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Dr Musokotwane is ten times better than Magande-RB

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President Banda talking to journalists

President Banda has said that he is happy to have found a Finance Minister, Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane, who is ten times better than former Finance Minister Ng’undu Magande.

The President said Mr Magande thought it was going to be difficult for him to be replaced. Mr. Banda was reacting to Mr Magande’s statement in Friday’s Post Newspaper alleging that the President has exhibited stubbornness when dealing with national issues.

And President Banda has advised Zambians to take advantage of the on-going voter registration exercise and register as voters.

Mr. Banda said it is the only opportunity Zambians can decide on who should be their leader.  He was speaking to journalists at Lusaka International Airport Saturday shortly before he left for Tanzania to attend the inauguration ceremony for his counterpart Jakaya Kikwete.

President Banda said government in September decided to extend the voter registration exercise for an extra three months to capture more eligible voters.

Mr. Banda said he has received reports indicating that more people are now registering as voters than when the exercise started in June this year.

President Banda also said his Tanzanian counterpart Jakaya Kikwete has been re-elected for a second term in office because of working hard.

Mr. Banda said Mr Jakaya Kikwete managed to transform Tanzania’s economy during his first term in office.

Mr. Banda said he was happy that his Tanzanian counterpart won the election despite the negative publicity he received.

editor
editorhttp://www.lusakatimes.com

92 COMMENTS

  2. RB already out of the country again. He will come with development news from Tanzania! The engines of his plane must be very good.

  3. #1 Am glad you acknowledge The president’s statement as fact. Whether Magande is 11 times better than RB it does not matter. History is filled with great and successful leaders who had foot soldiers who were a 100 times greater than them. RB is not scared to choose people better than him because he is self confident and a great leader not intimidated by anybody.

    Look at the people your PF party put in charge of Lusaka!! They are 1000 times worse than SATAN himself and they can’t use simple initiative to clear garbage in the middle of the capital city. Am sure they are waiting from the former great Governor of Lusaka to come and show them how to clean up rubbish on the city of Lusaka. I hear in PF there is no delegation

  5. The economy needs to create more jobs to show that it is growing. Since 1964, Zambia has not had more than 500 000 formal sector jobs, reaching that peak in the 1970s but the number has now fallen to below 400 000 in the 2000s. This means the dependency ratio is extremely high, at about 1:20, i.e. the number of formal sector employees paying tax to support the rest of the economy. To sustain the economy Zambia should have at least 2 000 000 formal sector jobs, thus reducing the dependency ration to about 1:5. Any scenario other than that shows the economy is not growing.

  7. # 6 My English has some cracks in it,so i avoid using it when i can, you know how it is when something is not your mother tongue.Am just another proud Zambian trying to communicate a message to those who can get it and that you can do aswell coz there are no rules limiting anybody here(use local).Peace.

  9. # 4 can u use English. This is not a Bemba site. How can u Bembalise LT. Shame upon u. We cant get what u are thinking as we are not what u think.

  11. # 6,8 and 9 what is wrong with someone using another language apart from english ? And who said english must be the medium of communication anyway ? You chaps must be suffering from some form of inferiority complex such that you take using english to be the in thing at the expense of your local language.Feel free you can aswell use nyanja,tonga,lozi or even tombolilo language.Freedom of speech includes the right for someone to use the language he deems fit, hence don`t try to step on somebody toes in your quest to bring in tribalism.

  12. #9…do you want us to use french, baba? This is a Zambian site, therefore we are free to use any Zambian language, I dont see any British, French, Italian sites etc… using Zambian languages, if you visit any East african site, they are proud to use their language, but pa Zambia anything Zambian is trashed by Zambians..Ubupuba!!

  13. #12 Good point. Hope you wont complain when other bloggers write in Luvale, Kaonde, Lungu, Lozi, Tumbuka etc. Now back to the point at hand. Nobody is indispensable. Seems Zambia has done pretty well either without the late LPM or Magande. Magande has the democratic right to test his mettle in the upcoming general elections. Perhaps the Zambian electorate agree with him as regards his own performance as Finance Minister and his assertions regarding the RB presidency.

  14. Tomorrow this ye-ye president will say another minister is 50times better than musokotwane. So what anyway, who cares about betterment of one over another? I am saying HH, actually every intelligent Zambian is trillion better than bwezani, so there!

  15. RB I disagree with you. Magande was a better finance minister than Musokotwane though Musokotwane is more educated. The reason for this is because Magande had more experience and exposure in high profile jobs on the international scene that prepared him for the role. Had Magande been the minister of finance he would have pumped some sense into you to stop those unnecessary frquent trips locally and internationally that are draining a lot of resources. So please Mr president stop being petty and just admit the truth.
    As for blogging in bemba, tonga, nyanja etc,…well it just disadvantages the blogger since it limits the number of people reading his/her message.

  18. Yes for sure Musokotwane is 10 times better than Magande because he does not question RB’s aimless tours and has let RB and his family have a free reign in corruption scandals, besides allowing for unplanned expenditure by wasting resources on putting up irrelevant, self praising bill boards everywhere.

    Musokotwane is also 10 times better than Magande for letting the mining companies not pay appropriate remedial taxes when they are damaging the environment, exploiting wasting irreplaceable wasting natural resources and in the process polluting our rivers threatening to exterminate entire populations of Zambians in and around their mining areas.

    THATS HOW 10 TIMES BETTER, MUSOKOTWANE IS, COMPARED TO MAGANDE

  19. Let us be proud Zambians by blogging in kaonde,lozi and swakka.This english came with a boat peddled by discoverers,criminals,fortune finders,pipe dreamers and missionaries who brot and imposed their culture on us replacing our language,way of speaking,confidence,dressing,way of life,way of making love,view of the world aswell as our gods.I like a proud Zambian or let me say an african for that matter.Ok abanda has again left the country to attend another “party”, i think it is the beer that the man goes after ,i wonder why he can`t enjoy his castle in state house with ka thandi on the side flashing her smile.Enjoy the weekend pipo.

  20. The best thing Mr RB could have done is to accept that he is stubborn with his leadership style and thats what gonna kill him in 2011 elections.Remember people RB never thought of been president one day, from been farmer at his farm to plot one it came like a suprise, he had totally no agenda for Zambia when Mwanawasa picked on him,so he is still figuring out how it came possible.

  21. #11 wansekesha.Ati TOMBOLILO language.Ya kwisa North Eastern Province.I think this should be RBs language and MMD Chief Bootlicker .
    Ala wandepula mwana.

  22. They are the worst ministers Zambia has ever produced.The problem in Zambia is that we have a lot of doctors and learned people who cannot transform their education into reality.Their education is more of theory than practical.Dr Musokotwane can be a good Finance Minister according to the president,but what has he done for him to be better than his predecessor?He is the same minister who is supporting the removal of abuse of office clause in our anti-corruption act.Dr Musokotwane is not a politician.He is an academician with full of theories which he has has failed to translate into reality.Let him be a university don and impart those economic theories to students.He is supposed to be an economic adviser to the president and not a minister.He is not a pragmatist but a theorist.

  23. We should reach a stage where it matters less what language one uses; in any case I sidestep anything I cannot understand (safest bet). On to the topic, I think RB must refrain from such rhetoric. If one looks at Saruna Sichaba’s apt analysis one notices it matters less what one is doing with donors and budget balancing; it is what is happening to the PEOPLE. Just check out the effect of no jobs on Obama’s grip on congress recently. Let us move away from speaking things that are intangible… one day the population will be “awake enough” to start pinpointing performance and not abstract measures!!!

  25. Magande should cool down.The comparison by RB may not even be accurate bcoz I think the doc is better than Magande a hundred fold not just 10 times.

  26. Ng’andu Magande is better than Situmbeko Musokotwane, who is better than Rupiah Banda.

    However, THEY ARE ALL NEOLIBERALS. As long as we follow their policies, Zambians will remain poor, because the wealth in Zambia will be made by foreign corporations.

    Even the introduction of the windfall tax didn’t last. At least Minister Magande can get credit for that. However, it doesn’t change the underlying philosophy, which is that foreign corporations can come to Zambia, make all the profits they want, sent it to Mongolia or Peru if they find a new deposit there, and never lose sleep, because they have left the people of Zambia with 40% malnutrition.

    Stop thinking about being ‘fair’ to foreign corporations, because they have no such considerations about Zambians at all.

  27. Surely the president should be saying things befitting a head of state. This is just like confirming his hatred for Mr Magande and I’m sure if Mr Musokotwane is a principled man he must feel embarassed by the statement. I am sure no serious minded person takes these airport departure and arrival statements to mean anything.

  28. Magende can not be compared to both RB and Musokotwane. Magande is presidential material and not ministrial. VIVA HH!

  29. When HERP says Magande thought he was indespensible, it just confirms that he was a good minister. Musokotwane has become 10times better because unlike Magande, he won’t challenge HERB

  31. As long as they both follow Free-Market Principles, are pro business and advocate for a liberalized economy, I don’t care.

    We have more than enough evidence to show that Free-Market principles have worked world over for over a 100 years.

  32. I thought RB will outline 10 things that makes Musokotwane better than Magande.
    Last time i watched Musokotwane being interviewed on CNBC in South Africa, the guy failed to articulate a single pillar on which he was building the Zambian economy. Musokotwane was so nervous that his grammer was affected.
    Is there any body who knows much about Musokotwane in terms of his back ground, has this guy ever run a company before? i tried to google but nothing.

  34. bushe ba Banda balifya normal nangula mwaliba akabushilu. Bushe knshi kuti basosa shani ichamusango ichi? baba kwati kaiche.

  35. # 15 Zed Patriot,

    Your ignorance is alarming. Are you sure Magande is more exposed career wise than Dr. Musokotwane? Dig deeper and find our which Global multilateral financial institutions Dr.musokotwane has served besides having a PHD in applied economics with loads of econometrics.

  36. Number 33.Do notuse this good forum for insults. I will recommend to hosts of the site to moderate such contributions to avoid displaying such backwardness .You will soon be traced using the ICT tracking system of IP addresses and computer name. It does not matter wherever you are in the world check on our developed collegues blogs in western countries, thee are no insults such as these.

  37. In the absence of Moses, God who is no respector of persons has Joshua for the same job. Zambia had had the best of finance miniters among them of courage and sound judgement being late Gibson Chigaga who initiated the the great reforms of today others have since been building on.When Chigaga like Moses was sadly gone in bye-bye, God has has Moses from generation to Generation.Dr.Musokotwane is one of the finest economic brains Zambia has been privileged to serve.

  38. I had no idea that our president is so small minded. What yardstick did he use to compare the two? And why go that far to show his hatred for Magande?

  39. Magande did not want to continue as Finance Minister. Instead he wanted to be President. Therefore whether Magande or RB became President is immaterial, there was a vacancy to fill and anybody could have been appointed. Or is Magande suggesting that we should have left the position vacant even if he had become President because there was no other Zambian to replace? Life goes on, Magande or no Magande. How this becomes an issue for debate beats me. And how I hate the self praise by Magande! One important criterion for good leaders is their humility, so I was taught.

  40. Using a local language does not necessarily mean you are have been ‘de-colonised’. This is an open media fora. Zambia’s official medium of communication is English, whether you like it or not. If you want to argue your point on a forum such as this, and assumably to as wide an audience as possible, isn’t it only logical that you use English? – which, contrary to some misguided minds, does not mean you are enslaved.

  42. Most useless President ever. He makes FTJ look like a genius. Does this thick head have Sons to advice him on a father-son level with no other considerations to take care of.

  43. #39, 41 Nice observations. Also those saying Musokotwane does not challenge RB but Magande did, try to use logical theory. Magande challenged RB without a solid foundation and was thumped hands down – even messing up his political life. That is what is called dullness. Those worrying about RB’s numerous trips (me too), State House budget is approved in the House. If RB has exceeded allocation then we can complain. If not then go and complain to your MP.

  44. Where have you seen a rat comparing which snake is better!
    Magande has never criticized anyone but rather questions the policies of this government. Let us all focus on the policies and make it clear to this so called president that what we want is development not useless talks, or trips. Never once has he come back from these useless trips and mentioned what he saw in SA, kenya something that we can also benefit from.

    Personally I am tired of this crap. In what capacity does he think he can start comparing people he is 100 times less educated, experienced to himself. People we deserve a president who talks about development than childish issues.

  45. #11, you should have written in Mongolian. Akise, your name is “Seka Uponoke”, I know you also have freedom of using keyboard, you can use any letter as long as people like ba “some-of-us” ( # 9) understand.

  47. so Musokotwane is the best… LOL
    the former director of zccm-ih Situmbeko Musokotwane, now member of zccm board as finance minister, who is responsible for the disaster of Luanshya… many people fired, the mine sold for a song to their Chinese cronies
    comments of Ken Ramoutar Seecharran, a mining expert, on his blog, author of “Luanshya report” September 2009
    THE INEPTITUDE OF THE GOVERNMENT’s INTELLIGENCE (ZCCM-IH), COULD NOT DECIPHER WHAT WAS GOING ON, DESPITE HAVING A FULLY-FLEDGED MINING PROFESSIONAL WITH A SEAT ON THE BOARD…….. AND THEY REMAINED IN THEIR HEIGHTENED STATE OF SOMNOLENCE, STYMIED BY THE RHETORIC OF THEIR PAYMASTER, TO WHICH THEY SLOVENLY AND OBSEQUIOUSLY CONDESCENDED, IN AN ATTEMPT TO PORTRAY THAT FALSE SUPERCILIOUSNESS,

  48. There’s nothing wrong with using local languages, you people should learn to be proud of your own. No matter how good or how much u speak English, you will never be white period !!

    Levy ali pa state house. Mudala talala bwino !

  49. continued

    WHILE THE MINE COLLAPSED BEFORE THEIR INCOMPETENT EYES. A MODERN DAY EXAMPLE OF “NERO FIDDLING….AS ROME BURNED”, SAFELY ENSCONCED IN THEIR ZCCM-IH IVORY TOWER!!!!!!

    the former director of zccm-ih Situmbeko Musokotwane knows 100 million dollars were swindled from ZCCM and were invested in the banking system in Mauritius but the govt does nothing to recover its money !! why ??

    And these crooks need to borrow money to make ends meet …if mauritian banks refuse to return money why Musokotwane does not publicly make pression on mauritians ?? Today where is the money???
    The finance minister Musokotwane is very lenient with foreign mining companies
    FQM (kansanshi) owes zccm-ih $370 million and gave only crumbs ($24 million) whereas the benefit of

  50. continued

    kansanshi overtook $ 664.2 m in 2008 and $610.4 m in 2009

    Zccm-ih owes the govt $300 million

    the govt owes IMF $ 330 million and was only able to pay back $ 1,9 million…

    glencore and fqm do not rule Mopani mining…
    it is their tax heaven subsidiary Carlisa Investments Corp based in tax havens (in the British Virgin Islands) …

    Carlisa Investments Corp is jointly owned by Glencore Finance (Bermuda) Limited (81.2%), a wholly owned subsidiary of Glencore International AG; and Skyblue Enterprise Incorporated (18.8%), a wholly owned subsidiary of First Quantum Minerals Limited (also in the British Virgin Islands)

    Those companies use transfer pricing to pay no taxes and no dividends to zccm-ih

  51. continued

    and the worst he scrapped the windfall tax on mining companies

    So he is a better CHARLATAN, BOAT, CROOK, IMPOSTOR or a better CORRUPT PUPPET?? Or 10 times WORSE…

    I let you choose… ;-)

  52. Yeah this Banda has some issues with educated people. Wait your time is coming when even your self will feel worthless. Keep yapping shit.

  53. musokotwane may well be 10 times better mr president but show us the statistics to back up the claim. how did you arrive at 10? why not 3 times better? why not 20 times better? do you get my drift?

  55. #3 Show us any Council that has done well in Zambia. You think with your anus. The GRZ is responsible for all the mess in our water and roads sectors, not Councillors,

  57. # Bloggers did you know that Magande & Levy in the signed contract urged Lumwana Copper Mines not to release top Management positions to Zambians because according to them Zambians are incompetent. Imagine, descrediting your own people in the eyes of foreigners….!!!!

  59. 43, well said, but how do they influence things in Parliament when they have foolishly incapacitated themselves by alienating half their MPs? Their parliament is now the Post, and all sensible citizens know that the Post does not make or amend laws.

  60. #57,maybe we are what we are—people I have worked with,IT managers,Directors and the like in my field,it’s a great shame…..

    Our politicians are just an extension of us,the lazy money loving nationals….it hurts

  61. #34, I totally agree with you. That was my exact thot wen I read the article. He sounds so childish! What’s wrong with him? Why can’t he find a better way of praising his bootlickers without sounding lyk a 9yr old?
    Anyway, Magande was by far a better minister than Musokotwane. Musokotwane found a much more organized MOF thanks to Magande. Banda should have just said “MUSOKOTWANE IS 10 TIMES A BETA BOOTLICKER THAN MAGANDE” I’d have been one of the first to agree with him

  62. what has situmbeko achieved..Magande is far much beta ..opene u reyes u old man..maybe u need ur specs again..don;t be cheated!

  63. #27, speaking of airport depature and arrival statements, I think the man just gets so excited wen he sees the plane. Wen departing, its the excitement that talks… wen arriving, it’s the hangover from parties he attended whr he’s coming from.

  64. only MMD cadres can buy these empty statements. What has Musokotwane done to to be 10 times better than Magande? Which scale was Ba Banda using? and who cares anyway. True this statement is like from a 9 year old. But all Zambian politicians are just as cheap!

  65. Wake up Zambia. MMD uya bebele. Mr Tourist are u back we are waiting to hear from your hungy over from the party of your fellow corrupt president.

  66. So what if Musokotwane is 10 times better than Magande! While going by the books that may seem true, being better than another person is best seen and judged if you are able to come out in the open and articulate issues and policies to the satisfactory level of a zambian. Who has ever made an average zambian understand windfall tax better, income tax, excise duty, etc. To date i feel for the confidence in Musokotwane’s voice. Magande’s voice was firmer and you can have belief in his word. Those of you who follow parliament radio, at one time Dr Katele Kalumba was so frustrated with Dr Musokotwane lack of energy when presenting government such that he had to personally advise him to be BOLD enough when debating. For 1, i cannot judge him in 2 yrs, he could be but nay nay has never…

  67. On local language, guys be proud of the mother tongue pilishi napapata sana. This is not say that apa nipamunzhi wa abemba ayi. Naitaizya. Twasakilila mwane, Twalumba badala, Enisha, Litumezi, endita mukwayi. Mwela wekawekafye but donci kubeba.!

  70. It is very disappointing for President to make such cheap comments. Clearly shows that he is not a true leader. If Dr Musokotwane’s relations with the president go bad for any reasons, he will be called incompetent. Leaders have to rise above such and take responsibility. Does RB watch TV? You learn from Friends. Look at Obama, a Youngman but with brains.. Mr. President. Makes us wonder which schools these Old fox attended. It is really a shame.

  72. Good afternoon

    This is typical old timers’ langauge. Plus a trivial statement to come from a Head of State. I would expect something like “a lot better than…” or “much more competent than…” but to use a base superlative as “ten times better than..” sounds like he is talking to a primary school class.

    And for those complaining about the use of local languages on this forum, let them know that English is our second language and we will never stop speaking and writing in our native tongues. It is as natural as breathing… once we stop using our native languages, we will be as good as dead.

  73. Next topic please, we are tired of armchair critics and fake experts who know everything. Quite revolting at lunch time really.

  74. Senior Citizen… you are the greatest blogger LT has ever had…continue doing what ur doing, i love your thoughts!

  76. Foolish topic. Magande has contributed to the nation also. Let us be thankful.
    Do not praise someone who is only a few days in the system, this is nosense

  77. Musokotwane Magande
    BA BA
    Msc Msc
    Phd —-
    Lecturer Civil Servant
    Deputy Governor Admin (ag 3year) Director Budget
    IMF Country Rep. Swazi Executive Secretary Africom
    Treasury Secretary Lima Bank CEO
    Deputy Secretary Cabinet Mnister for Finance
    Economic Advisor to President
    Minister for FInance

  78. To be honest, the way I know Tongas are people who cannot bootlick, thats why many of them are in the private sector where there is no bootlicking everyone is appointed on merit. Magande was too firm and patriotic in his dealings. Mwanawasa trusted Magande because him he believed in a theory which says, if you have people around who all the time say, yes bwana, yes bwana, it means they can never build you. Mwanawas never trusted people who all the time say yes bwana. Banda like those who say yes bwana so that he can take advantage of them, as such there are few Tongas and Bembas in his cabinet because these tribes are not yes bwanas by nature.

  80. Bwezani is very childish. This oldman has childish brain, when he was minister of foreign affairs, he humped margaret dudu mwanakatwe paying for her training in the UK, even up to time when she got married. He is a dirty old bas.tard, hence childish mentality.

  81. Why does this Preisident have to be so petty and personal? He is forever quarrelling with citizens! Let his judgment of the effectiveness and goodness of the two ministers remain his. We, as citizens, also have our own estimation of their effectiveness and usefulness.

  82. Donot charge for you can be charged,do not look at a sperk in some one’s eye when a log is in yr eye.
    Is someone better if survive death from a defective Zaf plane?
    Is some one better when the rate of the kwacha to a dollar is still trading at 4800 to 5pin?.
    at least during Magande ‘s tenature at one time exchange rate came down to K3000.So you can check out whose better?not use personal vendetta.

  83. RB is very wrong on Magande the simple test is that can he at this critical moment even contemplate to “freeze” government workers salaries for even a year and face the consequences – Levy and Magande bravely did that and the consequences we all appreciated.But as soon as RB and Zambolina took over there were Strikes,Mealie meal shortages ,exchange losses ,rise in corruption ,detoriation in standards of living etc.all this happened in just three months.Poor RB -i think you should have your head scrutinised!!!

  86. i cant believe a whole president can say something so juvenile and divisive. if he has any issues with the former, he should do it privately and not use the media to throw below-the-belt punches! its unbelievable!

  87. There is a lot of immaturity being exhibited by our national leaders. Always bickering instead of working together for the good of this country. In the last few years, we have heard nothing but insults from leaders political or otherwise. Is this the kind of leadership we want? Let us search deep within ourselves before we answer. May God bless us all and deliver us from evil.

  89. A devil we know is much better than an angel we dont,RB tell us what Dr.Musokotwane has done ever since assuming that office?As for me the only things he has done are:
    (1) Non introduction of wind fall taxes
    (2)Supporting chines murderers in the name of investment
    (3)incresed budget towards presidential aimless trips
    (4)Supporting the removal of the ACC act section 37 of 1996
    (5)Reduced donor budgetary funding from 15% to 7%……and RB calls’ it as 10 times better than Magande? Maybe there is a reporting error by ba LT it was suppose to be ready as “NEGATIVE TEN TIMES (-10) THAN MAGANDE.SOMEONE TO CORRECT THIS PLEASE.

  90. You are such a great leader.
    Please however that some civil servants have not been paid for two months from September. Ever heard of legacy payroll?
    Kindly intervene we have no quarrel with you but someone at Finance is trying to bring you down.
    Dr. Musokotwane continue with your good work too but take note of this concern about unpaid workers. This trend has been on going for some time now.

  91. i agree with #31 mr capitalist, all i care about is that that minister persues policies that increase job creases, lowers bank lending rates, provies more financing for SMEs

  92. i agree with #31 mr capitalist, all i care about is that that minister persues policies that increase job creation, lowers bank lending rates, provies more financing for SMEs

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