President Rupiah Banda is not happy that no attempt is made to suspend civil servants allegedly stealing public funds. Banda said this May 21 when he closed the sixth Zambia International Business Advisory Council (ZIBAC) conference in Livingstone.
He said instead of facilitating investigations by suspending those suspected of theft, it seems nothing is being done as the accused continue to freely serve in public office. He said transferring a person from one ministry to another does not solve anything at all but only shifts the problem.
“We have this problem of the K10 billion for which I have been attacked as President. I wasn’t there when they were stealing and building those mansions.
If you ask the Secretary to the Cabinet (Dr Joshua Kanganja who was present) or anyone of those who are responsible, the (suspects) are still sitting in the ministry right now,” he said.
Banda wondered why there has been no single attempt to suspend the suspects despite some of their property having been frozen by the Anti-Corruption Commission. He called for serious investigations into the matter and find out what was going on than just looking at the suspects.
“So you have the Patriotic Front having a hey day, you have The Post newspaper, the UPND (United Party for National Development), all of them saying it’s Rupiah Banda who caused all this. But Rupiah Banda was not even there, he was working with his gum boots at the farm. But the people who did this are sitting in the ministry today,” President Banda said.
He said he would like to see a situation where when one is caught stealing, that person is not allowed to continue serving but put aside until the matter is resolved.
“If someone is sitting on 10 cars and builds mansions, unless he says they are not his but belong to his grandfather, they should be put aside and investigated properly. Suspend all others who could have been there also,” President Banda said.
He said there is need to be tough with the manner with which public resources are being handled. He said allowing people with selfish motives to plunder public funds will make the current leadership fail to leave a legacy for posterity. He said there is a bad atmosphere in the country especially that there is a new President after the demise of President Mwanawasa.However, he said the bad atmosphere should not be there but instead everyone should be ready to work as one family regardless of class in society.
President Banda said ZIBAC has been helpful to Government such that it has brought to the fore the need to do more than what has been done and more especially on the need to implement the set recommendations.
“In order to implement recommendations, there must be harmony amongst all of us. Discussions help a lot. The private sector is our partner and without it we cannot resolve many of these problems we are facing,” Banda said.
And Lord Cairns said he did not want to interfere in the running of the country but that if there are civil servants or ministers who are not ready to move with President Banda’s vision, they should be changed. He urged President Banda to see to it that Cabinet and the civil service are accountable.
Showing posts with label Lord Simon Cairns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lord Simon Cairns. Show all posts
Friday, May 22, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
We need attractive investment policy, says RB
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda says Zambia needs an attractive investment policy to entice and retain foreign investors. He says because of an increasingly competitive investment environment in the world, Zambia needs an attractive investment policy.
He was speaking May 20 in Livingstone at the 6th ZIBAC conference under the theme, “The Global Economic Crisis: Zambia’s Response to growth and Competitiveness”.
The ZIBAC theme, he says, is a clear challenge and there is need to respond to the global financial crisis so that the country does not just mitigate the effects of the crisis but position itself to move forward as the economic crisis begins to clear and normalcy returns to the global economy.
The president says new approaches to partnerships, joint ventures and business strategies should be considered to increase the size and scale of investment, which includes the public private partnership (PPP). He assured the private sector and the cooperating partners that his administration would continue to attach strong political will and commitment to private sector development.
“We will continue to appreciate all the support we have received from our cooperating partners to implement the next phase of the private sector development programme. One big lesson is the need to move faster in implementing programmes and the reforms we have agreed upon. We need to monitor effectively the implementation of reforms and programmes,” Banda said and was aware that the private sector is concerned about the approval of the recommendations on the business licensing reforms. He assured the business community that Government has worked tirelessly to ensure the report was finalised and all the consultative meetings held.
“The report will soon be presented to cabinet for consideration. Government has to further accelerate the implementation of reform policies and programmes. Through this forum, I want to get an appreciation of how we can move quicker in implementing the resolutions that have been agreed upon,” he said.
Further, the president said Government has put in place a framework for monitoring the implementation of all agreed policies, programmes and projects on a monthly basis. He said this will ensure that any bottlenecks in the exercise will be identified and addressed on a timely basis.
“Zambia has to compete in the global economy. This means that our industries must produce goods and services that can compete within Zambia and with the rest of the world. To do this we need to create a conducive business environment and a favourable investment climate,” the President said.
The response to the global economic crisis, he said, should be to ensure that there is adequate safety net to protect the vulnerable in the society to moderate the suffering of the people who lose jobs, like the case in the mining sector.
“We should ensure that we maintain food security through promotion and prioritising measures to support the continued growth of the agricultural sector. Infrastructure should equally be kept in focus to allow the country place itself on a stronger footing once the recovery begins to take shape,” Banda said.
He said Government is experiencing a reduction in its domestic revenue collections and that this is not only a wake-up call to implement resolutions made at many forums such as the ZIBAC, indaba, the North-South Corridor but also a call to diversify the economy away from copper production.
And Zambia International Business Advisory Council (ZIBAC) chairperson, Lord Simon Cairns, says he was a little aggressive when two years ago he took a swipe at the slow implementation process of the resolutions of previous gatherings. But he is now impressed that the atmosphere in Zambia is rather different as regards the implementation of resolutions of ZIBAC meetings.
"There is now increased political will to work with the private sector in the implementation of resolutions. When you allow the private sector to do what it has to do, it creates sense in the economy. I have a great sense that there is much more for Zambia to do in the region,” Lord Cairns said.
He said the global crisis is largely in all the G8 countries while China and India’s economies will continue to grow throughout the next few years. He said Government has to be a provider of social goods that allows civil society to be looked after as well as allow the private sector do what they are supposed to do and believed there is more convergence now by all players than before, adding that there is great understanding on diversification.
“Zambia is a great country and can do more and has a number of great advantages. Everyone is talking about the right things and the question is just getting them to happen,” he said.
Danish ambassador to Zambia Harry Molenaar says donors’ primary purpose is to assist the Zambian government to reduce poverty. He said this can happen when there is more productivity and competitive businesses. However, Molenaar aid this requires a sound policy environment for the private sector to operate.
Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Felix Mutati said there has been some progress made since the last meeting in 2007.
“The output of this process will be implementation, implementation, implementation. Two key issues are what must we do to move the process of reducing the cost of doing business in particular here in Livingstone the tourist city,” he said.
Mutati said Government intends to convert all licensing under one umbrella known as the one-stop-shop. He said the other issue is that of bringing down the fee for the international getaway before the end of August 2009.
He was speaking May 20 in Livingstone at the 6th ZIBAC conference under the theme, “The Global Economic Crisis: Zambia’s Response to growth and Competitiveness”.
The ZIBAC theme, he says, is a clear challenge and there is need to respond to the global financial crisis so that the country does not just mitigate the effects of the crisis but position itself to move forward as the economic crisis begins to clear and normalcy returns to the global economy.
The president says new approaches to partnerships, joint ventures and business strategies should be considered to increase the size and scale of investment, which includes the public private partnership (PPP). He assured the private sector and the cooperating partners that his administration would continue to attach strong political will and commitment to private sector development.
“We will continue to appreciate all the support we have received from our cooperating partners to implement the next phase of the private sector development programme. One big lesson is the need to move faster in implementing programmes and the reforms we have agreed upon. We need to monitor effectively the implementation of reforms and programmes,” Banda said and was aware that the private sector is concerned about the approval of the recommendations on the business licensing reforms. He assured the business community that Government has worked tirelessly to ensure the report was finalised and all the consultative meetings held.
“The report will soon be presented to cabinet for consideration. Government has to further accelerate the implementation of reform policies and programmes. Through this forum, I want to get an appreciation of how we can move quicker in implementing the resolutions that have been agreed upon,” he said.
Further, the president said Government has put in place a framework for monitoring the implementation of all agreed policies, programmes and projects on a monthly basis. He said this will ensure that any bottlenecks in the exercise will be identified and addressed on a timely basis.
“Zambia has to compete in the global economy. This means that our industries must produce goods and services that can compete within Zambia and with the rest of the world. To do this we need to create a conducive business environment and a favourable investment climate,” the President said.
The response to the global economic crisis, he said, should be to ensure that there is adequate safety net to protect the vulnerable in the society to moderate the suffering of the people who lose jobs, like the case in the mining sector.
“We should ensure that we maintain food security through promotion and prioritising measures to support the continued growth of the agricultural sector. Infrastructure should equally be kept in focus to allow the country place itself on a stronger footing once the recovery begins to take shape,” Banda said.
He said Government is experiencing a reduction in its domestic revenue collections and that this is not only a wake-up call to implement resolutions made at many forums such as the ZIBAC, indaba, the North-South Corridor but also a call to diversify the economy away from copper production.
And Zambia International Business Advisory Council (ZIBAC) chairperson, Lord Simon Cairns, says he was a little aggressive when two years ago he took a swipe at the slow implementation process of the resolutions of previous gatherings. But he is now impressed that the atmosphere in Zambia is rather different as regards the implementation of resolutions of ZIBAC meetings.
"There is now increased political will to work with the private sector in the implementation of resolutions. When you allow the private sector to do what it has to do, it creates sense in the economy. I have a great sense that there is much more for Zambia to do in the region,” Lord Cairns said.
He said the global crisis is largely in all the G8 countries while China and India’s economies will continue to grow throughout the next few years. He said Government has to be a provider of social goods that allows civil society to be looked after as well as allow the private sector do what they are supposed to do and believed there is more convergence now by all players than before, adding that there is great understanding on diversification.
“Zambia is a great country and can do more and has a number of great advantages. Everyone is talking about the right things and the question is just getting them to happen,” he said.
Danish ambassador to Zambia Harry Molenaar says donors’ primary purpose is to assist the Zambian government to reduce poverty. He said this can happen when there is more productivity and competitive businesses. However, Molenaar aid this requires a sound policy environment for the private sector to operate.
Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Felix Mutati said there has been some progress made since the last meeting in 2007.
“The output of this process will be implementation, implementation, implementation. Two key issues are what must we do to move the process of reducing the cost of doing business in particular here in Livingstone the tourist city,” he said.
Mutati said Government intends to convert all licensing under one umbrella known as the one-stop-shop. He said the other issue is that of bringing down the fee for the international getaway before the end of August 2009.
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