Veep warns Govt ‘moles’

VICE-PRESIDENT George Kunda has warned that civil servants who leak confidential Government information will not be protected. Mr Kunda was speaking when winding up debate of expenditure of Cabinet Office. He said under no circumstances were leakages justifiable. “It depends on the type of information leaked, but some of the information, especially things to do with the security of the nation, is a serious offence,” he said. Mr Kunda said most of the people who leaked information did it for their own gain and to achieve an agenda. “It is unfortunate that these same whistle blowers only leak information that people want to hear and they suppress the explanation. These types of whistle blowers will not be protected,” he said.

Source Daily Mail 25-02-09

Whistle blowing is always a difficult topic of discussion. For instance when the current British Prime Minister was in opposition, he thrived on using leaked documents to embarrass the government of John Major. There is even video footage of him justifying the leaks. However, as PM he has a zero tolerance against whistle blowing.

I am sure the VP is using a lesson learnt from the Gordon Brown School of politics by trying to clamp down on whistle blowing. However the situation in Zambia is different. While the UK has some of the best political journalists capable of digging and investigating stories, Zambia has a heavy reliance on the POST. The other papers are basically GRZ/MMD propaganda tools. As government rarely volunteers to release bad news, the POST has to rely on sources in high places to obtain some of these stories

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Tackling corruption

The POST reported yesterday (24/02/09) that the MMD deputy national secretary instructed a permanent secretary to expedite payment to named suppliers who had made contributions to the party. This has been followed with a hard hitting editorial in today's edition. A few paragraphs are reproduced below..

What we are seeing in the conduct of Jeff Kaande, the MMD deputy national secretary, should be and is a source of great concern. It is clear that the MMD is surviving on the basis of a corrupt system of bribe taking and protection money collection. It is very unfortunate that a party functionary in a multiparty democracy has the audacity to put on paper what people would fear to think. He is directing through the name of the party, a permanent secretary to facilitate payments to suppliers because they have promised to give money to the party. How can this be correct? How can this be the way to run a country? What are we reducing ourselves to? It is clear that unless something is done, unless we all heighten our vigilance, Zambia is fast becoming a confirmed kleptocracy.

We have always said that corruption and abuse of power is a deadly cancer, a tax on the poor people in our country. What the MMD is doing is an important illustration of what we have always said. The MMD cannot do without corruption.

Let us ask ourselves a question: if in order to get money from government for supplies made, the owner of the business first has to belong to or pretend to be MMD; second, he has to pay something to this party or its key leadership, how is this country going to develop? How is business going to be conducted? It means that to make a profit, the business people have to factor in the cost of corruption. And this cost has to be borne by the poor people of our country who are denied those resources. The business of governing and providing service to our people is not an easy one. It is very demanding and very taxing. The people who have accepted this responsibility need to apply themselves 100 per cent or else nothing will be achieved. How are we going to build roads, bridges, schools and hospitals if all that the party in government thinks about is how to raise money for itself and for this or that through corruption? It is clear that unless we deal with the problem of corruption and uproot its basis, development will be slow in coming to our country. From what we have seen just in the first 120 days of Rupiah Banda’s government, it is difficult to see where they are going to find time to govern and bring development to our people when all they seem to be doing is scheming how to make money for themselves, how to steal.

FTJ once said Zambians are docile. I think this is probably one of the few truthful statements he made. Which other civilized country would accept the sort of plunder of national resources and rampant corruption we are witnessing? Every year the Auditor General releases a report which catalogues corruption, lack of accountability and blatant theft of public funds but nobody gets punished. How do we stop this drain on our meagre resources?

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The Zamtel Saga

I am not sure GRZ was prepared for the negative press surrounding the award of a contract to value Zamtel assets to RP Capital of the Cayman Islands.

Once again the country is grateful to the POST for breaking this story on 6th February. This is definitely a story GRZ would not have wanted to see the light of day.

The privatisation of Zamtel is always an emotive story but it has been spiked by the manner in which the contract was awarded and also the cloud of secrecy surrounding the deal. There are genuine issues this sad story raises.

Why was the contract awarded to RP Capital without following laid down Tender procedures? One would have expected such a contract to be advertised widely and bids invited from a wide range of organisations.

I know a number of Zambians have views and ideas on how Zamtel can be rejuvenated and prepared for eventual privatisation. However, it seems GRZ has not made an effort to engage this community and solicit input into this matter.

Zamtel is a key asset if Zambia is to achieve rapid economic growth and start fighting the high levels of poverty afflicting our people. It controls the only international telecommunications gateway and handles all voice and fax calls on landlines. In addition to this, Zamtel has potentially profitable operations in the Internet service provision and Mobile telephony. Given this scenario, GRZ would not have problem finding buyers to take over these units even in the current economic environment.

I welcome the decision of the acting Chief Justice to constitute a tribunal as stipulated by our constitution to investigate the allegations levelled against the Hon. Minister. It is important that such a tribunal is able to carryout a thorough and professional job. However, the people of Zambia will not accept findings of the tribunal which do not seem to be backed by evidence.

This event is also a test to the new president. How does he handle perceived wrong doing and corruption by one of his ministers? So far he has stood firmly behind Miss Siliya. But for how long? Allegations seem to be increasing by the day.

Zambia shall be saved!


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Dead Aid: Time to turn off the aid tap?

I have just been listening to a fascinating interview featuring the author of a new book called Dead Aid. The book is written by a Zambian economist, Dambisa Moyo. Her basic argument is that aid is easy money. If governments had to rely upon private financial markets they would become accountable to lenders, and if they had to rely upon taxation they would become accountable to voters. Aid is like oil, enabling powerful elites to embezzle public revenues. She catalogues evidence, both statistical and anecdotal.

The Independent has a review of this book.

I am sure Dambisa's point of view is shared by many people. Although she focuses her firepower on government to government aid I would suggest that aid given to NGOs and other charities should be brought under the same spotlight. It is time for African governments to become responsible and start looking at life without the donor community. India and China seem to have prospered without perpetual dependence on foreign aid.

Donor aid has also led to the development of a very lucrative NGO industry in Zambia. It seems like a prerequisite for any donor funded project is a fleet of expensive 4X4 vehicles and endless seminars and conferences. Why?

There is also a responsibility on donors to make sure that their aid is not misused. They are accountable to their taxpayers and also owe it to the poor and vulnerable people of Africa to ensure that this aid is put to good use.

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