Lunte Member of Parliament Hon. Mutotwe Kafwaya wrote:::::
HH PROMISED TO DOUBLE THE ECONOMY.
Whose economy will double? What does the economy translate to, or what should it translate to?
I read one book in which the economy was said to be us. I really liked that definition of it. I liked it because it took away that sometimes difficult mathematical expression of what the economy is often known as. Of course over the few years I have gained a decent appreciation of what the economy is, even if economic concepts were introduced.
And so after HH’s promise to double the economy was made, I have been looking keenly at government actions and pronouncements, including pipeline commitments. I have been assessing consistencies and inconsistencies in the operations of government.
After carefully assessing various economic and social factors surrounding our nation, I have come to the conclusion that the economy in the short and medium term can only be doubled on promissory rhetoric and nowhere else.
To back up my conclusion, let me take the case of inconsistencies as an example. As most of us know by now, the economy is us. It is about what transactions we contribute to business.
Someone tell me what transactions a baker can contribute to business in a country where government can only provide power for three hours in a day, and that is in the best case scenario. What more when that power is provided from midnight to 3AM? Without struggle, I see no business contribution from such an environment.
In case the government failed to realize it, this is the same for a welder. And it is also the same for a babershop. Exactly as it is the same for a saloon. They have all lost income. They have all lost employment. Consequently, they won’t buy food. This will affect a retail or grocery shop next door. They will not subscribe to that pay TV. The pay TV provider has lost business and will close shop. Jobs will be lost. Business will be lost.
Clearly toll collectors for those toll gates unconstitutionally given away will lose income. Their participation in the economy will be diminished. Consumption and savings from them will slow down.
What if a miracle happened? Such that in spite of this calamitous situation the country is in, the economy posted growth? Government will still have to explain a painful question; whose economy would you have grown?
If you paused just a bit, you may observe that having no power might mean having no clean and safe water. Then people will remember the shallow wells you buried for then pretending that you will provide them with clean and safe drinking water. Should people be forced to revert to unsafe and dirty water from shallow wells, then we should go back to anticipating a disease burden. This may complicate matters even more, no business, no jobs, no income therefore a hungry population burdened with disease. This is trouble for anyone with just minimum love for the universal suffrage.
Should you add aflatoxins; you know from where? Honestly, you don’t want this!
Have you considered other manufacturers? What is the impact on them if their industries aren’t having power and water? Do you how much losses their businesses would incur? Do you know the ramifications of unsustainable losses on the ability of industry to retain workforce? Or even to employ graduates and other job seekers?
What then is the overall effect of proudly telling people that government will increase load shedding? Such times call for government to sacrifice for its people. Some decisions can be expensive, but government must take them for the benefit of people, their businesses; small, medium and large.
From the foregoing, I don’t see the promise of a doubled economy coming to fruition unless it is just numbers placed on the book for that strong peacocks sense of self aggrandizement.
The economy cannot be doubled, later on increased under these circumstances.
Restoring EVERYTHING PATRIOTIC.
MK05.09.2024
I don’t the qualifications this man has but I can see from his statement that he lacks understanding with regard to economic matters. President HH has never said he would double the economy but rather that he would double the GDP of the economy in 10 years time. GDP is the measure used to determine the value of goods produced in a country or region in a period, say a year. On the other hand, the economy are systems or process by which goods and services are produced, sold and bought in a country or region so clearly these completely different terms. And true to his word, it’s very possible for president HH’s government to double the GDP or even more than double it looking at the economic performance trend so far. To illustrate this, the GDP for Zambia in 2021 was about $22 billion and in 2023 it was about $29 billion and was expected to reach $31 billion by end of 2024 but due the severe drought, the GDP is now expected to be about $28 billion. Now $28 billion in 2024 compared to 22 billion in 2021 is about 27% increase in 3 years only, surely doesn’t this show that it will be very possible to more than double the GDP is the remainig 7 years considering that most of economic development contributors will come online like the mines and manufacturing companies.