By Henry Kyambalesa

Compared to the speech President Rupiah Banda delivered in 2009 to the National Assembly, the recent one was more comprehensive and informative about government projects and programs, especially if the cited accomplishments in healthcare, education, vocational training, and transportation infrastructure are actually true. The speech could serve well as a persuasive appeal to voters to give the President and the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) another term of office.

However, I believe the President made a false claim in his introductory remarks that Zambia was reeling from the effects of the global financial and economic crisis when he addressed the National Assembly in 2009, and that the country has made a remarkable recovery from the crisis. [pullquote]the President needs to wean our beloved country from its current addiction to loans, and its dependence on foreign aid that is generally variable and unreliable in nature
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There was no single sector of the Zambian economy that was adversely affected by the global financial and economic crisis. In fact, the unprecedented socio-economic problems which faced our country before the global financial and economic crisis have continued to haunt the country today. They include widespread unemployment, an educational system that casts nearly half of Grade 7 and Grade 9 students onto the streets every year, a healthcare system which cannot meet the basic needs of the majority of citizens, and a critical shortage of decent public housing nationwide.

Moreover, public infrastructure and services have continued to be deficient, civil servants are still not adequately compensated for their services, a lot of civil service retirees cannot get their hard-earned benefits, and, among a host of other socio-economic ills, crime is still rampant.

Besides, it would have been more appropriate for the President to thank and specifically mention the cooperating partners whose support of government projects and programs over the years has been indispensable – especially bilateral cooperating partners like China, Canada (CIDA), Denmark (DANIDA), France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan (JICA), The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden (SIDA), USA (USAID), and the United Kingdom (DFID).

Also, it was disingenuous for the President not to have acknowledged the fact that most of the projects and programs he cited in his speech were actually initiated before he assumed office as President. For example, the Chipata-Mchinji railway project was initiated in 1982 as a joint venture involving Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique during the UNIP administration.

And the President needs to wean our beloved country from its current addiction to loans, and its dependence on foreign aid that is generally variable and unreliable in nature. He can do so by creating a smaller government that will largely live within its means – a government designed to perform existing and planned essential government functions with the 12 ministries I have suggested below, which is slightly larger than my initial proposal for 10 Cabinet-level portfolios.

Education, Training and Sport:

To be directly responsible for advi­sing the Presi­dent on, and spear­heading the implemen­tation of poli­cies relating to, the follow­ing: general and tertiary educa­tion; vocation­al trai­ning; the training of teach­ers; adult literacy programs; matters concerning re­muner­ation for teachers, lec­turers, trainers, and re­search­ers; and sporting programs in all educational and training institutions. And coordi­na­tion of natio­nal progra­m­s and acti­vities pertaining to educa­tion, training and sport with those of private institu­tions, as well as local govern­me­nts nationwide.

Public Health and Sanitation:

To be directly responsible for advising the President on, and spear­heading the implementa­tion of policies relating to, the follo­wing: medical care, medical research, child health and develop­m­ent, family planning, disease con­trol and prevention, food safety (local and impo­rted foodstuff), drug safety (local and imported medici­nes), safety of herbal medi­cines, public health educa­tion, public health inspections, and matters con­cerning remu­ner­ation for public health per­sonnel. And coordi­na­tion of natio­nal public health pro­grams and activi­ties with those of private health care facilities and local govern­me­nts.

Agriculture and Food Security:

To be directly responsible for advising the Pre­sident on, and spear­heading the implementa­tion of poli­cies relating to, the following: sustai­nable agricul­tural devel­opment and long-term food secu­rity – including the provi­sion of agricul­tural incen­tives, support to agri­business estab­lishments and agricu­ltural resea­rch centers, damming rivers, and con­struc­tion of irriga­tion canals. And coordi­na­tion of natio­nal progra­ms and activities pertain­ing to agri­culture and food secu­rity with those of the private sector and local govern­me­nts.

Finance and Revenue:

To be directly responsible for advising the Presi­dent on, and spear­heading the implemen­tation of policies relating to, the fol­lowing: financial matters and mone­tary issues, including the stock / securities market; national debt mana­ge­ment and external debt resolu­tion; management of all state-own­ed enter­prises; administra­tion, dispensa­tion and recovery of loans gran­ted to stu­dents and trainees admi­tted to institutions of higher learning, and manage­ment of a govern­ment scholar­ship fund through a new Lo­ans and Schola­rships Com­mittee; and revenue genera­tion through taxat­ion, cust­oms and excise duties, ser­vice fees / char­ges, superintendence over the National Road Fund Agency (NRFA), and pro­vision of postal services through the Zambia Postal Services Corporation (ZAMPOST).

Commerce and Industry:

To be directly responsible for advising the Presi­dent on, and spear­heading the implemen­tation of poli­cies relating to, the fol­lowing: trade and industriali­zat­ion strategy, tour­ism, mining, the energy sector, business and invest­ment promo­tion, regulation of imports and expo­rts, trade rela­tions, registra­tion of foreign compa­nies, re­search and de­velop­ment (R&D) support for local manu­fac­tur­ers, and superintendence over the operations of the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA). And coordi­na­tion of national com­mercial and industrial program­s and activities with those of local govern­me­nts.

National Defence and Security:

To be directly responsible for advising the Presi­dent on, and spear­heading the implemen­tation of poli­cies relating to, the fol­lowing: enhan­cement of national defe­nce and security — includ­ing the issues of training, equip­ment and matters concern­ing remu­neration and housing for defe­nce and secu­rity per­sonnel.­

Public Safety and Security:

To be directly responsible for advising the Pre­sident on, and spear­heading the implementation of policies relating to, the follo­wing: the protection of life and property; the preservation of law and order; the detection and prevention of crime; and cooperation with other security organs of the government and local communities in dealing with public safety and security. And coordi­na­tion of these functions with related functions of private secu­rity companies and local govern­me­nts.

Works, Supply and Transport:

To be directly responsible for advising the Pre­sident on, and spear­heading the implementation of policies relating to, the follo­wing: utili­zation and management of State-own­ed pieces of land; provision and maintenance of vital infrastructure nation­wide – inc­lud­ing an effi­cient, inter-modal and safe network of ground and air trans­portation; develop­ment of mal­lea­ble stret­ches of the Zam­bezi, Kafue, Luan­gwa and other sizable pere­nnial rivers for water trans­por­tation – including the proposed Shire-Zambezi Waterway involving Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique; and construc­tion, reno­vation and mainte­nance of gove­rnment faci­lities and pieces of property nationwide. And coor­dination of these functions with the related functions of local govern­me­nts.

Lands and Public Housing:

To be directly responsible for advi­sing the Pre­si­dent on, and spear­heading the implemen­tation of policies relating to, the fol­lowing: delineation, administration and development of state and customary lands; issuance of title deeds; resolution of land-related disputes; provision of consent in the acquisition, transfer and leasing of lands; implementation of home ownership schemes for all civil servants; provision of low-cost rental hous­ing units for low-income fami­lies; manage­ment of a home-ownership sche­me for low-in­come fa­mil­ies to be fi­nanced th­rough low inte­rest mort­gag­es; stipulation of fair eligibility requirements to be met by applicants for low-income rental public housing; generation of rules of occupancy, and determination of rental and other related charges; and derivation of a grievance procedure and guidelines for resolving any and all the issues and matters relating to non-compliance with rules of occupancy.

Culture and Community Services:

To be directly responsible for advi­sing the Pre­si­dent on, and spear­heading the implemen­tation of policies relating to, the fol­lowing: preser­vation of the count­ry’s national trea­sures, inclu­ding national monu­ments, museums, his­torical sites, che­rished tradi­tional and cultural val­ues; promo­tion of tradition­al music and cul­ture-related crafts; House of Chiefs and traditional leaders; national unity and patriotism; religious harmony; national cere­mo­nies and fes­tivals; and issues relating to wom­en, children, disabled citizens, and retirees and the aged. And coordi­nation of nat­ional cultu­ral and community progra­ms and activi­ties with those of local govern­me­nts.

Justice, Prisons and Immigration:

To be directly responsible for advising the Pre­sident on, and spear­heading the implementation of policies relating to, the follo­wing: legal matters (in­cluding representation of the Govern­ment), prote­ction of citi­zens’ rights and free­doms, administration of the Zambia Prison Service, legal aid, title deeds, national regi­stration, pass­ports and immigration, citizen­ship and naturali­zation, work permits, treaties and agreeme­nts with other countries, intelle­ctual property rights (patents, copyrights and trade­marks), and remuneration for judi­cial personnel and sup­port staff.

Foreign Affairs:

To be directly responsible for advising the Presi­dent on, and spear­heading the implementation of policies re­lating to, the fol­lowing: foreign poli­tical relations, including conflict resolution and peace-keeping efforts; consular affairs and services; profiles of foreign countries; services and vital infor­mation to Zambi­ans in, or travel­ing to, foreign countries; publicizing Zambian soci­ety abroad; and management of a program which shall confer rare and special Zambian Residency status upon a selected number of distinguished foreigners.

The foregoing functions need to be performed by technocrats, not figureheads! And we should guard against establishing new government ministries for the purpose of creating jobs for friends, such as the splitting of the Ministry of Agriculture into 2 ministries. It would have made a bit of sense if this was a “line” rather than a “staff” ministry. The United States, for example, has only 1 solid Federal Department of Agriculture – a country with around 310 million people and a much, much larger agricultural sector.

In addition to the smaller number of Cabinet Ministers, there is a need to abolish the positions of Deputy Minister and District Commissioner, as well as reduce the number of Zambia’s foreign embassies by having clusters of countries to be served by single embassies. Further, we should not entertain any calls for the creation of the position of Prime Minister.

And there is a need to go through government expenditures line by line, program by program, agency by agency, department by department, and ministry by ministry in order to eliminate unnecessary application of public funds.

Civil servants in ministries to be abolished or merged should be encouraged to seek early retirement with full benefits. Professional and skilled civil servants should be re-deployed in the new government ministries and agencies.