Zambia Rugby (https://www.ZRU.rugby/) has decided to use the COVID-19 ‘downtime’ to improve its administrative capacity by adopting and implementing scrumIT as Rugby Management System (RMS).

According to Gen Clement Sinkamba, President of Zambia Rugby, the decision to use scrumIT was driven by the need to streamline the administration of the Union and to empower the Clubs in Zambia to become more efficient and effective in its administration.

“When the novel Coronavirus COVID-19 rudely interrupted all sports in the world and in Zambia, my Board and I decided to look at avenues to use the ‘downtime’ to improve rugby in Zambia. Implementing the scrumIT system was a wise decision and I believe that the Zambia Rugby Union and all our Members will benefit greatly down the line from increased efficiency and enhanced governance compliance,” Sinkamba said.

ScrumIT is an online player registration and rugby administration software developed in South Africa by ENS Software as a service application. The software is internet-based, and users can access it from any internet browser.

Other users of scrumIT include South African based Union W.P. Rugby. The Rugby Unions of Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda are also users of the system. Rugby Unions of Nigeria, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Lesotho have also initiated the implementation of the scrumIT RMS.

The owner and developer of scrumIT, Mr Jaco Brooks of ENS Software, said that he hoped that Zambia Rugby would benefit significantly from the use of the system.

“I started scrumIT as a hobby because of my love for the Game of Rugby. After many years of development I truly believe that we have managed to create an exceptional operational and strategic management tool for rugby administrators that will save them an enormous lot of time and make them more effective at what they are doing,” Brooks said.

Brooks also announced that scrumIT has decided to offer the RMS for use free-of-charge to all rugby unions in Africa.

“I am a rugby lover and this step is part of my contribution towards helping a game that is experiencing massive challenges to keep on growing,” Brooks said.

The scrumIT system has an impressive range of features that include: Union and Club/School Management, Player registrations, Talent identification and squad management, Document and video management services, Fixture management, Online real-time scoring with integrated competition logs, Social media integration, Individual player statistics, Next of kin contact information, medical aid information, Player transfers (Inter-club, inter-regional and international), Referee management and allocations, Coaching Management, Inter-club and federation communication (bulk email), Player injury recording, Disciplinary process and player sanction management, Comprehensive reporting services, “Get Into Rugby” management.

In 2015 ENS Software in conjunction with Ghana Rugby also developed a module to manage the “Get Into Rugby” participation and events of the core youth development programme of World Rugby.

Zambia Rugby is a full member of both Rugby Africa and World Rugby and competes in most of the Rugby Africa tournaments.

By Stephen Nyoni

The provision of checks and balances is a stipulated undertaking guaranteed within the emblems of democratic practice and governance. It comes within the need for there to be counsel and guidance on the implementation of issues and execution of power.

Typically, it must be provided by experts in a particular field who may not be in governance themselves but have an interest in the advancement of the excellence of their area of concern. In this vain, prominent well experienced economists will provide advice on issues of national development and fiscal policy, similarly, retired military commanders will guide on foreign policy should it concern the ambits of defence protocols. Well vested civil servants of a previous generation can bring to light the manner in which they may have handled critical issues when they were brought before their tables, while civil society and academia that carries out up-to-date research in a particular field can equally provide alternative evidence when it realises that the existing practice differs from its findings of the actual state of things.

These are checks and balances; guidance, advice, motivations, encouragements (etc), provided to a ruling regime by a patriotic sector of society that is well vested in the topic in question with the intention of ensuring social, economic or geopolitical development for the good of the greater society and preventing the abuse of power by certain sections.

Checks and balances therefore can be prescribed within a limited boundary and stipulated method. Because it is the interest of the public that is of concern, there is a process that must therefore be followed to separate checks and balances from social chatter. They must be particularly identified as being the opinions of experts who have the academic qualification, technocratic know-how, previous experience or current involvement in an issue.

Checks and Balances in a typical system are very easy to separate from any other forms of political engagements because they are presented in a sematic manner that brings issues directly to the attention of policy makers and not for the purpose of seeking public clout. The provision of these (extremely) significant democratic practices are for the interest of the citizenry; the good of the state. It is not for the glory of the individual as a champion of a particular idea or assumed movement. This is ideally the reserve of those whose practice is determined as being a patriotic act derived from an internal move for the good of society. Those compelled by the fact that they have the experience, the knowhow or the education that may be much required at a particular point in governance.

It must be realised from the onset that these systems were designed following years of tests and trials. The Democratic system itself spans from years of failed constitutions, several disagreements and constant evolution to eventually have landed on the present day assumption that places liberal democracy as being the most probable form of political governance. It is this same tried and tested system that determines that in order for the function of the state to be free of the excesses of power, there must exist the three arms of government being the Judiciary, the Executive and the Legislature.

This is the second time in political study that the concept of checks and balances is mentioned. In this instance, the practice is the reserve of three separate arms of government whose duties are clearly defined and designed in such a way as to reduce the influence of power that one arm may have on the people. Even in this instance, Checks and Balances must and can only be provided for the interest of the public good; the national interest. For the People!

These concepts are often used but hardly understood even in everyday politics. We often misunderstand them intentionally in order to facilitate our abilities to access certain powers that are in fact not allotted to us in the system we proclaim with grandeur as being our most preferred system of governance – We intentionally oversight the stipulations as and when it favours us and then blame the system itself when we eventually find ourselves facing the repercussions of stepping outside the prescriptions of our governance style. After all, it exists in a society, among people of various religions, backgrounds and social affiliations who all concede to a given practice and agree to be governed in that fashion through a provided procedure. In the case of Zambia, this procedure is clearly stipulated in the constitution and further enforced by the cultural and social norms that exist among us.

It is no surprise that we have found ourselves in the midst of several ‘messiahs’ championing causes whose knowhow they are completely bankrupt and who themselves are motivated by the hope for remuneration from their actions. This places us at great risk for the future; that should we blatantly set aside the prescribed channels through which we may air our grievances for the sake of fitting into pop-culture and emulating the practices of other societies, we will find ourselves in the open as and when genuine calls for social changes are needed.

Our greatest bet remains to strengthen the systems that currently exist and the channels through which check and balances can already be provided because our being outside of the alleged beneficiaries does not make us automatically wiser than those who speak less than us on the inside; they follow procedure and it actually results in change.

We must avoid these confrontational attitudes that end up presenting us as enemies of the system even when we are also merely trying to contribute. It is only imperative that the system will automatically go into its defensive mode should it feel attacked instead of counselled by any sector. It is also designed however, to respond to sectors that seek to provide progressive assistance for the development of the greater society. There is room for us to continue growing as we learn how best these systems function in our ever evolving societies. In achieving this, there is no us and them; we are in this together; Zambians, young and old; all trying their best to create for themselves a space that facilitates growth and prosperity for the present and the future. May God help us in this vein.

I read the article by Barnabas Zulu challenging the United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Mr Hakainde Hichilema to say how he would solve youth unemployment in Zambia with interest.

I am not a politician but I think that in a democracy we are all free to air our views and to subject our ideas to scrutiny and a healthy debate. I commend Barnabas from the civil way in which he has brought up this issue and I also feel the pain that the young people are going through in Zambia today.

I was a student once, at the University of Zambia when in only my second year of study there, I got a holiday job with Barclays Bank. I was paid a Teller’s wage and my job was always available whenever I came home during the term breaks. Shortly before I finished secondary education, we were visited by scouts from the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) in rural Zambia and told that ‘employment in the mines was second to none.’ I do not think that I would have joined the mines if these people had not come to talk to us. As soon as our Cambridge Overseas School Leaving certificate examinations were out, ZCCM was ready to offer scholarships to whoever they fancied. These were the days when the United National Independence Party (UNIP) was in power. Was there no corruption, tribalism and nepotism at the time? Of course there was. These vices are as native to any people as the air they breathe. Where there is more good being done, corruption is hidden and does not affect the overall outcome of events.

There was an obvious downside to ubiquitous availability of employment. The most obvious was that remuneration was poor. At one time, ZCCM employed more than 50,000 people and thousands more depended on the mines as contractors. As long as labour is a commodity, it will be subject to the laws of supply and demand. Where there is a semblance of free market rules, wages are inversely proportional to the availability of labour. Under socialist economics employers can be forced to employ as many people as the government wants and the result is that the workers are paid less. You can tell how little we were paid in those days when you see that very few graduates owned cars, let alone television sets! Even fewer owned their own homes because the majority rented accommodation from the employers or private landlords.

This background information is obviously of no comfort to the young people today, but I believe that it is important to set the scene. It is a widely held myth that politicians CREATE jobs. They do not. We the voters have come to believe this codswallop and as a result they have come to us promising heaven but delivering hell. Others have a belief in governments that make the rich richer and expect more crumbs to fall from their tables so that the poor underneath also have more. The ‘trickle down’ theory is also just a myth. This fails to take into account human greed.

It is a widely held myth that politicians CREATE jobs. They do not

The reason why government cannot create jobs is the same as what Ronald Reagan once said, ‘Governments do not make money, they spend money.’ The money government spends is our money. It spends the money it takes from us to pay us! Originally people paid the state in the same way shop owners in the crime ridden inner cities pay for protection against criminal gangs. We have just elevated the principle to national security. So, this leads me to say what the role of government is. It is to make for conditions that enable the citizens to attain their goals in peace without let or hinderance. In our villages, the whole community contributed to look after those who were unable to look after themselves by reason of age or infirmity. We have given this role to government AND we pay it to do so. We also pay government to protect us from thieves and to keep our borders secure. Where corruption and such like vices are rampant, government has failed and is instead stealing money for goods it is not supplying. The leaders who enrich themselves while failing to level the playing field so that others can rise are thieves.

Now, this is where the issues Barnabas raised are important. It is government’s role to LEVEL the field so that everyone has an equal opportunity to have a go at life. Once in a while, in a crisis, like war, government may have to divert jobs from certain industries to Warcraft. It is not creating employment, it is just changing the nature of employment. If there is a natural disaster or an economic meltdown, the government may engage in building infrastructure ONLY when it is the only institution that has the wherewithal. It is wrong for government to do this when private citizens can do. Government should never compete with individuals in the financial markets. You cannot have a loan at reasonable rates when government is also borrowing from the same bank.

Lastly, on the matter of seed capital. You are right Barnabas that it is difficult for one to get a loan to start a small business in Zambia. Apart from the reason I alluded to above, there is also the lack of a culture of saving in the country. How many parents have ever opened a bank account for their children? A bank lends to its customers and not to strangers. You bank with them, they will lend to you. Here is a role government can play. It can set every child on a banking path by opening trust accounts for every new born baby and probably extend it up to 5 years of age. We have too few personal bank accounts and even fewer life insurance holders in the country. The services industries are now the biggest contributors to wealth building in any developed nation. For commerce to go well, we need INTEGRITY both at personal and state level. People MUST pay what they owe in the time they promise to pay. If this happened, an employer would have money to pay wages in time and even create more jobs. Sadly, this is woefully lacking in Zambia. We do not even blush when we cannot pay what we owe. Our government has the same disease.

By Charles C.