HIGHVIE Hamududu has promised that when in government, his party will radically reduce the size of the government Cabinet.
Hamududu notes that right now the Ministry of Finance is existing for only two functions – paying the wage bill and servicing debt.
He stresses that, “If I were in power, I would have even done more on the economy, to win elections. You cannot go to an election with such a bad economy.”
Hamududu, an economist, is the Party for National Unity and Progress (PNUP) president.
“We promise a small Cabinet, by amalgamating related functions into few ministries, and cascading such to grassroots levels,” Hamududu said when he addressed journalists in Lusaka recently. “There is no need to have a multiplicity of government offices in our districts, because that takes away the resources for actual service delivery. To be specific on this matter, as PNUP we promise to reduce government ministries from the current 29 to 18.”
He noted that a government must never exist for itself.
“A government is a conduit for improvement of the welfare of the citizens. Now, if the public service consumes 50 per cent of the budget, then basically the government exists for itself,” he said.
“We have no option but to right-size government according to the resources available.”
Asked if there was another option of rescuing Zambia’s economy apart from resorting to help from the International Monetary Fund, Hamududu said the problem is that “where we are now we are in a catch-22 situation.”
“Ordinarily, if things were not as bad as they are now where literally the economy has frozen, growing at zero per cent or minus, our currency losing value every day, the interest rates skyrocketing, a-two kg packet of sugar which was at K15 is now at K32…” he said. “So, we are in a catch-22 situation and we are in a situation where government’s fiscal discipline is so weak. So, we need a big brother! It happens; when you are down, you need to call a big brother to come and help.”
Hamududu said in a normal situation, Zambia would have gotten out of debt without the IMF.
“But the issue now is about rescue. If you are drowning, you must call for help. Don’t pretend that you can come out – you’ll just die,” he cautioned. “Right now we are drowning; the debt is high and you cannot run away from paying debt. So, the most plausible solution for our problem is the IMF. Why IMF? They will come and help us to frame an economic recovery programme that will be acceptable by other players, including investors and other multilateral and bilateral institutions.”
Hamududu underscored that the IMF could open the door to other possibilities, including investment in the country.
“The current debt burden is harshly affecting service provision. Right now, by the way, the Ministry of Finance is existing for only two functions – paying the wage bill and servicing debt,” Hamududu noted. “There is literally no money that is available for the improvement of the welfare of our people. This economy is at the verge of implosion!”
He said the issue of an economic turnaround should be “an issue of now – not even in August.”
“The economy should not be tied to elections. An economy is work in progress and it will be disingenuous to link the economy to elections,” Hamududu said. “If I were in power, I would have even done more on the economy, to win elections. You cannot go to an election with such a bad economy.”
He emphasised that a bad economy was a real issue, for it affected “real people.”
“Therefore, a government must do everything at all times to provide the best service to the people. You cannot freeze an economic trajectory because of an election,” said Hamududu. “A bad economy is daily experience [and] you cannot postpone improvement to after elections. That is injustice!”