BY Kellys Kaunda
THE PRESIDENT’S LATEST REPORT ON PROGRESS MADE REGARDING NATIONAL VALUES
The President was upbeat on the role his government is playing to facilitate the achievement of the objectives of national values as contained in the Zambian constitution.
It’s a report that essentially says to Zambians that government has achieved a lot; we are in safe hands; we are on the right track and, given another term, a far better future is coming.
It’s noteworthy that he spent considerable amounts of time on optimism while almost purposely minimizing what has not been achieved or may not be achieved.
It is expected that he should sound optimistic. After all, he is a politician and politicians by their very nature are public relations officers of their own political parties.
This means that the opposite view will come from the opposition, government critics and independent analysts.
Here is my view. I acknowledge the latest developments in the energy sector where significant improvements have been made.
I live in the part of Lusaka where electricity supply has remained consistent for over three months now.
This is important for economic productivity and growth.
But the President glossed over issues such as trading places for marketeers.
This is a very significant portion of our population but whatever investments have been made to improve infrastructure for trading is nothing to write home about.
Just look at some of the most prominent spaces in Lusaka like between Findeco House and Downtown around Kafue Roundabout.
There is no dignity in trading in such physical conditions as there are no bathroom/toilet facilities.
How long this situation has been in existence tells you what government priorities look like.
In terms of youth empowerment, again, the President didn’t come out with groundbreaking initiatives.
The youth constitute the majority of this country’s population. And yet, the many activities that most of them have demonstrated interest in such as sports and media arts have received token or no investment to make any meaningful impact.
And there are no initiatives to facilitate the youth’s transition between graduation and integration into the labor force or the economy, in general.
The President is happy with the continued flow of investors and investments.
But investors and investments are businesses that invest only enough to make a profit.
They will employ only enough to produce profitably.
Government will make a big deal out of such huge infrastructure developments as the construction of pipelines and transport corridors.
Important though all these may be, their trickle-down effects register minimal impact on a population in a state of poverty as Zambia’s.
Generally, the quality of policies and their penetrative capabilities leave much to be desired.
Whatever goods and services government is providing are extremely few and far between to arrest the run-away development challenges of this country
One major challenge is that government is not innovating enough to take to scale what it is doing.
It is also failing to stretch its imagination to tap into potential sources of economic diversification that have been lying idle, government after government.
This is why the GDP has always been the same over the years.
At this rate, whatever gains we make will always be canceled by challenges we always ignore or fail to arrest.
But Zambians have voted in and out governments while the same cycle plays out because, innocently, they don’t know any better.