By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Nov 10 2010 (IPS)

The Zambian government has been accused of embracing poverty as the debate over a windfall tax on the mining industry heats up.

Mining truck at the Nchanga mine. Credit: Blue Salo/Wikicommons

“These measures are competitive, reasonable and balanced,” said Ng’andu Magande, finance minister at the time.

“With this [new tax], the government will be able to improve education and health services and make investments that will create more jobs in other sectors of the economy and improve livelihoods of Zambian citizens.”

Then the global economic recession hit, and the price of copper tumbled along with falling demand.

According to the Bank of Zambia, the country’s revenue earnings from copper sales in 2009 fell to $2.9 billion from $3.6 billion the previous year despite increased output. The decline in earnings was a direct result of lower prices for the metal, which plumbed a low of $3,000 per tonne in the first quarter of 2009.

Mines such as the Luanshya Copper Mines (LCM) closed down, putting thousands out of work. Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) threatened to put their Nkana and Mufulira mines in the Copperbelt province on care and maintenance.

Government scrapped the windfall tax just a year after its introduction.

But since then, copper prices have rebounded, fetching as much as $8,000 per tonne on the LME. Copper production in the country is this year expected to exceed 720,000 metric tonnes, a level of production that was last seen in 1973. This places the country within reach of the medium-term target of one million metric tonnes per annum.

But despite rebounding prices, government has opted for a different formula.

“On the call for the re-introduction of windfall tax, the government position is that this will not be done as the variable profit is already in place. The variable profit tax is an extra or windfall tax on mining profits,” Finance and National Planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane says.

Variable tax is calculated as an extra 15 percent that companies pay on profits that exceed eight percent of their overall income. This is in addition to the standard 30 percent corporate tax.

Frederick Bantubonse, general manager of the Chamber of Mines in Zambia (CMZ), says if the windfall tax on the mines is brought back, it would make Zambia an expensive destination for mining activities in the region.

But Nsama Chikwankwa, a Lusaka-based development analyst, says refusing to collect windfall tax is embracing poverty.

“Government’s position on windfall tax shows its lack of seriousness about mobilising resources which can help improve schools, build roads, improve mother to child health, and even provide the money to help meet the challenge of the so-called bumper maize harvest.”

Presenting the 2011 national budget to Parliament on Oct. 8, Minister Situmbeko did not disclose actual figures, but said he was pleased to report that tax collections from mining companies had improved this year.

“With the current high copper prices and production, I expect even higher tax payments from mining companies.”

But Matthias Mpande, who lectures at the School of Mines at the University of Zambia is critical of the variable tax.

“The mines are making huge profits, but disguise the revenue in the consolidated financial results, and it is difficult for the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) to calculate the actual taxes,” said Mpande, who served as the Minister of Mines in former president Frederick Chiluba’s administration.

“We’re pressing for the re-introduction of windfall taxes because they are easier to collect – based on international minerals prices – than the variable profit taxes.”

He says the mining sector’s contribution towards the treasury in Zambia is still very low as there is no voluntary tax compliance by the mines.

Member of Parliament Chishimba Kambwili, whose Roan constituency on the Copperbelt province hosts the Chinese-owned Non-Ferrous Metals Mining Company (NFCA), says government should be able to collect more than $400 million annually through windfall taxes if introduced.

A report released last year by some non-governmental organisations with an interest in an equitable trade system that enables development, was critical of the existing legislation in most African countries that favour low royalty taxes which combines with mining contracts, called development agreements in Zambia.

In a report titled “Breaking the Curse: How Transparent Taxation and Fair Taxes can Turn Africa’s Mineral Wealth into Development,” by the Tax Justice Network for Africa (TJN-A), ActionAid, Southern Africa Resource Watch, Third World Network Africa and Christian Aid, they say questionable accounting practices by multinational companies that conceal the true value of their operations and a mixture of secrecy and flawed laws passed by parliaments in Africa deprive resource-rich countries of revenue.

The Zambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ZACCI) also supports a windfall tax for the mining industry, but says the tax should be based on profits and not revenue.

Hanson Sindowe, the ZACCI president, says costs can be manipulated to reflect low profits whereas revenues cannot be similarly manipulated.

“ZACCI therefore supports the windfall tax to ensure that the country benefits adequately from its natural resources, government needs a sizeable level of revenue to run and also invest in the social sectors of the country,” he says.

Sindowe says a review of revenue streams in the national budget indicates that currently, income tax by way of Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and company tax is the highest contributor to Government revenue, placing a heavy burden on a small working class and a few companies.

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA , Aug 4 2010 (IPS)

There are growing fears that increasing numbers of women candidates and voters may not participate in the 2011 general elections because of an upsurge in election-related violence.

Rights groups fear women will not fully participate in the 2011 electoral process because of current election violence. Credit: Richard Mulonga/IPS

A May by-election in Mufumbwe, in the North-Western province, saw two people die at the hands of political hooligans who were hired to cause confusion.

And in January ruling MMD cadres threatened to ‘gang-rape’ opposition Forum for Democracy and Development president Edith Nawakwi over her statements on various governance issues. But the country’s inspector-general of police Francis Kabonde reacted by saying it is not an offence to threaten a person with violence. And President Rupiah Banda said the youths were merely reacting to insults uttered against him by the opposition.

But these events have concerned women politicians and rights groups who fear women’s participation in the 2011 general elections.

Sylvia Masebo, one of the 22 female members of parliament in the 150-seat National Assembly, is concerned that few women will participate in the 2011 general elections because of the increase in the levels of political violence and the level of apathy from law enforcement.

“I am worried as a female member of parliament that 2011 will be very difficult for women to participate. It seems all of us have become violent,” Masebo, a former local government and housing minister, says.

Racheal Njovu, communications officer at Zambia Women’s Coalition Network, says because women and children bear the brunt of any conflict, she sees a situation where women will fail to fully participate in the electoral process.

“In the Mufumbwe by-election, the MP for Zambezi West, Charles Kakoma, was beaten and stabbed by suspected ruling party cadres. If that is the kind of violence we’re going to have in the run-up to next year’s elections, then I fear for both our women candidates and the voters,” she says.

“I don’t see many women participating in the elections with this kind of violence, which has again reared its ugly head in the on-going Chifubu by-election. And it seems our security personnel are hopeless to stop it. I don’t know who they expect to protect our defenceless women.”

Beverly Nyirenda’s way of protecting herself is by not voting. The resident of Chilenje township in Lusaka, says she has not registered as a voter in the on-going voter registration exercise because she thinks the 2011 general elections will be an exercise in futility because they are unlikely to be free and fair.

“You saw what happened in Mufumbwe where people were being stabbed and beaten including police officers in certain cases. How can elections be fair and free with that kind of violence? You can’t intimidate voters like that and expect to have free and fair elections, should be free to exercise their rights without fear,” she says.

Following the violence in the Mufumbwe by-election, civil society organisations demanded that government hold an inquiry into the loss of life and property because the violence is likely to have a bearing on the 2011 general elections. But it appears as if some politicians are guilty of hiring unemployed youths whom they ferry to election areas to intimidate voters.

Richard Banda, an unemployed youth of Chawama township, is one of those youths who has been hired to do just this. He and his friends also target women stall holders at local markets who agree to vote Banda’s way as they fear losing their stands at the market and hence their means of livelihood.

“They (politicians) hire us through their constituency youth chairmen. We don’t do anything most of us, so we can afford to go to distant places for days doing campaigns as long as they give us transport, money and also buy us alcohol,” he says.

“Our brief is simple. It’s just to intimidate voters and opponents to vote for the party of our choice. We don’t care about the message, ours is to instil fear in them to vote. We find this easy to do especially in rural areas and in townships where the majority are illiterate.”

The Anti-Voter Apathy Project (AVAP) says they fear the Electoral Commission of Zambia lacks technical and logistical capacity to conduct free and fair elections.

“The Electoral Code of Conduct is always observed in breach by you politicians, non-governmental organisations and the media,” said Bonnie Tembo, the executive director at AVAP.

“There is need to have a new constitution before the 2011 elections by amending the Electoral Act to suit the people’s aspirations on the electoral regime. Amend the Electoral Act to accommodate what will facilitate the 2011 elections,” Tembo said.

Zambia is currently holding the National Constitutional Conference, which has been tasked to draw up a new constitution.

Although the PF, the major opposition party, boycotted the sittings, many people are hoping the conference will draft a new constitution which will ensure that future elections are free and fair.

Excerpt:

By Zukiswa Zimela and Kelvin Kachingwe
JOHANNESBURG and LUSAKA, Jul 23 2010 (IPS)

James Banda, 27, is an unemployed youth although he occasionally is hired to act as a bus conductor at Lusaka’s Kulima Tower Bus Station. He may not have a permanent job, but it is easy to find him. Anyone looking for him just has to go to the bus station and ask. Everyone knows who he is. Banda, or ‘ba-Jay’ as people call him, is a young man who commands a lot of respect from his friends – he is a thug for hire.

He may find it hard to get employment during the year, but come election time Banda becomes a young man whose services are fervently sought after. He is hired together with his friends by different political parties to conduct campaigns.

But Banda is not a card-carrying member of any political party. And the kind of campaigns he is hired to conduct do not involve explaining policies to the electorate but is about intimidating opponents and voters. Party officials give him and his friends money, alcohol and hire a van for them to travel round the constituency to disrupt the meetings of rival parties and to intimidate opposition voters.

When rival cadres or voters resist, they either beat them up or threaten them with machetes.

“Our job is simple, it is just to convince people in whichever way to vote for the party we’re supporting in a particular election. Whichever party comes first, and with a good offer in terms of money, we go,” he says.

And research shows that he is not the only one. The Southern Africa Trust report ‘Ending the Age of Marginal Majority’, released on Jul. 20 found that many young people in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region were vulnerable to violence as victims or perpetrators when they did not have access support structures or networks.

The study noted that the SADC region has been characterised by violence and conflict and this violence had become normal part of society in the region. As a result it was “rare for people engaged in, or affected by, these forms of violence to view them as criminal.”

Emily Mabusela, programme manager of the Youth Violence Prevention Programme at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation says that one of the reasons for youth violence is the pervasive nature of violent acts in our society.

“Violence is in all our spaces, at homes, in our communities and in our schools children are getting murdered, we cannot avoid it. What are we teaching young people when they see Xenophobic attacks and violent road rage?” she asked.

Mabusela pointed out that unless an intervention takes place violent young people grow up to be violent adults. “Violence is like learning to read, when you are young you are not that good but when you grow up you get better. When you start being violent at a young age the chances are you will get worse,” she said.

According to Helene Perold, executive director at Volunteer and Service Enquiry South Africa and one of the contributing researchers to the report, during adolescence young people are often trying to foster their identities and are going through a confusing period of change.

During this time the youth are susceptible to several influences. She further highlighted that it is important to engage the youth and integrate them into mainstream society.

“We live in a society where it is acceptable for parents to beat their children and husbands to beat their wives. We are saying that there needs to be a way to include the youth, most young people feel alienated in the society because their issues are not taken into context,” she said.

Masebula said that it was important for interventions to be carried out to mitigate violence among the youth. “If we ignore violence then it gets worse and worse. We know that violent behaviour is learnt. Children start by pushing each other and then gradually move on to slapping and hitting each other. Once some one learns that being violent makes them powerful then they see that as a way to solve problems in the future.”

South Africa currently has some programmes and policies which try to rehabilitate young people. Ansa Verster is a manager of a Diversion Programme for young people at the Restorative Justice Centre. The centre mediates a resolution between victims and perpetrators of crime and also offers life skill programmes for youth who have been in trouble with the law. She believes violent youth can change, if given the correct support and proper guidance.

The report findings concurred with this and called for public policy in the region to take into account the needs of the youth and to address the circumstances that prevented the youth from gaining employment, among other things.

And it seems as if it could be a solution. Banda admits that if he had a permanent job he would not hire out his services to intimidate voters.

“If we had other alternative sources of livelihood, we wouldn’t be doing this. But there are no jobs, what we do here in the station is just piece work, and the money is hardly enough. But when these politicians come, they offer us good money, and also buy us beer,” he says.

He adds that he is looking forward to next year’s elections because it will be an opportunity for him to make money.

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA , Jul 22 2010 (IPS)

With women having achieved little in terms of representation in decision-making positions in Zambia, a national women’s lobby group is hoping to change this in the 2011 general elections.

For a long time, Zambian women's participation in politics has ended at voting. Credit: Richard Mulonga/IPS

The lobby group is hoping to compel political parties to adopt 50 percent of women as candidates in the 2011 Parliamentary and local government elections.

The country ranks third last in the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries in terms of women’s representation with only 14 percent or 22 of out of 150 Parliamentary members being female. At local government level, women councillors are a paltry seven percent.

Zambia failed to attain the SADC Declaration on Gender to have 30 percent women representation in Parliament by 2005. It remains to be seen whether the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development committing countries to work towards having 50 percent women in political and decision-making positions by 2015 will be met, as there is currently no law compelling parties to do so.

But Sharon Chileshe, the capacity building and leadership development officer at ZNWL, is optimistic and says they have received very good feedback from the 14 political parties that they have engaged in through sensitisation workshops.

“We have all the necessary tools to catapult women into decision-making positions, we have asked political parties to identify women they want to field as candidates at various levels of leadership and send them to us for training,” she says.

The training involves equipping women aspirants with leadership skills for the presidency, parliament and local government portfolios with researched information to help them enhance their decision-making.

But this may not be enough. A report released in 2008 by the Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) on the 2006 general elections showing the low representation of women, suggests that Zambia’s electoral regime has built-in obstacles that hinder the meaningful participation of women as candidates. Hence the need to adopt affirmative action, says Joyce Macmillan, WiLDAF chairperson. She says there are three main challenges facing women including limited resources to run campaigns, traditional stereotypes resulting in fewer educational qualifications, and the socialised perception that a woman’s role should not be in the public domain.

And as the 50-50 campaign is doing now, WiLDAF had conducted capacity-building initiatives of empowering women to effectively contest the 2006 local government elections but still found women’s participation unsatisfactory.

“Out of a total of 438 women trained to participate in the local government elections, 97 or 22 percent actually applied to be adopted as candidates by various political parties and only 57 women candidates, representing 13 percent, were adopted by various political parties,” Macmillan points out. “There is need for constitutional provisions that will give women their due representation in decision-making positions.”

The distribution of candidates by gender shows that only 106 out of the 709 parliamentary candidates were women. Further, only 27 of the 130 independent parliamentary candidates were women. At local government level, out of the 4,095 candidates, only 387 won seats.

But Mirriam Munyinda of the Non-Governmental Organisation Co-ordinating Council (NGOCC), a grouping of women organisations, says government should put in place a legal framework and promote affirmative action to level the playing field.

In the last general elections, efforts to get more women in decision-making positions achieved very little as not only were the number of women candidates low, but also in certain cases, they were made to stand against each other at Parliamentary level.

But Charles Kakoma, opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) spokesperson says, without committing his party to having 50 percent women candidates, his party are in support of the women’s lobby as long as the quality and ability to deliver are not compromised.

“We would like to have more women contesting the forthcoming elections. Selection will be very competitive and our women must have quality – they must meet the minimum education requirements, work experience, and by and large, organisational skills so they get to know how to mobilise people,” Kakoma says.

He added that the prerogative of choosing candidates for the UPND remains with the party’s national management committee.

During the International Women’s Day commemorations in March, George Kunda, the country’s vice president called on all political parties in the country to ensure that women are given more opportunities to participate as candidates in next year’s general elections.

Kunda, who is also justice minister, says the National Constitutional Conference (NCC), which has been tasked to come-up with a new constitution that may possibly be used in next year’s elections, is looking at submissions concerning equity and equality between men and women.

“It is my firm belief that through the NCC, we’re laying a better foundation for enhancement of equal rights and opportunities for women and men,” he says.

Still, in the absence of constitutional requirements, it is difficult to see how women will be able to reach the 50 percent representation in decision-making positions through next year’s elections, even with the campaign by the women’s lobby group.

After all, most political parties, in their manifestoes, have re-affirmed their commitment to gender equality, yet have all failed to reach the 30 percent SADC protocol on gender.

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Jun 29 2010 (IPS)

Despite the adoption almost a decade ago of a national gender policy that aims to ensure fair participation of men and women in the development process, most of the Zambian government’s policies still remain gender blind, say civil society and women’s rights associations.

Critics say the most glaring of these policies is the country’s national budget that fails to disaggregate resource allocation and incentives by gender. Gender is also not one of the considerations in setting targets for various programmes like access to land and credit by government.

“Gender equity cannot be achieved in the absence of pro-active policies, and such policies have to be mainstreamed into every sector and programme, the various impediments that prevent women from participating fully and equitably in development have to be removed,” Sheeba Zulu, a Lusaka-based women’s rights activist says.

Government adopted the National Gender Policy in March 2000 to be used as a major yardstick for measuring government commitment to gender mainstreaming. Also, through the policy, government committed itself to changing many stereotypes that impinge on women’s participation in national development by taking appropriate legal and administrative measures to eliminate discrimination.

But this has not happened, Zulu says: “Impediments, such as lack of access to land and credit, unequal opportunities for employment, wage disparities and marginalisation in decision-making processes have to be redressed.”

Zulu also critcised the current Land Act which for not being gender sensitive as it does not recognise that women have been long-disadvantaged when it comes to access to land.

However, most civil society organisations say women are unable to contribute effectively towards national development because of inequalities in resource allocation and access to resources. The Zambia Federation of Women in Business (ZFAWIB) say women still face challenges in accessing money from financial institutions because of the conditions that are attached there.

“Most of these financial institutions have insisted on difficult requirements and complex documentation including collateral, which most women don’t have. Most women have difficulties completing documentation to get funds from the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) and other lending institutions,” Susan Kawandani, the ZFAWIB Ndola district co-ordinator, says.

“There is also a feeling that lending to women to enable start business or recapitalise their business is a risk. These financial institutions need to review their lending requirements to enable as many women as possible to borrow money.”

But the CEEC says 40 percent of its funds have been set aside for women entrepreneurs but women have failed to come up with workable business plans that would allow them to obtain funding from the commission.

Michael Kaingu, minister of community development and social services, says government has, in this year’s budget, set aside about one million dollars for his ministry for the empowerment of women throughout the country. Another million dollars has been set aside in the ministry of gender.

Kaingu says he is waiting for women to form groups or associations, according to his department’s deliberate policy, so that the money can be released as it “is meant for boosting their economic status.”

He added that the Women Empowerment Programme, one of the funds under the CEEC, has now been reverted to his ministry because of the sometimes stringent conditions, almost similar to that of a commercial bank, that women were required to meet.

Sara Sayifwanda, the minister of gender, says government has now simplified the application process for obtaining loans under the CEEC and has tasked the district commissioners to handle loan applications to enable women to access the funds.

However, Queen Mumba, who chairs a women’s self-help programme in Lusaka’s Mtendere township, says the involvement of district commissioners, whom many perceive to be ruling party members, does not inspire confidence.

“The fact that most of us think and believe that district commissioners are stooges of the ruling party makes it even worse,” she says. Mumba cited the 8 million dollars set aside for youths in the ministry of sport, youth and child development before the 2006 elections, saying that not many youths benefited from it.

But Sayifwanda says her ministry is currently building capacity for women to enable them to develop their business ventures through the provision of access to investment funds. “The policy calls for targeted actions to facilitate the increased involvement of women in leadership positions in all the sectors of the economy,” she says.

But Sly Mbewe, executive director at Action for Development (AfD) says gender equity cannot be achieved in the absence of pro-active policies.

“Such policies have to be mainstreamed into every sector and programme. The various impediments that prevent women from participating fully and equitably in development have to be removed,” he says.

Mbewe added that such impediments such as lack of access to land and credit, unequal opportunities for employment, wage disparities and marginalisation in decision making processes have to be redressed.

“And there can be no complete poverty reduction agenda without mainstreaming gender into it. Unless this is done Zambia’s poverty reduction agenda will be undermined and compromised.”

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Jan 5 2010 (IPS)

Cellular phones have quickly become a popular and effective means of communication in Zambia, but their use has been concentrated in urban areas. Government and NGOs are now trying to extend these services to rural people.

The Communication Authority of Zambia (CAZ) says only about four of the country’s 12 million people are able to use cellular phones, with much of the rural population unserved by the three commercial mobile phone service providers.

Zambia’s communications network faces several obstacles to its development, including high levels of illiteracy in rural communities, an obsolete fixed line infrastructure, and lack of investment in rural areas where the private sector sees little chance of profits from largely poor communities.

The three commercial mobile phone providers all depend on the government-owned international gateway, which can be used only where there are relay towers and antenna boosters.

But an information and communication technology initiative is promoting the use of solar-powered public payphones in areas not covered by the national telecommunications grid, using satellite antennas to pick up a phone signal.

Connect Africa is running a pilot project in Mumbwa and Kaoma districts in the Western Province, giving people in these two rural communities access to relatively cheap payphones.

“We still have so many people in this country who have no access to cheaper and affordable means of communication, especially in rural areas. This shouldn’t be the case in this age, where ICT is almost everything,” says Dean Mulozi, national coordinator for Connect Africa.

“There is such a high demand for the services. We want to expand the programme to cover the entire country and cater for all rural districts. All the districts not connected (to the mobile phone grid) must be reached,” Mulozi adds.

In the two districts where the project is running, demand for the phone service has already outstripped supply, with thousands of people walking up to 10 kilometres to make calls.

In Kaoma there are only six handsets catering for about 4,000 people per phone. Lubinda Sitenge, a 40-year-old farmer in Kaoma, uses the phone to inquire about the arrival of farming supplies at the nearest depot and to check on prices for his incoming harvest.

He used to have to walk more than 20 kilometres to get this basic information; nowadays, if the supplies have not been delivered, the government price of his crop has not yet been set, or he is not happy with what the market is offering, he simply waits at home.

“Sometimes, because of the distance, we would write a letter and ask someone going near the depot or the office of the district agricultural officer to deliver it for us,” says Sitenge.

“But we wouldn’t be able to get a reply there and then, as the officer would say he would communicate through the headman. So we would be kept waiting for weeks and sometimes months before we could get the message. But with phones now, we are able to get an answer immediately.”

Zambia’s government recognises the hunger for telecommunications in rural areas. The National Information and Communication Technology (NICT) policy seeks to improve access.

Professor Godfrey Lungwangwa, minister of communications and transport, says government has engaged all stakeholders, including the private sector, in seeking and implementing solutions to give rural areas access to the means of communication urban centres enjoy.

“Information communication technology (ICT) is today more central to development than at any other time in history. Without the means of communication, it is practically impossible for the world to be what it is today, in terms of politics, commerce and trade, social networking or personal wellbeing,” says Lungwangwa.

As part of its strategy, the government plans to open rural tele-centres that will offer access to phones as well as broadband internet access. The NICT specifically aims to integrate ICT into reform and support of the agricultural sector, and information on prices, availability of things like seed or fertiliser, or weather forecasts will be an important part of the process.

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Dec 22 2009 (IPS)

The impending privatisation of the Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel) is being opposed by civil society organisations and opposition political parties, who accuse the government of lacking transparency in selling one of the last remaining state-utility firms.

Early this year the cabinet decided to sell 75 percent of the Zamtel shares, and appointed RP Capital, of Cayman Islands, to evaluate its assets.

RP Capital is an investment firm specialising in identifying intermediate and long-term investment opportunities on behalf of institutional investors, and qualified high-net-worth individuals in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India.

But the evaluation report has never been made public, and was the subject of a tribunal, as it was alleged by civil society organisations that Dora Siliya, then Minister of Communication and Transport, had ignored the advice of the attorney general in awarding the two million dollar contract to RP Capital to evaluate Zamtel.

Attorney General Mumba Malila had advised Siliya against signing a memorandum of understanding between the government and RP capital on evaluating Zamtel assets.

Fackson Shamenda, former Zambia Congress of Trade Union president, says the RB Capital valuation report would have been a good starting point for everyone concerned about the future of Zamtel.

“We want to know the evaluation and its outcome, up to now, very few people are privileged with the information. There hasn’t been transparency in the sale of Zamtel. Maybe government is right to sell Zamtel, but without the valuation report, we won’t know the truth,” Shamenda says.

The government says it cannot make public the valuation report, as it would jeopardize the privatisation process.

Dr Buleti Nsemukila, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, says it would be wrong to disclose the value of Zamtel, as all the prospective buyers would bid around the value of the assets and frustrate the process.

“The decision not to disclose the value of the company is the right one, and an important tool for negotiations for the sale,” Nsemukila says.

In 2002 the government shelved plans to privatise Zamtel, opting instead to commercialise it. But this did not work either, as performance continued to decline. The company, established about 40 years ago, is now encumbered with liabilities of more than 120 million dollars. It also has an annual operational deficit of 17 million dollars, and is heavily indebted to the government in unremitted taxes.

A parliamentary committee on communication, transport, works and supply in January last year recommended that Zamtel be restructured and recapitalised to find a lasting solution.

Yamfwa Mukanga, opposition Patriotic Front (PF) chairperson for industry, says the cure for Zamtel lies in improving management to improve the firm’s efficiency.

The PF as a party is strongly opposed to privatisation, and has threatened to nationalise Zamtel if elected to office.

David Punabantu, a Lusaka-based economics analyst, favours improving management by giving preference to Zambians, with privatisation the last option.

“The question we should be asking ourselves is, are we just selling something because certain management has failed to use it to its full capacity?” asks Punabantu.

But Mark O’Donnel, former chairman of the Zambia Association of Manufacturers, says only the private sector can give Zamtel the re-capitalisation it urgently needs.

Reeling from past experience of privatisation, many Zambians are wary of what has been a major defining policy of the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) since it came to power in 1991.

“What is happening to Zamtel is exactly what happened with Zambia Airways. We had a quarrel with the government when they were liquidating Zambia Airways. How many years down the line have passed and they are still struggling to dispose of its assets? Its way over a decade,” Shamenda says.

“They could have reorganised it, put an efficient management in place and stopped political interference, and it was going to succeed. Zamtel is solid, it’s not as people say it is. Look at the foreign exchange that is there, the optic fibre they’re putting in place, the buildings and the human resources.”

The Zambia Development Agency, legally mandated to dispose of state enterprises, has announced that eight companies out of 30 have pre-qualified, and will participate in due diligence up to Dec 23 this year.

These include Orascom Telecom Holdings, SAE/Telecel Globe Limited of Egypt, Altimore Holdings/Vimpelcom of Russia, Libyan LAP Greencom Limited/LAP Green Networks, Portugal’s Telecom and SGPS SA.

Onda Analystics, British telecommunications investment consultants, said in its latest report Zamtel’s new owner could revitalise the company, gaining a 19 percent share of the mobile market by 2015, considerably up from its current 4 percent.

“A new operator will have to turn around an operator in crisis. A strategy along the lines of a new entrant will be needed, as Zamtel has fallen further and further behind the mobile market,” explains report co-author Tom Harden.

“A massive staff reduction programme will need to be carried out by whichever company takes over. The union has recognised this, hoping to get the best packages for its members by negotiating with the government now, rather than the new owner later.”

The National Union of Communications Workers (NUCW) and Zamtel management have agreed on a conditional separation package to be paid to all workers before the firm is privatised.

Clement Kasonde, NUCW general secretary, says the conditional separation package agreed between management and the union includes three months’ salary for each year served, two months’ salary for repatriation and one month in lieu of notice.

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Dec 16 2009 (IPS)

Chief justice Ernest Sakala has been accused of colluding with the president’s administration to protect high-profile people accused of corruption. But the Law Association of Zambia has rejected the charges as unfair.

The Supreme Court building in Lusaka. The objectiveness of the judicary has been called into question by the opposition. Credit: Brian Dell/Wikicommons

But Stephen Lungu, Law Association of Zambia president, says the attacks on the chief justice are unfair, considering his directive accorded with the law.

“I have read the articles attacking the chief justice. They are very unfortunate. We’re quite upset that such attacks can be attributed to the opposition leaders. The constitution allows the chief justice to appoint three judges whenever he considers it fit,” Lungu says.

Sakala vigorously defended his action in a letter to the opposition leader: “The law has been there for many years (allowing a panel of three judges). It has been used before me. It is therefore not correct that this is a new arrangement for hearing appeals. I haven’t introduced a new system. Above all, the measure has been taken to enhance the Zambian people’s confidence in the judiciary.”

One of these cases involves Regina Chiluba, wife of former President Frederick Chiluba, who has appealed to the High Court after chief magistrate Charles Kafunda, in March this year, sentenced her to three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment. She had been convicted on six counts of receiving stolen government funds to buy three houses, and stealing more than 3,000 dollars while her husband was president.

Frederick Chiluba himself was recently acquitted on a corruption charge by a Lusaka magistrate, and pressure has been mounting on government from civil society organisations to appeal in the High Court. But the government says it will not appeal, because the chances of the case succeeding are slim.

Hakainde Hichilema, United Party for National Development president, claims there is definite collusion between the chief justice and President Rupiah Banda’s administration in dispensing “unbalanced justice”.

“His admission that high-profile cases need a panel of judges is testimony enough that that there is collusion. At law, there should be no discrimination. He has created a dual legal system, one for the rich and the other for the poor,” Hichilema argues.

“The judicial system must take its natural course, and an appeal process is part of that. I have never seen a legal piece that says if it is a high-profile case then it justifies a panel.”

Sakala says the measure has been taken because the records of these particular cases are voluminous, and involve complex issues.

“The English adage is that ‘two heads are better than one’. Certainly three heads must be better than one. From the foregoing, I hope you’ll continue to have confidence in the judiciary.”

But Michael Sata, the opposition Patriotic Front leader, says while they appreciate the thinking of the chief justice, they are wondering why this is being selectively applied, and not to each and every case.

“Why these particular cases involving Regina Chiluba and Gladys Nyirongo (former minister of lands charged with obtaining pieces of land illegally) only?” Sata asks.

Hakainde says if the law is already there, then the chief justice is misapplying it, because he is saying “this case is high-profile”.

But Lungu says the continuous attacks on the judiciary by the opposition were dangerous. “It is dangerous for the opposition to continue attacking the judiciary, because it is eroding credibility and the people’s confidence in the judiciary. The politicians should have confidence in the judiciary, because they are the same judges they will go to if they have a case in court,” Lungu says.

Lieutenant-General Ronnie Shikapwasha, chief government spokesperson, says the statements by the two leaders were meant to intimidate the judiciary and the chief justice.

“There is no collusion between President Banda and the judiciary in the dispensation of justice, contrary to allegations by Sata and Hichilema. There’s no need for anyone to discredit the judiciary when the people making these statements will need the protection of the courts of law,” said Shikapwasha.

“No one has evidence that President Banda had a hand in the acquittal of (Frederick) Chiluba. The president cannot therefore be under any pressure, nor have a troubled conscience, as is being falsely touted by PF leader Michael Sata over the acquittal of the former president.”

Lusaka lawyer Sakwiba Sikota, who is also opposition United Liberal Party leader and Livingstone member of parliament, says the executive should protect the judiciary, because it cannot defend itself.

“There have been so many attacks on the judiciary, and I blame it on the executive,” he says.

Sikota, who is also a state counsel, says in calling for the protection of the judiciary he is not in any way saying things are moving in the right direction, as there are shortcomings such as delays in dispensing justice.

In September Lusaka High Court judge Munalula Lisimbi dismissed a petition to have Sakala and Supreme Court judge Peter Chitengi removed from office. Lusaka lawyer John Sangwa had challenged their stay in office because they had attained the age of 65, and been re-appointed without Parliament ratifying this.

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Dec 9 2009 (IPS)

Chansa Kabwela faced a five-year jail sentence when she sent photographs of a woman giving birth, without medical assistance while in the country’s largest hospital, to government officials.

Chansa Kabwela speaking to the media after her acquittal. Credit: Kelvin Kachingwe/IPS

The recently acquitted news editor of the country’s largest independent daily, The Post, says the case certainly will not deter her from pointing out wrongs or alerting the authorities to any public issue that she deems needs their attention.

Kabwela, 29, told IPS that she believes leaders are elected to serve the people and that they are paid tax payers money to look after the welfare of the people. As such, they should not hide their shortcomings in the name of culture or the law.

“I have learnt a lot through this harassment. I have always believed that human nature is always tilted to justice and that was exactly what happened in my case. Justice prevailed,” she said.

Kabwela faced a five-year jail sentence if she was convicted of sending graphic images of a woman giving birth without medical help at the country’s biggest hospital, the University Teaching Hospital, to various prominent people in Zambia. These included the minister of health and the vice president, who also doubles as the minister of justice.

“The case itself was a very big inconvenience but the most important thing is the lesson I and The Post have drawn from it. I sent the letter on behalf of The Post, asking the government to address a particular problem. My concern was about the poor that suffered during that period. It is a pity my intention was misunderstood and deliberately so,” Kabwela said.

Although she did not publish the picture, she was charged with circulating pornography with intent to corrupt public morals after President Rupiah Banda raised alarm about the images during a press briefing.

Kabwela, who is chairperson of the Post Press Freedom Committee, had argued that she sent the pictures because she wanted to highlight the effect the strike had on the health care system.

In acquitting Kabwela, Magistrate Charles Kafunda said the prosecutors had failed to prove its case against her.

“The prosecution failed to establish an element of a prima facie case and I therefore dismiss the case and subsequently acquit the accused. The state has, however, the right to appeal,” Kafunda told a packed courtroom.

The Post editor-in-chief, Fred M’Membe, who is facing a contempt of court charge for publishing a story headlined “The Chansa Kabwela Case: A Comedy of Errors”, challenged Banda to appeal.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it is pleased with the decision to acquit Kabwela on the spurious charge of disseminating obscene photographs.

“The Zambian government must stop seeking ways to intimidate and censor the country’s leading independent daily,” CPJ’s Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes said.

The Southern Africa Centre for Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) says the acquittal is a clear sign that trumped-up charges against innocent citizens by the state can never stick.

“Her victory is a victory for all Zambians, particularly the media fraternity. The judgment is a clear sign that trumped-up charges against innocent citizens by the state can never stick,” executive director Lee Habasonda said.

“The ruling should send a message to those planning to regulate the media using government instruments to oppress and suppress the truth. Hence any law they are planning based on targeting people and settling scores will fail to stand the test of time and the victims will at some point triumph.”

Habasonda said government must have realised that it was an exercise in futility to waste such time and resources for a clear case. It did not even require a lawyer to know that it was damned, he said.

He urged government to ensure that they critically consider some of the cases before they are taken to court. He said it is not only a continuous source of embarrassment for government (to prosecute such cases), but also shows lack of proper priority setting in the country.

He said government legal advisors must begin to advise against some of these politically nuanced legal undertakings because they reflect badly on them in the final analysis.

“The manpower being used to pursue those with divergent views can well service the country to rid it of criminals and other people who are the real threats to the well-being of our society,” Habasonda said.

“To the media, we urge you to fight on and reject any manoeuvres to encroach on your freedom to tell the truth and improve our democratic dispensation. We are happy that this in the end has made Kabwela a heroine of our time.”

The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says the Lusaka chief resident magistrate Charles Kafunda took the right decision to acquit Kabwela, as the charges against her were ridiculous and baseless.

“We nonetheless regret that the authorities subjected her to this ordeal for many months for no reason,” RSF stated.

And United Party for National Development vice president, Francis Simenda, said Banda’s directive for the police to arrest and prosecute Kabwela following his failure to address the desperate situation in the hospital was unreasonable.

“People were giving birth on the streets because no one was there at the hospitals to help them. Just (when you) tell them that the situation in the health sector is desperate they arrest Chansa and victimise and embarrass her to the levels of agitating for the people of Zambia to turn against her,” he said.

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Nov 25 2009 (IPS)

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) is once again under fire from opposition political parties and some civil society organisations, which accuse it of bias in favour of the ruling party during elections.

The opposition United Party for National Development (UPND), which is in a pact with the Patriotic Front (PF), and last month won a parliamentary by-election, wants the ECZ disbanded.

“The ECZ is made up of commissioners who are loyal to the appointing authorities…we know these facts,” says Charles Kakoma, UPND spokesperson.

Father Frank Bwalya, executive director for Change Life Zambia, a civil society organisation fighting for a fair socio-economic and political environment in the country, says the ECZ has on several occasions failed to act against the ruling party even when it is clear that they have failed to adhere to the provisions of the Electoral Code of Conduct.

Among the accusations he levels against the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) include: use of government resources such as motor vehicles during campaigns; and making “donations” to voters, and also to schools and churches, in a particular constituency during elections. This is against the Electoral Code of Conduct.

He further accuses the MMD government of issuing National Registration Cards to those ineligible to vote, including refugees.

Bwalya says while the laws governing the conduct of elections in the country are clear, the government has always compromised the ECZ because of the many powers vested in the president who appoints its commissioners.

“The government should disband the ECZ and create an independent body, one which will not feel that it owes its allegiance to the appointing authority,” he says.

But Chris Akufuna, ECZ public relations manager, says the commission is independent – contrary to assertions by some political parties. He says the only time the ECZ consults government is when it needs funding from the national treasury, because elections are a national exercise and the largest chunk of funding for this comes from the state.

“The commission would like to state that these accusations of the commission being biased are not true. As regards accusations of malpractices during elections, the complaints are first dealt with by the district conflict management committee, of which all registered political parties are members,” he says.

The Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP), which has monitored the elections since 1990, says politicians should desist from attacking the ECZ, particularly as Zambia will in 2011 hold crucial elections requiring a referee respected by all.

FODEP executive director Stanley Mhango says stakeholders like the UPND-PF Pact should help strengthen the ECZ by agitating for an amendment of the electoral laws, as opposed to attacking the institution and calling for its abolition.

“The law that governs the ECZ is so weak that it does not give the commission the capacity to manage the elections to the satisfaction of all. We sympathise with the ECZ, because they are operating under weak laws,” says Mhango.

In 2004 the government appointed an Electoral Reform Technical Committee (ERTC), headed by constitutional lawyer Mwangala Zaloumis, to review the country’s electoral process, and make recommendations to ensure free and fair elections.

The committee received and analysed oral and written submissions from private citizens, political parties, non-governmental organisations, professional bodies, trade unions and religious organisations. Among the recommendations of the ERTC, whose report was submitted to the minister of justice in August 2004, were that the ECZ be independent, and subject only to the Constitution and the law, be impartial and exercise its powers without favour or prejudice.

The committee also recommended that other organs of state, through legislative and other measures, assist and protect the ECZ, to ensure independence and impartiality. Further, the committee said the commissioners on the ECZ must be appointed by the president and ratified by Parliament, upon the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission. The qualifications for one to be appointed should include high moral integrity, impartiality and recognised competence in electoral matters.

However, this particular recommendation is not entirely different from the current Electoral Commission Act No. 24 of 1996 which says the ECZ shall consist of a chairperson and not more than four commissioners appointed by the President, subject to their ratification by Parliament. Indeed, attacks and complaints against the ECZ are not anything new.

All general elections that have been held from 1991 have resulted in petitions in the Supreme Court. While a few Parliamentary elections results have been nullified, no presidential election result has been over-turned.

Last year, Michael Sata, leader of the opposition Patriotic Front (PF) withdrew an election petition against President Rupiah Banda in the Supreme Court, saying he did not trust the independence of the judiciary because the chief justice is the presiding officer for presidential elections, and also forms part of the bench in the event of an election petition.

“The chief justice is the returning officer in an election, and also a member of the Supreme Court, in this case Justice Florence Mumba is chairperson of the Electoral Commission Zambia. It is therefore wishful thinking that the Supreme Court can rule against itself,” Sata said.

The ECZ has always been headed by a judge, who like any other High Court or Supreme Court judge in the country, is appointed by the president. The ECZ’s journey has been bumpy in past years. All elections held from independence right through to the post 1991 historic multiparty polls have been characterised by inefficiency and mismanagement.

Mishandling of ballot boxes and papers, delayed start and finish of voting, insufficient electoral materials and unpaid electoral officers have been the order of the day. But following the Electoral Act of 2006 there has been a tremendous improvement, including the introduction of conflict-management committees, regular briefings for political parties and the media, and the electoral code of conduct, which have helped to improve the face of the ECZ.

Preparation for elections has generally become efficient. By consensus ballot papers are now printed in South Africa in the presence of representatives of the political parties, who are flown there and accommodated at government expense. Even when boxes are being transported and distributed, political party representatives and election observers and monitors are always present. They are also there at polling stations where all blank ballot papers are inspected. Ballot boxes are now transparent.

The counting of votes is done right from the polling station before the sealed boxes are transported to a counting centre. Last week, the government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed a 14 million dollar project for the strengthening of the Zambian electoral process.

Viola Morgan, the UNDP country director, says the project will involve strengthening the effectiveness and capacity of the ECZ, continual voter registration, a legislative review process, better civic and voter education and the expansion political parties’ capacities.

Situmbeko Musokotwane, minister of finance, says under the project, the legislative review process will address itself to ensuring the incorporation of constitutional reforms that have arisen regarding the electoral process.

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Nov 10 2009 (IPS)

When journalists were beaten by political supporters for covering the president’s return trip from abroad, and cabinet ministers and police officers looked on without stopping it, it seemed to be the last straw in the victimisation of the media. But it was not.

Lusaka-based journalists march on the Great East Road campaigning for the violence against journalists to stop. Credit: Kelvin Kachingwe/IPS

The Zambian media have always had a dodgy relationship with politicians, depending on whether they are in government or opposition, but never before have the attacks been so intense and frequent.

Last month journalists from both the public and private press had to scamper for their safety when political cadres stormed the Zambia Institute of Mass Communication (Zamcom), where Robbie Chizyuka, suspended United Party for National Development (UPND) Member of Parliament for Namwala, was addressing a press briefing.

It is believed the UPND supporters were opposed to Chizyuka’s speaking critically of the party. His own party members have accused him of being a "traitor".

Then, a few weeks later, political party cadres attacked journalists from various media organisations, and confiscated recorders during a forum being addressed by George Mpombo. The former minister of defence’s attacks on government in the media have infuriated the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD).

Interestingly, these attacks come barely three months after media bodies in the country presented a joint petition to President Rupiah Banda, demanding protection by law-enforcement agencies and the government in the course of their journalistic duties.

This petition followed the beating up of Times of Zambia senior reporter Antony Mulowa, photojournalist Richard Mulonga and The Post reporter Chibaula Silwamba by cadres from the MMD in the presence of several cabinet ministers and police officers. The journalists were beaten at the Lusaka International Airport, where they had gone to cover President Banda’s return from a trip abroad.

The joint petition was signed by several of the country’s leading media institutes including the: Press Association of Zambia (PAZA); Zambia Media Women Association (ZAMWA); Zambia Union of Journalists (ZUJ); Press Freedom Committee of The Post; United Nations Information Centre; Media Institute of Southern Africa-Zambia (MISA-Zambia); and PANOS Institute Southern Africa.

The Media Institute of Southern Africa-Zambia says it is deeply concerned at the unsafe working environment of the media, especially during press conferences on controversial political issues.

"MISA-Zambia urges the government and police to address the problem immediately before lives are lost, or serious injuries take place. Zambia is a democratic state in which citizens have the right to enjoy their constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, which include freedom of expression and the right to access information," says MISA-Zambia president Henry Kabwe.

Lieutenant-General Ronnie Shikapwasha, the chief government spokesperson, says both the ruling party and the government do not condone the harassment of journalists.

"Government condemns in the strongest terms the reported violence against the men and women in the media. It is criminal, uncalled-for and unacceptable, and the government’s position on this matter is loud, clear and consistent," says Shikapwasha.

But Shikapwasha says the media should be professional, and adhere to the ethical requirements of journalism, because careless reporting can lead to turmoil in the country.

For a long time now, Zambian journalists have been demanding speedy media-law reforms, as well as the creation of an Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) and enactment of the Freedom of Information Bill (FOI).

Andrew Sakala, PAZA president, says the government should enact the FOI Bill and establish an IBA to foster media development.

"We as PAZA expect that this year’s media reforms should continue, meaning the IBA should be operationalised this year, so that there are no restrictions on how broadcasting journalists and houses conduct their work. The FOI Bill has also stalled for a long time without implementation," he says.

But Shikapwasha, who is also the information and broadcasting services minister, says the process of selecting board members to the IBA has started, and he expects the ratification of its members before the end of the year.

The government will also soon present to Parliament the FOI, which once implemented, will enhance access to public information and promote transparency, he says.

But in August, Vice-President George Kunda challenged media bodies to come up with a draft Bill for self-regulation within six months, failing which the government will subject them to statutory regulation. "There is a lot of irresponsible reporting in Zambia, and therefore a need to change the scenario. The ball is in your court (the media). As soon as possible give us a draft of your blueprint on self-regulation. Otherwise, know that we have a draft legislation which we can present to Parliament anytime," says Kunda, who is also the minister of justice.

But media bodies immediately rejected the six-month ultimatum, saying they believed the country had enough laws already that inhibited their operations. ZAMWA member Sally Chawama said on behalf of other media organisations that they would not accept the arrangement of coming up with a statutory regulatory body.

"There are many laws that govern the media, including ones on defamation, sedition and prohibition of false publication. We don’t have intentions to accommodate statutory regulation, whether it comes today or in the next 100 years, because we feel there are adequate laws in Zambia inhibiting the operations of the media," Chawama says.

Chapadongo Lungu, the ZUJ general secretary, said the media in the country were already regulating themselves well, saying statutory regulation would be subjecting themselves to political manipulation.

"The only thing that the media haven’t done is dance to the tune of politicians, and they’ve used that as an excuse to demand statutory regulation," he said.

Last week MISA-Zambia, PAZA, ZAMWA, PANOS Southern Africa, Press Freedom Committee of the Post, the Catholic Media Services and the Zambia Union of Broadcasters, announced that they had come up with a framework that will be used to create a self-regulatory body to promote accountability, peer review and the professionalism of media institutions.

Henry Kabwe, speaking on behalf of the other media bodies, said they had created the Media Liaison Committee (MLC), which will ensure journalists, media houses and the general public were protected in the dissemination of information and self-expression. "As the MLC, we have consulted locally and some committee members will be leaving for Kenya and South Africa to study how self-regulatory frameworks are being run in those countries," Kabwe said.

But as to whether this step by media bodies will be enough to appease the government and other political elements who want statutory regulation of the media houses is yet to be seen.

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Oct 28 2009 (IPS)

Pressure is mounting for a new constitution that is inclusive of all citizens' views as the ongoing delays by the body granted to draft it still continues.

Although the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) was granted a four-month extension from its initial request for 12 months, pressure is mounting for it to wind-up within the stipulated time so that the country can go to the 2011 general elections under a new constitution.

The process of drafting a new constitution that consulted and engaged in dialogue with the country’s citizens was started by late President Levy Mwanawasa. The aim was to stop government from unilaterally and undemocratically adopting the Republican Constitution.

The NCC, which came into being in 2007, was supposed to have come up with a draft constitution to be subjected to a referendum within a year.

But in mid-2009, it asked for one more year to complete the process. President Rupiah Banda, who has powers to either disband or extend the NCC’s mandate, gave the body only four months of the requested 12.

Announcing the extension of the NCC’s mandate during the official opening of Parliament last month, President Banda said he was concerned at the slow pace at which the NCC deliberations were progressing.

Tilyenji Kaunda, son of the country’s founding President, Dr Kenneth Kaunda and leader of the opposition United National Independence Party, says the NCC should speedily complete its work within its given time so that the next general elections 2011 are held under a new constitution.

"The NCC, in its next sittings, should ensure it completes the work as many Zambians are anxious to have a new constitution before the next elections," he said at a media briefing early this month.

The opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) says it is concerned that the extension of the constitution-making process may see the country without a new constitution by the time general elections are due in 2011.

"If we continue extending the NCC, there is a possibility that we’ll not have a new constitution by 2011 because there are still other processes that need to be done like the holding of a referendum, that is why this extension is not good for the country," Charles Kakoma, the UPND chairperson for information and publicity, says.

However, NCC spokesperson Mwangala Zaloumis says the extension is necessary because of the many factors which led to the NCC failing to consider six of the 11 committee reports that it was supposed to look at during the year of its mandate.

"The extension was precipitated by certain factors, among them the death of President Mwanawasa last year, the holding of the presidential by-elections as well as the recent changes in the budget cycle. During the time Parliament is in session, the NCC is not allowed to sit," Zaloumis says.

Professor Patrick Mvunga, a constitutional lawyer, says hurrying the constitution-making process merely for the 2011 general elections may not produce the desired results at the end of it all.

"It is always good to do a perfect job, and a perfect job should determine the timing. If the main reason for having a constitution was the holding of elections, those calling for the conclusion of the constitution should instead ask the NCC to complete dealing with all the legislation to do with elections," Professor Mvunga says.

"If it was hard pressing, we would sort out the provisions to do with elections and that is why I don’t understand when people say we should have the constitution before 2011 because not all provisions in the constitution are on elections, a constitution is not all about elections."

George Kunda, the country’s vice-president said late-last year that the NCC will complete its work by December 2009 so that the country can have a new constitution before the 2011 elections but added that the process should be realistic and not rushed.

"We don't want to compromise the process by suggesting unrealistic time options. We have to complete the work before 2011, but let us not suggest unrealistic time frames," he said.

In July 2008, a group of civil society organisations, in a letter to the NCC secretariat and copied to the President, Minister of Justice and Attorney general, demanded that the conference winds-up business by the end of July 2009 and release a detailed financial report on the use of public funds since its formation.

The organisations said the NCC needed to complete its business quickly so that other processes involved in enacting the new constitution, such as the Census and referendum, could take place before the 2011 elections.

"An exercise of such importance cannot be left to carry on business without a definite timetable…and in the interest of accountability and transparency, we demand a full financial report from the NCC with their expenditure," read part of the letter authored by representatives of among others Transparency International Zambia, Citizens Forum, Women in Law Southern Africa and Southern African Centre for Constructive Resolution of Disputes.

In response, NCC chairperson Chifumu Banda said the conference is a government institution that is subject to scrutiny by the office of the Auditor-General.

"The secretary of the NCC is the controlling officer and all the funds are handled by civil servants. All our spending will be made public," he said.

But Michael Sata, the fiery opposition Patriotic Front leader is opposed to the extension of the mandate and has challenged the NCC to show what they had achieved so far.

"Everybody in NCC, they are not there to produce a constitution, they are there to share the 80 million dollars that was allocated to them. They will use every excuse to 'burn' the 80 million dollars through sitting allowances," Sata said.

Situmbeko Musokotwane, the minister of finance, in his budget address last month, allocated a further 1 million dollars towards the NCC after the president extended its mandate by four months.

Early last year, NCC secretary Russell Mulele had said although the president has the power to extend its mandate after the expiry of the 12 months, they will ensure that they complete their work within the stipulated time so that the 2011 general elections are held under a constitution.

Banda says he is more than confident that the new constitution will be ready before the next general elections.

"We have reached a point of no return because where we have come from is a long way and are near the end of the constitution-formulating process," Banda says.

"The NCC has a specific time frame excluding the days when Parliament is in session, public holidays and weekends, if it wasn’t for this and the mourning of President Levy Mwanawasa, we would have gone far."

The enactment of the NCC Act followed the recommendations by the public to the Wila Mung’omba Constitutional Review Commission that the constitution be adopted by a Constituent Assembly, a Constitutional Conference or any other popular body that would represent the views of the people.

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Oct 20 2009 (IPS)

The recent change of the budget cycle to allow government to effectively spend money to develop the country is not good enough unless those in charge of the money are made accountable, say civil society.

Parliament this year enacted a law which changed the cycle so that the budget can be approved before the commencement of the new year on Jan. 1. Previously it would be approved before Apr. 1.

But the change of mere dates is not good enough to ensure that money will be spent in part of the country that need it the most. Civil society organisations have raised concerns on the effectiveness of the oversight role of Parliament and the Auditor-General (AG). They have said that unless the AG has the powers to prosecute or follow up on penal measures taken against those who have misappropriated money, this change in the budget will be ineffective.

Mulima Mbewe, the executive director for the Society for Poverty Reduction, an anti-poverty advocacy network of over 40 organisations working for pro-poor development in different parts Zambia, says in addition to the changes in the budget cycle, there is need to strengthen the oversight role of Parliament, particularly the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the AG.

"It’s not enough to just change the budget cycle, we want this budget to be effective, (with) resources reaching the intended areas. To ensure this, the role of the Auditor-General and the Public Accounts Committee is critical," she says.

The PAC is one of the select committees of Parliament responsible for keeping a close eye on public money.

Francis Simenda, former chairman of PAC, says the committee can only be effective if certain laws are changed, granting the AG greater autonomy and independence.

"It would be desirable if the AG reports directly to Parliament without alterations. Currently, the AG submits her report to the President who (in a way) is the one being investigated because he is the overseer of how money has been utilised. Depending on his goodwill, he could choose to suppress certain information from Parliament, though according to the law, the report has to be taken to Parliament," Simenda says.

Presently, the AG’s Office does not have the power to prosecute or follow up on penal measures taken against those who have misappropriated money. The PAC only has powers to recommend action and prosecution against those who have mis-spent money.

But Bob Sichinga, a political and economic consultant, says unless the rules governing the oversight of public money change, the PAC will always be limited in how far it can go in playing its watchdog role.

"You’ve got a Parliament of 158 people, 66 of whom are ministers. So, you basically have 96 people who are back benchers. Now in order to make a constitutional amendment, you need 106 people, which is two-thirds of 158. How are you going to get it considering that the 66 front benchers must vote for the government position? So, even if all the back benchers voted against a particular amendment, it won’t work," he says.

As a watchdog committee, the PAC starts its work once the AG’s Report is tabled before the National Assembly by the president. The committee then studies the report before calling officers from departments funded from the treasury to explain the concerns raised by the AG.

Thereafter, the committee makes its recommendations to the National Assembly on what action should be taken where public money has been misapplied or misappropriated. The Minister of Finance has the mandate to effect the recommendations.

But more times than not, no action is taken.

Simenda believes both the PAC and the Office of the AG should have powers to take corrective action against those who misappropriate and misapply public money.

Under the current system, the committee can only recommend what actions controlling officers can take in government ministries and departments but has no power to enforce them.

Sichinga, who also once chaired the PAC, wants the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Secretary to the Cabinet and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) to be present whenever the committee sits.

"Some of the issues raised in the report are administrative, so the Secretary to the Cabinet can start taking administrative action. The DPP will be looking for issues that have to do with theft by public servants," he says.

However, Sacika Sitwala, who previously served as Secretary to the Cabinet, thinks this is not necessary because the responsibility to manage resources allocated to a ministry is vested in the Permanent Secretary.

Anna Chifungula, the current AG, admits that keeping tabs on public money and government spending is an onerous task that is even made more difficult due to inadequate funding. Lack of financial resources has meant the AG’s Office has failed to broaden the base of its audit staff.

However, the biggest challenge Chifungula’s office faces is getting the AG’s Report completed on time, which is by December 31. As things stand now, the report is always late, sometimes by two years.

"We get so many reports from so many divisions, and sometimes these reports are not on time. And when they come, most of the time the quality is poor, so we need to put them into shape by sitting for long hours to make them into the kind of reports we can publish," Chifungula says.

But Chama Mulenga, a former students’ union representative at the one of the colleges in Lusaka, says what is also disappointing is that no action is ever taken against those who misappropriate public money.

"What we would want to see is action against those who abuse our money. It is not enough to just publish these reports in the media, we need to start seeing some action of some sort from those charged with the responsibility of looking after our money," he says.

Currently, the Zambian Government is receiving financial support from institutions like the World Bank and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DfID) in the area of public expenditure management.

Government is expected to receive a total of 74 million dollars over a five-year period to implement a computer-based integrated financial management information system to cover the whole country. The system is expected to make it possible to monitor how government ministries and departments spend money.

This system can hopefully help seal the loopholes that made it possible a decade ago for almost 16 million dollars worth of Basic Education Sub-Sector Investment Programme funds in the Ministry of Education to go missing from under government’s radar. The money was found three years later by the AG.

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Oct 14 2009 (IPS)

The acquittal of former President Frederick Chiluba on charges of theft after a seven-year long landmark case, and the refusal by the Zambian government to appeal, has put government and civil society on a collision course.

Chiluba was charged with theft of 500 000 dollars in 2002 when late President Levy Mwanawasa launched the country’s largest corruption fight. But his August acquittal and the subsequent refusal by government to appeal the case, despite evidence to support an appeal, has had civil society up in arms over the administration of President Rupiah Banda’s government.

After Chiluba’s acquittal at the Lusaka court, Chalwe Mchenga, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) said he would only be able to decide whether the State should appeal after studying the judgment.

While on the same day, Maxwell Nkole, executive chairman of the Task Force on Corruption, an institution that was created by Mwanawasa to prosecute cases of corruption involving the former President, filed a notice of appeal in the Lusaka High Court.

“Although we have not yet obtained a copy of the judgment to study the reasons given for the acquittal, we however, believe that there are good grounds of appeal,” Nkole had said in a letter to the DPP, President Banda and the attorney general.

But the following day, Government withdrew the notice of appeal and Nkole was removed as executive chairman with Secretary to the Cabinet, Joshua Kanganja, saying his contract of employment had expired.

A week later, the DPP issued a statement saying the State will not challenge the acquittal of Chiluba because the appeal is unlikely to be successful.

It was a decision, civil society organisations say, that failed the country.

Last month a consortium of 17 civil society organisations demanded the resignation of the country’s Vice President George Kunda, who is also the Minister of Justice and also that of the DPP for “failing the people of Zambia.”

The civil society organisations urged citizens to honk and wear black clothes every Friday as a way of expressing their displeasure over the Government’s position not to appeal against the acquittal of Chiluba.

“We call upon all Zambians who love this country and are worried about corruption to wear black and honk or whistle every Friday,” Sam Mulafulafu, executive director for Caritas Zambia and spokesperson for the 17 civil society organisations, said.

But government have stood by their decision and say appealing for the sake of it is not justice. “An appeal should only be made when there is a likelihood of it succeeding. Appealing because of concerns of members of the public without regards to the likelihood of success is actually an abuse of the judicial process,” Mchenga said.

He said while public concern could be a basis for instituting criminal investigations, it cannot be a basis for instituting a criminal prosecution or appealing against an acquittal.

Mchenga said according to the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), a public prosecutor is subject to the directions of the DPP and the decision of then Task force executive chairperson to file the appeal without his consent, as Nkole had done, was illegal.

But Mulafulafu insists that people need to hold government accountable to see justice takes it course. “Our nationwide campaigns will equally sensitise the Zambian people to guard our justice system jealously and ensure that it is not compromised for political gain.”

The first two demonstrations were largely restricted to Lusaka, particularly the central business area where for close to 30 minutes, motorists, especially mini-buses drivers honked their horns.

Two female opposition Patriotic Front (PF) members of Parliament and nine other motorists were arrested while their vehicles were impounded.

The two MPs were released after they developed high blood pressure and had to be admitted to hospital. The other motorists were released on police bond and are expected to appear in court on a charge of conduct likely to breach public peace.

“The idea of hooting was disturbing, threatening and inconveniencing to other motorists who were likely to be distracted and cause accidents,” Bonny Kapeso, the police service spokesperson, he said. The 17 civil society organisations have since temporary suspended the honking after meeting the police but have vowed to launch massive countrywide demonstrations next Friday.”The police did invite us for a meeting to discuss what they consider to be public security concerns. They emphasised their viewpoint that honking is illegal according to the Road Traffic Act,” he said.

The organisations involved in the campaign include Transparency International Zambia, Non-Governmental Organization Co-ordinating Council (NGOCC), Zambia Civic Education Association (ZCEA), Anti-Poverty Apathy, Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) and Women for Change (WfC).

Lameck Mangani, the Home Affairs minister, has accused the 17 civil society organisations of conniving with some donors, particularly the British government, in order to bring President Banda’s government down.

“We have noted that all this is happening with the blessing of some donors. Some Zambians who served in the foreign service have had some dark corner meetings with some donors agitating that the Government of President Banda is corrupt,” Mangani says.

British High Commissioner to Zambia Tim Carter, whose country has rendered financial support to the anti-corruption fight, had expressed disappointment at the acquittal of Chiluba and the refusal by the government to appeal.

“I was personally surprised at the decision to acquit Chiluba. There are two things in Chiluba’s case. Firstly, I do acknowledge that it was a matter for the Zambian judiciary to decide on Chiluba’s cases, but we have also seen that there is evidence to suggest that an appeal must have been lodged,” he said.

Government had filed a separate civil case in Britain hoping to recover assets owned by Chiluba and his associates there and other European countries. In 2007, a British judge ordered Chiluba to pay $58 million to the Zambian Treasury to compensate for money he was suspected of stealing. However, government is yet to recover the money because it is yet to register the case in the Lusaka High Court for the ruling to take effect.

The Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) also said last week that it believes that there are enough grounds for the State to appeal against the acquittal of Chiluba.

Stephen Lungu, the LAZ President, says although the 14-day period in which the appeal was to be made by the State has elapsed, they still believe that a way can still be found.

But Emmanuel Mwamba, spokesperson for Chiluba, says the objective of the 17 NGOs was to use the name of the former president to bring down a legitimate government.

“We’re aware that this plot by the NGOs is a disguise of a plot against President Banda’s government and are just using Chiluba to achieve their hidden agenda,” he says.

However, with government aware that Chiluba commands some support in certain parts of the country, they are unlikely to change course especially with general elections coming in less than two years.

The tricky part may come in if donors decide to freeze aid. Already, donors like European Union have frozen aid to the Ministry of Health after revelations of corruption.

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
MANSA, Zambia, Oct 1 2009 (IPS)

Water- and sanitation-related diseases cost communities dearly, particularly in rural Zambia.

This borehole in Luapula is one of 205 drilled by U.K. charity WaterAid since 1994: 400,000 people have benefited from the wells. Credit: Nebert Mulenga/IRIN

This decreases their opportunities for engaging in productive activities to improve their livelihoods, or attending school, which ultimately affects their socio-economic advancement.

One of the areas most affected is the northern province of Luapula. The last national census in 2000 established that despite having more abundant surface water than any other province in the country, Luapula also had the lowest water and sanitation coverage rates standing at 18.8 percent for water, and just 2.3 percent for sanitation.

“What happens is very, very embarrassing,” says Agness Mwamba, a villager from Kamukwamba village in Luapula’s Samfya district. “We have no toilets and no bath rooms. So, some use the river to answer the ‘call of nature’ and we only bathe in the evenings, outside our houses when everyone is asleep, or go and bathe in the river if it is during the day.

“This is the same river from which we draw water for drinking and cooking … we are suffering from diarrhoea and other diseases.”

Alfred Nyambose, provincial local government officer for Luapula Province, says improved water sources – household connections, public standpipes, boreholes, protected springs and wells, or even rainwater collection – are broken down or non-existent.

“The problem we have been having in this province is not lack of access to water, but it is lack of access to safe, clean drinking water because water here is everywhere and it can be collected from any point!” Nyambose says.

“The question is: is that water fit for human consumption? And the answer is no.”

The Zambian government and its donor partners have put in place several programmes to improve the situation. The National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programme, running from 2006 to 2010, is a set of investment, institutional and sector support activities aimed at accelerating sustainable provision of water supply and sanitation services to the rural population in Zambia.

Its overall goal is to provide sustainable access to water supply and sanitation in rural areas so as to contribute towards poverty alleviation of Zambia’s rural population as well as facilitate the achievement of water and sanitation development goals.

In 2007, Zambia’s ministry of local government and housing launched the National Water and Sanitation Programme (NWSP), to accelerate progress on access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation facilities by the year 2015 in line with the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In general Zambia does not suffer from a scarcity of either surface or groundwater resources.  The total available surface water resources far exceed the total consumptive demand even in a drought year. According to the National Water Resources Master Plan 2005, even in a drought year, Zambia consumes only five percent of the available surface water.

The problem is to provide cost-effective and sustainable groundwater extraction through boreholes and shallow wells.

But government believes that with the development of clear priorities and common approaches intended to speed up the achievement of the MDGs, they will be able to improve access to water and sanitation in rural areas, and thus help fight poverty.

But unless enough resources are channelled towards the programme, that is unlikely to happen.

A 2005 study by University of Zambia economics lecturer Chrispin Mphuka titled “The Cost of Meeting the MDGs in Zambia”, found that between 1990 and 2000, the proportion of households with safe drinking water in Zambia increased only marginally from 48 to 51 percent, while over the same period, the proportion of households with access to improved sanitation actually dropped, from 17 to 15 percent.

“There is a critical need to improve access to safe water and sustain facilities in order to improve the living standards of both urban and rural communities,” recommended Mphuka.

But progress under the NSWP has been slow. According to the 2008 UNICEF statistics, the proportion of households with access to safe water stands at 59 percent for the whole country, while only 43 percent of the rural population accesses clean water.  On the other hand, 59 percent of households in Zambia have own pit latrine, while 7.3 percent use communal latrine, and another 4.6 percent used neighbours’ pit latrines.

The Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) is saddened that government has been reducing budgetary allocations to the water and sanitation sectors even in the face of increasing cases of diseases like cholera.

“For civil society, this shows a lack of appreciation of the sector to ensure a healthy and thus productive population. The situation of unhealthy drinking water and unhygienic surroundings is worse in the rural areas where such services are almost non-existent,” says  Ivy Mutwale, programme officer, information management and networking for CSPR.

“Water supply and sanitation is pertinent to meeting the social and economic requirements of a country as well as managing and sustaining the health and environment of a community, aspects which are crucial to human development and ultimately to poverty reduction.”

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
MANSA, Zambia, Sep 24 2009 (IPS)

Huge investments in malaria control and prevention have prevented as many as 75,000 child deaths over the past five years.

A 2008 survey by the Ministry of Health, UNICEF, World Health Organisation and the University of Zambia (UNZA) shows a 50 percent reduction in the prevalence of the malaria parasite in children when compared to the findings two years earlier.

Overall child mortality has fallen by 29 percent, and although it is difficult to parse out everything that has contributed to that reduction, there is consensus that malaria is a substantial part of it.

Moderate to severe anaemia, one of the best indicators of malaria infection in pregnancy has been reduced by more than 60 percent.

The U.S. government is one of the major supporters of Zambia’s anti-malarial efforts. Michael Koplovsky, United States Embassy deputy chief of mission, says malaria costs the country millions of dollars in lost economic growth, the more reason why support towards treatment and prevention is paramount.

“More Zambians die from malaria every year than from any other disease,” he says. “People don’t have to die from malaria. Malaria is preventable.”

Last year, with support from the U.S. government, the National Malaria Control Centre (NMCC) sprayed over 760,000 households countrywide, protecting over four million people while giving out one million insecticide treated bednets.

Results

The experience in the three provinces of Luapula, Northern and Western, known to be the areas with the high cases of malaria, shows what can be achieved with a comprehensive coordinated approach to control and prevention.

Dr Elicho Bwalya, acting Luapula provincial medical officer, says interventions include free distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets to pregnant women and under-five children and environmental management activities, which involve the destruction of mosquito breeding sites and training community members in how to re-treat old mosquito nets.

These interventions are thanks to a programme called the Community Booster Response to Malaria (COMBOR) under the Community Response to AIDS (CRAIDS), a project funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank.

Jane Chisanga worked as a facilitator under COMBOR, and believes that the programme has had a positive impact as results from implementing catchments were encouraging.

“Where these projects have been implemented, we have seen that there are now fewer cases of malaria, and even the communities are now appreciating the effectiveness of the project because they take extra care of the environment around them,” she says.

Bupe Mutale, a 61-year-old small-holder farmer from Mansa, the Luapula provincial capital, says one remarkable impact of the malaria projects under CRAIDS has been the commitment inculcated in the community to fighting malaria.

“Most members of the community are now aware of what they need to do in order to prevent or treat malaria,” he says.

COMBOR has unfortunately come to an end, but government has promised to take over the funding of the programme although it is yet to release any money towards the project.

Comprehensive approach

But besides COMBOR, there is a government-funded indoor residual spraying (IRS) programme, which involves spraying the inside of dwellings with a long-lasting insecticide to kill mosquitoes that spread malaria.

So far, 11,000 houses in three districts of Mansa, Kawambwa and Nchelenge have been sprayed out of a total target of 15, 000 households.

The Society for Family Health (SFH) and the Anglican Church in Luapula have also been distributing insecticide-treated nets, which are targeted at under-five children and pregnant women. A total of 7,000 nets have so far been distributed.

Additionally, the NMCC has also supported the intermittent presumptive treatment (IPT), which involves giving a preventative dose of an anti-malarial drug at pre-determined intervals during a woman’s pregnancy. This approach is meant to prevent the high risk of pregnant mothers getting malaria and associated consequences such as premature births, low birth weight and death of mother or baby.

Dr Chilandu Mukuka, a malariologist with NMCC says the country has made great strides towards its goal of a malaria-free Zambia through the massive expansion of proven malaria control interventions, in line with a 2000 commitment by heads of state and development partners meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, where it was agreed to reduce malaria illnesses and deaths by 50 percent by 2010.

Policy and planning

The minister of health, Kapembwa Simbao says government has realised the socio-economic impact of malaria, and it has included it in the country’s Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) currently being implemented with a focus on the eradication of malaria as one of the key health priorities.

He says the government is committed to achieving the Roll Back Malaria goal of reducing malaria by 50 percent by next year.

“According to the World Health Organisation, deaths reported in health facilities have declined by 66 percent. This is a remarkable achievement,” he says.

However, there is also widespread concern that the gains made in the fight against malaria may evaporate due to withdrawal of funding to the ministry of health by donors over concerns with corruption in the health ministry.

Dr Bwalya says the withdrawal of funding by some donors is already affecting operations in Luapula province.   “The withdrawal of funding has led to us receiving funds late, a situation that has led to some patients who have been admitted in clinics going without food because we have to ration it,” he says.  

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Aug 4 2009 (IPS)

As the Zambian parliament resumes, civil society organisations (CSOs) have come out strongly to oppose the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Bill, which seeks to regulate their operations.

The 2007 NGO Bill was withdrawn from Parliament by the government after civil society protested against it on the grounds that it was a draconian piece of legislature that could not facilitate any meaningful growth of the NGOs in the country.

Non-Governmental Organisation Co-ordinating Council board chairperson, Marian Munyinda, whose organisation is the focal point for the women’s movement in the country, says most of the contentious issues that they raised with Government in 2007 have still not been addressed.

"We told the Government our concerns over the bill, and the ministry of justice told us to discuss the matter on our own as NGOs and then give them our resolutions. We did that, but to our surprise, the concerns haven’t been included in the (revised) bill," she says.

One of the most contentious issues in the bill is the proposal to give the minister discretionary powers to accept or reject nominations for NGO boards.

The bill also vests the government-dominated NGO Registration Board with far-reaching powers to approve the area of work for NGOs, issue policy guidelines on "harmonising" their efforts with the national development plan, and "advise" on strategies for efficient planning of activities.

All NGOs, including community-based organisations, will be required to submit themselves to compulsory registration, which must be renewed every three years. Registration could be denied, under the new bill, in the "public interest" although what this entails is not clearly defined.

Finally, the government can also demand NGOs submit information regarding their activities, accounts and administration. Failure to submit the information – and the bill is silent on the timeframe for complying – could result in suspension or cancellation of registration.

Safeguard NGO autonomy

The Zambia Council for Social Development (ZCSD), an umbrella group of registered NGOs with a membership base of more one hundred NGOs and CBOs, says its members firmly believe in self-regulation as a cornerstone for the advancement of social and economic endeavours of the nation.

"We remind our law makers that in modern constitutional and administrative law, the aim is to minimise the latitude of discretionary powers among public officers for the effective and impersonal management of public affairs," says ZCSD executive director Reverend Malawo Matyola, whose organisation is a member of the World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS), a global movement of civil society with members and partners in over a hundred countries.

Govt wants to see coordination

Minister of community development and social services, Michael Kaingu, said the the bill is a way of coordinating NGOs.

He says the government has found it difficult to coordinate NGOs working with children, for example, as there are several Acts of Parliament which exist to supervise them, such as the Companies Act, the Registrar of Societies Act, the Co-operative Act and the Land Deeds Act, thereby making it difficult for to check and control them.

"Lack of coordinated support has led to the fragmentation in programming and duplication of support to children, resulting in reduced quality of services and increasing the cost of programmes. Resources that could have been properly and equally distributed to reach many children in different parts of the country, instead end up going to the same areas and in some instances to the same organisation," Kaingu says.

Margaret Chanda, a political activist resident in Lusaka, says she will support the bill if it is intended to improving the welfare of the people.

"I have known, for instance, many pastors and other people who have pocketed the money meant for the poor children. They have built mansions using donor funds. This is the more reason why we need some mechanism to monitor how donor funds are being used. However, if this Bill is only meant to suppress the checks and balances of NGOs on government, then it shouldn’t even be entertained on the floor of Parliament," she says.

How will govt use new powers?

The experience of the Southern Africa Centre for Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD), a human rights and governance watchdog, presents a discouraging indication of what government might do with new powers if this bill becomes law.

SACCORD was de-registered by the government last year, only to have its NGO status reinstated by the court. Government again de-registered the centre this year, but a fresh court ruling has allowed it to retain its NGO status while it again challenges the decision.

"The government has been failing to put an end to our activism or existence, because there was no legal basis for de-registering us for holding dissenting views from the government," executive director Lee Habasonda says.

Government enjoys a two-third majority in parliament. To block the bill's passage, Zambian civil society will have to convince members of parliament – especially backbenchers belonging to the ruling party – of the flaws in the proposed legislation.

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
Luanshya, ZAMBIA, Jun 23 2009 (IPS)

Nowhere in Zambia is the impact of the global financial crisis being felt harder than in the copper and cobalt-rich province of the Copperbelt.

Women taking up the slack: Martha Phiri and her mother set up this stall after her father was laid off from the mines. Credit: Kelvin Kachingwe/IPS

The province has for a long-time been the goose that lays the golden egg for the country. When Zambia’s economy grows, it is because mining is booming on the Copperbelt. Copper accounts for 80 percent of Zambia’s foreign exchange earnings and has since 2003 been the main driver of an annual economic growth rate of five percent.

At the peak of production in the 1980s, Zambia, Africa’s largest copper producer, used to produce about 750,000 metric tonnes of finished copper annually. Output dropped to 200,000 metric tonnes in the 1990s.

When the copper price enjoyed a renaissance at the beginning of this decade, the mines again became the major employers as production rose to more than 600,000 metric tonnes with government projecting one million metric tonnes by 2010.

But because of the global crisis, this projection is seen as highly unlikely. Steep fall in demand and prices for copper on the London Metal Exchange led to government collecting revenue of just 64 million dollars from copper in 2008, rather than the targeted $415 million.

The government has now removed the windfall tax in order to salvage the mining sector.

Further, the minister of finance, Situmbeko Musokotwane, has proposed to reduce customs duty on important inputs for the industry, dropping the duty on heavy oil from 30 to 15 percent and entirely removing duty on copper powder, copper flakes and copper blisters. He has also proposed to include copper and cobalt concentrates on the import deferment scheme for Value Added Tax (VAT) purpose – all to reduce the operating costs of mining companies.

But the Trade Justice Network, which promotes socially just, democratic and progressive taxation systems in Africa, believes that despite mining companies closing and laying off workers, the government should not have reversed its tax regime.

“Given that mines do not pay windfall tax when prices are low, this proposed tax break will mean Zambians will again fail to benefit when the copper prices rise. The result means that Zambia will continue to wait for many years before mining companies contribute to the budget,” Alvin Mosioma, co-ordinator for Trade Justice Network Africa says.

Instead, Mosioma is calling for the government end the practice of granting tax exemptions to mining companies when signing contracts, and for bilateral and multilateral donors to scale up their financial assistance to Africa governments to improve their capacity to monitor and audit the accounts of mining companies.

Mines still struggling

The country’s mining companies have either reduced production or put the mines on care and maintenance, citing the global economic slump, which has seen international copper prices tumble from record highs of nearly $9,000 per metric tonne between 2005 and 2007 to about $3,000 per metric tonne. Luanshya Copper Mines (LCM), a joint venture of the Swiss-based International Mineral Resources and Bein Stein Group Resources of Israel, closed its operations in December 2008, resulting in 1,700 retrenchments.

Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) also recently retrenched up to 1,000 workers while the country’s biggest mine, Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), owned by the London-listed Vedanta Resources, laid off 700 after shutting down its smelting plant.

MCM chief executive officer Emmanuel Mutati says his firm was ill-prepared to face the global economic downturn. “Last year – and in particular the last six months – proved to be very difficult and challenging. The remedy for re-positioning ourselves has not been easy for us to take. Regrettably, some of our workmates lost their jobs and a number of contractors lost sizeable investments as we tried to reposition the company in order to meet the challenges.”

Opening Parliament in January this year, President Rupiah Banda warned the mining companies not to use the global financial crisis as an excuse to lay off workers, especially now as government had made amendments to the Mines and Minerals Act to encourage foreign direct investment in the mining sector.

Workers in trouble

On the Copperbelt, many retrenched miners have resorted to informal trading to make ends meet.

Jack Mwanza is among those that were laid off and received $7,200 as terminal benefits. The money however proved not to be enough as he was required to service a loan that he got from a local micro-finance lending institution.

“They deducted 10 million kwacha (around $2,000) from my terminal benefits. The remaining amount was used to pay school fees for my school-going children, buying food and to start a small katemba (grocery) which my wife and daughter are running, but the returns are really minimal, we’re only praying that the new owners get us back to work because clearly, we wont survive for long like this,” says Mwanza, a father of five.

Marjorie Mbewe, a mother of six whose husband was among those retrenched at Luanshya Mine, has been forced to open a makeshift stand outside her house where she is selling mostly vegetables.

“It’s become very difficult to survive now. The money my husband received wasn’t enough because he had a loan to pay. We used to have at least three meals a day, but that’s not possible anymore. If we manage two, it’s a real bonus,” Mbewe says.

Luanshya district administrator, George Kapu, says life has been difficult for most residents since the mine stopped production and retrenched the majority of its workers, leaving only a skeleton crew to prevent the closed mine from flooding.

“Yes, a number of them have lost their jobs. It’s been hard for them to make ends meet,” he says.

Local govt also straining

The closure of the mines and other companies has also limited the capacity of local authorities to effectively provide public services.

“Municipal councils throughout the province are finding it very difficult to operate as most of them depend on these companies for survival through rates and other taxes,” says Mwansa Mbulakulima, the Copperbelt provincial minister. “As a result of this, council’s are also finding it difficult to pay salaries to its workers.”

Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC), which supplies power to the mines on the Copperbelt, also says the closure of mines such as Luanshya and Chambishi Metals will lead to a 15 percent reduction in its turnover.

“We expect this year to be very difficult than last year,” Michael Tarney, the company’s executive director says.

But for the most residents on the Copperbelt, life without copper mining is definitely not an option at this particular time, having previously seen how quickly their cities turned into ghosts when Anglo-American Coorporation pulled-out almost a decade ago.

And for a region that has solely depended on copper mining for several decades, diversifying its economy will not be easy.

World leaders gather at the United Nations in New York this week, to consider short- and long-term responses to soften the impact of the global economic downturn on people like Marjorie Mbewe and Jack Mwanza. They are also expected to discuss changes to the international financial system to better serve the needs of all U.N. member states.

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Jun 2 2009 (IPS)

The desperate need to find an alternative investor for the closed Luanshya Copper Mines (LCM) in Zambia’s Copperbelt has not prevented some Zambians from fiercely opposing the government’s decision to let Chinese-owned Non-Ferrous Metals Mining Company (NFCA) run the mine.

The partner of a retrenched Luanshya miner selling bananas to support her family. Credit: Kelvin Kachingwe/IPS

LCM, a joint venture of the Swiss-based International Mineral Resources and Bein Stein Group Resources of Israel, closed on Jan 22 this year, leaving 1,700 miners jobless. The mine allegedly failed to cope with the drastic fall in the prices of copper on the London Metal Exchange from 8,000 to 3,000 dollars per metric ton.

After the mine closed, women married to the male miners petitioned President Rupiah Banda to find a buyer or for the government to take over its running. The government owns 15 percent of the shares.

Banda announced that NFCA, which owns Chambishi Mine in the Copperbelt, was chosen over the London-listed metal and mining company Vendata Resources which runs the biggest copper mine in the country, Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), as well as Luanshya Mineral Resources.

He said NFCA had promised to develop a new mine called Muliashi at LCM which will be producing 30,000 metric tonnes of copper cathodes in addition to running the mine hospital, trust school, craft school and sports and recreation facilities. NFCA has in all committed 400 million dollars to the running of the mine.

‘‘I want to assure you that this investor knows and understands the business of mining. This investor is not in Zambia just to make quick money and get out at the first sign of stress in the business,’’ Banda said.

But main opposition party the Patriotic Front’s (PF) chairperson for mines, Wilbur Simuusa, retorted that Chinese investors have a bad track record when it comes to social responsibility and mine safety and wondered how the facilities they have failed to maintain at Chambishi will be sustained at Luanshya.

Zambia has seen a backlash against Chinese influence in the local economy, largely fuelled by workplace accidents; concerns over poor working conditions and low pay at Chinese-run copper mines; and resentment over an influx of Chinese traders into the apparel industry.

In 2006, Zambian miners were killed in an accident at the Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy explosive factory, a multi-million dollar joint venture between China and the NFC Africa Mining Company. The accident, caused by a massive explosion inside the manufacturing plant, killed all of the workers who were trapped inside.

China’s involvement in Zambia dates back to the early 1970s, when China built a railway linking central Zambia to the nearest port city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

But in recent times, there has been a hostile response against Chinese involvement in Zambia’s mining industry. The PF favours closer ties with Taiwan, making it a major campaign issue in the 2006 elections where it won the majority of the votes in the Copperbelt province, the mainstay of the country’s economy.

However, Austin Liato, the minister of labour and social security, sees nothing wrong with Chinese investment. He wonders why Zambia, which is hoping to become a middle income country by 2030, should not accept investment from China when developed economies were doing so.

‘‘These investments must be accepted. Zambians should not be hoodwinked by people with other motives,’’ Liato asserted.

But Chishimba Kambwili, the Luanshya member of Parliament who has led a fierce opposition to the Chinese running the mine, argued that the sale of the mine to NFCA would spell the end for Luanshya.

‘‘It’s not that we’re merely against the Chinese. We’re just protecting the welfare of people who have suffered at the mercy of investors who are only interested in enriching themselves at the expense of the workers,’’ he stated.

Mufulira Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCII) president, Shadreck Musozya, however welcomed the decision to give the mine to NFCA but advised that the government should avoid a situation where workers and entrepreneurs are not adequately protected.

‘‘We want this to be of mutual benefit to both the owners of the mines and the workers and entrepreneurs, on the other hand,’’ he pointed out.

The Mine Suppliers and Contractors Association chairperson Fanuel Banda raised concern that Chambishi only deals with 150 local suppliers out of 5,000 registered ones – unlike KCM which sources from 5,000 suppliers and Mopani Copper Mines (MCM), another mining firm on the Copperbelt, which has 3,000 suppliers.

But mines minister Maxwell Mwale says NFCA is a well-established company that has a long history in mining.

‘‘NFCA scored the highest during the evaluation of the bids. They’re in this country running a mine but we’ve never heard anything negative from them since the meltdown started. They’ve continued operating at Chambishi where they’re sinking sub-vertical and access shafts at a mine which was closed for 13 years,’’ he informed Zambians.

But Makasa Chisapa, a former miner, says he does not care where the investor is from as long as they are able to pay him a good salary to support his family.

‘‘I have three school-going children but no job. The benefits I got after the mine was closed went towards paying a loan I got from the bank. So I want the mine to re-open as soon as possible so that I can stop struggling financially,’’ he told IPS.

Copper accounts for 80 percent of Zambia's foreign earnings and since 2003 has been the main driver of an annual economic growth rate of five percent.

At the peak of production in the 1980s, Zambia, which is Africa's largest copper producer, used to produce about 750,000 metric tons of finished copper annually before output dropped to 200,000 metric tons in the 1990s.

Current production is about 600,000 metric tons annually and a government projection of one million metric tons in 2010 is viewed as unlikely because of the global economic slump. The demand for commodities has dropped; leading international copper prices to tumble with the labour force being reduced, expansion projects halted and mining operations closing.

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Apr 23 2009 (IPS)

Dehydration caused by severe diarrhoea is a key cause of infant deaths in Zambia, a country with one of the highest child morality rates in the world, according to a new report by Zambia’s health department.

U.N. statistics show just 58 percent of Zambians have access to improved water sources; only 52 percent use improved sanitation facilities. Credit: Kelvin Kachingwe/IPS

The Zambia Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) report, released in early April, shows that 119 out of 1,000 children don’t reach their fifth birthday. Diarrhoea accounts for one fifth of all deaths among children under five.

The symptom makes children more susceptible to other illnesses, such as malnutrition and respiratory infections, which are also among the leading causes of child mortality in Zambia.

Diarrhoea can easily be avoided or reduced by improved sanitation. But sanitation remains a major problem in Zambia. According to the Lusaka-based Central Statistical Office (CSO), not even 60 percent of the population have access to adequate sanitation and safe water.

Ivy Mutwale, programme officer at Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR), a national anti-poverty advocacy network of more than 140 organisations, believes access to clean drinking water and sanitation could be enhanced if government implemented its Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) 2006-2011.

"CSPR calls on government to seriously consider increasing the [budget] allocation to the sector. Allocations have reduced in recent years. This shows a lack of [effort] to ensure a healthy and productive population," said Mutwale.

Although adequate policies and strategies have been developed, there has been little implementation. The National Water Policy of 1994, for example, recognises that all water supply strategies should have components on sanitation, health and hygiene education. However, government is yet to put the policy framework into practice.

In his budget speech earlier this year, Minister of Finance and National Planning, Situmbeko Musokotwane, admitted that despite the fact that clean water and sanitation have been identified as a key investment area of the FNDP, government has not set aside an adequate budget to tackle the problem.

Government has allocated $38.3 million to the National Rural and Urban Water Supply Programme to improve current infrastructure and extend services to under-served areas, particularly in peri-urban sites. It has further set aside $1.8 million to improve the country’s drainage systems.

This is far too little, experts complain. Dr Chrispin Mphuka, economist at the University of Zambia, estimates in a 2005 study called The Cost of Meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), that Zambia would need to spend $42.7 million a year to bring its water and sanitation systems up to scratch.

Harriet Phiri, a mother of four who lives in Kalingalinga township near Lusaka, says she struggles to access clean water because her only access to running water is a communal tap. She also has to share a pit latrine with three other families.

"We don’t have clean water except from a communal tap, which is far from my home," Phiri told IPS. "We want our MP [member of parliament] to assist us so that government can improve water in our area. And it is difficult to fight water-borne diseases. Every year, we have the problem of floods, but the government seems not to mind."

Phiri says her children suffer regularly from diarrhoea: "Almost every three months, we have a case of diarrhoea, just because government cannot give us clean water. We need them to do something, that’s why we voted for them."

Prudence Phiri, sister-in-charge at Kagoro rural health centre in Katete district, about 500 kilometres outside of Lusaka, confirms that diarrhoea occurs frequently due to lack of sanitation and clean water. If running water is unavailable, villagers use water from streams for washing, laundry and cooking, she says.

What makes matters worse is that few parents bring their sick children for treatment to the local clinic. Only 60 percent of Zambian children suffering from diarrhoea receive medial attention, according to the ZDHS.

"We have two major problems," explained nurse Phiri. "The first is that we just have one river where the villagers draw water. The second is that most villagers believe in traditional medicine [to treat diarrhoea]."

As a result, many children die of diarrhoea-related dehydration. "In the last few years, we have intensified education campaigns, advising the mothers to boil drinking water and seek medical attention at the clinic [to prevent] dehydration," she says. But behaviour change is slow.

Health department child health specialist, Dr Penelope Kalesha, says it has been a challenge for government to improve access to safe drinking water and sanitation, while at the same time making diarrhoea treatment available to as many mothers as possible.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends oral re-hydration salts (ORS) to treat diarrhoea, which is essentially a pinch of salt and a handful of sugar mixed with clean water and zinc tablets.

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Apr 8 2009 (IPS)

Africa’s contribution to the global economy will continue to be low if there is no investment in infrastructure, delegates heard at the North-South Corridor Conference in Lusaka, where 1.2 billion dollars was raised.

President Rupiah Banda (left) chatting with his counterpart Mwai Kibaki at the North-South Corridor Conference. Credit: Kelvin Kachingwe/IPS

Donors pledged 1.2 billion dollars on the first day of the conference on Apr 6 for the North-South Corridor’s infrastructure and trade facilitation programme. More than 1,000 officials, donors, businesspeople, ministers, diplomats and others from Africa and elsewhere attended the event in Lusaka, Zambia.

The North-South Corridor, which traverses eight countries in eastern and southern Africa, is a combination of two existing corridors (Durban Corridor and the Dar Es Salaam Corridor), linking the port of Durban and others in southern Africa to the east African port of Dar Es Salaam.

The Durban corridor also has direct links into the Beira, Maputo, Walvis Bay, Benguela and Lobito corridors.

From the port of Dar Es Salaam, the corridors link to central Africa. From the border post of Tunduma (Tanzania), the corridor links Moyale (Kenya) corridor and the northern corridor, linking the port of Mombasa to the Eastern DRC through Uganda and Rwanda. This provides physical interconnectivity between eastern and southern Africa.

The high-level investment conference was a tripartite meeting of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Economic Community for East Africa (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki, chairperson of COMESA, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni representing EAC and South Africa’s President Kgalema Motlanthe representing SADC attended the meeting, in addition to the host, Banda.

The three regional economic communities (RECs) have pledged to work together towards the creation of a free trade area across their 26 member states. The corridor is the first major project under the newly formed Tripartite Task Force.

‘‘The challenging economic environment, which was brought into sharper focus at last week’s Group of 20 Summit, brings urgency to the efforts of COMESA, EAC and SADC to bring together our respective regional integration programmes.

‘‘This is in order to further enlarge our markets, unlock our productive potential, increase levels of intra-African trade and enhance our regional prospects,’’ Motlanthe told the conference.

During the proceedings, the World Bank committed 500 million dollars to projects along the North-South Corridor, with an additional 500 million dollars committed to investing in projects that are significantly complementary to the North-South Corridor.

The European Commission (EC) pledged 150 million dollars, the African Development Bank (ADB) 380 million dollars for projects on the North-South Corridor, in addition to its 160 million dollars in sections of the Ncala Corridor. The latter is complementary to the North-South Corridor and provides an alternative route to the sea.

The UK’s Department for International Development committed to 100 million pounds over the next five years for projects on the North-South Corridor, aligned to the priorities of the RECs.

The RECs – COMESA, EAC and SADC – will implement an extensive aid-for-trade programme encompassing transport, power and trade facilitation projects along the North-South Corridor.

The three leaders representing the three RECs announced plans to implement critical reforms to facilitate cross-border trade, reduce transport delays and costs and promote public and private sector investment.

The North-South Corridor was selected for the aid-for-trade pilot programme because it is the busiest corridor in the region in terms of values and volumes of freight. Poor road and rail infrastructure and long waiting times at borders and ports create significant costs and hamper regional producers’ ability to access regional and international markets.

‘‘If we are to realise our vision of creating a vibrant and integrated free trade area, it is vital that we develop the region’s physical infrastructure and capacity to trade. That is why the North-South Corridor pilot aid-for-trade programme is so important to our progress,’’ Kibaki explained.

Another innovation is the holistic and regional approach the programme takes to transport system planning and maintenance, the aim of which is to give producers in the region access to a greater choice of road and rail networks.

The North-South Corridor programme includes the maintenance and upgrading of roads, establishing a system to more efficiently control axle loads, reduce border post delays and rehabilitate rail track along the corridor.

Faster border crossings and improved port facilities, railways and highways will enable producers and traders, especially in landlocked countries, to transport their goods quickly and access regional and international markets more easily, stimulating economic growth and inward investment.

In addition to upgrading infrastructure, the initiative will also simplify regulatory processes to speed up cross-border clearing procedures, harmonise transit and transport regulations and simplify administrative requirements.

World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director General Pascal Lamy said aid-for-trade is essential to support Africa’s own economic growth agenda while the North-South Corridor is an example of a highly innovative regional aid-for-trade approach that can transform competitiveness and enhance regional trade flows.

‘‘The corridor projects will promote development and poverty alleviation in the southern African region and promote deeper regional integration. Such initiatives have never been more urgent than in the current global economic climate,’’ Lamy insisted.

Power supply and transmission in the region will also be improved to allow better management of peak loads and increased power trading, and will provide employment opportunities for large sections of the region’s populations that live in areas with inadequate power.

The Chamber of Mines, representing mining companies operating in the DRC and Zambia that are reliant on the North-South Corridor for the export of minerals and concentrates, has welcomed the North-South Corridor Initiative.

‘‘With the falling price of metals on the international markets it is essential that the costs of transport to and from international markets are reduced if we are to stay in business,’’ the chamber pointed out in a statement.

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Apr 2 2009 (IPS)

Responding to years of complaints over the management of the Fertiliser Support Programme (FSP), the Zambian government has now proposed that the private sector takes over its running to reduce cases of corruption.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Isaac Phiri, told the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee that the government should concentrate on the payment of suppliers while distribution be left to the private sector.

He says this is line with Zambia's broad policy of encouraging private sector participation and competition as well as having the private sector driving the agricultural marketing and input supply system.

"It’s not easy to run the FSP. We want the private sector to play an active role and not the ministry, but we are trying to review the programme," Phiri said.

The FSP was launched in 2002 to enable about 150,000 small-scale farmers to access fertiliser at half price. The number of beneficiaries was later raised to 200,000 and the subsidy increased to cover 75 percent of the cost of fertiliser.

Small-scale farmers play an important role in both Zambia’s agricultural output and the nation’s food security. Although there are no official figures of the number of small-scale farmers, they are estimated at about one million. Even those who have only a small piece of land are expected to provide sustenance not just to their immediate families, but also extended ones.

Dickson Bwaanga, a small-scale farmer in Chongwe district, says if his crop fails, his entire family’s main food source is threatened.

"However, erratic weather, poor soil and faulty seed can all jeopardise a small farmer’s chance of a good yield. To overcome this, fertiliser and good seed are crucial, but these are expensive and only a few small-scale farmers can access the money or credit to buy it," he says.

Against that background, FSP remains a popular initiative in Zambia. By subsidising inputs, the government provides farmers with the opportunity to grow crops. From the government's point of view, it helps to stabilise production and maintain a steady maize price thereby keeping political unrest at bay.

Increasing costs, but production flat

Despite having an immediate impact in the 2002/2003 farming season, with maize production improving so much that some stock was exported, the programme has attracted criticism in recent times.

Yields have barely risen since the jump recorded in the first year of the FSP, in spite of a steady increase in budget allocation. In fact in the 2007/2008 farming season, Zambia's total output dropped to about 1.2 million tonnes of maize, 100,000 less than it had recorded in any of the last six farming seasons.

The government attributed this to floods but observers point out that the country faced the same scenario in the first, bumper, year of the FSP.

The biggest problem with the FSP seems to be not in the concept but the execution. Even its critics agree that small scale farmers need financial support but add that the way the FSP is administered means that the system is open to abuse and inputs often do not reach the intended beneficiaries or are delivered late, thereby delaying planting.

Many small-scale farmers say the system is corrupt. Farmer Organisation Support Programme (FOSP) executive director, Michael Muleba, says the distribution of fertiliser and seed by the Ministry of Agriculture through co-operatives has led to mushrooming of new co-operatives solely to secure inputs.

Muleba says these bogus co-operatives then sell the inputs on at full price to commercial farmers and sometimes export them outside the country. "The best way forward is for government to change the programme operational framework and policy without completely disrupting this support to small scale farmers," he says.

In a recent policy debate, several Members of Parliament challenged the government to devise a better mechanism for distribution of agro inputs under the FSP so that it reaches its intended beneficiaries.

"We have to revisit the FSP because at the rate we’re moving, everyone is politicising it," Katuba MP Jonas Shakafuswa said.

However, other than proposing that the private sector take up the running of the programme, the Agriculture Permanent Secretary did not give any other details of the proposed reforms nor did he give an over-view of the performance of the programme.

Hyde Hantuba, co-ordinator of the Agriculture Consultative Forum, [ID], says one consequence of the government’s direct involvement in the distribution of inputs is that it is, to an extent, stifling private sector development, which in itself is against government policy.

And although there is demand for fertiliser outside of the programme from medium and commercial farmers, which as a group use about 25 percent more fertiliser than the small farmers each year, critics argue that the FSP makes it difficult for small companies to compete.

"The FSP has not promoted private dealer networks. Small dealer networks have to wait until the government has exhausted the year’s inputs because it can’t sell at market rates. It (FSP) depresses the efforts of local dealers and small shops to sell seed and fertiliser inputs at full costs," Hantuba says.

Agriculture researcher Coillad Hamusimbi says there is a need to stimulate market competitiveness and in turn encourage the development of a private sector-led agro-dealer input supply network in agricultural areas, something the current FSP has not done.

"Private sector participation in agricultural input importation, manufacturing and in-country distribution are among the other attendant benefits of a well-planned programme," he says.

This, he says, is in line with the government's long-term policy of encouraging the private sector to take a leading role in the overall development of the agricultural sector in the country.

In a study of fertiliser subsidies and sustainable growth in Malawi, Zambia and Kenya, Isaac Minde and his fellow researchers assert that if subsidy programmes are implemented they should be designed in ways that involve the full range of private importers, wholesalers and retailers.

"Providing tenders to two or three firms can entrench their position in the market, cause other firms to cease making investments in the system or drop [out] altogether," they write, "leading to a more concentrated input marketing system and restricted competition when the input subsidy programme comes to an end."

Fertiliser just part of boosting production

Beyond settling on a role for the private sector, it has been argued that while the government has increased the amount of money allocated to FSP, it continues to hold back funding for other programmes supporting agriculture such as research and development and extension services.

Extension services in particular are important because they teach farmers techniques needed to maximize yields. Methods such as conservation farming have been shown to have a significant impact on production but there are not enough extension officers in the field.

In fact, many blame a lack of investment in extension services for Zambia’s failure to significantly increase maize yields despite the fertiliser subsidy.

However, one option that has proven successful in other Southern African countries such as Malawi is an input voucher system which has improved food security. Rather than government distributing inputs directly, vouchers are given to farmers to obtain subsidised fertiliser from the companies or dealers themselves.

This option was discussed by the Zambian government at the start of the FSP but it was rejected in favour of co-operatives buying the fertiliser from government appointed agents at 50 (now raised to 75 ) percent of the market price.

However, it is clear that the FSP is creating frustration within the agriculture sector. Dropping the programme altogether is not an option. Support to small farmers is vital if poverty-reducing goals outlined in the Fifth National Development Plan are to be met.

Without it, few poor farmers would have access to fertiliser while Zambia’s overall maize output could drop significantly because small farmers are a major contributor to national maize production.

But the question is how to ensure more benefit from the programme. Looking at less corruptible alternatives like a voucher system is one option. However, if the government sees the current system as a useful political instrument, it will be difficult for it to make any meaningful changes to the programmes.

(ENDS/IPS/AF/SA/DV/IF/AG/HU/SB/MD/KK/TG/09)

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Mar 30 2009 (IPS)

After almost a decade of fighting for self-regulation, the Zambian media may finally have its wishes entrenched with constitutional protection.

The new draft constitution of the country prohibits legislation that would undermine media freedom and administrative behaviour that could hinder the development of the sector.

Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) vice-president Amos Chanda told IPS that separate provision is made that “categorically” safeguards the freedom of the media while clauses in the current constitution on freedom of expression are also retained.

Just fewer than 500 representatives from all sectors of the Zambian population who are working in 11 commissions are drafting the new constitution. Changes being considered include a new electoral system, an independent electoral council and greater control by parliament over the government. The National Constitutional Conference (NCC) will convene a plenary discussion on its proposals in May and is expected to hold a referendum on a final draft by December.

“The NCC is to date the greatest window of opportunity for the country to begin repealing, amending and enacting progressive legislation in tune with credentials of a rather robust democracy that Zambia has become in the last 18 years of plural politics,” said Chanda.

PAZA is elated that over 90 percent of its submissions to the Constitution Review Commission are reflected in the draft document.

But there are still parliamentarians on both sides of the political divide who would prefer for the media to be regulated by the state. The calls intensified in the wake of accusations of media bias during the last Presidential election.

The opposition United Party for National Development MP, Brian Ntundu, told parliament that some media organisations are disregarding journalistic ethics and had reduced them to campaign managers for some parties.

“Clearly, the media has failed to regulate itself, and I’ve got difficulties defending them,” the United Liberal Party’s Sakwiba Sikota lamented.

Information and Broadcasting Services Minister, Ronnie Shikapwasha, also railed against the media. “Even some people that supported self-regulation of the media can no longer do that because in the last few months, some media organisations have shown that they cannot regulate themselves.”

In a joint statement, PAZA, the Zambia Media Women Association (ZAMWA), Zambia Union of Journalists (ZUJ), the Press Freedom Committee (PFC) of The Post and Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), lashed out at what they see as attempts to muzzle the media.

“We condemn the calls for such regulation because media freedom and the public’s right to know, which is the cornerstone of any vibrant democracy, cannot be regulated through a statutory body as this will stifle freedom of the media, an important platform on which the Zambian people express themselves,” the statement read.

The journalists have urged politicians to use the channels provided for in the Electoral Code of Conduct to address their allegations of unfair treatment or coverage during the Presidential poll. Parties are entitled to lodge complaints in writing with the Electoral Commission of Zambia and could request offending media to correct misrepresentations in their coverage.

The debate on the media even cracked a mention in President Rupiah Banda’s opening of parliament address this year. He expressed his administration’s preference for media self-regulation and pushed for all media houses to affiliate to the non-statutory, self-regulatory Media Ethics Commission of Zambia (MECOZ) that was formed in 2002.

MISA Zambia has appealed to media institutions to heed President Banda’s call for a single media regulatory body. But The Post, the leading privately owned newspaper in the country, has received President Banda’s comments with suspicion.

“There is no way the same government can say it supports media self-regulation and at the same time force media houses to join MECOZ. Forcing the media to join MECOZ amounts to regulation. The moment threats are applied it becomes regulation. So for us, we’ll not do that,” Post news editor Chansa Kabwela told IPS.

“We don’t need to belong to MECOZ because we always regulate ourselves on a daily basis. We get a lot of information, stories and even letters and we try as much as possible to pick from what we have and that in itself is regulation. If the government is truly committed to self-regulation by the media, then joining MECOZ should be voluntary.”

MISA chairperson, Henry Kabwe, bemoaned the “disunity” in media ranks that he ascribed to the “lack of common ground” on ethics and professionalism. He said the current state of affairs was sending the “wrong messages” to Zambians who rely on the media for credible and accurate information.

Kabwe said that MISA is “disheartened” that citizens had “little knowledge” of the ethical codes on which the media operates. “This has made it hard for the ordinary citizen to seek redress… because they do not know what to base their complaint on.”

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Mar 10 2009 (IPS)

In an attempt to mitigate rising food insecurity and malnutrition, the Zambian government and the World Food Programme (WFP) have started to hand out food vouchers to the country’s urban poor.

A woman preparing nshima, a thick porridge made from maize meal on a brazier in one of the townships of Lusaka. Credit: Kelvin Kachingwe/IPS

The food voucher programme will run for the next twelve months and is expected to feed 10, 000 households, mostly in and around Lusaka district.

Civil society groups are concerned, however, that the food voucher programme is merely an emergency intervention that will fail to bring long-term, sustainable change to the country’s capacity to feed its population of twelve million. Instead, they ask for direct, financial support of Zambia’s one million small-scale farmers to increase local food production.

An urban vulnerability assessment by Lusaka-based Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) research institute in October 2008 revealed a harrowing food insecurity scenario for a substantial proportion of the population.

About 47 percent of Zambians suffer chronic malnutrition – which, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), is the tenth highest malnutrition rate in the world. In addition, food price hikes of 25 percent to 75 percent have exacerbated the situation.

"The assessment showed that a substantial increase in the cost of staple food commodities had occurred in many areas of the country. Price hikes were often a direct result of soaring fuel prices, which led to under production of food and higher consumption of staple food crops," explained WFP public relations officer Precious Mumbi.

Food rations

The food voucher programme aims to alleviate this situation by providing urban poor with monthly food rations so that they have enough money to spend on education, health and basic households needs.

A recent vulnerability assessment study determined households that qualify for the vouchers, which will be handed out by community volunteers, with local city council support. Government officials hope that the monthly food rations will help urban poor to spend more money on education, health and basic households needs.

An average urban family of two adults and four children needs a purchasing power of $120 just to meet basic food and nutritional requirements, according to the JCTR. Yet, one third of urban households earn less than $100 a month.

Children have been affected the most by ongoing food insecurity. According to the 2006 Living Conditions Monitoring Survey by the Central Statistical Office (CSO), more than half of Zambian children under the age of five are stunted, while 19.7 percent are underweight and 5.9 percent are wasted.

The Department of Health has noted heightened levels of malnutrition cases in hospitals throughout the country. A November 2008 meeting of the department’s nutrition emergency task force found, for example, an unusually high level of severe, acute malnutrition admissions at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka of up to 20 children per day.

The problem of malnutrition has been exacerbated by a shortage of drugs, hospital food and health care personnel to attend to sick children, a development which prompted government to launch the voucher programme as an emergency measure to quickly assist food insecure and low income households to access food.

Long-term interventions

Zambia Council for Poverty Reduction programme co-ordinator Joe Ndalasa argues that while the food voucher programme addresses the immediate food needs of the vulnerable sections of the population, what is really needed is an intervention that can secure food security in the long run.

"For a long time now, we’ve have been asking the government to help the small-scale farmers because they are more in numbers than the commercial farmers and they also contribute more to food needs of the country than the commercial farmers," he explained. "But unfortunately, most of the measures aimed at improving agriculture in this country are aimed at assisting the commercial farmers."

He says by subsidising agricultural inputs, government would give smallholders the opportunity to grow crops, stabilise production and maintain a steady maize price.

"To counteract this [crisis], farmers need fertiliser and good seed," agreed Organisation for Social Development (OSD) executive director Sylvester Mbewe. "Fertiliser is expensive, and only a few farmers can access the money or credit to buy it."

"Even those who have access to only a small piece of land will provide sustenance, not just to their family but also to their neighbours," he reckoned.

Christopher Chingobe, who runs a small farm on the outskirts of Zambia’s capital Lusaka, agrees. He says he wishes the Department of Agriculture would broaden its existing fertiliser support programme that subsidises 200,000 smallholders instead of handing out food vouchers.

"The problem is that only a few farmers benefit from the fertiliser subsidy. It needs to be expanded so that we can all benefit," he explained. "If I can be provided with the fertiliser, I can produce enough food for my family and also be able to sell [surplus produce]."

Excerpt:

By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Feb 13 2009 (IPS)

Efforts to free fiscal resources for social spending over the past few years have started to pay off in Zambia, where government is reporting a positive trend of poverty alleviation and social development. But progress is uneven.

Marsha Moyo - Women's empowerment in Zambia is self-generating. Credit:

As a result, Zambians have experienced renewed optimism towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

However, United Nations MDG advocate Marsha Moyo, who represents 15 U.N. agencies in Zambia, including U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN Development programme (UNDP), believes that despite progress achieved in certain cases, more needs to be done, especially in the areas of gender equality and sanitation.

IPS: You have been a United Nations MDG advocate for close to a year now. What are the challenges Zambia faces in meeting MDG targets? Marsha Moyo: The major challenge is the implementation and delivery of systems, products and services required to ensure MDG success. The eight goals have been established to consolidate and concentrate attention to the eight most critical aspects needed for a country’s sustainable development.

Hunger needs to be eradicated, every child has a right to education, women's rights and gender equality are integral, people need and deserve good health, access to clean water and sanitation and to be able to trade and generate income under equitable conditions.

IPS: A number of experts have commended the policy and planning efforts by government, the UN and co-operating partners in Zambia. But has enough been done to implement these plans and policies? MM: The UN is mandated to support government programmes. Hence, government spearheads an agenda, with the UN playing a supportive role. While we have made strides towards the achievement of the MDGs, we can only be 100 percent satisfied when the goals are met. Until then the implementation is insufficient and inadequate.

Another critical ingredient to success is the people, that is the masses. Be it through the masses impressing upon government to deliver on services or be it the people [doing their bit to] support government programmes, such as the 'Keep Zambia Clean' campaign.

IPS: In Zambian schools, recent grade seven examination results saw an impressive pass rate for girls, while boys did less well. Some Zambians have blamed this on an over-emphasis on support for girl-children and called it reverse discrimination. Do you agree? MM: Boys have not been discriminated or sidelined. The attention and support girls receive today is the same support boys have always received, which is why boys have delivered more and better in the past. The support has not been taken away from boys, but rather equal support has been given to girls, and the results are evident.

MDG 2 aims to ensure access to universal primary school education for all children, boys and girls, and the support afforded to girls is helping us deliver that result.

IPS: A recent cholera outbreak shows that Zambia is facing hurdles with regard to clean water and sanitation. Why have we failed to address this issue until now? MM: We must move beyond goodwill and start to act. The current drainage system, for example, is inadequate and insufficient for the current growth and size of the population. And the water reticulation system needs a major overhaul and upgrading.

IPS: One of the MDG targets is to have 50 percent of decision-making positions filled by women. Yet, Zambia has seen a reduction in the number of women cabinet ministers. Is this due to lack of commitment from government? MM: Government recently stated that it will only appoint women on merit and not merely based on a quota system. There are so many exceptionally qualified and deserving women. It is discouraging that our offices are not reflective of that. MDG 3 [women's empowerment and gender equality] and the quota system stipulated by SADC [Southern African Development Community] and the African Union were meant to bring attention to gender disparity at decision-making levels. Thus, it is premature to appoint women solely on merit when we are yet to satisfy stipulations to which we have appended our signature. Most excuses for not achieving the MDGs will be attributed to the current global financial crisis, yet it costs nothing to achieve MDG 3, just unprecedented action.

IPS: Does women's empowerment, for instance through the creation of income-generating opportunities, receive enough support from government? MM: Most of women's empowerment is self-generated. Consequently, women are creating opportunities for themselves and hardly ever rely on government.

IPS: The number of women who die of pregnancy-related causes has been reduced from 729 deaths per 100,000 live births to 449 deaths within the last five years. Impressive as this may be, the number is still high. Are we doing enough in this area? MM: Maternal mortality is the one MDG that has the widest disparity between developed countries and developing countries, with Ireland being the safest place in which to give birth and Niger being the worst. The reduction in maternal mortality in Zambia is impressive, but we need to continue with what has worked to further reduce these rates, rather than becoming complacent.

IPS: What role are you going to play to help Zambia achieve the MDGs? MM: My role is to continue raising awareness on everyone's involvement and participation in achieving the MDGs. Our success is for our collective and sustainable development.

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By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA, Feb 4 2009 (IPS)

Two years into its work, the Zambia’s National Constitutional Conference (NCC) is finding it difficult to get wide public acceptance.

Evans Kaputo is involved in corruption advocacy with the Civic Education Network, a grouping of civic organisations in Lusaka. He is not impressed that $80 million has been set aside for the constitutional conference.

“All this NCC is a waste of money. What we need to change is the way our money is spent and stiffen laws regarding theft by public servants, corruption, abuse of office and so forth. We need to cut the wages for members of parliament,” he says.

The current constitution review process is the fourth since Zambia gained independence in 1964. The first review, in 1973, served to usher in a one party state, while a second in 1991 showed that system the door and paved the way for a return to multi-party democracy. Five years later, a third review was billed as more firmly entrenching democratic ideals.

The latest review was initiated in 2002 by late President Levy Mwanawasa’s government to address what were believed to be serious flaws in the 1996 constitution. These included a lack of autonomy for the Electoral Commission of Zambia and the inclusion of a clause requiring both parents of a presidential candidate to have been born in Zambia.

Opposition political parties and the majority of civil society believed that the clause to bar non-indigenous Zambians from contesting the presidency was meant to prevent former President Kenneth Kaunda, whose parents were born in neighbouring Malawi, from re-contesting the election.

However, that constitution also discarded many important recommendations such as enshrining the date of the general elections in the constitution, outlawing of the death penalty and establishment of a constitutional court to handle presidential petitions instead of the Supreme Court.

The 1996 constitution was opposed by the churches, human rights organisations and the opposition political parties but was enacted by the ruling party which enjoyed a comfortable majority in parliament at the time.

However, the current constitutional review has also been dogged with controversy from its inception in 2002. To begin with, the government opposed holding a conference to be followed by a referendum, as required by law, arguing that it would be too costly. The current constitution demands not only that a new constitution be ratified by a referendum, but requires that a census be conducted before a referendum is held.

The ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) insists that parliament is the most appropriate body to adopt a new constitution while the opposition and civil society, led by the Patriotic Front and the Oasis Forum – an umbrella group including NGOs, churches and the country’s law association – are demanding that the new constitution be adopted by the Conference and not the government-dominated Parliament to avoid any possible manipulation.

But the government insists that only Parliament has the powers to make laws. And the MMD government, which has the necessary two-thirds majority in Parliament to pass legislation, pushed through the controversial Constitutional Conference Act in August 2007, which set up a standing NCC but also expanded presidential powers and bypassed a constitutional requirement for a national referendum at the end of the consultative process.

Out of a possible 502 members of the NCC, 279 are politicians, made up of 158 Members of Parliament, 48 representatives of political parties and 73 councilors. Only 15 percent of its members are from civil society.

The Oasis Forum says its decision to divorce itself from the NCC is based on the fact that many contentious issues in the NCC Act such as its composition, dominated by politicians, have remained unresolved. The Forum has dismissed the NCC Act as being dictatorial as it gives too many powers to the President which includes disbanding the conference anytime he deems it fit.

An Oasis Forum spokesperson says the Act in its present form does not involve the participation of the people at the level of adoption of the constitution.

Other than the election of the President by more than 50 percent of the votes, there are also demands to have the Vice-President as his running mate and also have the Electoral Commission of Zambia report directly to the legislature as against the executive.

Opposition leader Michael Sata has instructed PF members of parliament not to participate in the NCC and subsequently dismissed 26 MPs who joined it.

Sata says the $80 million that has been set aside for the NCC is costly to the nation given that the contentious provisions in the constitution that need to be amended are well-known by everyone.

The fiery opposition leader says the Zambian people are paying more for food, fuel and bus fares just to feed the NCC delegates and yet its members want to intimidate him for speaking on behalf of the majority of the Zambians.

“I would rather go to prison on behalf of the people of Zambia than keep quiet on knowing how much commissioners at NCC are getting…We know from Parliament that NCC was allocated K400 billion (US$80 million). We want to know how its being disbursed…when they are spending taxpayers money, the taxpayer who can’t afford a bag of mealie meal is entitled to know how they’re spending money at the NCC,” he said.

But NCC secretary Russell Mulele says only (US$9 million) has so far been used, which is slightly 10 percent less than the amount approved by the government in the national budget.

He says with this expenditure, the NCC had been able to accomplish more than half of the work because it is aware of the anxieties and concerns expressed by Zambians.

“Even though the President was mandated by the NCC Act of 1997 to extend the work of the conference after the expiry of its 12 months, it will ensure that the new Constitution is produced within the stipulated time,” he said.

Women for Change programme co-ordinator Lameck Simwanza had suggested late last year that the NCC be given only six months to complete its work but its spokesperson Mwangala Zaloumis said it was not possible because there is still a lot of work to be done.

Zaloumis however says by July this year, the NCC anticipates a first version of the new Constitution which will be published, and then 60 days will be allowed for public coments before the final version is approved.

She says the Constitution to be adopted by the NCC will not be a recommendation of the minister of justice but a final submission of the minister to either a national referudum or parliament depending on the decision of the conference.

“It is incomprehensible why Mr Sata should advocate for the dissolution of the NCC when the process has received broad representation from all the political parties that attended the inter-party dialogue,” she says.

Still the public at large views the NCC with suspicion, and the first version to be published is unlikely to ignite the interest its proponents are looking for.

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