By Dr Lubinda Haabazoka
How to make Zambians rich
This preoccupation we have always had with foreign investors and IMF stuff will never make us rich! We need for once to focus on Zambians! Help Zambians get capital both home and abroad! ZDA should be preoccupied with Zambians! We should remove jealousy! Allow people to have money! Discourage law enforcement officers to harass people! Why follow up a person even when there is no complainant? We need to Zambianise our GDP! Chalo chesu chino!
We need to develop a program where we need to develop billionaires! If a Zambian has a small business we go for them using tax authorities and other LEAs? If it is found that one was not paying taxes, put corrective measures to ensure the person complies! Don’t close them down! Half of the small businesses can’t even afford accountants that can help make tax returns because they have to pay a lot of fees to central and local government just to operate!
A country taxing 37% on a person getting $350 salary should forget about removing people out of poverty! What my people at the budget office have forgotten is that when the highest tax band was 35% at k5000 salary, k5000 was $1000! Now $1000 is k26,000 so even the highest tax band should move to that level! One of the principles of a tax system is that it should be flexible! Ours is not! How can government take away 37% on earnings above $350! When will Zambians become entrepreneurs?
We need to start critically analysing things!
Even this cholera thing! We keep on blaming shallow wells! When was the last time Lusaka water built a new sewer pipeline system? The whole of Lusaka survives on soak aways and boreholes when water is plenty in rivers and also we still have ability to build sewer systems! Today you are crying about cholera? Next after this nomba nimpele (scabies)!
We are too much serious with mediocrity and mediocre at serious things! Entertaining clowns that were clobbered in the east instead of discussing serious issues and people can will inspire us and help us slip away from poverty!
We need to start with reducing the tax burden! Remove all barriers to business! The fees are too high and every government department wants its share! Remove jealous in decision making! These things of politics are useless and don’t come before wealth creation! Let’s have a normal conversation! How can we entertain poverty as a country?
Enough is enough! We need to start getting rich! Ministry of finance should revisit the taxes now and allow citizens to save! Savings are the ones that convert into investments!
Do you think it’s normal that we still have grass thatched houses? Do you think it’s normal that everyday we are making funeral contributions because people can’t save money during their lifetime? Do you think it’s normal to say don’t entertain that one because they are Upnd, PF, Socialist or the other? Is that a normal society? In fact are we even okay ourselves?
Let’s also remove the begging syndrome! I can’t even park my car in peace without people asking for money? By the time the day ends all the cash I had is gone! But to remove begging we need to empower the needy! Inculcate in them a spirit of entrepreneurship! Help them become independent!
Mwilenga tutukane lelo nipa Monday
Can this man even lecture in a coherent manner? I’m trying to imagine what it is to sit as a student in his lecture. Capital is available in Zambia but most Zambians do not see it as capital.
This economist I doubt. He is an arm chair economist. He barked and barked under pfools hoping for a job NONE CAME.
Some of the points the man has made are good while others are not. For instance, I agree with him that we need to reform our country’s tax system, like reducing the rates for paye rates significantly to 20% being the highest and remove the tax threshold. This way, everyone pays some level taxes regardless of the income so that government is still not deprived of income.
However, I don’t agree with him that we don’t need FDI but on the contrary, we need FDI alongside local investment. We shouldn’t cheat ourselves that we can develop the country in isolation but rather, we should find the best ways to leverage FDI and local investment to develop our beautiful country. Even big economies like USA, China to name just a few still look to FDI what about us a small economy?
But we already have FDI or Foreign Direct Exploitation (FDE) and its not helping us. So maybe lets focus to empower local investors. Actually the biggest investors should be locals. Lets have entities such as Zambeef, Trade kings etc.
First time you have said something sensible not always speaking like a PF cadre.