By MARTIN NYIRENDA-
RECENT slaps on the wrists of some Government officials by President Michael Sata ably show that most national leaders were merely chips off the old block which fits into paraphrased words of the Ghanaian writer Ayi Kwei Armah, that it seems ‘leaders’ or are they the beautiful ones who are still not yet born? This brings in the aspect of why Africa is still under-developed as many critical analysts believe that the African continent would not be looking as ugly as it is and its people dying of hunger and poverty if the continent’s resources were well managed, and the income arising from such resources fairly redistributed. Some observers have argued it all in the past, and continue to argue now that the bona fide quandary of Africa is its leadership, which they describe as ‘corrupt’, ‘malicious’ and ‘reckless’. The leadership, according to some critics, uses natural resources of their countries for their own benefit, and most of the times take the lion’s share emanating from the sale and extraction of national resources, and leave a few peanuts to their people. That is why poverty and social inequality still persist in Africa, most people would argue. The 2013 Africa Progress Report released recently by the African Progress Panel has pinpointed this problem, contending: “Africa is standing on the edge of enormous opportunity and African policy makers have critical choices to make. “They can either invest their natural resource revenue in people to generate jobs and opportunities for millions in present and future generations. Or they can squander this opportunity, allowing jobless growth and inequality to take root. The report points out: “In many African countries, natural resource revenues are widening the gap between rich and poor. Although much has been achieved, a decade of highly impressive growth has not brought comparable improvements in health, education and nutrition.” In countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Angola, for instance, which are sanctified with gargantuan rich mineral resources many still struggle to properly describe the living conditions of the majority of their people there. Is it indignity … loathsome at play in the face of abstentious display of material wealth against the shadows of squalor, disease, abject poverty and human degradation? Alas, it’s no coincidence that the Africa Progress Panel, chaired by former UN secretary-general Koffi Anan, says it was convinced that Africa can better manage its vast natural resource wealth to improve the lives of the region’s people by setting out bold national agendas for strengthening transparency and accountability. The report urges African governments to improve their governance and strengthen national capacity to manage own socio-economic and political affairs as one of the broader economic and developmental strategies. More so, national leaders should strive to ensure transparency and accountability prevail to spread the benefits of national revenues via equitable public spending. Yet examples still linger of how some of our leaders have continued to contribute to under-development of our societies, while some political scientists describe the problem of Africa as almost a symptom of a symbiotic relationship between the rich and the poor where the poor is dealt the weak hand, deliberately. The late Walter Rodney, the Guyanan historian wrote a book about that titled, “How Europe Under-Developed Africa” where the author observes that reversing under-development is no longer absolutely tenable because the major culprits of the destruction of Africa today, are Africans themselves. Major corruption in African officialdom continues to cause degenerative under-development on the continent. African countries have become personal estates of official criminal gangs whose avowed aim is not the development of their countries, but rather the siphoning off of national resources into foreign banks. The seizing of the luxurious apartments at Belsquare in Brussels, Belgium, by Zambia’s Task Force on corruption on grounds that they were acquired using public funds explains in depth, by extention, at least in one sense or the other, why Africa is still under-developed. Officials in the tiny European principality of Luxembourg froze eight bank accounts totalling US$600 million belonging to the late ‘super-corrupt’ Sani Abacha of Nigeria. Another example of how our African leaders contribute to the under-development of Africa! Official corruption siphons off money intended for the development. In Zambia, Government has continuously raised the panic bells that people misapplying the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) would face the gauntlet of the law. How indeed does one account for CDF released to a particular ward or constituency and spent on buying building materials which go to waste? Are these activities not reversing development because some political charlatans are failing in their duties? “We have had some leaders pursuing wrong-headed policies. Some councillors have been on record sharing land at the expense of the people. There is a case in point which was reported to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and other relevant authorities were also informed but no action has been taken against the suspected culprits. “This is a case in Ndola where land reserved for expansion of a clinic has been ‘corruptly’ offered to a developer despite the fact that the community applied for the same plot to be reserved through the local authority almost three years ago. “Official correspondence is all available to make the work of ACC even much easier to follow up the case of allegedly day-light corruption. “I appeal to the ACC to contact me on 0968904896 so that it can be made aware of suspected corruption activities involving some leaders. After all, that is what President Sata wants!,” intones a Ndola resident, who wished to speak under the guise of mystery. Sonia Mulopye, another Ndola resident, quips that corruption has been one of the pertinent impediments towards strides to score development, adding: “People in communities have a lot of information about what is happening on the group, including suspicious undertakings by some of our leaders, including others holding public offices. Corruption will continue if Zambians are not given a platform by law enforcement agents to disclose suspiciously corrupt activities in society.” Failure by relevant institutions to attend to complaints raised by some members of the public on corruption is defeating President Sata’s vision to fight corruption. Failure to act on any single public detail relating to suspected corrupt undertakings in society amount, in the rewords of Bob Marley, to a dream — a dream to fight corruption — to be pursued, but never attained. On the first day of this month, Gady Museka of Kabwe, wrote a letter to the Times of Zambia Editor: “It is good that President Sata has publicly expressed disappointment with some people he is working with who are not performing. That must be a wake-up call to those people. The ministers who are not performing national duties as expected have the potential to frustrate the economic growth of the country. That is why there is a level of frustration being experienced by citizens in some sections because some ministers and members of Parliament (MPs) are not effective. There is a need for the affected ministers to improve and that they should change their work ‘culture’. “It is disheartening to see President Sata’s vision (to develop the country) being frustrated by some individuals. President Sata’s administration is repairing the poor road networks, building health centres and learning facilities as well as improving the living standards of all Zambians through supporting small and medium-scale entrepreneurs. Let the President act now to remove all those who are frustrating his efforts to develop Zambia. Why under-development in Africa, let alone in Zambia, remains a pertinent question which Patu Simoko, a prominent journalist long asked.
