International Trade Consultant Trevor Simumba has warned that Zambia is in a debt crisis and that 2018 will be a real struggle given the continued stagnation.
Mr Simumba said there is need for government to carry out a detailed expenditure review and impose strict value for money test criteria before making any large expenditure.
“When I first raised the debt issue in June many so called experts doubted my assertions and now the IMF has indicated even much higher debt at 60% of GDP,” Mr Simumba stated.
“We are in a debt crisis and with continued stagnation 2018 will be a real struggle. The Minister has been told in no uncertain terms that he must revise the 2018 budget,” he said.
He added, “during the ZICA budget analysis, I stated to the Minister that the most glaring missing piece was some level of expenditure control and his response was so defensive rather than acknowledging that our problem in the first place stems from poor fiscal management.”
He said, “There is need for Government to carry out a detailed expenditure review and impose strict value for money test criteria before making any large expenditure. Government must also rationalise it’s spending and reduce on costs like travel, procurement and plug all revenue leaks in the system.”
“There is also need to maximise revenue collection from the mining industry. And more importantly privatise or commercialise many of these loss making parastatals that suck money from the treasury.”
With the PF GRZ spending $1 million for a truck that costs less than $380k 42 times , that is a far cry Mr simumba….corruption is at the bottom of our problems….
You do not buy a truck at $380,000 and bring it into the country and sell it for $380,000. Show us all the cost breakdowns (freight, duty, insurance, and profit margin) and let’s critically see where the stealing occurred and how much was stolen. Just crying wolf without a proper analysis is dangerous.
THERE IS NO OTHER WAY FORWARD FOR ZAMBIA BUT THIS: “THE INEPT, INCOMPETENT AND CORRUPT PF SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM GOVERNMENT.” TALKING ABOUT OTHER POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS IS JUST A SHEER WASTE OF TIME AND ENERGY.
Abilima that is true BUT what is also very true is that as a government you do not buy expensive equipment through third parties you buy from the source damn it!
abilima your level of dishonesty just stinks of C O R R U P T I O N. The big question all of us dull Zambians are asking, is w h y didn’t govt deal directly with the supplier? We believe govt would have benefited from discounts, favourable credit terms, support services etc.
@abilima, what duty are you talking about? So government procurement attracts duty? And shipping a truck like that from U.K. Southampton directly to Lusaka is less than $12,000; 42 trucks will be less than $500,000. This is pure corruption bwana, no matter how much you defend it…
What I don’t understand is why the PF government is using third parties to buy government equipment when they can cheaply buy directly from suppliers. Is this not one way of swindling the government by PF officials?
Tongas at work. Sembe nii hh….Wenyo
Simumba: your faith in PF/lungu to accomplish things successfully is misplaced. The negative response from the minister should have warned you already you are dealing with id!ots. Proverbs 9 vs 8 says “don’t correct a fool or he will hate you” Verse 9 continues: “Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.” Simumba: You don’t need any body to tell you that the PF/lungu govt is very far from intelligent. This much is painfully apparent, I mean as evidenced from the blunders they commit nonstop.
@abilima you are very dull.
How do you accept $760,000 (freight, duty, insurance, and profit margin) for each fire truck that cost you $380,000? What about those rejected bids for $16 -$18 million for the 42 trucks($380,000 or $428,000 per truck).
Not everybody is dull like you.You PF followers need to go for mental evaluations.
As usual “Trevor Simumba” a tonga can only predict hell for mother Zambia!!i really dont know why these upnd followers are like this.hey for once ba upnd try to wish mother Zambia well unlike alarming us day in,day out!!all nations world-over borrow money to grow their economies.Zambia is equally doing the same and borrowing carefully.this tonga man cannot tell me that all those senior Govnt officials with PHDs,some are Proffesors do not reason and cannot advise the PF Govnt properly.”the know it all” habit by upnd cadres and HH himself is what has killed upnd.they say “nobody has a monopoly of wisdom”.so we can only be successful in life by advising each other than ALARMING THE NATION!!
NOTE BA UPND;NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST MOTHER ZAMBIA SHALL PROSPER!!”so our economy will be…
So what do you want people to say? That all is well? So if your mother buys a K1.00 loaf of bread for K100.00 that is ok with you and wish your mother well?
That is myopic thinking!
Tito – What is “if your mother buys a K1.00 loaf of bread for K100.00 that is ok”, will you please elaborate.
You are extremely dull. Someone is talking about the state of our economy and the only thing u can see is UPND. Even if it was a political talk,
It is said if you cant say something good about somebody just shut up. It helps
@2 Njimbu, PLEASE ARGUE LOGIC with LOGIC and FACTS with FACTS! Trevor is advancing a REAL CASE OF DEBT which should be countered with CONTRARY FACTS!! We all know NOW that there is UNGUARDED EXPENDITURE TO BENEFIT THE FEW CORRUPT who are MAKING US THE MAJORITY SUFFER!! Its NOT ABOUT TRIBE!! In fact TREVOR SIMUMBA is Namwaaanga NOT Tonga as you are putting it! People have been shown that WE NEED TO UNITE AGAINST THE THIEVING CLIQUE, therefore TRIBE IS ASIDE, the hour of reckoning is coming!! JUST BRACE FOR MORE of what Trevor is explaining!
This Trevor is talking rubbish. His tone of reasoning is not different from that of their supreme leader HH.WHy always painting a gloomy picture about Zambia?
Trevor Simumba is Mambwe and not Tonga. I went to school with him. You are running away from debating with Trevor. Your tribal prejudices stink.
Njimbu,
Since when did a Mambwe like Simumba become a Tonga. Trevor is a Mambwe from Mbala in Northern Province.
@spaka like lilo:
You sound very boring.the corruption you sing about daily is just in your head.the fire engine issue is dead and burried and nobody is taking about it now.kikikikikiki…many people are talking about the CHOLERA OUTBREAK AND HOW TO CONTROL IT!!!
plus sadly for you,the niggas who lead upnd (HH & GBM) are known corrupt men whom many Zambians cannot trust.HH got whatever he has today via corruption (privatization) with FTJ Chiluba.then when he served as a minister in PF Govnt,GBM gave himself huge contracts at Zesco,FRA,etc(via corruption).SO ECL APPEARS TO BE MORE CLEANER THAN THE CR0OKS ON TOP OF UPND!!
this is time to work and not finger pointing.ONLY LEVY MWANAWAS WAS A REAL FIGHTER OF CORRUPTION IN ZAMBIA.the current politicians(ruling or opposition) only care for…
Ati ” people are talking about the cholera outbreak …”
After borrowing close to $800 million in the name of Lusaka water and sanitation cholera returns to bite the pf theives in the A.ss….
PF were borrowing money on different occasions totalling close to 800 million lying about water and sanitation only when we raised issues with this and US AID said they too paid $350 million towards the same project did PF stop lying with that name.
As UPND say the hopeless PF thieves treat the cholera out breaks like an expected annual occasion or gathering….
Njimbu sorry uli Chip.ba. What a combination of a name, thinking and fellow. People are suffering and that’s all you can Say? Wabe….
Really, Mwanawasa was the real fighter of corruption? What about his nepotism and family tree? How many of his relatives were sent to foreign missions including grade 2 primary teachers! What about UNZA land which he shared with colleagues and friends. Okay because he enriched the Nchitos and went for Chiluba?
We’re in a classic Italian situation , spiraling debt and a flat economy = catch 22 PF style.
It is people like Njimbu that make Africa what it is. They cannot see things beyond political boundaries. Very myopic analysis. Sometime I wonder why we a cursed with millions of such people in Africa. Sometime I agree when people call Africa a dark continent. We have too many people like Njimbu with empty skulls; thats our main problem.
Dark continent for sure…..if you want to see the level of PF thinking just look at his comments……he is the one who proudly boosts that it ” rains money around lungu”…..while the majority of zambians wallow in abject poverty….
it is called the curse for illiteracy
Trevor is wasting his time with these empty tins!!!
@Spaka like lilo:
PF Govnt means business in all sectors.ask your tribesmen in Kafue and Chilanga about a huge water project which PF is doing now.within a year or so,water problem in Lsk will be over.huge pipes are being connected from Kafue river into Lusaka.soon water blus will be over in LSK.PF has touched all sectors which MMD Govnt neglected for 20 yrs.before we vote in 2021 many of our problems will be addressed by PF.this is the reason why we are seeing Govnt iniating huge project almost everyday across Zambia.FTJ Chiluba’s MMD spent 20 yrs in power doing nothing apart from stealing from us via privatization with HH.all what unip left were destroyed by mmd.those are the things PF is correcting now AND ALSO DOING NEW DEVELOPMENTAL PROJECTS!!!
With debts approching $17 billion do you expect less ?????
Comment: Don’t mislead the public. The water project was started by Mwanawasa and is funded by USA. It is not a Pf project. shameful liar! We have the facts.
even a preschool kid we are in debt crises.no need for international consultant.
in the same vain even a preschool kid knows u5 will never rule zambia
he can only put 3 provinces in a balot box.
2021 he will lose
2026 he will lose
2031 he will mentain his tribal vote
even a minibus conductor knows zambia is in a debt crises. whether debt or no debt u5 will never rule zambia
Some level of thinking is appalling. Stop thinking provinces and ballot boxes and think about the huge taxes people are paying to service these debts. Put the people of Zambia first for once.
@iwee c1kala laughing matter, this is not about HH but the interest of citizens at large. HH and Lungu will die but Zambia will still be there. i just wonder how some people manage to be so stup1d
@KN:
Its actually you who is an empty skull as you cant reason beyond your tribe!!!
As long as HH is not in state house,you shall continue blaming those in Authority.Kambwili was very right when he said that if Jesus stood on any other party in your land against upnd,you guys would vote for a upnd candidate and reject the Son of God!!!
Those in Authority are human beings like all of us.so they make mistakes.but that should not make us think that we know everything or we are angels than our leaders.THEY SAY “ITS EASIER SAID THAN DONE”.from outside the box,HH can promise heaven on earth,but once he is in the system,all could just become “life as usual!!they say “THE DEVIL (PF) YOU KNOW IS BETTER THAN THE ANGEL (UPND) YOU DONT KNOW!!!”
So come 2021 ni PF nafuti nafuti in 6.5…
Look… we are faced with a leadership crisis and it is not Lungu’s fault. I believe he should rule the best he can and pull back unnecessary government expenditure, which at the moment is not happening. As for the opposition, HH failed Zambia before he even became a politician. I am a Zambian hailing from Northern Province and comfortable for anyone across the country becoming our leader, my opinion and remains main cause am entitled to one like everyone else is that HH disqualified himself. Privatisation he presided over disqualifies him, because if you can sale a country down a river like he did with his masters without wincing, Sir, with due respect, Zambia does not need you. I personally would prefer Magande. Can you (HH) step aside sir? You HH were asked one simple question in SA…
I used to relate ti
Spake like itole
Cha ba nyoko
Zambia is in maningi trouble. We are pretending all is well and the Minister of Finance is really covering up the inefficiencies.
To a certain extent I could relate to under5 those bygone days when he was painted as “economic manager” by his handlers. I even thought I could even consider him as an alternative for President. But as luck would have it, before I could gather enough courage to cast a vote for him, the boy shot himself in the foot (as usual) when he teamed up with GBM, Mmembe and now Kambwili. With this motley combination of “allies”, the boy now even has the audacity to call us cowards and tell us that he will fight corruption!! I tell you that politically this boy is damaged beyond repair. Every noise that he makes now is total contradiction, by the time we get to 2021 his voice will be hoarse with fatigue and he will have exposed himself further…..don’t I know the boy!!
So you Trevor, who do you think doesn’t know that we are in an economic crisis? It is in THE public domain and the reasons are well known including the poor prices of copper. Even HE has not denied that. But as a good leader he is seeking solutions rather than throw his hands in the air when faced with an adverse situation. As parents we too always give hope to our children don’t we? We don’t go singing our problems to our neighbours but seek solutions.
Ati seeking solutions….
Bring back our $42 million….
Can you imagine if under5 coward was the President! He would have abandoned us under this kind of pressure, no doubt about that!
tongas will never rule as long as bembas and Easterners still exits I would rather vote for green party than upnd
Kaili ulichisushi 🙂
Comment:Wanza weyi
Zambians we whether PF, UPND, MMD, Church, Business houses e.t.c, we need to accept the fact that, PF as a party and government died with H.E Micheal Chilufya Sata and the PF we have now is GONG’A and gong’a has since outlived its usefulness. There is no doubt about it. Why ulunkonena kwati Ninda muchifunga cha muntu ufwile? Even the Minister on planning at Ministry of finance has confirmed that PF is buying whealbarrows mistaken as Fire tenders. Kambwili has spoken about corruption of those in government.
ati ailing dictator urine bag. and when he died you danced who night drinking chibwantu.
You thought it was time for u5
if you think gbm takes over upendi press RED
if you believe u5 cannot rule zambia with 3 provinces respond to this post
Dora diliya was in the forefront dancing and insulting sata , where is she today ?
Prudent financial management is certainly a critical factor of national development. The problem starts with rigidities and lack of flexibility in accelerated investment in infrastructure development. To the extent that various projects have been successfully completed and serving communities, it is inaccurate to emphasize debt without quantifying the national wealth. What is needed is what government is trying to do. That is, opening up the territory to investments through new universities, colleges, schools, hospitals, health centers, districts, tollgates, etc. An attractive investment destination needs good road networks, airports, electric power stations, hotels and lodges, shopping malls, etc.
Agreed all you mentioned above to a certain extent. If voters do not believe “it’s the economy stupid”, we shall perpetually buy mobile hospitals, fire engines and airplanes as our national priorities. Agriculture should have taken priority as it has backward and forward linkages to all industries in the country. Mwanawasa recognised this, but what are we doing… this is scary! Next we shall learn of the country buying submarines and pushing it down the “country’s economic throat”. So there’s extravagance there and definitely a spin off of back-kicks. There has been some successes with PF and definitely major indefensible misplacement of priorities.
Wasteful expenditure is also punishable by law. Note, wasteful expenditure needs to be properly documented and researched before taking the matter to the relevant authorities. It is no enough to complain about fire engines and mobile hospitals. The correct approach is to hold government accountable through correct channels, including courts of law. The civil society community in its present form lacks credibility and muscle to convince government to rescind purchase of fire engine and mobile hospital. The issues were simply moral subjective judgments rather than illegal conduct as enshrined in existing law statutes.
For a drunken guy who assumed the reins of high office without a clue of what he would do, but soon discovered he could personally amass wealth by engaging in “under the table” this kind of thinking is far – fetched! He has gone and set a very bad example for those in cabinet because they emulate his leadership style. In turn the leader cannot fire the ministers when they practice what he does, because he set the trend by the rot that is identified with him! The country needs a new crop of leadership to instil patriotic values in the nationals based on genuine love for the motherland! The chat in State House today will do something because he is assured of a cut in a given deal!! Shameless greed and betrayal of those selfless sons of the soil who fought to free this country!
Well said……lungu is teaching the young generation and school kids that it is ok to be called a corrupt theif everyday as long as you can get away with it…….
Any new leader ship will have to put effort in showing our young that it is not normal and ok to be called a theif……..
The projects being implemented are okay but the problem is that procurement tenders have become a conduit for corruption. These contracts have benefited thieves more than the people. Without corruption Zambia would have benefited twice or thrice on these projects.
Fly on the Wall, good vibe. You “speak” very well “The country needs a new crop of leadership to instil patriotic values in the nationals based on genuine love for the motherland!” My only criticism is “what are you doing about it?” If you doing nothing, your silence is corroborating and guiding their acts whether you like it or not. If you are doing something, no matter how small, I give you a thumbs up! Food for thought.
Comment:HH never sold any mines. He had no authority to do so. Only ZPA had that power to sell mines. HH only provided consultancy. Ask Valentine chitalu who was the head of ZPA. Don’t listen to lunatics and maggots like Njimbu. Simumba is spot on! Enemies are pipo who hide the truth. Zambia is in a debt crisis indeed. Be warned everyone. That’s more the reason why IMF refused to approve any loan because mutati and his master are hiding loans.
mwansa kalends, spot on on everything you have said but not on HH. Here is why… There is a tacit order in Zambia that if you corroborate with thieves, even buying a stolen item, you are a culprit and liable to punishment. HH is running to become president and was part of these chaps you are mentioning. So in my humble opinion, he is not fit to be POZ no matter how you cut and dice it, cause he corroborated with the thieves, meaning he is still the same person who if he becomes POZ, will run the country with the same mind set and consciousness. If HH can answer me one thing… How can I be a millionaire in £ and in Zed before I reach his age as was asked in SA without telling me that is not necessary?
@abilima you are very dull.
How do you accept $760,000 (freight, duty, insurance, and profit margin) for each fire truck that cost you $380,000? What about those rejected bids for $16 -$18 million for the 42 trucks($380,000 or $428,000 per truck).
Not everybody is dull like you.You PF followers need to go for mental evaluations.
Yawn…..the standard of Zambian political observations and comments is appalling indeed!!
The article is about the country being in financial decay and some of you desperate beings are fixated on the tribal and election issues !! Zambia will forever be backward due to people choosing to support corruption and useless leaders. The man is telling you that you are running bankrupt, but you’re in denial and you divert to ; which tribe is doing what!! Will tribe feed the poor in your bemba or ngoni areas ? Come 50 years from now, Zambians will still be thinking shallow and still be poor and only the few will be rich from thieving within the first week of being in office.
Icilonda ecikalipa umo nganacikwata. Mweba votele pf nafwebashamuvoteleko tuleculila pamo. Pali ifwe babili ifipuba nifisa? Amalibu yakuilombela fye kukutemwa ama ten pini bamupela pakasuba mu street. Lwenu lo.
We know who you represent! You don’t represent Zambia! It business masquerading as “Consultant!”
HH sold stuff as a group and he store!
POINT!!!
You mean HH stole government property at age 30, by obtaining mining licences and all government approvals and the President then was too dull to do anything to one simple man. Next you will tell us UPND caused the State of Emergency just in time for fire engines! Yet, your precious Lungu is at a record 44 intentional trips in less than 3 years. The same man that preaches peace reconciliation and austerity measures. No wonder they steal with impunity.
Sorry Trevor, can’t hear you. The money counting machine is so loud!