The figures just released by the ministry of finance on zambia’s debt situation, if at all there true, makes sad reading. According to the MOF, zambia’s external debt, principal plus interest stood at over US$48.8 million for the period January 2014 to march 2014, while the local debt( principal plus interest) stood at zmk2.6 billion kwacha. Looking at the figures you will note that Zambia is spending an average of US$14.6m per month in foreign debt repayment while the highest repayment was last month when US$37.7m was paid. Zambia is also repaying an average of zmk881m per month in domestic loan repayments. Just this year alone( Jan 14- Mar 14) about US$38m was paid in interest alone while interest of aboutZMK461m was paid towards domestic loans.
Now the other day I was watching znbc news when I saw a clip of a “school” in lunga district (to name it a school is grandiose), a one roomed thatched house which has 4 grades from Grade 1 to Grade 4! The “school” has about 300 pupils with only one teacher. In the clip the area DC was shown shedding tears as she showed reporters the conditions under which the pupils are learning. The school has no furniture and pupils are required to bring with them reed mats for sitting on while learning! The room is so tiny that those who come late for “school” sit outside while the teacher is inside teaching.
This school in lunga district is just a tip of the iceberg of the bigger problem facing rural schools in zambia. I was in wastern province the other month and situations prevailing there are much worse than what we saw. And its not only the education sector suffering in rural areas, but also the health and social sectors. There are grass thatched “clinics” scattered all round rural zambia and people in these areas don’t even have access to clean water.
Now what did the pf Government do with the more tham US$3.7 billion dollars it borrowed? And what about the zmk103 billion in domestic debt debt? What was it used on?
Its illogical for one to argue that the Govnmt is constructing roads and stadiums round the country; for what use are roads and stadiums when pupils are learning in deplorable conditions and people in the rural areas have no access to water and health facilities?. What use are these stadiums and new universities when teachers in kaputa travel more than 400 km to mansa to get their salaries at the end of the month due to lack of banks and post offices in these districts?
Government should learn to prioritize issues when it comes to national development. Nobody wanted a stadium in mongu, the majority there actually wanted Government to resusitate the mongu cashewnut plant like what they did to NCZ,, people in mongu don’t want a stadium but they want Government to set up a factory to be processing mongos (which goes to waste year after year due to lack of markets) into Jam and mango juices- people in mansa don’t need a new university because we already have enough universities round the country. Infact research has shown that it will be cheaper to renovate and expand our existing universities than it will be by building new ones. What people of mansa need is for the pf Government to revamp the operations of mansa batteries. Currently the unemployment levels and the poverty in mansa, like most rural zambia, is extreme.
Government should learn to consult citizens when it comes to issues of development.This Government is the first in the history of zambia to be operating without a National development plan. KK, chiluba and mwanawasa used to involve the grassroots (thru their area mps) when planning development for the country,.Its only under this Government the president plans development alone. He wakes up one day and posts his ideas on facebook and these becomes policy issues which the the line ministries have to implement. No plan on where the money will come from and how the project will be implemented and monitored. A good example is the IDC. The end result will be borrowing which ordinary zambians end up repaying heavily. Its a sham really. Currently its very difficult now for an ordinary citizen to borrow from the banks (collateral or no collateral) because banks know that Government is its biggest borrower. Long gone are the days when banks used to go round looking for people to get loans for they know they are making enough from Government thru interests. But then this has to stop- the US$38m which Government has repaid this year in interest alone and the zmk500m it has repaid in local debts should have been utilised towards infrastructure development and buying of essential drugs in our health centres round the country.
Yes that school in lunga district needs only zmk400,000 to build decent classrooms and buy furniture for pupils. Government needs less than US1m to revamp the operations of mongu cashewnuts plant; it needs less than US2m to bring back to life mwinilunga pineapple industries- it needs less than US$1m to bringa back to life mansa batteries; Kapiri glass products and mulungushi textiles.
Yes Government needs an equity partner for all these industries to be opearational again.The determination and zeal of ex-workers of kawambwa tea factory to revive the ops of the company has shown that its possible. The workers at kawambwa tea have gone against the odds and started growing tea again despite the zimbabwean owners who bought it from Government putting up an injunction in court.
Yes these factories, despite being white elephants at the moment, are capable of springing back to life.Yes we need a Government that will start borrowing responsibly- a Government that will involve all stake holders when it comes to palnning for national development.
Edmond Lifwekelo 