[By Melvin Chisanga]

If you are a new comer in this country, you may be tempted by its sheer socioeconomic outlook, to suppose that this Zambia is undergoing a war of some kind.

Wait a minute! Did I want to dispute that fact? On hind sight I think it is true. Zambia is a country under the siege of the governing elites. For all I have grown to know, notwithstanding the fact that this country has not been ranking among the economic giants of this continent, Zambia has not been ranking among the worst economic performers either. Even amid world economic recessions, such as that of 2008, Zambia has been able to prove her economic resilience by holding her own.

The obvious question that should arise then is, how did we get here? Vantage Point today endeavours to give an account of Zambia’s journey to the bottom of the log of most measurable national economic performance indicator variables of African countries. Let’s take the excursion together, shall we?

But before I start the motor to take you on this poignant trip, may I ask that we be in one accord in as far as agreeing that we have been living under a quickly deteriorating situation for some years now. And if the current status quo is anything to help us forecast into the future, doomsday must surely be lurking around the corner.

Just like Rome was not built in a single day, the government of The Boat did not drown Zambia to the socioeconomic seabed in a single day. To the contrary, their failure to live up to, not the expectations of the people Zambia, but their own promises too, has been a gradual process instigated by one scandal after another.

From my vantage point, the beginning of the failure of the PF to govern traces its origins in the very foundations of the party. Do you know what clinicians would have called it? A brought in dead (BID) government, lol! The follow-up question that one may ask is, how so?

Well, without sounding like one disparaging not only elders, but also the deceased, may I beg your indulgence even as I criticise our departed and immediate past president Michael Sata (MHSRIP) posthumously on some of the decisions he made, which have brought us to a place where he would be turning in his grave if he saw.

Moreover, as the founder of the PF, it is only fair that he is apportioned a befitting share of the blame for Zambia’s current situation over some things that went wrong under his watch. Furthermore, is it not his vision that President Edgar Lungu claimed to have become president to fulfill?

Since President Lungu hasn’t come back to inform the nation about having found a vision of his own, we can only assume that he is still using president Sata’s notes in his administration of national affairs. As such, there can never be any discourse around Zambia’s position without his name popping up somewhere.

With due respect to his highly decorated political career, despite the founder of the PF party having been a seasoned politician boasting decades of experience in politics, his preparedness for the 2011 general election seemed not to have been for anything beyond just winning the election. The first challenge that Mr. Sata had in the formation of his government was that of human resource. Save for a handful individuals, the majority of Mr Sata’s followers and supporters were of non-educated backgrounds.

The fact that the PF membership was by and large drawn from the hustling majority, who connected very well with Mr Sata’s pro-poor campaign massages, was notwithstanding the fact that he himself had a fair educational background.

As appointments to government positions mostly prioritise individuals who may have rendered support to the party forming government, it is a no-brainer that when Mr Sata needed to come up with a team to help him deliver his vision, he had to begin with members of his party before he could look elsewhere only to supplement. And therein laid one of the initial problems that started Zambia’s journey to the bottom in earnest.

Following the political tradition of rewarding party members and family, Mr Sata was somewhat obliged to make do with the quality of personnel that could fit in those categories when it came to political appointments. He was forced to fill most of the key government positions with ‘useless’ individuals, as was later confessed by himself.

With a cadre of useless ministers, one of whom President Lungu was, Mr Sata’s first failure to register was his failure to live up to his pledge to restore Zambia’s dignity, which according to him had terribly waned, within 90 days. If only he could see how his PF has turned Zambia into a world laughing stock, he would unreservedly apologise to RB for having called him a failure. Who else should share responsibility with Mr Sata for letting down the people of this country if not his useless ministers?

Instead of hitting the ground running to begin to correct the things that he so much criticised the MMD for, Mr Sata wasted his first 90 days in office doing things that were of very farfetched economic value. Unless the dignity he talked about restoring was only nominal, the renaming of airports which president Sata did during his maiden press conference was just a waste of time. Unfortunately for Zambia, renaming and rearranging places seemed to have become president Sata’s preoccupation as he went on to divide Northern Province into two, move the provincial headquarters from Livingstone to Choma and create many new districts in the name of enhancing service delivery.

The big man must really have been enjoying the creative powers that the Constitution gives to presidents. It must have reminded him of the seven days of creation when God simply said let there be, and there was. It is fair enough that president Sata made these pronouncements with the view of bringing the government closer to the people. The only thing that his useless ministers did not remind him about was the huge cost that was to come as these newly created government departments would require a lot of funds not only to construct but also for staff salaries.

To date, most of the so-called new districts are only existent on paper, with their cadre personnel operating either under a tree or in a rented building at an exaggerated price; as the government infrastructure still stands unfinished as white elephants, highly prone to the poaching of vandalism, ironically by the same cadres. God help us!

Was it not during president Sata’s tenure that Zambia contracted the first Eurobond on 5th October, 2012? Make a date with Vantage Point next time as we together continue looking at this heart breaking and yet interesting subject.

Remember, this is an election year, during which you are supposed to know those vying for political office for who they really are. Should you not vote wisely, don’t say you did not know your candidates because Vantage Point is here to remind you of what you could have forgotten about them.

chisangamelvin@yahoo.com

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