Nalumango, and the lack of development since Independence

By Daily Revelation Editor

Vice-President Mutale Nalumango says the country has been changing governments since independence, changing Presidents and political players yet still remained poor, saying this persistent struggle demanded a shift in approach.

What Nalumango has said is a very candid and honest view of the state of leadership and national development, in as far as political leadership in this country is concerned.

And we agree with her also when she says that we must abandon the notion that simply changing political leadership can cure deep-seated social and economic challenges, to instead develop concrete, home-grown strategies that focus on the African continent. We would have appreciated for instance if Nalumango could have used the occasion to highlight some of the workable home-grown strategies her own government was working on for instance to change the dynamic where the country kept changing political leaders without any developmental transformation whatsoever.

The main problem we have had in Zambia, particularly, is that despite the changes in government people have effected from time to time, the makeup of the political leadership that dominates the political scene remains the same in terms of character. We seem to be always gravitating towards the same leadership that admires to indulge in the same wrong things those they are attempting to remove from office engage in. Besides that, we seem to have a leadership that seems too preoccupied with self as opposed to the common good. No wonder we continue wallowing in the same poverty and abuses of power from government to government because the first thought in the minds of our politicians when elected into office is always about ‘tidyemo, it’s our time to eat as well.’

Nalumango herself has been on the political scene for a long time, having served as a minister under 3rd Republican president Levy Mwanawasa, and as deputy speaker during the presidency of 4th president Rupiah Banda. She is now the Republican Vice-President under 7th President Hakainde Hichilema. What has she done herself during all these years to cure the deep seated social and economic challenges? How is she working with the President and her cabinet to for instance create a system that responds to the poverty afflicting Zambians, where the country’s abundant natural resources should be channeled towards alleviating the poverty? Is the nation for instance getting a fair share from its main income earner, the mines? what sort of taxes for instance are being levied on the multinationals to ensure that our mining output contributes effectively towards poverty alleviation in the country? What sort of incentives are being advanced to increase local or even government participation in mining?

It’s a fallacy to talk addressing deep seated and economic challenges in a country where progressive moves such as the introduction of a 15 percent export duty on precious stones and metals are quickly reversed, following a few grumbles from the very few people who are benefiting massively from the resource. It is even more laughable to advance the argument that you have taken that move in order to make Zambia’s gemstone sector more competitive globally, when clearly the country continues to reap minimal benefits from the sector due to the overwhelming dominance of foreign firms. You surely can’t seek to advance the country’s competitive global edge on the back of massive poverty within.

Therefore, Nalumango and her colleagues still have an uphill task to match up their words with actions over her pronouncements.