Counting the cost of the African World Cup

Last week millions of Africans sat in front of TVs watching the opening ceremony of the World cup in South Africa. Many of us thought we would never see this global event take place on our continent in our life time but thanks to the FIFA policy of rotation this become a possibility. I must say South Africa has done us proud! Many people thought the facilities will not be ready and I am told FIFA had a plan to move the event to the USA just in case the “Africans failed to deliver the event”.

BUT (there is always one) as I sat down listening to the constant noise from the Vuvuzelas I could not stop thinking about the cost of the putting up such a spectacle. A quick search on Google revealed costs between $2.5 and $4 Billion. The South African Government had projected that the World cup will have a gross impact of about $12 Billion with approximately 600 000 jobs being created by the tournament. However the number of World cup tourists has been hit by the recession and it is doubtful if the projected financial benefits will be realised.

So what is the benefit of spending huge public funds on an event that may not bring about positive financial returns? Lets be clear that South Africa does not have a savings account with $5 Billion waiting to be spent on the a major event. SA like many other African countries has some of its citizens living below the poverty datum line with no access to clean water, housing, education and health. So why spend this amount on an event that will last for a month when there are more pressing social/economic issues? I do not have an answer! However the answer could lie in what is known as “the feel good factor”. Same reason the UK government spent millions on the Millennium Dome when they knew very well that it did not make financial sense or the city of Montreal facing financial ruin after the 1976 Olympic games. So what is this “feel good factor”? The MacMillan dictionary defines it as “the feeling that people have when things such as the economy are going well”. I guess politicians hope that the feel good factor will ignite the economy and stir people into identifying opportunities. Unfortunately past experience does not seem to support this.

So it seems like we just have to sit back and enjoy the games while listening to the ever present Vuvuzelas. Forget about the cost and legacy. Enjoy a pint of Castle while at it!

The PANEL.

Difficult questions for the UPND/PF Pact

There are some worrying questions emanating from the appearance of Mr. Hichilema on Radio Phoenix and reported in the POST. The main issue that threatens the existence of the pact revolves around leadership. Who is going to be the Presidential candidate for the pact or are they going to field two candidates? In a recent blog we asked the pact to resolve this issue as a matter of urgency. Below are some interesting extracts from HH’s appearance on the radio programme.

Asked about who would head the alliance in 2011, Hichilema answered: “That question has been asked several times. We said that the Pact is here to stay and we reiterate that. The Pact is here because the people of Zambia wanted it. The political map of Zambia has been pretty drawn. People are fatigued with divisions, that’s what the Pact is here to resolve. To unite the people to take out the divisions that have been too obvious. This pact is being structured on that basis of unity of purpose. Ethnicity should never divide us. We must organise this pact, learn the lessons of the past.”

He said people in the Pact were not fools and they understood what MMD wanted.

“Why are they driving us to give them a candidate? When they are squabbling whether it’s Ng’andu Magande, whether it’s George Mpombo, whether it’s Rupiah Banda and whether MMD will have a convention.

A caller from Ndola, a Mr Mizhi who described himself as Hichilema’s traditional cousin asked if he was ready to serve under Sata.

“I want you to tell me the truth from the bottom of your heart. The pact that you have entered in with Mr Sata the writings are on the wall no doubt about this. It is Mr Sata who is going to be adopted as a presidential candidate from that pact. Now badala, again I repeat tell me the truth from the bottom of your heart. Are you ready to serve under Mr Michael Chilufya Sata?” Mizhi asked.

But Hichilema maintained that the Pact had not decided on the candidate yet.

“…That Mr Sata will be adopted candidate, that’s not true, absolutely not true. If you say it’s Hakainde, that is not true also because we have not decided and we have explained this several times. What we are saying is not really basically …if you like to dodge the questions, there is no dodging the questions. We have set a process, we have set a procedure,” Hichilema said.

I fully understand that this is a very delicate and difficult issue to resolve. However, the pact is now carrying hopes of many Zambians at home and abroad who see this as a credible opportunity to rid themselves of the corrupt MMD regime. We therefore urge the leadership of the UPND and PF to bang their heads together and come to a workable solution. It is said that a chain is as strong as its weakest link. As long as the leadership of the pact is not resolved it will be weakest block in the pact and enemies are going to be hammering on this until a fracture occurs. Many progressive Zambians do not want this to happen. Mr Sata and Mr Hichilema please resolve this matter before it is too late!.

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Court sentences Fred Mmembe to Four Months with Hard Labour

Post Editor-in-Chief Fred Mmembe has been sentenced to four months imprisonment with hard labour after being found guilty of contempt of court together with the Post Newspapers by a Lusaka magistrate court.

Mr M’membe has also been sentenced to four months simple imprisonment on behalf of the Post Newspapers, after Magistrate David Simusamba set free Post Human Resources Director Rueben Phiri was standing in for the Newspaper.

The contempt case arose from an article authored by US-based Zambian law Professor Muna Ndulo titled: ‘The Chansa Kabwela case: A Comedy of Errors’, and published in the paper on August 27, 2009.

I am not a legal expert but the sentence seems harsh. However, we have to understand that the original case only came to the courts after intervention of the President (remember he termed the pictures pornography).

I hope sanity will prevail and Fred will be released on bail pending an appeal and that the courts will be left to deal with this case independent of the politicians.

The PANEL.

Honour among thieves

More than a week after being convicted by the courts, Katele Kalumba is still National Secretary of the rulling MMD. Yesterday we had Mike Mulogoti pleading for people to feel sorry for Katele and this morning Michael Mabenga is saying the National Executive Committee of the MMD will soon meet to decided whether the disgraced MP should step down from his position or not.

THE National Executive Committee (NEC) of the MMD will determine whether national secretary Katele Kalumba should resign from his position or not, party national chairperson Michael Mabenga has said. Speaking in an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Mabenga said the issue of whether Dr Kalumba should resign from his position or not would only be determined by NEC and advised outsiders to desist from commenting on the matter that was purely internal.

“This is a NEC matter and I don’t know how many times I am going to talk about it. The NEC will soon meet and it will be discussed, it’s only NEC that can determine such a matter,” Mr Mabenga said.

I sense that the MMD do not realise how angry people are with the plunderers. As a party they seem to take a very sympathetic view of thieves. The current Chairman (Michael Mabenga) was recommended for prosecution after the high court found that he had abused Constituency Development Funds (CDFs) and yet the MMD found him to be the best person to be Chairman. And now the most senior officer of the party is a convicted criminal and the MMD needs to hold a meeting to determine his fate. Surely Katele should resign on his accord failure to which strong messages should be sent to him in private or public to make it very clear that the MMD do not want him to continue holding the position of National Secretary. He should also be encouraged to resign his seat as MP so that the people for Chiengi are given a chance to vote for an MP not tainted by scandal.

The PANEL

Court shows leniency to plunderers

The POST and the Times are carrying the story involving the conviction of former finance officers in President Chiluba’s government.

“LUSAKA High Court Deputy Director of Operations Edward Musona yesterday sentenced MMD national secretary Katele Kalumba and three others to five years imprisonment for corruption.Musona, sitting as a magistrate, handed Kalumba a five-year sentence with hard labour after being found guilty on one count of corrupt practices by a public officer.He sentenced former finance permanent secretary Stella Chibanda to five years simple imprisonment on five out of the nine corruption charges while Access Financial Services Limited (AFSL) directors Aaron Chungu and Faustin Kabwe were also jailed for five years each with hard labour.Magistrate Musona also sentenced former Ministry of Finance chief economist Bede Mpande, former finance ministry director of budget Boniface Nonde, former secretary to the treasury Professor Benjamin Mweene to five years imprisonment with hard labour but suspended for 24 months.”

While I welcome the success scored by the Task Force on Corruption in this case, I am rather disappointed by the leniency showed by the court to this bunch of selfish and unpatriotic Zambians. Lets be clear about one thing. As a result of actions by these plunderers, our schools went without teachers and desks, our hospitals had no drugs and doctors, communities were deprived of clean running water and other essentials of life. Funds that could have been used to uplift the living standards of our people were diverted for personal use. It is therefore rather disappointing that the court found that the stiffest sentence it could slap on these people is 5 years. They will probably be out tomorrow after launching an appeal. Look at Regina Chiluba. A convicted plunderer still enjoying her freedom and fruits of her theft!

The lawyer for Katele did not seem to realise how angry the people of Zambia are with the actions of his client by offering this rather pathetic plea.

“In mitigation Kalumba’s lawyer, Vincent Malambo, said Kalumba and his colleagues in the dock were not criminals but men to whom the country owed a debt for their contribution in addressing the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) completion point issue. Malambo said Kalumba was also a politician carrying the hopes and aspirations of thousands of his people in Chiengi and he was a man with health complications. Malambo said Kalumba was a consultant of international repute. Malambo said sending Kalumba and his friends to prison would be like imposing a death sentence on them. In passing sentence, magistrate Musona said no one could doubt the love that Kalumba had for Zambia and he had served the people in various portfolios. He said Kalumba was a sitting parliamentarian who served the country very well up to the commencement of the investigations.”

As a country we need to wake up and smell the coffee. We need to send a very clear message to all that theft of public resources will not be tolerated. The courts need to come hard on anyone convicted of this offence by imposing long custodial sentences. I know our prisons are full but surely there is always room for plunderers.

Now that Katele Kalumba has been convicted, I would expect the 'honourable' MP to resign from Parliament and as Secretary of the ruling Party.

The PANEL.

"It’s how we end that matters" by Martin Kalungu-Banda

I had an opportunity to review a brilliantly written book about the late President Levy Mwanawasa by Amos Malupenga last year. My only criticism of the text was that it was rather one sided except for the comments by Akashambatwa Lewanika.

Another book on Mwanawasa has been released authored by Martin Kalungu-Banda. I have not had a chance to read the book yet but below is a summary of Martin's Motivation for writing this book..


As we search for the right leadership, some of the questions that we have to grapple with include: How can you tell which person is likely to provide quality leadership? Can academic credentials alone prove suitability for leadership? Is the ability to speak eloquently a sign of leadership capacity? To what extent does a person’s external appearance or presentation help to show what kind of leader he or she would make? How can we pierce through the façade of a person in order to know who they truly are and what leadership they are capable of providing?The passing on of President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, Zambia’s third President, on 19 August 2008 reignited these and other similar reflections in many people’s minds. Thinking about President Mwanawasa led me to ponder on his leadership. I couldn’t find a better way of sharing these reflections than by writing down some of the stories that capture a side of his leadership that rarely came through in his public appearances. I am also convinced that we do teach one another as we share our stories. The ones in this book show how I saw him relate to other people and myself, and I hope that these tales will give an insight into the source of President Mwanawasa’s leadership style that he displayed in the seven years he led the Zambian nation. I use the term ‘source’ to refer to that deep-seated intention from which one’s values and actions spring. Otto Scharmer of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management says we can trace our life source by finding answers to these two questions: What is my ‘highest self, the self that transcends pettiness and signifies [my] best future possibility?’ and what is my purpose – what am I here on earth to do?The first question implies that I have so much potential that I can choose to be better than I am now – I can definitely choose to rise above being small-minded and I can create a vision in my head of the best that I can be. The second question reminds me that I am unique and must surely have a special role or roles that suit me best, and I can try to find them.


If have read the book, please let us know your views.

The PANEL

Time to resolve PF/UPND Pact leadership

The results of the last two bye-elections in Milanzi and Mufumbwe have clearly demonstrated why the opposition need to approach the 2011 general elections with a little be more creativity.

Had PF fielded a candidate in Mufumbwe, the ruling MMD would have carried the day. By the same token, the opposition would have won the contest in Milanzi had they rallied behind a single candidate. UNIP basically spoiled the race for PF. Perhaps it is time to welcome UNIP in the pact and ensure that the MMD fights a united front all the time.

I have always supported the pact and agreed to the decision to kick the leadership issue into the long grass when the alliance was announced. However, the time has now come for the leadership of the pact to be ironed out. In particular, the pact needs to resolve who its presidential candidate is going to be in the next general election. Time is running out and the constant rumours that RB is going to go for an early election makes this issue even more pressing. My personal opinion is that Sata should lead the pact for now and stand against RB as he is best placed to win the election. HH should then serve in Sata’s cabinet to gain some valuable government experience with the view to lead the pact after Sata retires. I am not a fan of Sata but sometimes one has swallow personal pride and principles for the good of the country.

The PANEL