By Dr Lubinda Haabazoka
I belong to a School that says that an individual can be
successful but that success is nothing unless his whole
community is successful!!!! So my aim as an individual who
was on government bursary for 10 straight years is to give
back to the community.
Today I want to talk about our shanty compounds.
I was in Rwanda in 2013. I actually met Kagame himself at a
hotel in Kigali. I toured around Kigali including the genocide
memorial park that’s why when our President after visiting
the same place mentioned to say we need to remove this
tribal (village) marks on our NRCs I 100% understood him.
Well, tribalism in Zambia is a topic of another day. So Rwanda 20 years after the genocide has been enhancing
the standard of living for its citizens and that includes zero
tolerance on street vending and the eradication of slums!!!
In Zambia unfortunately, our shanty compounds have been
growing at an alarming rate! Those who live in Kitwe will
notice that there is a slum growing rapidly opposite Chingola
cemetery. The authorities are mute on the issue. Then how
do we develop Zambia when over 70% of the land in each
town is covered by slums? These places have very poor
sanitation.
I watched with extreme shock the state of kuku
compound in Lusaka on prime TV yesterday. People’s
houses flooded and therefore sewer water making its ways
into kitchens, bedrooms etc. This problem is very difficult
solve unfortunately because it started before independence
and has been neglected ever since. When you enter Lusaka
from Katuba, you feel very bad about our capital city. A lot
of poorly planned buildings scattered along the road. When
you go into the provinces, the situation is even worse!!!!
So
what needs to be done? We need a strategic plan where
everyone will work towards achieving national goals. The
Soviet Union and the USA are such places that have helped
solve accommodation problems for citizens. The minorities
in the USA were built flats in what is known as the projects.
In Russia, Stalin, Hrushiov and other General Secretaries
build 5 storey and 9 storey blocks of flats in an effort to
provide decent accommodation. Russia even had a program
to ensure that each family has a motor vehicle.
In Zambia
however, the fiscal regime does not encourage importation
of vehicles. Rwanda is one such country in Africa that is re
planning it’s cities, eradicating slums by building residential
areas in new areas thereby creating space for modern
infrastructure in prime land that was occupied by slums.
Such programs can work in Zambia. Mandevu, Kalingalinga,
Ngombe and others in Lusaka can be redesigned and people
affected given better accommodation elsewhere. The only
way to successfully implement this is to ensure that the
housing projects are built by ZNS, Zambia Army and local
authorities. No tenderprenuers should be allowed near such
a project. The funding should come from the mines! ZCCM
built a lot of infrastructure in Zambia and unfortunately
that’s not the case now.
Mines should be nationalized!!!
Instead of enforcing withholding tax on rent income
punishing the poor in Zambia, let the mineral wealth that
God gave us fund our livelihoods. There are some people
that say we have no capacity to run the mines. Who then ran
the mines from 1969? Aliens??? If Kaunda did it with
standard 2s who are we not to do it with plenty of degree
holders??? I do not pay attention to national development
plans anymore or even read them because they are not
revolutionary in nature.
As a country, we need to become
radical in the way we develop our country. I am a capitalist
by the way and respect private property. Unfortunately the
mines are public property because their product was given
to me and you by God. God chose us to have copper and not
them. So why should we pay high taxes and live in filth and
dirt when we are rich in minerals?
It’s possible to develop Zambia!
This article unfortunately cannot explain the whole plan but
in future, I shall avail a detailed plan to fund such projects.
Have a nice 5 day holiday and thank you Mr President for
Friday. Even economists need to rest!
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About the Author:
Dr Lubinda Haabazoka is an Economist and Director - Graduate School of Business at the University of Zambia.
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