Do They Care about Lusaka Floods and the people Affected

Flooding in many parts of the country has been commonplace for decades. It has become a yearly ritual that the poor have to go through whether they like it or not. The mostly poor areas find themselves at the receiving end every time the country experiences heavy rains. This problem does not affect the leadership and if they are not affected at all, why should they care? Of course, they must be seen to care not only by exhibiting their usual lipservice but also through deeds. It is very long overdue and government has to come up with ways of addressing floods for good. It is such a mockery to see the councils put up drainage that is easily filled by a "teaspoonful of water".

Politicians must care and they must be made to care inasmuchas they were put in there current positions by the same people affected by the floods year-after-year. The relationship between leaders and the electrorate must be mutually beneficial. While the leaders benefit financially through their positions, the electrorate must also see benefits by way of developmental projects in their areas. Flood mitigation projects such as adequate drainage infrastructure will in a sense make them feel that their area MPs and other leaders care for their lot.

Luapula don't be fooled by promise of a Vice President

You will all recall that the people of Western Province were promised by RB that he would appoint a North Westerner as Vice President if they voted for him. We all know that he never honoured his promise and it's all history. His promise was essentially empty and designed to get votes. The problem in Zambia is that we either don't care about politicians taking us for rides or we simply have very short memory. We hope that the people in Luapula province learnt something from the empty promises made to hoodwink their Western Province counterparts. Zambians must not waste their time listening to politicians who have failed to deliver on their promises and their mandate to develop the country. It is sad and unfortunate to have politicians continue to run for office for personal aggrandizement and ease of access to public funds.

Cabinet to table NCC allowances

What will tabling the allowances of NCC members achieve? The majority of the NCC members are government officials with vested interest in the approval of allowances. What this manoeuvrings is is that it amounts to a mockery of the Zambian people especially those living way below the poverty datum line. When will this insatiable desire to rob public funds stop? It is all too clear that the current crop of leadership lacks developmental focus and complete inability to priorities the development of the country. The leadership seems to be racing against time considering that 2011 is just around the corner and therefore sees the urgency to amass wealth now under current corrupt system. Zambia's roads in many residential areas in Zambia are far from being acceptable and it is a wonder how area MPs even have the audacity to crave for their gratuity. At the rate the country's public funds are being misused or let's say misappropriated, there is no hope that residential infrastructure, especially roads, will ever be repaired to the level that was common during the First Republic. A recent of photo of a road linking Lumumba road with Luanshya road is a perfect example of how roads have deteriorated in Lusaka.The ZMK5 billion that NCC members are hankering for can be used to repair roads to benefit the masses as opposed to funneling the money into the pockets of the undeserving few.

Zambia accepts Altimo's Zamtel bid

The Zambia Privatization Agency (ZDA) has accepted a new and fourth bid from Russian telecommunications operator Altimo for pre-qualification in the process to privatise Zambia Telecommunication Limited (Zamtel). The first three bids were received from India's BSNL, Lap Green Networks of Libya and Unitel of Angola on 23 December 2009. The fourth bid from Altimo was received five minutes after the submission deadline of 15:00hrs. Because it was received after the deadline, the ZDA did not open the submission, and indicated that it would call a board meeting to decide whether or not to accept the submission from Altimo. Altimo had sent its submission on time but it arrived at the ZDA five minutes after the submission deadline due to logistical reasons. The ZDA Board at a special meeting held on 30 December 2009 resolved to accept the submission from Altimo on grounds that it was received before the other bids were opened and that no evaluation of the other three bids had been undertaken. He added that the Altimo bid would be included in the assessment of bids because this round of bid was only indicative and not binding and that consequently ZDA would open the Altimo bid. Shortlisted companies and consortia will be invited to the next stage of the privatisation of Zamtel. They will be invited to conduct further due diligence on Zamtel, and will be asked to submit a binding bid for a majority equity stake in the company. The next phase of Zamtel privatisation and details on the indicative bids received will be announced on 11 January.

Climate Change Concerns and the Poor in Zambia

Deforestation in Zambia is a household term that has become synonymous with the indiscriminate cutting of trees by the poor in their pursuit to produce charcoal and firewood and supply both to the cities. A ridiculously large number of households are still without an electric supply, which energy figures of the late 90s’ indicate that 52% household energy supply was attributed to firewood and charcoal. Still a large number of household in Zambia and many parts of Africa use charcoal for cooking in homes and low income restaurants.

The poor in underdeveloped developing countries cannot be absolved of their fair share they contribute in fuelling the global warming through their unchecked activities. For instance, forests in many of Zambia have been wantonly decimated at an incredibly fast rate, mostly by the poor’s desire to eke out a living by supplying firewood and charcoal to urban consumers. A mundane question is whether they should alone be blamed for the destruction of trees in the country or may be other key players like the government need to be factored into the equation. While the production of charcoal contributes to deforestation and hence green house gases, the scenario is all too intricate and lends itself to vicious circle which is viewed perhaps as a helpless situation. The majority have no formal schooling and cannot be employed in formal employment sectors and, at best, charcoal affords them the opportunity to earn something to sustain their livelihood. As for the consumers, the majority are in such a socio-economic grouping than can hardly afford to hook up to an electricity supply due to unexplained high upfront connection fees, let alone monthly service charges. Monthly electricity service charge in Zambia is even higher than in the US (US$49), despite the low production cost of US8.8 cents/kWh. In Zambia, a monthly electricity service charge is double that in the US.

The above scenario leaves the poor without a better income source alternative but too continue option but continue decimating the trees. Here is where government's indulgence must come with measures to ameliorate the situation with enforceable legislation. But where is the agency mandated to enforce environmental regulations?

In any case, the effects of global warming are already being felt and it is the poor that are apparently going to be adversely affected. African countries, including Zambia, have done too little to advance the measures aimed at mitigating the causes of global warming. Although Africa has engaged in climate change studies in the last 15 years, the findings from these studies have not been translated into practical projects to address causes of greenhouse gases and reduction of emission sources. African researchers involved in climate change studies are more focused on personal enrichment than finding implementable source reduction strategies.