100 Days, a Failed Start!
Part II
By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
After my earlier article; “100 Days, Hesitant, Slow or Careful Start?” I have received tremendous feedback.
Optimists are saying we need to give President Hakainde Hichilema more time before we judge him especially that; “his run is for a five-year mandate! “, “Rome was not built in a day”, “President Hichilema did not know the extent of the “damage done by the PF in 10 years”, and “he was elected for a five-year mandate and cannot be judged in 100 days.”.
The pessimists however are not kind with the reflections; “It’s a failed start!, “The revolution is a still-born”, “He has broken most campaign promises and continues to break more”, “he is a shameless liar, nothing more,nothing less ” and “He must apologize for the lies”.
On 2nd December, 2021, President Hichilema will clock 100 days in Office.
The 100 Days give us genuine need for reflections.
The political tension leading up-to the August 12 General Elections, the huge voter-turn out, the subsequent euphoria of the UPND win and the expectations from the new government have spawned legitimate expectations.
DISAPPOINTMENTS
While former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, despite expressing concerns about irregularities, political violence and intimidation against his members, decided NOT to petition both the presidential and parliamentary elections, the UPND on the other hand, petitioned over 400 council, Chairperson and Mayors, and Members of Parliament seats.
This will inevitably cause costly by-elections, a thing Zambians have consistently opposed to and regard it, not as part of growth of Democracy, but a waste of rare public resources.
The Patriotic Front was condemned for causing and conducting by-elections.
So what was the motive of the UPND leadership to petition all these seats? Is it to obtain a majority in Parliament through the back-door?
ECONOMIC POLICIES
The current economic crisis plagued by debt, high rate of unemployment, high cost of living, rising inflation and depressed economic growth, requires urgent solutions.
However the New Dawn Government has began to implement policies that are causing scare and concern to many people.
The heavy reliance on the IMF and World Bank, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Foreign debt and local deficit to resolve this crisis presents a scenario of concern.
We appear to have learnt nothing from the crisis of the 90s and the attendant solutions we deployed.
Those policies de-industrilaised our economy, compounded our dependency on imports, and unleashed unemployment levels of disastrous proportions still haunting us today.
Government discussions and decisions on Indeni Refinery, ZESCO and other State-owned enterprises give us a window that we are walking the same dangerous path of the 90s.
The new Budget has given tax rebates to the mines and corporations and none to the long-suffering workers.
The proposal to increase both fuel and electricity tarrifs is setting up a citizenry already struggling to further household crisis proportions.
Government has also announced that it will remove subsidies on fuel and other goods enjoying such subsidies.
Clearly while we agree with the state of the economy, the proposed solutions raise more concerns than the crisis itself.
PUBLIC DEBT
Hon. Musokotwane has announced in the 2022 Budget that he proposes to contract over $4.2billion and open further deficit to finance the ambitious items of the Budget.
This is despite numerous statements made by President Hichilema that he will place moratorium on debt, renegotiate and restructure it, and delay through negotiations, the settlement of the Euro Bond.
100 days on, we haven’t heard any escalation to resolving these matters other than the reported courtesy meeting the Head of State had in London with representatives of creditors to the EuroBond.
CONSTITUTION
Minister of Justice Hon. Mulambo Hamakuni Haimbe, has announced that government will begin a process to enact a new Constitution.
Now, this is interesting as the UPND has consistently and vehemently opposed the enactment of a new Constitution by both the MMD and PF Government.
Recently,the party opposed Constitutional amendment presented as Bill 10 to enhance the amendment done in 2016.
It remains to be seen if the party will garner sufficient consesus from political parties, civil society, the Church and other stakeholders to achieve the enactment of a new Constitution.
FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION
If there is any subject that has attracted conflicting actions and wild statements, it is the fight against corruption.
Clearly, it has no discernible direction and risks being run as a political witch-hunt targeted at the former leaders of the Patriotic Front.
From the issue of lifting the immunity of the former president to efforts of asset recoveries, and the announcement of an anti-corruption fast track court, all appear to be knee-jerk reactions to public opinion and as an after thought to the fight against corruption.
APPOINTMENTS
It has been 100 days and the President appears not to be in a hurry.
He is yet to complete the appointments of senior officials, Ambassadors, members of the Boards which falls under IDC.
He is not in a hurry, despite the sense of urgency Zambians displayed to elect him and their quest to see issues, including that of the economy quickly resolved.
CONCLUSION
With this clear false start, one gets a feeling that the UPND Government may leave this country in more mess than they found it.
The present danger we face is the state of the economy.
With the issue of the pandemic resurfacing to cause more havoc, the economic recovery Zambia has registered so far, may lapse the country back to recession.
I wish to reiterate that we need an National Economic Indaba to gather consensus on the solutions that Zambia must take to resolve its economic crisis.
I have since noted various voices including that of Dr. Grieve Chelwa of University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, who has also called for an Indaba and expressed concerns at the trajectory path Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane has taken to resolve the current economic crisis.
Let the leadership not abuse the genuine wide mandate obtained in the last General Election by displaying unnecessary arrogance and failure to obtain consensus on major national issues.