PARLIAMENT heard yesterday that the MMD Government borrowed US$145 million before the September elections in order to finance road programmes in a hurry.
Acting Finance and National Planning Minister Emmanuel Chenda told the House in a policy statement on estimates of revenue for his ministry that as a result of the move, the country’s target to raise the U$500 million bond has been reduced.
“This means that the planned amount for the bond reduced. One indication is in the numerous enquiries, which we have received from both local and international prospectors on our intended issuance of a sovereign bond.
“Indications are that the bond might be over-subscribed thereby giving us leeway to raise it to around $700 million. We are working on a mechanism to float a public tender so that there is fair competition, from both local and foreign prospectors,” Mr Chenda said.
He noted that the B+ rating for Zambia improved investor confidence and created conditions in which increased borrowing from the international community to finance infrastructure needs were more affordable.
Mr Chenda, who is Agriculture and Livestock Minister said with the change of Government, commitment to corruption fight, strengthening of the public service and corporate governance had improved confidence locally and internationally.
In 2012, his ministry would focus on building stakeholder confidence by consolidating the existing policies and programmes with the aspirations of the PF Government by strengthening legislation in various areas.
The minister said Government would have provisions for competitive tender participation unlike what obtained previously.
“We will consign any public officer, in any ministry, any province, or any other public institution who perpetrates or entertains acts of impropriety, misuse of resources, and disregard of procurement regulations – to law enforcement agencies for prosecution and moral rehabilitation,” Mr Chenda cautioned.
Mr Chenda noted that it was not correct to continue to live with the perception that the public service was the axis of corruption and
financial indiscipline in Zambia.
The Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA) would be involved in negotiations with development partners and other financiers, to ensure that the observance of procurement procedures was watertight.
And Education Minister John Phiri in winding up policy debate on his ministry noted that the Government would continue to develop
infrastructure at secondary, primary and tertiary levels throughout Zambia.
[Times of Zambia]
Where is Bootfimofimo, Capitalist and Senior Citizen mwebantu?
Not surprising. MMD started doing things they never budgeted for – I hope this behaviiour has ended. We need to consistently and constantly work so that we campaign for reelection on what we HAVE DONE and not what we WILL DO or what WE ARE DOING in the run up to elections…
Quote from Ngoni Zealot -Notwithstanding their mistakes and serious errors in some cases, it is very clear that the MMD govt set a very high economic agenda for this country for which even the International institutions have acknowledged. The PF guys must be humble enough to acknowledge this rather than continue showing their ignorance like minister Chenda is doing here. Stop pretending and behaving like bakaponya from Soweta market. Be real and be professional bane. If you don’t even know the size of the president’s suit, how on earth are you going to run this country?
your argument would also mean that hitler wasnt bad and did many good things.Mmd were thieves who should never be allowed anywhere near the corridors of power but must have a stake driven into their hearts and made unelectable for a generation
africa is a reach continent than europe the problem is collaption by leeders who dont care people saffering so long them enjoying and there families
imwe go for nite school for adult EFL
leeders, saffering ?
#3 You still don’t get it that the MMD borrowed $145m for rushed “development towards elections. What kind of high economic agenda is this? In short the MMD borrowed money for campaigns which the PF government will have to pay back.
Whatever you chaps are talking about, THE FACT IS THAT MMD GOVERNMENT WAS GOOD FOR ZAMBIAN ECONOMY. ZAMBIAN ECONOMY GREW UNDER MMD. You now are talking about the $500million dollar bond, you are now talking B+ international rating for Zambia. It is easy to condem even when you are eating. Let us see what you will have brought to Zambia after 5 years. Everything you are spending now was created and left by the MMD. Let us see what you will have created by 2016. PF you just talk too much with little action. You talk about corruption when you are busy giving each other contracts. You talk about honesty when Sata is busy issuing embarrassing statements of lies everyday. Stop talking about MMD now, start working and let us what you will create. Don’t just eat what has been left by MMD.
@6 gongigo whatever, so borrowing $145million for campains is good for development? stop blogging if you cant think properly even on small issues like this. ala iwe. i wll be back
@Gokigo, MMD was doing well but could have performed better. Zambia has a potential to develop economically if corruption and underemployment among others could be handled. RB kept a blind eye on corruption and a lot of money was stolen from the gvt as result. Give pf a chance!
All those of u condemning chenda u ar vry stupid and it seems u ar so pety minded.Da minister is sayin they borrowd money wcg da pf wud hav 2 pay back and u ar there openin yo mouths carelessly.Those u who ar sayin dat pf is feastin on MMD money,u hav no brains and u dont thnk.Dat money is taxpayers.Dont exhibit yo ignorance my friend.
lets wait and see how the new government will work!
PF ati it again!!!
blaming MMD always! 90 Days is fast running out, nothing to show for it!
MMD brought us this far and they were always realistic….now shut up PF and show us where we are going…you are in power but still whinning like opposition
The Zambian memory is very short indeed. RB was accused of contradicting himself on the source of money for the rehabilitation of roads in Lusaka and the Copperbelt. RB when he launched the road projects on the Copperbelt,said that the money was sourced from well wishers, But at State House he told the press that the money was raised from the capital markets. Dr Musokotwane, on the other hand had a different source for the money. He said the K1 trillion allocated for road rehabilitation would be paid by mining companies, adding that this was the money the mines owed in government taxes. This was a deliberate ploy to mislead the nation that GRZ was doing something on tax collection from the mines.
@Gokigo, you are just too much of an anti-PF, to some extent anti bemba person, that aside you can support mmd or another party you so wish , but do give our duly elected govt time to settle in and improve the lives of our people. As for your hatred for the bemba clan only you can know why, l say this because in some of your comments you support the notion suggesting Bembas should not contest some elections(mmd leadership) to balance power. l put this to you how do you balance power in a democracy where majority rules ???? BY ALLOWING THE WHOLE NATION TO VOTE FOR WHOEVER THEY LIKE. HE MCS won by a majority of the voters, twamepapata Lekeni kateka ateke
Day 83.
If we say (83/90) x 100% = 92.2%. Wonderful!!! We are experiencing a 92.2% tranformed Zambia!!!! Viva 90 days!!!!! Feeling Gooooooooooooooooooooood!!!!!
#11 BEMBA POWER – PLEASE don’t accuse me of tribalism because you don’t know me. I’m sorry if I have come across as a tribalist. I know I’m guilty of so many things, but one thing I know from the bottom of my heart is that I’m not a tribalist. Sometimes I criticise my own tribe, infact more times than not. BACK TO BUSINESS: All I was saying is that PF should not be rubbishing the MMD so much as if they did nothing, it’s not good. The fact that PF gave a contract to Chikwanda to renovate State House is a well-known fact and many things that Sata has blundered on. PF is my govt and Sata is my president, I respect them both and I know they deserve time to settle. But I should still be able to criticise and that doesn’t mean I hate PF or Sata. I’m not here just to shower praise.
ati “uku-Blogger”!
Christmas here I come, 90 days more money in our pockets tiyembekeza!
Decisions were already made. What is left now is to ensure the projects are properly done & that our money is not wasted or deviated. Those are our roads anyway.
… Woke up on 23 September 2011, in an imaginary Zambia in which the PF had just lost the elections. Now, I am writing a short book (about 3,000 pages) about what life would have been had the PF won.
What if RB had not rigged the election?
What if PF had won, would President Sata have:
1. fired all Heads of Parastatal companies? (well, non-Bemba ones anyway)
2. appointed only his relatives and tribesmen to Cabinet?
3. appointed only his tribesmen to head Commission of Inquiries?
4. appointed people with questionable character to the Civil Service? (Bemba ones)
This is a total misrepresentation of the facts. The Roads rehabilitation program was derailed when the donors witheld funding. The government could not shelve the plans but had to borrow in order to meet the shortfall. Go back and read RB’s speech to Parliament and the Budget speech in 2009/10. The same situation prevailed in the Ministry of Health after the Kapoko saga.
I am disappointed that the PF Ministers are also talking, like their President, as though they are in opposition. Get on with governing you chaps and tell us what bills you will pass this parliamnet!
PF govt has settled down to demonstrate signs of service delivery by now. What has PF achieved todate? We note a lot has been said especially on corruption to be fought and bring to book the culprits. Zambians welcome this vital move by PF govt and encourage whistle blowers to supply govt with facts so that fight becomes effective. However, that is not an end in itself. PF govt and Sata have equally made numerous blunders in a lot of areas and we the citizens have the right to point out to those mistakes not with prujudice, but in good faith for corrections to be made and make govrnance more effective. When we note $4 million paid to Mr Chikwanda’s company for renovations to state house that did not need any such repairs we ask:
How did govt arrive at awarding this job without tenders procedural process? When appointments of questionable people with pending corrupt court cases are made we ask: How is PF govt serious about fight of corruption? When offenders are rewarded with appointments we still need to question as democracy demands. When tribalism pops its ugly head we need to find answers if that is so. However, PF govt has a huge task to deliver services to the Zambians as promised and need to get on the job than backtraking on corruption issues which they know PF govt has promised to deal with. MMD set the bar of developmental strategies that has internationally been accepted evidenced by economic growth registered and move the country from low to medium country.
Economic threshold on the world ratings. The challenge for PF govt is to maintain that growth and increase it. Failure to do so will attract serious questions about the ability of this govt. It is therefore,without malice when critics are offered to PF govt.
#4 Francis,
Your spelling is funny and distorts what you are trying to put across. The correct spelling should be, rich, corruption, leaders, suffering and their.
Just utterly disgusting, thank god we rid ourselves off very greedy and utterly reckless swashbuckling corrupt party.
Just utterly disgusting, thank god we rid ourselves off that very greedy and utterly reckless swashbuckling corrupt party.
chad, gokigo and other dull chaps, i just want to assure you tribalists who wish they were born bembas that we are still cleaning zambia bane. it may even take two years of just cleaning. we have not even take dora, rb, liato and other thieves to the gallows yet. after doing so, then you can start counting. we gave you 90 days because we thought zambia was clean. it is so filthy that we can even take the whole 5 year term cleaning and then start putting back the furniture in 2016 after cleaning. what about that
Please people let’s not give glory where it is not due and vice versa, politicians are there to manage our resources, after they mismanage and fill their pockets and you vote them out of power their friends start saying you should be grateful for the wealth they created. What wealth? nonsense
I, m not bemba, tonga or lozi. I have friends from all of these tribes and even among my friends I have seen that tongas and lozis are very tribalistic. Thats why they see everything in terms of tribalism. As long as they continue on this path, please Zambians I beg you, let them vote for themselves. That way we can ensure that the country does not end up in the hands of tribalists
#30 YELEBWEBWE – It takes a thief to catch one. If you see tribalism in them, then you are a tribalist.
Lets give credit where its due sometimes; the minister is talking of B+ rating and floating a $500 million bond, who has laid the foudation for this to happen?
Francis where did u learn yr English from??
@31 Gokigo Milazhe,
Reading your posts leaves me incandescent with rage, are you a benefitor of the old regime? Here was a Govt. that was in power for 20 years 20YEARS and they leave to the 11th hour to start to reconstruction projects, BUFF00N RB commissioning projects everyday…honestly do you think tender procedures will be followed if these are done hastily, do you honestly think contractors will do a exemplary job in a short period of time?
This is US$145 million we talking about here which was CLEARLY misused, you are either blind MMD member or just a VERY THICK CHAP, I can see you based in the UK my advise to you is to make use of the free British Libraries facilities located around the country and enlightened yourself.
Have a Nice weekend!!!
@31 Gokigo Milazhe,Reading your posts leaves me incandescent with rage, are you a benefitor of the old regime? Here was a Govt. that was in power for 20 years, 20YEARS and they leave it to the 11th hour to start reconstruction projects, BUFF00N RB was commissioning projects everyday…honestly do you think tender procedures will be followed if these are done hastily, do you honestly think contractors will do a exemplary job in a short period of time? This is US$145 million we talking about here which was CLEARLY misused, you are either blind-following MMD member or just a VERY THICK CHAP, I can see you based in the UK my advise to you is to make use of the free British Libraries facilities located in your area and enlightened yourself.Have a Nice weekend!!!
Some bloggers are pathetic indeed! How can you say MMD created wealth for Zambia when the created wealth was selfishly used to buy bicycles and others kept it underground in their homes. If they really created the wealth, was it for the nation or for themselves. They thought they were clever and yet they were stupid like some bloggers who think borrowing such a huge amount of money for shoddy road works was inevitable. We all know that they wanted to fool the electorate but luckily donchi kubeba worked. How I wish they could be made to pay back the loan using MMD resources!
#34 #35 JAY JAY – I know you won’t believe me but I do mean it when I say I understand your rage. I think that, unfortunately, you are reading TOO MUCH into what I’m saying. First of all, NOBODY is perfect. We kicked out Kaunda, although now you all call him a hero. I don’t which generation you belong to but believe me if in 1991 Sata had proposed to name Lusaka Internation Airport after Kaunda, Sata would have been killed by the people. We kicked out Chiluba. We have kicked out Rupiah Banda and MMD. I share in that frustration. My own mother suffered from an illness recently because there was no medicine in a local hospoital, and yet people were burying Billions on their farms. Do you think I’m happy with that…even if I was a fool???????
#34 #35 JAY JAY – CONTINUED ——- for so many other reasons as well, I’m happy to see MMD and Rupiah go. Infact I don’t think I would want to see them back. HOWEVER, what I want to see is continuity, rather than starting afresh everytime we change govt. We are all going to die sometime and leave the country go on, and if we must leave something for future generations we must not pretend that we know it all, or that we are the best. Nobody is the best – we all do what we can within the powers that God or nature has given us. I have known Sata for a very long time and I understand his strengths and weaknesses more than his cadres. He is a good guy, but please let him work properly without turning him into some kind of god. Let us criticise where he is weak, that will better him.
#34 #35 JAY JAY – CONTINUED ———– Finally, just to clarify, I’m not an MMD supporter, but I do recognise that amoung all the rubbish the MMD did and all the crimes they have commited and will get punished for, they left us an economy that was overall far better than what they inherited from Kaunda. FACT. I’m the kind of person who will not kill the whole of you just because your finger-nail is long – I will ask you to cut your finger-nail and we get on with the rest of our valuable life. I find that some PF supporters, like you, tend to take things too personal. I’m not a PF supporter, but I do recognise that amoung the weaknesses I sometimes comment on harshly, there are some decisions I quite like so far. So nobody is perfect, that’s why we have to keep criticising….!!
#34 #35 JAY JAY – Have a nice weekend too!!
Getting an international loan a month before elections is tantamount to cheating. We should have new laws barring a sitting government from borrowing money in an election year without parliamentary approval. Who’s to say that the money that the MMD used for its campaigns did not come from this loan, including Liato’s loot.
zambia, my beautiful country, full of life and yet slowly degenerating into a tribal war by selfish, good for nothing, kano nga nifwe chaps. how do we stop this?
#31 you logic is rather foolish, I don’t have to be in grade one to know some one who is, I am sure you are one of them
@39 Gokigo Milazh,
How many ways can one surely translate your highlighted sentence; “THE FACT IS THAT MMD GOVERNMENT WAS GOOD FOR ZAMBIAN ECONOMY. ZAMBIAN ECONOMY GREW UNDER MMD.”For crying out loud, how many political parties have we had in government since 1991? So how on earth can you honestly come to such pathetic conclusions? How was it good for Zambia? Zambian economy grew because it had to grow and was long overdue after they sacrifices were endured in the 90s. and guess what? MMD would have done a by far better job if it had complimented its fiscal policy with good governance, accountability and transparency. Political arrogance and complicacy was its Achilles’ heel and thankfully its demise.
Cont’d
Yes, although I was young I had a taste of the Kuanda era and I have good memories and not so pleasant memories of living under a one-party state, just as they teenagers growing up in Libya will attest in a couple of decades from now. Yes I praise the socialists policies of 60s championed by UNIP after Independence as they were just and needed to educate and empower the average Zambians at the time but had outlived its course in the 80s. Those educational policies made it possible for our grandfathers, fathers and mothers to further the education to University and even higher post graduate education level. And for that I salute and will forever praise Dr Kenneth Kuanda and the fallen and departed freedom fighters.
Cont’d
I felt a sense of freshness and exhilaration when Chiluba came it power I so vividly remember those memorable “The hour has come” MMD Party TV commercial ads of a vehicle being driven on a dumpy potholed dilapidated tarmac road on a newly tarred road, I so remember FTJ fanatically reading a speech with eyes closed from the eye of his mind to the crowds applause just like yesterday yes just like yesterday…and what happened next? MMD auctioned all state owned companies without hesitation for a song and its greedy leaders became billionaires overnight at our expense. For that I wholly distaste and dislike FTJ Chiluba and I have nothing but contempt for him.
Cont’d
President Levy Mwanawansa (MHSRIP) came in and looked at the bigger picture for his fiscal policy to work you needed a steady and firm foundation ie. Good governance, transparency, accountability in short checks and balances also paramount in any business organization. Sadly Mwanawansa never saw his policies come to fruitation due to his untimely departure….in came R. Banda who went on with task and policy’s BUT selfishly and greedily chipped away at the foundation the ultimate Pièce de résistance this recipe that sealed his fate. Why didn’t just follow the simple instructions in the cook book Banda? why? Oh why?
Cont’d
I’m not a PF member but I sure hope we let ‘em give it a go BUT I will assiduously point out errors where necessary and I’m sure Mr. Sata is aware of his limitations as a every good leader always is and has built the right competent team around him to pull it off. I remember Sata from days when he was governor to MP and closely watched his career; his administration is only 3 months old and is under microscopic scrutiny something they ever laid back arrogant RB was never under, and for that he needs our support BUT for the country to ultimately we need to bring every leader from the previous regime to be held accountable for their vastly acquired wealth every one of them. So as we don’t repeat history again in 5 years time.
You’ll be surprised and astonished that there are people out there (like me especially when using a portable device) who just read first paragraph of the article on LT and make a bee-line for the comments posts like our young brothers and sisters in Zambia. Why? That’s reason I pointed out your misleading posts I take exception to people who tend to turn a blind-eye towards misappropriation and mismanagement funds especially when the parties involved here happened to in public office which involves hard-earned tax payers money like that $145million loan which our children will have to pay back.
#44 – #49 JAY JAY – okay, I get your point. The only qualm I have is that please don’t assume that Mr Sata is aware of his weaknesses. No human being can be fully aware of their weaknesses. If that was the case, people like Idi nyama-ya-muntu-Amin, Sadam Huse-whatever, Muamah Gada-United States of fimo-fimo, Mobutu Tsetsefly, all those sickening dictators would probably be still alive being looked after by their own people. But, NO! Their own people were happy to see them off! Now, let us not make Sata that way; let us not deliberately, may be innocently, set him up for failure. One thing is true, he is not going to address all our dreams. THAT is my only appeal to people. Can people debate as adults without decending to the basic political instinct of creating gods out of PF leaders?
its good that my bro., gogiko is back to his self and blogging reasonably. this is as it should be. intelligent discussions will help us and alot of readers out there who dont participate but are keen readers on this site. lets embrace all of us bloggers with a spirit of love like the way it is on dear zambia site. i will be back!
you pf chaps..stop crying over spilt milk..get to work..your 90 days is almost over..makakas..