My Encounter with Jobless Youths

The Questions On My Mind: Is Zambia Turning into A Police State?

No, journalists don’t twist things

Perceptions of journalists are almost always negative — even if misguided.

It is easy to perceive us as liars, chaotic, rude and lacking in consideration for others. Outside of our professional practice, we are husbands, wives, fathers and mothers. 

We have different aspirations also. Some have chosen this path to serve the public while others do so to win favours from those they cover. The later cannot be said to be journalists. They are something else. 

Do journalists twist information? Some, yes. But others are purely professionals who chase the truth wherever it is hidden. Our first obligation should be to the public. Our commitment is to the truth.

We represent the public and therefore we must be in touch with public opinion. We must be fully aware and understand the aspirations of the people. When we ask questions of government they do so on behalf of the people.

Journalists, like any citizen operate within the law. We know that defaming people or lying about events can land us in trouble. As we go about doing our work, we are also mindful of balancing ethical and legal issues.

When ethical issues emerge in our workplace or in our personal lives, we are often told to follow our conscience. It is never easy to do so. Sound ethical thinking requires a more analytical process of deliberation and discussion and should be based on a foundation of well-considered values and principles.

There is a huge difference between ethics and law. There are many examples when ethics can clash with the law. For example, a judge can order a journalist to reveal the source of his or her information but because of the promise you made with the source, you will refuse to do so. In law you will have committed an offence but ethically that is the right thing to do – never to betray your source.

The concepts of the law and ethics are similar but differ in significant ways. Both are concerned with governing conduct, with protecting rights, and with determining what is right and what is wrong. They both operate in harmony but can come into conflict as well. Broadly speaking the law tells us what we have the right to do. Ethics helps us decide the right thing to do.

Most journalists insist they have an ethical obligation to refuse to disclose the identity of confidential sources. Unless they can honour these promises, they argue, potential sources will refuse to speak to them in the future, and the public will be denied important information.

One thing that cannot be ignored is that, journalists are human beings. Like anybody else, they have values and principles. It is these values which guides their conduct. What we value as individuals also shapes the choice of topics or subjects to write about or indeed our career path.

Some journalists have chosen to use their profession to get to the top, to dine with kings thereby betraying the public. How do you expect a person who drinks from the same bowl with politicians to be objective? For we know that the drink loosens the tongue and you start speaking the language of your master.  

Photos: Newseum, Washington DC

No One Benefits If Women Are Held Back

The International Women’s Day came and went. I have been seeing women in positions of power and influence and I thought we had made great strides in achieving gender equality until I looked at the National Assembly website.

Of the 166 Members of Parliament, only 30 or 18% are women. Of the 29 full cabinet ministers only nine are women. They say numbers don’t lie and for sure in this case we are still far from matching our pronouncements with action. We still have very few women in key decision making positions, especially elective ones.

Even in other fields, it is pretty much the same. It has taken the country more than 50 years to produce the first female fighter pilot. Thokozile Muwamba loves aerobatics and her ambition is to become the first female air force commander in the country. I am sure very few male folks will tolerate this! As she noted in the interview the BBC, “the aircraft knows no sex”.

https://web.facebook.com/bbcafrica/videos/vb.285361880228/10155111104985229/?type=2&theater

Like Thokozile, over the past few decades, women around the world have been pushing boundaries in educational achievement, political representation, and economic participation—yet, gender gaps remain.

Unfortunately, most women are still shunted in the kitchens and fields in the villages as men continue to claim the lion’s share from the national cake. Are men smarter than women to claim what they have? The answer is definitely no. I have seen terrible men in society but I have also witnessed smart women.

Globally, just 55% of the women participate in the labour force compared with 80 percent of men—and women are only now earning what men did a decade ago. I am sure the statistic above does not take into account the many other jobs that women perform.

As countries around the world seek to grow their economies and reduce inequality, tapping into the huge potential of women can be a game changer, says IMF Director General Christine Lagarde. Recent analytical work—including that done at the IMF—clearly demonstrates the compelling business case for women’s empowerment. Everyone has a role to play—including governments, businesses, and international institutions.

Recent research by the IMF shows increasing women’s participation in the labor force can deliver significant macroeconomic gains. For example, the research says, if Latin American countries raised their female labor participation to the average of the Nordic countries (about 60 percent), GDP per capita could be up to 10 percent higher.

When the Rwandan delegation went to Beijing, China, in 1995 for the landmark women’s conference, just a year after the genocide in their country, the East African nation was cited as one of the worst violators of women’s rights. Today, as the world marks 22 years since the Beijing Declaration on gender equality, Rwanda leads other countries with women making up more than 60% of parliamentarians.

In the words of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, “No one benefits if women are held back. We have to change mindsets, not just the laws”. The trend in Rwanda is positive. If it continues, the country may just meet the new 2030 deadline for gender equality in all sectors of the economy.

Rwanda has made great progress in promoting gender equality, largely driven by strong Government commitment. Rwanda was second in the world according to the 2009 Social Watch Gender Equity Index, with only Sweden having a higher score. Gender equality is enshrined in the constitution and Rwanda was the first country in the world to have more than 50% female members of Parliament.

Rwanda provides lessons for countries like Zambia. While Zambia has a ministry of Gender, in Rwanda the government has gone further by by adding a gender monitoring office, a commitment to gender-based budgeting, and in recent years there has been a strong emphasis on fighting gender based violence. Women have the same rights to inherit land as men. Girls are equally as likely to attend school as boys and there is a Girls Education Policy and Implementation Plan in place.

However, a gender gap remains in public sector higher education, particularly in science and engineering, but women are taking advantage of the opportunities to study in private higher education institutions. Although the majority of women, especially poor women in rural areas, have yet to benefit, the gap between men and women employed in non-farm work is widening.

Going forward, it is clear that achieving gender equality will require not just transforming economies to reduce inequalities, but also getting countries to accelerate the implementation of commitments they made to women 20 years ago.

Lessons from Mauritius

Mary-Jan Dabot (right) talking to a Zambian entrepreneur

In Zambian politics, the old generation are the ones fighting for a future. What future when they have had their time in government and have had a fair share of what life has on offer?

When you see them supporting a particular candidate, just know they are not doing it out of principal or for a favour. They want to be paid in return. This could be in the form of an appointment in government or in foreign mission. Have you forgotten so soon that a  certain Mr Solomon Mbuzi, a man who could hardly walk or speak was appointed to be ambassador in a certain mission abroad when the country has a number of energetic and qualified young people to do that. All that Mr Mbuzi did was to shout the loudest that PF was the right part to form government. 

While there is nothing wrong in the above actions, there is everything wrong if all these old men and women are just interested in the benefits that come with holding these offices. They must work and ensure that they bring innovation on board. The country is in dire need of selfless leaders who would make very difficult decisions to break the ring of poverty strapped around the necks of more than 60% of our people. This country requires a leader who will improve the lives of the majority and not just a few relatives and party sympathissers. We need a leader who would be able to make a policy shift that ensures that the private sector becomes key to job creation. Why should we all clamour for a few jobs in government just because they offer force security where you lazy around but continue getting your salary. This is not health for a country that is serious with development. 

Countries that have made progress have long realised that it is not the duty of government to create jobs but to develop good policies for social and economic development. The recent conversation I had with a Mauritian government official was revealing and encouraging. He put it succinctly: “Obviously, government does not create jobs, it is private business that creates jobs, so we tell people, either you train yourself to become employed by some enterprise or you create your own enterprise and employ others and this vast campaign on entrepreneurship is supported by a number of measures.”        

The measures which the government of Mauritius has put in place for its business people include providing start-up capital and technical support to budding entrepreneurs. Starters are coached to become efficient entrepreneurs and given access to finances for their business. Banks ask you for collateral and emerging entrepreneurs don’t have collateral. So, leasing companies have been established that do not require collateral. Secondly, the government also supports access to finance through negotiations with banks, bringing them to support the working capital requirements of enterprises through concessional loans. Through these kinds of loans the interest rates are lower.

The business people produce and search for markets. They also ensure that their products are competitive on the world market. Mr Amedee Darga, the chairman of Enterprise Mauritius, says his government’s role is to support the private sector to find new markets for exporting the products and services.

Thus it is not by accident that Mauritius currently exports manufacturing goods of over 3,000 products to over 150 countries. The country engaged in an aggressive economic diversification, first using the proceeds of its once dominant sugar industry to build a strong manufacturing base, and then broaden into service sectors such as tourism. Mauritius now has an average annual growth rate of around 4% and manufacturing remains the spine of its economy. Manufacturing has contributed over 122,000 jobs for a country with a population of slightly over a million. 

With correct people in government and right policies, we can do the same by using proceeds from copper to grow other sectors of the economy!  

The desire to lead

The list of those who have expressed their interest to succeed late president Michael Sata has grown rather long. It stands at 10 as of November 19^th 2014. By the way, this number does not include those in the opposition political parties who will battle it out with the ruling party in next year’s presidential elections. 

When you ask many of these candidates what their biggest worries are, you will be astonished to find that it is rather things like how to deal with having a big car, which relative to employ, which country to visit and so on and so forth. These are rather little things that should not drive people's desire for the high office. The country's problems  are rather too numerous to mention and they require selfless leaders if we are to overcome them. 

Yes, we need a leader as soon as possible. But that leader should be someone who will help reduce the high poverty levels, put more children in school, improve our healthcare system and create opportunities for all Zambians and not just members of his party and relatives. 

I don't have the answers to the current leadership conundrum but it lies each and everyone of us. Let us choose wisely and save the future of our children.      

No one should die in search of a better life.

The death of 19-year-old, first year UNZA student, Munsanka Makwambwa, who allegedly committed suicide by drinking doom – an insecticide, makes sad reading. Why on earth should someone be driven to death because of failure by those in authority to make right decisions. Bursaries are for poor people like her and not sons and daughters of politicians and top civil servants. I ask the leaders one question: where is your conscious on matters such as this one?

Nelson Mandela showed us the better side of political leadership and humanity which should continue to inspire us. He once said, education is the great engine of personal development. “It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that a son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another."

What has led to the death of this young life is down to corruption and misplaced priorities. You have continued to induce bye elections and fund them but fail to fund education, health and other such sectors. 

Corruption is the silent killer which seems here to stay. In June this year at morning Masses in the Vatican, Pope Francis spoke against corruption, reiterating his message against corrupt people in power which he first gave at a morning Mass last March attended by 500 government officials and incumbent and former lawmakers. As if he were addressing Zambian officials and members of ruling class, Pope Francis warned the government officials against abandoning the path of God’s love and liberating salvation for the dead-end road of self-righteous corruption.

Pope Francis made his March 27 remarks at an early morning Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica, some hours before US President Barack Obama paid him a courtesy call at the Vatican.

The Pope used the readings to point to “The ruling class—the doctors of the law, the Sadducees, the Pharisees”—who “were closed up in their ideas, in their ministry, in their ideology.” These leaders refused to heed the Word of God, he said, and even justified their rejection of Jesus by claiming that he was “a prince of demons.”

The Pope said corruption in politics, in business and even in the Church “hurts the poor who always pay the price for the gain of the corrupt others.” Pope Francis noted that to the corrupt, God has clearly said that He will bring disaster on them and their families.

He said, corruption vexes God and scandalises people because it exploits, enslaves, even kills the vulnerable while those who commit this crime are focused solely on money and power.

The Pope said “The corrupt are traitors who steal and kill, who exploit the innocent, but they do it at a distance with gloves on so that they do not have to get their hands dirty.”

God curses these people, but he said they can, just as Ahab did, repent. Ahab tore his garments and fasted and humbled himself before the Lord.  The corrupt must repent and make amends for what they have done.

The Pope concluded by reminding the faithful that our duty as Christians is to ask forgiveness from God for those “people we read about in the papers” and “pray for their conversion of heart and for the grace that we may never become corrupt ourselves.”

If you’re one of those corrupt officials in the bursary committee, the Pope’s message speaks to your conscious. You must feel guilty that you have contributed to the death of this young lady we read about. 

What we read in today’s Post Newspaper about Finance Minister, Hon. Alexander Chikwanda concerning Chinese nationals and their “love for corruption” should not be taken lightly. It is a reflection of what goes on in many government institutions where rigid systems have been put in place to perpetuate corruption. It is everywhere, in education, at the pension fund, passport office, RTSA, police, in the judiciary – to mention a few. What we need is serious action from those who govern us to get rid of corruption and serve the lives of the majority poor.