FUEL PRICE REVIEWS: IT’S A CHIPANTE PANTE GOVT
We note that Mr Hakainde Hichilema has tasked the newly appointed Ministry of Energy permanent secretary Mr Peter Mumba to interrogate the monthly fuel price reviews.
Mr Hichilema is quoted to say that a more stable review period would be good for planning especially for the business community and households.
This is what we have been consistently saying ever since the monthly fuel price reviews were introduced by this government but in a typical ignorant and uninformed UPND style we were called names. We were labeled bitter, angry and insulting towards Mr Hichilema and his corrupt puppet regime.
But here we are, the chickens have come home to roost. We are back to same problem with the usual stubborn suspects led by Mr Hichilema, who not so long ago were busy posturing that they knew what they were doing with the monthly fuel price adjustments.
We said it that these monthly fuel price reviews were hurting the economy, especially the vulnerable households because it is the consumers who have been continuously bearing the brunt of continuous price hikes.
We also told this government that the decision made planning for businesses highly cumbersome as they have to adjust prices every month.
As usual, they argued against our well researched findings or reasoning with typical arrogance and misplaced zeal.
Nonetheless, we would like to advise Mr Hichilema to realize that all prosperous and stable democracies globally are as a result of increased citizen and opposition political party participation in the development of the country.
So let him understand that whenever we guide, we don’t do it out of malice but out of respect and concern for the suffering majority of our people who are always the victims of such poorly conceived and inexperienced decision- making.
Let Mr Hichilema know that a leader must be open minded and that arrogance and stubbornness to wise counsel has limitations too.
Mr Hichilema must also know that running a government is a more complex undertaking. And that whilst he could afford to be the sole decider, who decided what he thought was best for his business, politics and government in particular, is different because it’s not the leader’s drive and desire alone that guarantees better results but the collective effort of everybody.
Mr Hichilema should stop micro managing government and give technocrats the power and opportunity to be ingenious and work freely and effectively in order to achieve the desired goals. Breathing on people’s backs and being obsessed with power and control is a sign of poor leadership and lack of self- esteem in a leader.
Clearly, this is a one- man show chipante pante government that will never get organized or settle down. It’s like what Mr Hichilema says or dreams becomes policy instantly and can only be revised when Mr Hichilema feels or thinks otherwise. What a joke!
Below is the guidance we offered this government on September 3, 2023:
DOWNSIDE OF MONTHLY FUEL REVIEWS
The monthly fuel price reviews may be fine in principle and academic theory, but they assume a rational response from all stakeholders. They assume that pump prices will be increased proportionally when supply prices are increased and vice versa.
The downside however, is that pump prices are proportionally increased when a supply hike happens but the reverse does not follow. When supply prices are reduced, most businesses retain the revised hiked pump prices when the increase occurred.
So the assumption of a rational response does not hold. At the end of the day the consumer is continuously bearing the brunt of continuous price hikes. It makes planning for businesses very cumbersome as they have to adjust prices every month.
Please abandon the monthly price reviews and revert to the old system. It’s too complex for a country like Zambia.
Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party