Even as you start to read this article, President Banda may be seated in his office gazing at Zambia's hottest bill, wondering whether to append his signature to it or not. How I wish he could take time to learn what his masters/employers feel about the proposed 15% salary increment to constitutional office bearers. More so because the laws of this land have it that public office bearers are servants of the people, yes, us the people, you reading this article and me. As such, we the servants naturally have a say when our servants or workers seek a pay rise, not so?
We have taken time to listen to your argument for the pay rise and we see little sense in it. This so because of a number of reasons - the first being that we have given you a job, but you failed lamentably even after serving your necks from job losses the last three times we reviewed your performance.
We had hoped that you would improve, but you have let us down. We have given you the opportunity, the resources and we have even volunteered to help you make ours a better country, but you have failed us dearly for 17 years. We, in fact, find it rather provocative that you have the audacity to ask us your employers for a pay rise when you have failed to deliver.
More than 70% percent of Zambians are living in abject poverty. Poverty according to the United Nations is living under a dollar a day. A dollar is about K4000 and is nothing near what we need to feed our families. A Pamela (rationed mealie meal), which we survive on used to be K500.00 a few months ago about is now K1, 200.00. We need at least two of these to survive. The cost of food is going up with each new day. The clinics are far off, are too few and don’t even have the staff and medicines needed to help our ailing children, brothers and sisters. We all can’t afford private clinics and the mere thought of Morningside Clinic is too far fetched.
You have also failed us on the educational bit, dear sirs and madams, 44 years after independence our beloved country only has two universities. Not enough to carter for the huge demand out here. Year after year, we are producing legions of ill prepared school learvers into mass unemployment. Higher education is only available for the elite few whereas the vast majority cannot afford the expenses that come with private and other public colleges. Our smaller children sit on bricks and their teachers have no chalk. The teachers are unmotivated and our children are uninspired. No hope for a good future; just shattered dreams.
Our is a country were its better to be foreign than to be Zambian, the laws, attitudes and culture favors others. The best deals in government are given to foreigners, the best resources, the best land, the tax system and the work culture favors others apart from our the children of this land.
We have no ownership of this country. How many Zambians own a building along ‘Freedomway’ Road? How many Zambians own a mine? Why is it that tax cuts are only given to foreigners and not us?
You have failed us. You don’t need an increase. If anything you need a decrease. You need to be fired.
It is strange that when the rest of the world is in an economic crisis, when copper prices are low, when farmers can’t afford farming implements, when mealie meal prices are at their highest, when UNZA students don’t know whether they will complete this semester or not… You come and say you want a pay rise. Ironic!
Kindly rescind your intentions, dear sirs and madams, unless the pay rise will be across board; policemen, teachers, nurses, doctors, carpenters, plumbers, traders, marketers, marketers, the army, servicemen and women. Only then can you justify your pay rise, lest your pay rise will be an act of gross injustice, irresponsibility and selfishness.
Besides, President Banda stands to gain a lot of mileage if he chooses not to assent to the bill; he needs some good PR right now. Don’t you think?
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
ZAMBIA’S ‘NEW’ CABINET
Nursing my green bottle while in that Zambia Institute of Marketing award giving ceremony at Sandy’s Creations a few kilometres south of Lusaka and seeing the former first lady in public after the funeral of our most beloved late President Mwanawasa was such a good thing for my Friday. I counted myself luckier when I heard that the guest of honour would be the ‘new’ minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Honourable Felix Mutati because then I could have firsthand insight into what this new cabinet has on offer. One thing though was for sure; Uncle Felix is a funny guy and nice guy so I knew we weren’t going to be bored.
He began by congratulating himself over his appointment (With a few cheers in the audience) and also for being the first minister to speak after the ‘rebranding’- in his own words. I am glad he spent some time telling us all about his new job. He called himself the Chief Executive Officer in charge of marketing at a company called Zambia Plc. I thought that was a nice one. Yet I am not too sure about what followed then.
A point of emphasis in his speech was that his job is to sell Zambia to the outside world, to attract investment in our country Zambia. He went on talking about how in the last few years the Government had done well in coming up with attractive packages to woo foreign investment.
My dearest Minister didn’t say much about local industry contrary to my expectations. He didn’t say how is his ministry would provide an enabling environment (Marketing) for local investors to have successful businesses. He did not talk much about incentives for the local lodge, carpenter, musician, farmer or the kantemba in chilenje. He did not talk about how is ministry should collaborate with the ministry of labour to ensure that foreign investors do not abuse Zambian workers or see to it that they adhere to our labour laws.
Nothing has changed, the new cabinet hasn’t heard the cries of the locals, they have not understood why they lost the urban vote but more importantly it just confirmed my fears of having the same old people who have failed us over the years run the affairs of beloved our country. Alas, the very composition of cabinet tells you that we are in for nothing but the same old politics and the same old policies that have failed us in the last 44 years. We are faced with new challenges which require new ideas and fresh minds. I expected better than that from the ‘new’ President. I was expecting a female vice President from civil society or from the business world for instance.
A walk in the main streets of Lusaka makes you think it was once a war zone area or is some historical site. More than 60% of Zambia is living in abject poverty. No proper roads in the city, no good schools for our children and our medical facilities are nothing to write home about. All this in a country that has 40% of Southern Africa’s water, a lot of fertile land, a good weather pattern, 8 neighbouring countries, peace and stability, available labour/manpower and what more could we be asking for than fresh brains with fresh ideas. Come on friends, Zambia is too rich to be poor.
Comrades, sometimes life is too busy and perhaps too comfortable that we barely notice the suffering that those who don’t have the luxury of an online newspaper are going through. Do you ever take time to think about that mother with three children living in a two roomed house in Chibolya compound selling tomatoes at City Market and making just enough to buy a Pamela for her house hold. Think about her children’s education; a government school in Kanyama were kids sit on bricks and will be lucky if the underpaid teacher actually shows up that day. Think about her children who when sick probably won’t find drugs at Kanyama clinic and whose prospects of being attended to by a doctor are illusive.
God help Zambia!
He began by congratulating himself over his appointment (With a few cheers in the audience) and also for being the first minister to speak after the ‘rebranding’- in his own words. I am glad he spent some time telling us all about his new job. He called himself the Chief Executive Officer in charge of marketing at a company called Zambia Plc. I thought that was a nice one. Yet I am not too sure about what followed then.
A point of emphasis in his speech was that his job is to sell Zambia to the outside world, to attract investment in our country Zambia. He went on talking about how in the last few years the Government had done well in coming up with attractive packages to woo foreign investment.
My dearest Minister didn’t say much about local industry contrary to my expectations. He didn’t say how is his ministry would provide an enabling environment (Marketing) for local investors to have successful businesses. He did not talk much about incentives for the local lodge, carpenter, musician, farmer or the kantemba in chilenje. He did not talk about how is ministry should collaborate with the ministry of labour to ensure that foreign investors do not abuse Zambian workers or see to it that they adhere to our labour laws.
Nothing has changed, the new cabinet hasn’t heard the cries of the locals, they have not understood why they lost the urban vote but more importantly it just confirmed my fears of having the same old people who have failed us over the years run the affairs of beloved our country. Alas, the very composition of cabinet tells you that we are in for nothing but the same old politics and the same old policies that have failed us in the last 44 years. We are faced with new challenges which require new ideas and fresh minds. I expected better than that from the ‘new’ President. I was expecting a female vice President from civil society or from the business world for instance.
A walk in the main streets of Lusaka makes you think it was once a war zone area or is some historical site. More than 60% of Zambia is living in abject poverty. No proper roads in the city, no good schools for our children and our medical facilities are nothing to write home about. All this in a country that has 40% of Southern Africa’s water, a lot of fertile land, a good weather pattern, 8 neighbouring countries, peace and stability, available labour/manpower and what more could we be asking for than fresh brains with fresh ideas. Come on friends, Zambia is too rich to be poor.
Comrades, sometimes life is too busy and perhaps too comfortable that we barely notice the suffering that those who don’t have the luxury of an online newspaper are going through. Do you ever take time to think about that mother with three children living in a two roomed house in Chibolya compound selling tomatoes at City Market and making just enough to buy a Pamela for her house hold. Think about her children’s education; a government school in Kanyama were kids sit on bricks and will be lucky if the underpaid teacher actually shows up that day. Think about her children who when sick probably won’t find drugs at Kanyama clinic and whose prospects of being attended to by a doctor are illusive.
God help Zambia!
Friday, November 14, 2008
The Majority Doesn’t Always Win
So there it is, scores of people on the copperbelt letting out their displeasure with the outcome of the just ended October 30th elections. Had I wrote this article a day earlier saying there are deep feelings of un-satisfaction or contempt among people in the urban areas, I would have been called sorts of names. Dear friends, for me incidents like these (which must be condemned by the way) do bring out important questions that we all must consider critically.
Comrades ours are challenging times, the world’s major markets are in turmoil, our dearest copper has low prices, Meali meal is at K75, 000.00 a bag, fuel is taxing us and our pay hasn’t changed all this in a country without a cabinet. All these are issues that make the majority of Zambians not forget the elections and go on with their lives. Every time you take a taxi and ask the driver how business is going, you are certain to get the usual complaints about money being scarce and the lost hope after the number one urban candidate lost the election.
But let’s face it, the elections are done and a recount is on; all I would say is all the best. I contend that we should be looking forward to the 2011 Elections and see how the complaints and feelings of being cheated that were expressed in the last elections are avoided in the year 2011. The question is what can we do between now and 2011 to prefect the electoral system and avoid post election complaints from stakeholders after the 2011 elections?
Wouldn’t it be nice to have candidates congratulate each other after one has won the election? Because certainly for me, the most moving, charming and gracious speech that Senator John Mccain has given to date is his conceding speech in Arizona. He spoke so well, congratulating Barack Obama for his resounding victory and assuring Americans that they have made a good decision. I thought to myself and said that is the way it is supposed to be; mature politics.
Yet again ours is a small democracy hence so immense is the need for us to constantly engage ourselves in building and improving it. In retrospect, elections and what comes afterwards should give us an idea of how we are doing and what needs to be done to improve the process of Democracy.
The just ended elections were marred by allegations of rigging, irregularities such as people voting days later, inconsistencies in the number of registered voters and the actual voters in certain areas, the list goes on. The decision by the Electoral Commission of Zambia not to conduct a fresh registration of voters disfranchised a lot of people; you had an election where less than 4 million people chose the fate of the rest of the 10 million plus people. Arguably for the likes of HH and Sata who have a huge following among young people and those who have just come back home, they can cry foil saying a potential vote in their favour was not given an opportunity to make the choice. So yes there should be a continuous registration of voters. Voting is an important process in which all Zambians should participate, a notorious fact that cannot be over emphasized. It should be readily available and made easy for all Zambians. So let’s have continuous registration of voters.
There was also a lot of smoke still on the registration of voters, in some provinces opposition political parties feel that the numbers did not tally. There was a low turnout of voters yet the numbers are not so different from that of 2006 come on guys! That is the kind of thing that raises suspicions. Obviously since 2006 people have died and moved or even lost their voters cards, the numbers can’t obviously be the same or close to the same. Did you notice?
Who mans the register anyway? What guarantee can we have that it cannot be tempered with ghost voters? People who have died and moved voting? Something needs to be done to address such suspicions. In my opinion it all goes down to the autonomy of the Commission. To whom does the commission owe its allegiance? Wouldn’t it be better to have its independence more guaranteed? Who appoints the head of the commission? Is that something we should be thinking about while revising the constitution?
President Rupiah Banda won with not more than 5% difference in votes with Michael Sata. If you combine the UPND and PF Votes, the MMD is out numbered. The system of simple majorities does not give a country a majority President. Most leaders in these systems are a minority in that few people voted for them as compared to those who voted against them (By virtue of voting for other candidates). The essence of a democracy is that the majority wins, now you have an election with a President wining with minority votes, do you still call that Democracy? That is why countries like Zimbabwe and Kenya has the 50 + 1 system. Under this system a Presidential candidate can only be declared the winner if he or she passes the 50 + 1 mark. This ensures that the President elect is in the majority and is accepted by all players as being the one with the most votes. You will also find this line of thinking when you look at the systems in the United Kingdom and in America (With the two major political parties).
Otherwise you will have the likes of Michael Sata crying foul and hoping that a recount would overturn the tides, after all it’s only a 3%! I implore you to begin thinking about the 50 + 1 system for the next elections. That will help. Note that even the catholic fathers noted that the country is more divided after the elections than before and if you critically think about it, it’s because the majority of Zambians voted for Michael Sata and Hikainde Hichilema, if you combine the two votes, MMD is beaten by far, so the ‘majority doesn’t always win’.
Lusaka’s Dark Cloud
A dark crowd hovers around the capital, the mood on the streets is most worrisome, yesterday I took time to talk to a couple of taxi drivers, general workers, nurses, miners and just about the ordinary person on the street and what came out is a lot of helplessness and deep rooted anger. A lot of people, at least those that I had a chance to interact with feel much cheated, why; a bus driver told me it’s a man discovering his wife has been sleeping around. Whereas their reasons for feeling that way maybe as a result of their preferred candidate losing, for me their feelings brought out a couple of issues about our electoral system.
It’s very interesting how after every election we always have people crying foul; saying that the election was not conducted in a free and fair manner. Now there are two things here, it’s either the elections were not free and fair or that they were actually very free and fair. The losing candidates always cry foul and say they were cheated, it’s understandable, and losing can be a very painful experience. But you see that’s the beauty about football, in every match there is a winner and loser but losers rarely cry foul because the game is clear for all to see, you only win when you score more goals- very transparent system, easy to understand. You would recall that the last few years our national team has not been doing well, but we have not said the game was not fair, we have conceded defeat and we have said we have poor strikers. That’s all! How I wish politics was like that.
Perhaps it all points out to a few cobwebs in the electoral system, why is it that loser always says the election was not fair? Is it that the system or mode of election is not is not transparent enough? Could it be that the operations or conduct of the commission does not instil confidence in the voters and the politicians? Well it could as well mere lack of maturity or outward egos but let’s take the assumption that the frequent post-election out cries are justified.
Apart from the 2001 elections, foreign observers (referees as it were) described the elections that followed as having had been free and fair. Where they? 2006 and 2008 have both been marked with a lot of irregularities and indeed it is true that the current system is susceptible to manipulation by fraudulent politicians. There are a lot of things in this election that warrant suspicions. Starting with the announcement by the commission saying there will be no registration of new voters- a lot of voters were disfranchised. Think deeper, does that ring some bells? There were questions raised when some presidential candidates starting giving out donations at a campaign rallies, there were issues raised when party cadres were seen being ferried in government vehicles and many other issues that the commission turned a blind eye to. As if not enough the commission printed out extra ballot papers in huge qualities even they were aware of the fact that they hadn’t registered any new voters and that will would low voter turnout (in the two year period from 2006-2008 a lot of people have moved or died).
It is things like this that raise a lot of suspicious; people in general don’t trust the Electoral Commission of Zambia, just look at how people came out with crazy stories of trucks moving around town with ballot papers. Companies formed in the name of curbing rigging. People in most polling stations stood outside as the election was in process, counting the votes with the electoral officers; people literally took it upon themselves to guard the vote but did they?
If at all this election was rigged it was done in such a way that even election observers could not see it, I will tell you how; talk to me nicely. But the fact you have the number of registered voters not tallying with the counted votes tells you something. Do you know how many voters didn’t vote as a result of death or migration? Does that ring a bell? All you need is to stretch your imagination further, you will realise just how cruel life can be.
The opposition say the election was not free and fair but can they prove it? Now they are seeking a recount but the President has already been sworn in. Bingo! That’s the game! Catch up if you can, it’s not for the faint hearted. If you like you can go to court and contest the vote ask Miyanda and the late Mazoka (May his soul rest in peace); they will tell you it is a sheer waste of time, by the time judgement is passed, the 2011 elections would have been held. Wake up and plan for the next election.
All this underlines a more serious problem; both the voters and the politicians have low confidence in the integrity of the Electoral Commission of Zambia. Surely you have read or heard what HH said yesterday. This should be a source of concern least the commission risks serious voter apathy in the next election. The autonomy of the commission needs to be guaranteed. Who appoints the office bearers of the commission? Does the framework of the commission make it susceptible to influence by the ruling party? What about the electoral code of conduct?
No accusations, just questions that every well meaning Zambian should think about especially when we are re creating the constitution. Fellow bloggers, let’s toss it!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
THE OCTOBER 30TH ELECTIONS; LOOKING BACK AND GOING FORWARD (Part 1)
It is a fresh and new week, pretty different from last week’s campaigns, energy and enthusiasm; at least Zambians had something on their minds that kept them away from their poverty. Zambia voted and a new president has been elected. Rupiah Bwezani Banda is Zambia’s fourth. Hate it or love it!
Yes the election is done and over with but there are a lot of issues that have come out in this election that merit our serious consideration.
Everybody agrees that this has been a tight race, very close. The voting patterns are not so different from what most us had predicted. Michael Sata claims his own along the line of rail plus the Northern and Luapula provinces, Hikainde gets his Southern province, Rupiah wins Eastern, Central Western and North Western provinces. Yes not so different from the 2006 election.
Notice how easy it was for any political strategist to predict the results or the voting pattern in a similar vein it doesn’t take a pundit to see that Zambians voted on regional lines. As expected the easterners went yako ni yako, the Northern and Luapula provinces went for their own Sata and the Southern province maintained their default voting pattern. Of course there may have been some who voted purely on competence but the dynamics of rural politics all point to regionalism in the voting pattern. This comrades is a very vicious reality. Regionalism or any form of tribalism is detrimental to national development and risks disturbing the much talked about peace that our beloved country enjoys. It is not fair for people not to vote a candidate just because he is not from this or that province. At the level which we have reached, we should address or approach elections with all maturity and objectiveness. We won’t go far if we continue to vote on tribal lines. We are far much better than that, come Zambians! The politicians themselves have a duty to make sure that they do not govern with any favour or show that it is advantageous to have a president of your tribe of from your region. This needs to show in the way a President appoints people in offices. You must understand that the only thing that keeps us together is our respect and love for one another. Keep that in mind!
From regionalism, another issue that has re surfaced in this election is the divide between the rural and urban votes and this has been the trend in most African countries, talk of Kenya, Zimbabwe and now Zambia. In any given election that has taken place in the last 15 years, the urban population has gone for the opposition while the rural population has voted for the ruling party. This is the trend, did you notice? For me this shows that the urban population are not satisfied with the way the ruling party have been governing this country. The urban voters are not happy and this is a big failure on the part of government or the ruling party; they have lost the urban vote in three elections in not more than 10 years.
Fine, you can talk about the country having registered a 5% annual economic growth rate, having reduced inflation and so forth but the question is how that translates to the common man. The people in Kanyama and Mwanabombwe don’t care about the inflation; they don’t care about 5% economic growth, what is 5% economic growth when they are buying meali meal at K50, 000.00 per bag? What is inflation below 10% when every time they get on a bus the fare is increased?
All the much chorused economic gains the country has made don’t mean a thing if the average pay is K300, 000.00 per month and the minimum standard of living is rated at K1, 800, 000.00 if not even higher.
Education is illusive for many, the two universities cannot accommodate the demand and the available private schools are too expensive for the common man. Graduates have been reduced to corporate kaponyas moving around the streets of Cairo road and doing briefcase businesses. They are no jobs in Zambia. No jobs. Most of my colleagues some of whom are reading this article have been reduced to doing jobs abroad that they otherwise wouldn’t have done back home. What a shame!
In my view, this explains the voting pattern visa-vies the divide between the urban and rural votes. Our colleagues in the rural areas don’t feel the pinch of a capitalist economy or is it that their conditions are subject to manipulation by fraudulent politicians? While the urban voters have access to Lusaka Times, the rural voters have to rely on government controlled media to know what is happening and the truth is that any media will only tell you what they want you to know. It’s really issues of information and the sugar. The dynamics of rural politics are very different from urban politics. In the rural areas it’s mostly what the chief says and who distributes the most sugar. I had visitors from Chipata a week before the elections and I took the time to ask them who they were going to vote for and they told ‘kaili amfumu anena kale’ in an apparent reference to an instruction given to them by the local chief to vote for Rupiah Banda.
Development is relative to the situation. What urban voters see as issues very differently from rural voters and that is one thing the MMD knows very well.
Moving on, the voting pattern also raises questions about capitalism. If you look at the Sata vote; you will realise that it is more of protest vote than anything. Sata has a very simple message; ‘I want to empower you economically’. Is it time for Africans to begin rethinking wealth distribution? Is it time we tried to regulate the economy more to spread wealth to everyone?
Sata’s message is not ideologically different from that of Robert Mugabe, they both are saying that it is time we Africans became a little selfish and enjoyed some economic power. Like the cliché saying goes’ who so ever has the money has the power’. If you give investors 3 years tax exemption then why don’t you do the same to the local investors? The truth is that Zambians are over taxed well over three times. Think about it! The government cries of not having money but one thing they don’t realise is that there is a huge informal sector out there which is not taxed. Why? Because the taxes are high so people don’t register their businesses? The best way to widen the tax base is to reduce tax and provide an environment that will help grow local industry. Then you will have more money to build school. Simple.
Perhaps it’s time for Africans to begin implementing economic policies that favour us and not the west. Economic policies are models, there are other models, and Americans have their own models which has plunged them into the crises they are in. Why don’t we seek models we can benefit from? The thing is the current economic policies favour either foreigners or the rich few, nothing for a poor me living in Kabwata. There is need for us to seriously re consider and find ways of creating an environment in which all Zambians can be wealthy. Maybe then, the urban voter will rejoice when they hear our economy has grown by 5%.
To be continued.
Yes the election is done and over with but there are a lot of issues that have come out in this election that merit our serious consideration.
Everybody agrees that this has been a tight race, very close. The voting patterns are not so different from what most us had predicted. Michael Sata claims his own along the line of rail plus the Northern and Luapula provinces, Hikainde gets his Southern province, Rupiah wins Eastern, Central Western and North Western provinces. Yes not so different from the 2006 election.
Notice how easy it was for any political strategist to predict the results or the voting pattern in a similar vein it doesn’t take a pundit to see that Zambians voted on regional lines. As expected the easterners went yako ni yako, the Northern and Luapula provinces went for their own Sata and the Southern province maintained their default voting pattern. Of course there may have been some who voted purely on competence but the dynamics of rural politics all point to regionalism in the voting pattern. This comrades is a very vicious reality. Regionalism or any form of tribalism is detrimental to national development and risks disturbing the much talked about peace that our beloved country enjoys. It is not fair for people not to vote a candidate just because he is not from this or that province. At the level which we have reached, we should address or approach elections with all maturity and objectiveness. We won’t go far if we continue to vote on tribal lines. We are far much better than that, come Zambians! The politicians themselves have a duty to make sure that they do not govern with any favour or show that it is advantageous to have a president of your tribe of from your region. This needs to show in the way a President appoints people in offices. You must understand that the only thing that keeps us together is our respect and love for one another. Keep that in mind!
From regionalism, another issue that has re surfaced in this election is the divide between the rural and urban votes and this has been the trend in most African countries, talk of Kenya, Zimbabwe and now Zambia. In any given election that has taken place in the last 15 years, the urban population has gone for the opposition while the rural population has voted for the ruling party. This is the trend, did you notice? For me this shows that the urban population are not satisfied with the way the ruling party have been governing this country. The urban voters are not happy and this is a big failure on the part of government or the ruling party; they have lost the urban vote in three elections in not more than 10 years.
Fine, you can talk about the country having registered a 5% annual economic growth rate, having reduced inflation and so forth but the question is how that translates to the common man. The people in Kanyama and Mwanabombwe don’t care about the inflation; they don’t care about 5% economic growth, what is 5% economic growth when they are buying meali meal at K50, 000.00 per bag? What is inflation below 10% when every time they get on a bus the fare is increased?
All the much chorused economic gains the country has made don’t mean a thing if the average pay is K300, 000.00 per month and the minimum standard of living is rated at K1, 800, 000.00 if not even higher.
Education is illusive for many, the two universities cannot accommodate the demand and the available private schools are too expensive for the common man. Graduates have been reduced to corporate kaponyas moving around the streets of Cairo road and doing briefcase businesses. They are no jobs in Zambia. No jobs. Most of my colleagues some of whom are reading this article have been reduced to doing jobs abroad that they otherwise wouldn’t have done back home. What a shame!
In my view, this explains the voting pattern visa-vies the divide between the urban and rural votes. Our colleagues in the rural areas don’t feel the pinch of a capitalist economy or is it that their conditions are subject to manipulation by fraudulent politicians? While the urban voters have access to Lusaka Times, the rural voters have to rely on government controlled media to know what is happening and the truth is that any media will only tell you what they want you to know. It’s really issues of information and the sugar. The dynamics of rural politics are very different from urban politics. In the rural areas it’s mostly what the chief says and who distributes the most sugar. I had visitors from Chipata a week before the elections and I took the time to ask them who they were going to vote for and they told ‘kaili amfumu anena kale’ in an apparent reference to an instruction given to them by the local chief to vote for Rupiah Banda.
Development is relative to the situation. What urban voters see as issues very differently from rural voters and that is one thing the MMD knows very well.
Moving on, the voting pattern also raises questions about capitalism. If you look at the Sata vote; you will realise that it is more of protest vote than anything. Sata has a very simple message; ‘I want to empower you economically’. Is it time for Africans to begin rethinking wealth distribution? Is it time we tried to regulate the economy more to spread wealth to everyone?
Sata’s message is not ideologically different from that of Robert Mugabe, they both are saying that it is time we Africans became a little selfish and enjoyed some economic power. Like the cliché saying goes’ who so ever has the money has the power’. If you give investors 3 years tax exemption then why don’t you do the same to the local investors? The truth is that Zambians are over taxed well over three times. Think about it! The government cries of not having money but one thing they don’t realise is that there is a huge informal sector out there which is not taxed. Why? Because the taxes are high so people don’t register their businesses? The best way to widen the tax base is to reduce tax and provide an environment that will help grow local industry. Then you will have more money to build school. Simple.
Perhaps it’s time for Africans to begin implementing economic policies that favour us and not the west. Economic policies are models, there are other models, and Americans have their own models which has plunged them into the crises they are in. Why don’t we seek models we can benefit from? The thing is the current economic policies favour either foreigners or the rich few, nothing for a poor me living in Kabwata. There is need for us to seriously re consider and find ways of creating an environment in which all Zambians can be wealthy. Maybe then, the urban voter will rejoice when they hear our economy has grown by 5%.
To be continued.
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