Zambia at 91% Debt-to-GDP—But 100% in Shame and Suffering

Zambia at 91% Debt-to-GDP—But 100% in Shame and Suffering

By Dr Mwelwa

So they want us to celebrate. They want us to dance because our debt-to-GDP ratio has finally dipped below 100%, now standing at 91.1%. But what does that really mean to the average Zambian mother waking up to an empty cupboard? What does that mean to a young miner buried alive in an unregulated pit in Chingola, Mumbwa, or Mufumbwe? What does it mean to the civil servant who can’t take home even half his salary because deductions eat everything before payday?

Let’s not be fooled by suits and speeches. Debt-to-GDP ratios are just economic grammar meant to impress international financiers—not the hungry stomach of a child in Kanyama. If we are now supposedly more “creditworthy,” then why is the United States demanding a $15,000 bond for Zambians who want a visa? That is not the reward of a stable economy. That is the treatment given to a pariah state.

And yes, according to Emmanuel Mwamba we have become a pariah in SADC. While other countries are attracting investors with strong institutions and local empowerment, Zambia is making headlines for witchcraft, freemasonry, runaway inflation, corruption, and toxic political divisions. When the World Bank ranks us as the 6th poorest country in the world, and the only response our leaders can give is “debt-to-GDP is going down”—then we are truly lost.

Even in death, we cannot respect our own. A former Head of State lies unburied because of political wrangling and bureaucratic pride. What kind of nation cannot even bury its own past president with dignity? We are collapsing from within, and yet we are told to be proud because the IMF said we are doing well.

Let us tell the truth: Zambia is now a country where progress is announced, but not seen. The government claims they are creating fiscal space, but the only space we see is the widening gap between the rich and the poor. They say investors are coming, but local contractors are collapsing. They say the economy is growing—but it is growing for who? For those in Cabinet? For those flying business class to Washington? Because on the ground, nothing is growing. Not jobs. Not wages. Not food on the table.

And if this is what success looks like, then we must redefine failure.

The truth is, this government has governed by graphs, not by grace. They manage Zambia like a case study for foreign consultants—not a nation of 20 million living souls. They parade macroeconomic terms like trophies, while our youth are dying in mine pits and our women sell tomatoes in the dark because of load shedding.

We have a government that listens more to lenders than to citizens. A government that fears losing donor confidence more than public trust. A government that protects numbers more than people.

But let this sink in: you cannot build a country on data alone. You build it on dignity. On justice. On truth. On a leadership that feels the people’s pain—not one obsessed with praise from abroad.

We are not asking for luxury. We are asking for honesty.
We are not begging for miracles. We are demanding accountability.
And we are not impressed by 91% when we are ranked the 6th poorest country in the world.

Because that 91% may comfort the IMF, but it means nothing to a nation that cannot even afford to bury its own former President with honour.

It is time for our leaders to stop speaking to Washington and start listening to Chibolya, to Kaoma, to Isoka, to every corner of this nation that has not tasted “development” in decades.

Zambia does not need another press statement.

Zambia needs a resurrection.

From the dust. From the hunger. From the shame. From the betrayal.

And that resurrection will not come from ratios. It will come from truth, sacrifice, and courage. Let the thinking begin now—because tomorrow may be too late.
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