substantial number of bags were soaked and rotten last year while much of the maize was being wasted due to poor quality maize bags that were bursting.

At Itumbi palace in Chief Kaingu’s chiefdom, a similar situation had occurred with three quarters of the maize had gone bad while in Lubanda, chief Shimbizhi’s chiefdom at Ikombwe more than 1000 bags of maize representing three quarters were equally rotten and have been abandoned.

ItezhiTezhi District Cooperative Union (DCU) Officer Oliver Stengu told the Maize Marketing Committee that that some of the maize was just discoloured and would be useful for stock feeds.

Mr. Stengu said he had issued directives to his Cooperative Society Officers to compile the quantity of maize which was soaked by the rains last year and this year.
He said that FRA had been recovering money from the societies whose maize was soaked and rotten.

He also said that there was a critical shortage of empty maize bags for the district.

“We need about 1,000 empty maize bags to re-bag the maize that is spilling from the bursting FRA bags.”

Mr.Stengu added that his office was making efforts to ask FRA to procure more tarpaulin tents to cover the maize because the initial tents the district received had run out due to the huge amount of maize which was bought from the farmers.

“We have a shortage of five tents in the district . The tents we were given were not enough, we communicated to FRA and they are looking into that issue”
He said some maize was marooned in some areas because transporters were failing to collect it due to dilapidated roads.

“But we have engaged local transporters for them to go to all depots so that the maize can be brought from the holding depots,” he said. And the Depot Clerk Nella Kasamu at Basanga said that some maize at the bottom of stacks were soaked by last week’s rains and maize had even germinated.

He attributed soaked maize to delay in transporting the produce to safer storage facilities. In a related development, ItezhiTezhi District Commissioner directed the DCU to immediately devise measures aimed at ensuring the harvested maize was secured.

Mr. Hampende said FRA had paid out about K11 billion cash to farmers in the district and would soon release money to liquidate the balance of K9 billion by next week. He said that Government had spent colossal sums of money to procure maize and warned that it would not tolerate maize due to carelessness.

Mr. Hampende said it would be unfortunate to allow the bumper harvest which had been recorded in the country to go to waste because of negligence at storage facilities. He said the maize should not be allowed to go to waste because it was the same crop which the Disaster Management Unit used for relief.

ZANIS