DAILY PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES FOR THE FOURTH SESSION OF THE ELEVENTH ASSEMBLY

Thursday, 4th December, 2014

The House met at 1430 hours 

[MR SPEAKER in the Chair]

NATIONAL ANTHEM 

PRAYER

__________

QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER

SENIOR CHIEF SHIMUMBI’S PALACE IN LUBANSENSHI

257.    Mr Mucheleka (Lubansenshi) asked the Minister of Mines, Energy and Water Development: 

(a)    when Senior Chief Shimumbi’s Palace and Shimumbi School in Lubansenshi Parliamentary Constituency would be connected to the national electricity grid; and 

(b)    how much the project would cost.

The Deputy Minister of Mines, Energy and Water Development (Mr Zulu): Mr Speaker, connecting Chief Shimumbi’s Palace and Shimumbi School to the national electricity grid is subject to the outcome of the feasibility studies scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2015. The feasibility studies will commence next month.

Sir, the cost of electrifying the palace and school will be determined after the feasibility studies of the area have been conducted.

I thank you, Sir. 

UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITAL 

259.    Mr Hamusonde (Nangoma) asked the Minister of Health:

(a)    what measures the Government was taking to decongest the University Teaching Hospital (UTH);

(b)    whether the Government had any plans to procure more beddings for the hospital; and 

(c)    what measures the Government had taken to employ the required number of health workers countrywide.  

The Deputy Minister of Health (Dr Chilufya): Mr Speaker, to decongest the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), which is congested due to the rapid increase in the population of Lusaka Province and the country as a whole, the Government has taken the following measures:

(a)    upgraded Chilenje, Chawama, Kanyama, Matero and Chipata urban health centres to first level hospitals by increasing their bed capacity and expanding infrastructure, that is, building theatres, and providing maternity and other health services. Chilenje and Matero health centres are already under construction;

(b)    increased the bed capacity at Levy Mwanawasa Hospital as Phase II of the project;

(c)    constructed a diagnostic centre in Lusaka to offer additional imaging and laboratory services;

(d)    constructed the Lusaka West Hospital as a second level hospital; and 

(e)    strengthened the referral system so that only specialist cases are referred to the UTH. Other services will be offered at the upgraded health facilities. For instance, maternity services, including cesarean sections, will be offered at Chilenje, Chawama, Kanyama, Matero and Chipata first level hospitals.

Mr Speaker, the Government has issued tenders for the procurement of K7 million worth of linen for all tertiary hospitals in Zambia. The UTH is expected to benefit from this procurement. The Government, through the Ministry of Health, has engaged various strategies to ensure that the required number of health workers is attained countrywide. The following are some of the strategies:

(a)    Conducting Biannual Recruitment – the Ministry of Health recruits health workers biannually;

(b)    Drawing up Succession Plans – the Public Service Commission has put in place succession plans to fill positions that fall vacant through separations and promotions by conducting timely audits and tours nationwide. One payroll audit has already been planned for December, 2014;

(c)    Making Budgetary Allocations – the Government has allocated K52 million for the net recruitment of 2,500 health workers in 2015;

(d)    Conducting Training Programmes – the ministry has employed the following strategies to address the shortage of human resource in health institutions: 

(i)    expanded the output in existing training institutions. Nursing schools collectively produced 2,857 graduates in 2012. However, the number has increased to 3,339 in 2014, representing a 17 per cent increment in output;

(ii)    expanded information technology programmes to enhance education through electronic learning (e-learning) so as to increase the number of health professionals;

(iii)    established additional training facilities in order to increase human resource in the health sector. The School of Medicine was established at the Copperbelt University (CBU) and the ministry is in the process of establishing another school of medicine at Mulungushi University. This initiative will address the shortage of medical doctors in Zambia. The additional training institutions that have been built include the Senanga Nursing School; and

(iv)    established privately-owned universities and colleges to increase the number of health professionals;

(e)    Constructing new Schools – the ministry is constructing training institutions such as the National Health Training Institute with an estimated student capacity of 2,000. In addition to the training school for community health assistants in Ndola, the ministry has constructed … 

Interruptions 

Mr Speaker: Order, on the left!

Dr Chilufya: … a second training school at Mwachisompola Demonstration Zone with a capacity of 208 students specifically targeted to mitigate the shortage of health workers in rural and remote areas;

(f)    Re-opening closed Schools – the ministry has re-opened training institutions such as Chitambo in Central Province and Kaleni in the North-Western in order to meet the demand for qualified health personnel; and

(g)    Introducing new Training Programmes – the introduction of new training programmes is another strategy used by the ministry to scale up the human resource in the health sector. Programmes such as Direct Entry Midwives (DEMS), Combined Nurse Midwife, Pediatric Nursing, Clinical Instructor Nursing and Critical Care Nursing are all aimed at addressing the critical shortage of human resources in the health sector.

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Hamusonde: Mr Speaker, the hon. Minister is aware that in rural areas, there are no nurses at clinics. When are we going to have nurses in rural areas?

Dr Chilufya: Mr Speaker, the Patriotic Front (PF) Government has prioritised the provision of health services in rural areas. In this regard, K52 million has been set aside for the recruitment of nurses. We have given priority to the recruitment of nurses who will be deployed in rural areas in order to strengthen primary health care. So, our primary health care strengthening programme is focused on the rural areas with a view to having more nurses deployed in rural areas. This year, the recruitment of health workers has also focused on rural areas.

I thank you, Sir.

Rev. Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha (Keembe): Mr Speaker, how many of the students that you are training at Mwachisompola Zone Hospital are going to remain in Keembe Constituency?

Dr Chilufya: Mr Speaker, the enrolment of students to Community Health Assistant Training Schools is done in such a way that we ask communities to identify the people to be trained. Those from Keembe, for instance, will be redeployed in Keembe. We actually pre-determine the numbers that will get back to Keembe at the enrollment stage. 

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Mr Simbao (Senga Hill): Mr Speaker, what is causing the delay in using the four clinics that have been upgraded to first level hospitals?

Dr Chilufya: Mr Speaker, we have already started using the first level hospitals. For instance, Chipata First Level Hospital conducts basic surgical procedures. We have deployed qualified staff, medical doctors inclusive in the first level hospitals. So, the health services offered have been upgraded. However, with the deployment of more staff and equipment of the hospitals, we expect to scale-up the accreditation of a first level hospital in due course.

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Miyutu (Kalabo Central): Mr Speaker, the hon. Minister has outlined a number of measures which the ministry intends to undertake to improve the services at health centres. When is the ministry going to deploy the required number of doctors in the rural areas? 

Dr Chilufya: Mr Speaker, our National Training Operational Plan focuses on bridging the gap between the production of health workers and the demand for health workers. So, we are increasing the training of doctors by opening up more medical schools both in the public and private sectors. Looking at the current situation, we are sending doctors from urban areas to rural areas. Doctors who complete their internship programmes at internship sites are deployed in rural areas to ensure that they provide services at district level and strengthen the referral system so that the district hospitals can also provide services that are commensurate with their level of accreditation.

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Livune (Katombola): Mr Speaker, what is the net damage caused by the employment freeze on health institutions?

Dr Chilufya: Mr Speaker, the recruiting of health workers has not stopped. For instance, we have recruited nurses in the last quarter. So, the recruitment freeze that the hon. Member is talking about has not affected the health sector. The filling of positions that were vacant has been funded. So, we have continued recruiting. 

Dr Kaingu (Mwandi): Mr Speaker, I raised a question of an urgent nature to the hon. Minister of Health about the lack of a doctor at Mwandi Hospital. When do you think you will have a doctor for Mwandi Hospital?

Dr Chilufya: Mr Speaker, we are working in collaboration with our colleagues in the Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health to which we have devolved primary health care services to ensure that a doctor is deployed in Mwandi sooner than later.

I thank you, Sir. 

MINERAL EXPLORATION EXERCISE IN LUWINGU

260. Mr Bwalya (Lupososhi) asked the Minister of Mines, Energy and Water Development:

(a)    when the Government would undertake a mineral exploration exercise in Luwingu District;

(b)    which company held the manganese mining rights in Intandashi and Kaela wards in Sub Chiefs Mulala and Chibaye in Luwingu District; and

(c)    which company was engaged in the mining of manganese.

The Deputy Minister of Mines, Energy and Water Development (Mr Musukwa): Mr Speaker, I would like to make it clear to Hon. Bwalya and the House at large that the Government does not conduct mineral exploration. As the Government, we only provide geological mapping and surveys. In September, 2013, the Government, through the Geological Survey Department (GSD), commenced geochemical mapping of Luwingu District. Soil samples were collected and are being analysed in our laboratories at the GSD.

Mr Speaker, the results are expected to be ready in December, 2014. In 2015, the GSD will undertake the physical survey of Luwingu and results will be communicated in due course.

Sir, in 2016, geological mapping will be conducted in south-east and north-east Luwingu. 

Sir, the following companies hold mining rights in Intandashi and Kaela wards:

(a)    Sakeni Mining Limited;

(b)    Chinunchi Guest Lodge Limited;

(c)    Innovative Mining Limited;

(d)    L. M. Engineering Limited;

(e)    Peco Limited;

(f)    Zawar Natural Resources Limited;

(g)    Precision Mining (Z) Limited;

(h)    Zaman Three Minerals Limited; and

(i)    SOMPROVIDENCE Limited.

Mr Speaker, out of the mining rights that I have enumerated, only three mining licences and six have prospecting licences are available. 

Mr Speaker, Sakeni Mining Limited is engaged in the actual mining.

I thank you, Sir. 

Mr Bwalya: Mr Speaker, I would like to find out from the hon. Minister whether there are terms and conditions given to the companies involved in mining activities, for example, to ensure that they maintain the roads they use as they mine the minerals?

Mr Musukwa: Mr Speaker, when we issue mining licences, we give conditions to the mining companies that outline in detail the obligations of mining company owners as regards the environment and the community in which they operate. Key among the conditions is to ensure that they contribute to the social sector in terms of infrastructure development such as roads. As Hon. Chungu rightly indicated, mining operations cause deterioration to infrastructure such as roads. So, the mining houses, especially those in Lupososhi Constituency, must be encouraged to ensure that they participate in infrastructure development, and our ministry will make a follow-up on this.

I thank you, Mr Speaker.

Ms Imenda (Luena): Mr Speaker, I would like to find out from the hon. Minister how much revenue the mining companies have contributed to the Treasury in the form of tax and other non-tax obligations.

Mr Musukwa: Mr Speaker, I enumerated a total of nine licences, six of which are at exploration stage and three at mining stage. So, there is only one company doing the actual mining. The other two just graduated from prospecting to mining in January and March. So, they will only remit tax when they start the actual mining. Sakeni Mining Company is expected to have complied in terms of the tax provisions. Otherwise, we would have cancelled its licence.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Mr Livune: Mr Speaker, I would like to find out from the hon. Minister whether this country has a National Exploration Policy to ascertain the type of mineral found in which district of this Republic.

Mr Musukwa: Mr Speaker, the ministry is not involved in exploration, but provides geological information across the entire Republic of Zambia. Our partners conduct geological surveys across the country so as to compile geological information on the mineral resources available across the Republic of Zambia. Investors and the local people who want to engage in mining activities can easily find this information. The Minister of Mines, Energy and Water Development, Hon. Christopher Yaluma, is expediting this process and we shall soon have a package that we shall roll out to both local and foreign investors.

I thank you, Sir.
_____________

MOTION

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Rev. Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha (Keembe): Mr Speaker, I beg to move that the House do adopt the Report of the Committee on National Security and Foreign Affairs on the Report of the Auditor General on the Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Prisoners for the Fourth Session of the Eleventh National Assembly, laid on the Table of the House on 2nd November, 2014.

Mr Speaker: Is the Motion seconded?

Mr Sianga (Sesheke): Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion.

Rev. Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha: Mr Speaker, based on its terms of reference, your Committee considered the Report of the Auditor-General on the Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Prisoners.

Sir, I presume the hon. Members of this august House have had the opportunity to look through the report and acquaint themselves with its contents. I will, therefore, highlight a few issues in the report.

Mr Speaker, your Committee notes that the Zambia Prisons Service are part of the criminal justice system mandated, among others, to provide correctional services that contribute to the maintenance of internal security, law and order in any country. Your Committee further observes that the Zambia Prisons Service also acts as a deterrent measure for would-be offenders and are responsible for carrying out the rehabilitation of prisoners.

As stated in the report, rehabilitation entails changing an offender’s behaviour by addressing particular social, psychological, welfare and other factors associated with crime such as anti-social thinking, thereby preventing prisoners from committing crime again. It gives the prisoners a chance to lead a crime-free life once released from prison, and can have major benefits in the community in reducing crime and its associated cost. However, in the Zambian case, this is not happening as anticipated.

Mr Speaker, your Committee observes that the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Zambia Prisons Service have not developed the requisite tools to facilitate the implementation of rehabilitation and reintegration programmes by prisons. For instance, there is no comprehensive national policy on internal security to give a policy direction on how to manage the prisoners and address their rehabilitation and reintegration into society.

Sir, your Committee observes that the Prisons Act Cap 97 of the Laws of Zambia, as amended by Act No. 16 of 2004 and the Prison Rules Statutory Instrument No. 101 of 2008, are outdated and have not been reviewed as of March, 2013. The outdated legislation hinders the prisons from effectively carrying out rehabilitation and reintegration programmes for prisoners. Your Committee sadly notes that the Zambia Prisons Service has not initiated the process of reviewing the above-mentioned Acts.

Mr Speaker, your Committee urges the Government to start formulating the National Policy on Internal Security to address issues of rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners. Your Committee further recommends that the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Zambia Prisons Service expeditiously initiate the review of the necessary Acts to improve on service delivery in prison services.

Sir, your Committee observes that not all prisons have training programmes. Your Committee, therefore, recommends that training programmes be extended to all prisons and prisoners regardless of the length of detention. Your Committee further recommends the raising of awareness among prisoners on the availability of skills training programmes in prisons.

Finally, Mr Speaker, your Committee recommends that there be coordinated efforts in making rehabilitation and correctional services available to all inmates, as these are important factors in their reformation process. Your Committee further recommends that the Government provides adequate funding coupled with increased staffing levels and adequate infrastructure to enhance the rehabilitation and reintegration process of prisoners into society. Your Committee recommends that the Government improves the remuneration and conditions of service in the Zambia Prisons Service so that they are comparable with others in the Public Service.

Finally, your Committee wishes to record its indebtedness to you, Mr Speaker, and the Office of the Clerk of the National Assembly for the guidance given during its deliberations.

I thank you, Mr Speaker.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Speaker: Does the seconder wish to speak now or later?

Mr Sianga: Now, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker, in seconding the Motion to adopt the Report of the Committee on National Security and Foreign Affairs on the Report of the Auditor-General for the Fourth Session of the Eleventh National Assembly laid on the Table of the House on Tuesday, 2nd November, 2014, allow me to thank the Chairperson for ably moving the Motion.

Sir, the Chairperson has already brought out the salient issues that caught the attention of your Committee during its deliberations. Therefore, I will not spend much time on them.

Mr Speaker, your Committee learnt that the needs of prisoners with special needs were not being addressed. These include those detained under His Excellency’s Pleasure (HEPs) who are detained in prisons instead of mental health institutions and juveniles. Your Committee further learnt that there is a lack of therapeutic treatment programmes for them due to inadequate qualified staff in the management and care of HEPs. The Zambia Prisons Service relies on staff from the Ministry of Health.

Sir, your Committee was also informed that juveniles were detained in prisons for long periods, ranging from sixteen days to over three years without being transferred to a reformatory school. This was due to a lack of transport and delays in confirmation of reformation orders by the High Court. This has rendered the transfer of juveniles from receiving centres to the reformatory school impossible.

Your Committee recommends that the confirmation of the reformation orders by the High Court be reviewed and decentralised to the Magistrate Courts and conveyance transport be provided in order to speed up the transfer of juvenile so as to prevent them from learning bad vices from adult offenders.

Mr Speaker, your Committee also observed that the Parole System in Zambia has not worked effectively in decongesting the prisons. In view of this, your Committee recommends that the National Parole Board be decentralised and adequately funded in order to avail its services to more prisoners.

Finally, Sir, I wish to pay tribute to your Committee for the manner in which it conducted its deliberations and considered the views of all the witnesses who appeared before it. It did so in a spirit and manner that helped it come up with recommendations which, in its view, are in the best interest of the people of Zambia.

Mr Speaker, I beg to second.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

The Minister of Home Affairs (Dr Simbyakula): Mr Speaker, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to respond to some of the issues raised by your Committee.

Firstly, I would like to commend your Committee for the report which has brought out a number of issues which require Government’s attention. We have noted the issues that have been highlighted, and would like to state that the issue of congestion in our prisons is a big one. This is because the population has increased, but the infrastructure has not kept pace with the increased population. From the time this Government came into office three years ago, it has been making provisions for infrastructure development and rehabilitation.

If Hon. Members look at pages 181 to 187 of the Yellow Book, they will notice that we have made provisions for prisons infrastructure development. A provision of K15 million has been made for infrastructure development and rehabilitation. 

Sir, we also intend to put up structures where illegal immigrants can be detained. The contributory factor to the congestion in our prisons is the large number of illegal immigrants coming into Zambia. So, we are considering putting up detention centres for illegal immigrants so that we ameliorate the overcrowding in prisons.

Mr Speaker, we have also taken steps to improve the welfare of prisoners. This year, there is an allocation of K22 million for the improvement of prison farms. The aim is to progressively make the Zambia Prisons Service self-sufficient in providing rations for the inmates. We also intend to review the legislation on prisons in order to take into account international best practices in terms of offender management.

Mr Speaker, the rehabilitation of prison infrastructure that is currently going on includes the expansion of cells and creation of separate facilities for juveniles and females because most of the infrastructure that is there was built before Independence and did not provide separate facilities for male and female prisoners. So, all the rehabilitation works being carried out at the moment includes the creation of separate facilities for juvenile, female and male prisoners. We are also trying to address the issue of transportation. We have been unable to procure an adequate number of vehicles for this exercise due to budgetary constraints.

In conclusion, Sir, I would like to thank the Committee for highlighting these critical issues, which we, as the Government, intend to address in order to improve the Zambia Prisons Service.

I thank you, Sir.

Rev. Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha: Mr Speaker, I thank the hon. Members of this House and the hon. Minister for their contributions.

I thank you, Sir.

Question put and agreed to.

_______

COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY

[THE CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES in the 
Chair]
    
VOTE 33 – (Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry – K288,484,348).

The Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry (Mr Sichinga): Mr Chairperson, I thank you for the opportunity to make a Policy Statement regarding the 2015 Budget Estimates for my ministry.

Sir, my ministry is charged with the responsibility of formulating and implementing policies and programmes relating to the commercial, trade and industrial sectors. The programmes of my ministry are guided by the flagship programme called the Industrialisation and Job Creation Strategy, a copy of which can be availed to any hon. Member of Parliament wishing to look at it. It is a Government’s programme of creating one million jobs over five years.

Mr Chairperson, the strategy places value addition at the core of our job creation agenda. In this respect, programmes for 2014 were tailored around delivering on our mandate as enshrined in the strategy paper which I have just exhibited.

In this regard, Sir, the focus of my ministry in 2014 was as follows:

(a)    growing the manufacturing sector to ensure that it contributed to indsutrialisation and job creation;

(b)    facilitating the creation of value chains across the country based on local natural endowment;

(c)    improving the business environment through the implementation of the Private Sector Development Reforms;

(d)    promoting the development of industrial and trade-related infrastructure;

(e)    promoting and facilitating foreign direct investment (FDI) in value-addition sectors such as agriculture, tourism, manufacturing and construction; and

(f)    improving market access for finished Zambian-manufactured goods.

Sir, the implementation of the strategy on industrialisation and job creation, in collaboration with other line ministries, will continue to be the primary focus for my ministry in 2015. It forms the basis on which my ministry’s budget has been formulated. 

Let me now tackle the specific sectors.

Manufacturing Sector Performance

Mr Chairperson, the manufacturing sector has continued to record positive growth. The sector grew by 5.8 per cent in 2013, with growth largely driven by investments in food, beverage and tobacco sub-sectors. During the first half of 2014, the manufacturing sector grew by 6.8 per cent, and is expected to grow by, at least, 7.7 per cent in 2015. 

Sir, whereas I am delighted with the general growth of the manufacturing activities in our country, the concern of my ministry is that most of the growth is coming from a few sub-sectors such as food, beverages, tobacco, wood, and wood products.

Sir, our objective remains to foster a diversified-manufacturing sector that is representative of the natural endowment of this country, particularly in the development of micro, small and medium-sized companies through district-based value chains and industrial clusters. We are not pleased that some of our natural resources continue to be exported as raw materials. This is a challenge that my ministry seeks to fully address in the medium term. The manufacturing sector of Zambia must have the capacity to add value to all Zambia’s natural resources.

Multi-facility Economic Zones

Mr Chairperson, I am pleased to report that substantial progress has been made in operationalising the Chambishi, Lusaka South and Lusaka East Multi-facility Economic Zones (MFEZs). At the Chambishi MFEZ, the cumulative investment now stands at US$1.2 billion, with twenty-eight enterprises operating in the zone. The private developer has put up 25,000 m² of workshops and other vital infrastructure such as water and energy supply. Over 8,000 jobs have, so far, been created at the MFEZ. At the Lusaka East MFEZ, the private developer has continued to put up infrastructure such as roads and water supply. The challenge remains the supply of electricity to the MFEZ. However, the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) is trying to address this by putting up a 10 MVA power connection to the MFEZ. In the case of the Lusaka South MFEZ, which is publicly-developed, I am delighted to report the following:

(a)    there are over 20 km of completed asphalt concrete roads, 2,808 cubic litres of chlorinated water supply per day and other infrastructure developed at a cost of over US$35 million;

(b)    over 1,000 employment opportunities have been created in the construction phase,

(c)    ZESCO has awarded the tender for the construction of a 103 MW sub-station and transmission line to two separate contractors, with the construction works expected to commence in December, 2014;

(d)    the Zambia Telecommunication Company Limited (ZAMTEL) has installed the optical fibre exchange housing the Multi-Service Access Nodes (MSAN) in the Phase I area of development; and

(e)    five lease agreements with investments have been signed with an estimated capital outlay of US$52.5 million. In 2014, construction works of a US$10 million pharmaceutical plant commenced in the MFEZ. 

Interruptions 

The Chairperson: Order, order! 

My right, please, you are drowning the hon. Minister’s voice.

Mr Sichinga: Mr Chairperson, the construction of MFEZs remains our key industrial infrastructure programme. We expect to increase the number of MFEZs with the inclusion of Maamba MFEZ in the Southern Province and Kalumbila MFEZ in the North-Western Province.

Trade

Mr Chairperson, I am glad to report that both traditional and non-traditional exports (NTEs) have continued to grow. Although minerals have remained the country’s major export earner, NTEs have continued to record substantial growth. NTEs have increased significantly as a percentage of total exports. For example, in 2013, traditional exports amounted to US$7.1 billion while the NTEs amounted to US$3.6 billion, which is about half the value of the traditional exports. This is consistent with our objective of trade diversification. 

The main export markets were the Southern African Development Community (SADC) member countries and Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) and Free Trade Areas (FTAs). This further highlights the need for us to grow our manufacturing sector so that we can export finished goods to countries in the region. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remains a strategic market in both the immediate and long term through the intra-Africa trade facilitation. 

Mr Chairperson, in the medium term, we intend to focus on Mozambique’s Tete Province, which borders with the Eastern Province, and Angola as new important strategic markets for Zambian manufactured or value-added goods. Zambia needs to position itself to take full advantage of the growth in the two countries that I have just mentioned.

Mr Chairperson, with regard to securing markets for Zambian products, my ministry has been negotiating and will continue to negotiate for favourable market access. My ministry is working towards finalising the negotiations for the Tripartite Free Trade Area, which covers the COMESA, East African Community (EAC) and the SADC Region. 

My ministry will continue to encourage and facilitate Zambia’s utilisation of the preferential market schemes which are offered by, among others, China, Canada and United States of America (USA) through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Further, my ministry has been working towards trade facilitation through the establishment of a one-stop border post at the Nakonde/Tunduma Border, with the aim of shortening clearance time at the border, as was the case at Chirundu where it was reduced from nine days to nine hours, thereby increasing trade.

To increase trade by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), my ministry is working towards the development of the inter-country trade centres. The trade centres will provide infrastructure to facilitate cross-border trade by providing the basic facilities that cross-border traders require. The centres will also formalise the cross-border trading that is going on at the moment. The prioritised borders for the establishment of centres include Kasumbalesa, Mwami and Kazungula.

Private Sector Reforms and Business Facilitation

Mr Chairperson, my ministry will continue implementing private sector reforms aimed at improving the business and regulatory environment, thereby reducing the cost of doing business in Zambia and operationalising the Business Regulatory Review Agency (BRRA).

The Private Sector Development Reform Programme has worked towards developing alternative sources of finance for SMEs by raising capital through the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE) alternative window. Hon. Members of Parliament may wish to note that the LuSE, in its initial form, did not cater for specific capital-raising needs of small and medium-sized entities. To complement this initiative, alternative finance has been provided for under the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) which I will talk about later in my presentation.

In 2015, my ministry will prioritise the implementation of the Business Regulatory Act of 2014, which will involve mainstreaming regulatory impact analysis in Zambia’s policy formulation processes. This will enhance the process of informing the decision-makers by assessing the efficiency of a proposed measure and cost-effectiveness of its implementation.

The Companies Act is also undergoing a review process which will result into two new laws, namely the Revised Companies Act and Insolvency Act. My ministry is finalising both legal drafts. My intention is to bring the Bills before this House in the coming year. As these are fundamental laws to business in the country, we have deliberately embarked on an extensive consultative process so that the final frame of the law is relevant in contributing to Zambia’s attainment of the middle-income status envisioned in its Vision 2030.

Mr Chairperson, let me now draw the attention of the House to some important institutional units and their activities for 2015.

Zambia Development Agency 

Mr Chairperson, in an effort to support investment in the country, the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) undertook a number of investment missions to Asia, Europe and within Africa. As a result of these investment promotion activities, Zambia’s actualised investments in the first half of 2014 rose to a total of US$2,471 million from the US$315 million registered in 2013, while the pledged investments for the first half of 2014 stands at US$3,332 million, representing an increase of US$1,938 million from the pledged investments in 2013. The FDI inflows are expected to remain robust up to the end of 2014, supported by strong inflows which have already been registered in the first half of this year.

Public-Private Partnerships 

Sir, hon. Members of the House will recall that the President gave directives on institutional reforms on public-private partnerships (PPPs). I wish to inform this House that, to fulfil the President’s directive, the hon. Minister of Finance and I have already agreed on the core issues surrounding the transfer of the functions of the PPP Unit to the ZDA. The ZDA has been restructured and a new division on PPPs established, and operationalised. The division has already employed highly competent professionals in PPPs. The remaining action to be taken is the amendment of the PPPs Act to formalise the transfer.

Patents and Companies Registration Agency 

Mr Chairperson, consistent with the Patents and Companies Registration Agency’s (PACRA) strategic goal of bringing services closer to the public, the agency embarked on an extensive exercise of opening offices in all the ten provincial capitals. So far, PACRA now has a presence in nine provinces and is expected to open the last provincial offices in Kabwe, at which I will officiate, by the end of this year.

The agency commenced the digitisation of business records. The project aims at converting paper business records into electronic format, thereby facilitating the work of regional offices, eliminating the ‘missing files’ phenomena and facilitating the transition from a paper based to an electronic-based registry. 

In order to ensure the efficient and effective handling of customer queries, the agency is in the process of establishing a call centre. The call centre should be operational before the end of 2015. Further, PACRA is introducing an email and short message service (SMS) notification system for changes on the register as well as on annual returns, when they fall due.

The CEEC 

Mr Chairperson, the CEEC has been implementing value chain cluster projects across the country and contributing towards industrialisation, job creation and wealth creation, and ensuring economic growth. This has mainly been attained by enhancing product value development in each district of Zambia by supporting production, processing and marketing of indigenous products. 

So far, K40 million has been disbursed to about 800 projects. Some of the products that are being funded under the Cluster Development Initiative are soya beans, cotton, beef, timber, dairy, mango, poultry, groundnuts, honey, pineapples, cassava, rice and many others. Furthermore, the products that have been approved are in thirty-one districts, covering the whole country. This translates into an average of three districts in each province. 

Zambia Weights and Measures

Mr Chairperson, I am delighted to inform the House that Zambia has been re-admitted as a full member of the International Organisation of Legal Metrology (OIML), which has led to improvements in its service delivery and increased access to databases on metrology. 

To facilitate better compliance at weighbridges, the Zambia Weights and Measures Agency procured a second test truck with the support of Regional Integration Support Mechanics (RISM) funds under COMESA. 

Zambia Bureau of Standards

Mr Chairperson, it goes without saying that the Government’s interventions aimed at promoting high quality internationally-accepted products are bearing fruit. Hon. Members of Parliament may wish to note that the Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS) has continued to promote quality products by monitoring and inspecting both imported and locally-produced commodities in order to protect the public from sub-standard goods. The ZABS has continued with Import Quality Monitoring Schemes (IQMS) to ensure that products that are entering the Zambian market are thoroughly inspected so as to ensure that they meet the minimum requirement set by the standards of this country. Under the Domestic Quality Monitoring Schemes (DQMS), the bureau inspected about 5,581 consignments at the borders. A total of 271 inspections were also carried out. 

In particular, my ministry, in collaboration with our co-operating partners, has invested significantly in test and metrology equipment at the ZABS. In this connection, Mr Chairperson, the bureau’s capacity to monitor the quality of products on the market has also been enhanced. Furthermore, recapitalisation of the bureau has resulted in wide international recognition of the institution as an international standards body.

Competition and Consumer Protection Commission 

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has continued to sensitise the public about consumer rights and to resolve competition-related complaints. 

The commission is currently reviewing twenty-three merger notifications which include those from the COMESA Competition Commission, about five cases of restrictive business practice, and 116 cases of unfair trading in Lusaka and forty in Kitwe. The commission has continued to penalise all parties that violated the law as set out in its procedures.

Interruptions

The Chairperson: Order!

Just a minute hon. Minister. The top side of my left is not listening.

May the hon. Minister, continue.

Mr Sichinga: I thank you, Sir. I hope they will not ask questions on the things I am reading out.

Laughter

Mr Sichinga:

Budget Allocation for 2015

Mr Chairperson, the portfolio of my ministry is wide, and our programmes impact directly on the economic development of this country. The programmes of my ministry, therefore, seek to create opportunities for local and foreign investment to flourish. 

Hon. Livune, you asked me to present the clusters in your district in particular.

Laughter

Mr Sichinga: Hon. Members will note that of the K227.6 million allocated to my ministry, K177.3 million, representing 78 per cent, is going to the seven statutory bodies under my ministry. This is because they are responsible for the implementation of the Commerce, Trade and Industrial Policy, while the ministry will concentrate on policy formulation, providing the necessary guidance and creating a conducive environment for business. 

The key programmes that have been given allocations in my ministry are development of infrastructure, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and MFEZs. Since the ministry is committing most of the budgeted resources to the implementation of the programmes, hon. Members of Parliament may wish to note that ministerial operations account for only 6 per cent of my ministry’s 2015 budget.

Mr Chairperson, to satisfy Hon. Livune, let me conclude by saying that my ministry intends to focus on the following activities in 2015:

(a)    implementing the Industrialisation and Job-Creation Strategy, focusing on the value chain clusters, small and medium-sized enterprise development, and an improved business environment;

(b)    developing of industrial and trade-related infrastructure; 
(c)    strengthening national quality infrastructure and implementing the National Quality Policy;

(d)    promoting growth of the NTEs through increased market access;

(e)    promoting and monitoring investment; and

(f)    developing the SMEs through the industrial clusters that I have mentioned.

Mr Chairperson, of the K227.6 million allocated to the ministry, only 22 per cent will be spent directly on the ministry. The rest of the resources will go towards statutory bodies. I, therefore, call upon all hon. Members of Parliament to support my ministry’s budget. 

I thank you, Sir, and I thank the hon. Members for their attention.

Mr Hamududu and Dr Musokotwane indicated.

The Chairperson: Mr Hamududu.

Mr Hamududu (Bweengwa): Sir, maybe, you should start with Hon. Dr Musokotwane.

The Chairperson: No, I have given you the Floor. If you do not want to take the Floor, resume your seat.

Mr Hamududu: Thank you, Mr Chairperson. You know, I respect my former lecturer.

I thank you, Hon. Dr Musokotwane. I stand here because of your efforts. 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Hamududu: Mr Chairperson, I stand to support the Vote for the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry which is headed by my friend. We have come a long way. Mubucheche bwangu (in my youth), …

Laughter

Mr Hamududu: … we talked about these things for a long time. We have appeared together in many fora. We have met in lecture theatres, facing students at the University of Zambia (UNZA) when we were in the Pact. I always talk about the Pact although I am introducing another one this time around.

Sir, this ministry is where job creation belongs. Sometimes, we wrongly discuss employment creation when we are debating issues related to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security is not responsible for employment creation. It is the economic sector ministries that actually create jobs by providing an enabling environment. In a market-led economy, there is a notion that the Government will create jobs. In a market economy, the Government creates an environment for the private sector to create jobs. 

Dr Kaingu: Enabling environment.

Mr Hamududu: Yes, an enabling environment, thank you. The jobs should be sustainable because we cannot run a bloated Government. Currently, we are faced with problems related to the bloated wage bill. Jobs are created by the private sector. The role of this ministry is to think outside the box in order to create an environment that is better than our neighbours because we are all competing for investment and markets. There are many types of unemployment. There is seasonal unemployment, cyclical unemployment and structural unemployment. In this country, to a great extent, our unemployment is of a structural nature. The structure of our economy is anti-jobs in that the economy has been growing, but there is no commensurate employment creation. Therefore, this economic growth is referred to as jobless growth. So, you need to restructure the growth to a framework that will enable it to produce, along it, jobs. As the economy grows, jobs should be created. The current economic matrix cannot create jobs. You need to think how you can restructure the economy so that as it grows, it also creates jobs. We can transform this economic growth into a job-full growth.

Mr Chairperson, as regards the million jobs that the hon. Minister is talking about in the Jobs and Industrialisation Strategy that is being launched, we all want jobs to be created, but what is not clear is how the jobs will be created. I wish you were in the House yesterday, hon. Minister, because my discourse is a continuation from yesterday. 

Sir, on the issue of market access, the hon. Minister talked about the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is a very good market and, at least, there is access to it. However, there is literally no access to Angola which is a far bigger market. Angola is a US$121 billion gross domestic-product (GDP) economy and almost six times bigger than ours that is untapped. Today, the Western and North-Western provinces should have been the richest provinces in Zambia with that interface.

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Hamududu: That GDP should filter into this country. I was questioning the Link Zambia 8,000 km Road Programme. You cannot discuss roads in isolation. You need infrastructure that creates jobs. The Link Zambia 8,000 km Road Programme must be strategic. Someone asked me at the Parliament Motel why I was attacking the Link Zambia 8,000 km Road Programme. It is because it is linking poverty. You can have an eight-bedroomed house and only have K1,000. If you cannot move out of the house, the K1,000 will remain the same until you open the door to your neighbour and sell a fritter for K50. That way, the K1,000 will have increased. This is how the economy grows. This economy is closed. It has more or less dead ends. I think that the Link Zambia 8,000 km Road Programme should have helped you, hon. Minister. This is why ministries should all speak to the key aspirations of our country. The Ministry of Transport, Works, Supply and Communication must speak to the big problem of job creation. The Ministry of Tourism and Art must also speak to job creation. However, they are each doing their own things. We must itemise the few things that we want to do. One of the crises that this country is faced with is unemployment. This is a big time bomb. 

Mr Chairperson, if you walked into town with a few kwacha notes today, there will be many people following you. We must do something to get the young people into employment. At the moment, they are available for any activity. Just a few days ago, people literally ran away and others closed their offices because of one person who caused confusion between two fellows; the chilingalinga. The whole central business district (CBD) came to a standstill. People lost business. This is the Lungu/Sampa chilingalinga that I am talking about.

Mr Livune: Hear, hear!

Laughter

Mr Hamududu: Sir, the hon. Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry and I have spoken before, and he knows that Zambia has the fastest rollout of chain stores in Southern Africa. I can tell you that we beat Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe in terms of development of chain stores. What is so attractive about this country? I can tell you that Zambia is being used to create jobs in South Africa. 

Mr Chairperson, the licensing for chain shops must be checked. The Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) must do a good job. This is a very strategic institution. It must sign investment deals that carry along job creation. When you walk across Parliament into Spar, Shoprite and Pick n Pay, there is little local content on the shelves. Mama Africa Enterprises Limited is opening outlets in Zambia. This shows that there are no jobs created. There is nothing special about these chain stores. I am happy that there is no Shoprite or Spar outlet yet in Choma. I can walk into the market and buy a head of cabbage from an old woman, and she is able to feed her family thereafter. As long as we do not link local production to the chain shops, we are destroying our own chances of job creation.

Ms Lubezhi: Hear, hear!

Mr Hamududu: We need to review the issuance of investment licences so that the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can create jobs. The emerging economies of South Korea and Finland invested in education. Their success stories started from small and medium-sized enterprises. I always give an example of Samsung which I love so much. It started as a grocery store.

Mr Hamududu displayed his Samsung phone.

Laughter

Mr Habeenzu interjected.

Mr Hamududu: No, they cannot take the phone. It is mine.

Mr Hamududu: Samsung started as a grocery store. However, the net profit, for example, in 2012, was over US$8 billion dollars in a quota. The net profit is bigger than the Zambian economy. This is a company that started as an SME. If we want to grow indigenous businesses that will be here for many years, we must grow the SMEs. We can go into our streets and begin to develop them. However, they must have market access internally unlike the situation today where all the chain shops …

Mr Hamududu was asked to surrender his phone.

Laughter

Mr Hamududu: You cannot get the phone. It is mine.

Laughter

The Chairperson: Hon. Hamududu, we know that it is your phone. The question is how did you manage to sneak it into the House? 

Mr Hamududu: Mr Chairperson, all the people in here have phones.

Laughter

Mr Hamududu: Sir, it is switched off. 

I thank you, Sir. Let me just conclude my debate.

Laughter

Mr Hamududu: Sir, we need to be strategic. My point is that we need to structure our growth because our unemployment is of a structural nature. So, these business deals with the chain stores should be restructured. Do we need to buy fruits from South Africa? Can the farmers in Lusaka West, Shimabala, Makeni, New Kasama and Chongwe not form co-operatives and produce tomatoes to supply to the chain stores? Yes, they can. The local content in these shops must improve in order to create business, jobs and wealth. They must create business for the SMEs and jobs for young people. 

Sir, the people who are signing the deals at the ZDA need to be very patriotic. I am happy that the ZDA is led by Mr Patrick Chisanga whom I have a lot of respect for. I grew up with him in this arrangement (Pointing at the United Party for National Development (UPND)) together with Hon. Lubinda. Allow him to think outside the box and go back and revise some of the investment agreements because we are not making any headway. 

Today, hon. Minister, chain stores are being opened everywhere. What is so attractive about Zambia? They have found an easy market here to create jobs in South Africa. There is nothing wrong with having chain stores in Zambia. However, I am against their not having local content. We should produce what we can. Some of the products like bananas and oranges that are sold in the stores are genetically modified. We can produce almost anything in Zambia. All that we have to do is improve on it. 

Sir, we are exporting jobs. If we continue with this economic structure, the economy will be growing at a rate as high as 10 per cent, but with no jobs. It will be jobless growth. Please, restructure the growth. Work with the hon. Minister of Finance and ‘whip’ the other ministries to begin to speak to the core issue of our development, which is job creation.

Mr Chairperson, look at the Kenyan economy and the services industry in particular. Today, Zambia should have been a powerful player in the services industry. Look at what the private sector has done in the tertiary education sector by opening universities. Zambia should have developed private universities a long time ago. I am happy that there are foreign students today at the University of Lusaka. Services can be such big money earners and job creators. We can do that in many other sectors, too. Zambia should have been a centre of learning. The Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education should encourage job creation among the players in this sector. Today, many people go to study in China and other countries. Why do we not bring Chinese universities here? We do not need to fly our children to China. I do not want my daughter, who is a very brilliant child, …

Mr Kalaba: Helen.

Mr Hamududu: Yes, Helen. I will keep her here. She is a very brilliant child. I do not want her to go to China. I want her here. Zambians should open universities here in collaboration with foreign universities. Bring the Chinese or American universities here. Let us export services.  The services industry has the ability to create more jobs. Like my friend Hon. Mwewa from Mwansabombwe Constituency says, it is not ‘sexy’ to …

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Hamududu: … send your children to other countries for studies. Let our children study here. Namibia is raking in dollars from Angola through their schools. Angolan children are studying in Namibia. We can tap into that market. You need to be innovative. Job creation is about being creative. We can create jobs. Wherever I go, I see opportunities for job creation. I walk in the street and see street vendors, and I think that they can become powerful street traders.  I see potential for job and wealth creation. I do not condemn street vendors, but see an opportunity for us to invest in them. We can create a million jobs. There are many open spaces in this country. Let us pave them and put people to trade there. Let us develop the open spaces and the council can get revenue from the people trading there. Can you imagine that if I want a banana, I have to go to Shoprite? Why can there not be a woman selling bananas or oranges under a nice umbrella by the gate? That is done in Botswana. There are ladies selling fruits under umbrellas near the Bank of Botswana. In the evening, they close their umbrellas and go home. It is a very smart way of trading. I see many job opportunities. With the Jubilee Alliance, we can create jobs.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Hamududu: Mr Chairperson, the million jobs that they are talking about creating in this country do not mean anything. By 2021, the Zambian people will walk confidently. I hate economic injustice. We must do something to liberate our people from poverty. The possibilities to do that are many. The Jubilee Alliance can do it. Please, do it if you can. However, since you have failed to do it, the Jubilee Alliance is ready to do it from 20th January, 2015, … 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Hamududu: … and you are welcome to join us. 

I thank you, Sir.

Dr Musokotwane (Liuwa): Mr Chairperson, you will agree with me that it is always a pleasure to listen to the quality debate of Hon. Hamududu. It makes me feel that when I retire, I will do so proudly, knowing that somebody has fitted in my shoes. 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Musokotwane: Mr Chairperson, a few weeks ago, a certain reverend stated that the quality or success of leadership is about what you leave behind. Unfortunately he died thereafter. 

Mr Livune: That is right. 

Dr Musokotwane: In the same vein, seeing what I will be leaving behind, I can say that I have been successful, unlike some people who have left structures behind, but they are ‘fighting’.

Laughter

Dr Musokotwane: Therefore, Mr Chairperson, it follows that the leadership on that side has clearly failed. 

The Chairperson: Order!

Now come back to the subject at hand.

Laughter

Dr Musokotwane: Mr Chairperson, I would like to thank the hon. Minister for that policy statement on his ministry. I agree that he heads a very important ministry. If you look at the economic statistics of many countries, you will find that it is sectors like the one that the hon.  Minister heads which normally contribute most to the gross domestic product (GDP). It is normally the sector that absorbs the most labour. A country develops as it industrialises. For example, when one farmer can produce enough food to feed half a million people, you will find that the need to have many farmers declines. So, what do you do with the rest of the farmers? They should find refuge in commerce and industry. Therefore, commerce and industry is a very important sector. The hon. Minister stated that this sector has been growing at 5 or 6 per cent. My contention with those figures is that they are too small in relation to the growth in population. The population of Zambia grows roughly at 3 per cent per annum. The population of those who are looking for jobs, …
Interruptions

The Chairperson: Order, on my left!

Dr Musokotwane: … that is, the youth, is growing at about 4 per cent or five per cent per annum. Therefore, how can a growth rate of 5 or 6 per cent in manufacturing absorb the labour that we want to be absorbed? It is not possible. Therefore, for the coming few years, as long as the growth in this sector grows at this rate, I am afraid that the wave of unemployed youths will keep rising. Hon. Minister, yes, you have reported growth in this sector but, I am sorry, I am not impressed with the rate. 

Mr Chairperson, I also have doubts about what the hon. Minister said in regard to the amount of investment going into the manufacturing sector.  If I heard the hon. Minister correctly, he said that US$4 billion was invested in the sector last year. How come the exchange rate got to where it is today? The US dollars that were coming into the economy must have been exchanged from US dollars to kwacha to buy things such as sand, stones, water and labour. However, it was in the period of this investment that we saw the exchange rate depreciating from K4 to K6 for US$1. Therefore, I am very skeptical about the statistics that the hon. Minister has given.  

Mr Chairperson, I am also skeptical about the strategies that are in place to create the jobs that we are so much looking for. I have heard the hon. Minister talk about the industrial clusters. What we are really looking forward to if we are going to talk about improving manufacturing in Zambia is, for example, a small town like Chongwe having, maybe, ten factories. Kafue should have fifteen factories; Lusaka should have countless factories; and Kabwe should have hundreds of factories. Are we seeing those factories being created today? I do not see them. Therefore, you cannot base an industrial strategy on the basis of industrial clusters. Yes, you have created a cluster in Mumbwa, but that is only one cluster. That is not enough. What we have in mind when we talk about real industrialisation taking place is having waves and waves of investment taking place in manufacturing. Otherwise, what you are talking about is something that is going to happen anywhere because, regardless of what you do, there will always be people trying to set up factories randomly. That is not what is going to create the jobs that we are looking for. I think that more needs to be done. 

Mr Chairperson, I also want to agree with Hon. Hamududu that there is a big divergence between what you are trying to do, as a ministry, and what the rest of the Government is trying to do. The planning for the multi-facility economic zones (MFEZs) that you are talking about was done, maybe, five or six years ago. By the time you came into the Government, the development of the infrastructure in the MFEZs had already started. Today, we are still talking about infrastructure in the MFEZs when we should have been talking about hundreds of investments already in the MFEZs. Therefore, instead of building roads all over the country without a plan, why are we not constructing infrastructure in the places where jobs are supposed to be created? 

Hon. Hamududu talked about export markets in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Sir, more than three years ago, money was organised for the construction of the Kalabo/Sikongo Road. 

Mr Ndalamei: Bana peleka ku Muchinga.

Laughter 

Dr Musokotwane: The people of Mongu have so many struggles. They have to use old land rovers, trucks and boats to pass through sand and water to transport cement, door and window frames and all sorts of materials into Angola, and yet the money to open up this road is lying somewhere, and no one is doing anything about it. How will you access the Angolan market? 

I know that there is a huge market at Jimbe in Angola. 

Dr Kaingu: Very big.

Dr Musokotwane: Very big, indeed. 

Mr Muchima: Yes!

Dr Musokotwane: Hon. Muchima is attesting to this fact. What are you doing to open up this market? Why is there no road going that side? This is why I am skeptical about what you and your colleagues are trying to do. 

Further, Mr Chairperson, manufacturing is not just about building infrastructure such as MFEZs. Infrastructure development is very important, but it does not end there. The software that is required to make the facilities functional must be created.  Basically, I am talking about rules and regulations. For example, if you build an MFEZ, but it takes five years to obtain a manufacturing licence, when will the factories start operating? You can build timber factories, then you are told every other day that the timber industry is closed. There are a number of factories in this country, some of which make very nice furniture, door and window frames, and parquet floors that can be exported. However, at the moment, there is a ban on timber production. Are the manufacturers of doors going to use grass to make the doors? 

Laughter 

Dr Musokotwane: These factories remain threatened. 

Mr Chairperson, people have spoken about Zambian products being expensive. Truly speaking, the market in this country is very small. It is impossible to produce items worth millions of dollars and consume them all. Manufacturing and most economic sectors must be tied to export markets where there is competition. 

Today, we see South African manufactured products such as mango and orange juice from clusters we are also trying to create. These products pass through our roads on their way to the DRC and Angola. We are failing to do the same because of the cost of production. The key, hon. Minister, , is reliability of service.  

Mr Chairperson, almost every day of this week, I have been experiencing power outages at my home. The only good part is that the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) Customer Service Centre sends a text message to warn of the impending outage. As a result of this, some of the produce from the farm gets damaged. I imagine that it is not just me, but many others who are affected. So, how can you talk about the manufacturing sector thriving when there is power failure every day? Sometimes, I even wonder whether I am being targeted because I was part of the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD). 

Laughter 

Dr Musokotwane: This happens every single day. 

Mr Chairperson, my neighbour, Hon. Mukata, can attest to this. There is power failure almost every day in Lusaka West. So, what manufacturing are you talking about, hon. Minister?

Mr Chairperson, one thing that has characterised this Government is uncertainty in economic policy. Today, you make a pronouncement, then, change it the next day. Examples of this are Statutory Instruments (SI) 31 and 33. For instance, we can be told that exportation of a particular raw material has been banned and, before we know it, the ban is lifted. Who is going to risk their millions of dollars to come and set up a factory where what will happen the next day is not known? Who will do this? 

This is precisely what I mean when I say that the software that will accompany the hardware required for manufacturing needs to be fixed. In the absence of this, I am afraid that the only thing that we will see under this Government is a cluster which, in my view, is almost like an experiment that you create in the laboratory. Is it possible to create a cluster or weave a little bit of cotton? If you are going to do this on an industrial base, and with so much uncertainty of power and cost of production, I am afraid that you have to wait for another Government such as the Jubilee Alliance, to come …

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear! 

Dr Musokotwane: … and fix everything.  

Mr Chairperson, I thank you. 

Brig-Gen. Dr Chituwo (Mumbwa): Mr Chairperson, when two economists have spoken, people might wonder what a surgeon is going to say. However, I believe in multi-skilling.

Laughter 

Brig-Gen. Dr Chituwo: It is never too late to catch up with general principles through general reading. 

Mr Chairperson, I would like to add to this debate as briefly as possible. I listened to the hon. Minister’s statement which clearly shows the thrust to attract foreign investors. However, as some of us reach the retirement age, we start to discover that, in reality, we are not doing much for our indigenous entrepreneurs, the business men and women, in creating a level playing field where they can compete with, for instance, an investor who obtains an investment licence with very good conditions. 

With an investment licence, foreign investors can obtain loans, acquire land and import machinery, and get value added tax (VAT) refund. For an indigenous Zambian, however, the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) has no consideration at all. You may be lucky and be told by the Director-General of the ZRA that you have six months in which to pay a certain amount, as required by law, and that is just about it. Meanwhile, the foreign investors are not required to pay anything. They actually have the benefit of the VAT refund. 

Mr Chairperson, I cannot imagine that our country can develop wholly from foreign investment. When a Zambian invests, nearly everything stays within the country. He/she will assist in infrastructure development such as houses or schools. For the foreign investor, however, with all due respect to their social-corporate responsibility, it simply ends there. Foreign investment has limits. 

Sir, the hon. Minister must address issues of ease of doing business as a matter of urgency. I have interacted with small businessmen and women who are held back by a lack of capital. These are men and women who spend long hours at their businesses, but receive no incentives from the Government. There may be the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC), but it spends more money on staff emoluments than it does on the intended beneficiaries. The commission should be more efficient. However, an institution at that level has a lot of political interference. Why not create, for instance, a women’s bank or a co-operative bank and let it operate as a business like it used to before?

Mr Chairperson, what I am stressing to the hon. Minister is the need to give incentives and assistance to indigenous small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). There are so many of them that they could add a lot more to job creation and uplifting the living standards of people. These are the concerns I had arising from my interaction with the men and women who are struggling to add to the gross domestic product (GDP) of this country, but with little assistance from the Government.

I thank you, Sir. 

Ms Imenda (Luena): Mr Chairperson, I would like to commend the hon. Minister for the policy statement. However, I would like to make some observations to augment what he has said.

Sir, in the past, we thought that Zambia was in a disadvantaged position for being a landlocked country, but we do not think that way anymore. We have heard the hon. Minister talk about neighboring countries being potential markets. We need to subject our country to some kind of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis by identifying our strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. We should do this in order to exploit the opportunities that we have, counter the numerous threats, build on our strengths and work on our weaknesses.

Mr Chairperson, we can find a market in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Angola, which have been mentioned. We can also use Lake Tanganyika to find a market in countries like Burundi and others. Once we have subjected ourselves to a SWOT analysis and carried out market research, we shall be able to find out what we need to supply to countries like Rwanda and Burundi, in addition to the DRC that has already been mentioned, by using the Lake Tanganyika route where transport is readily available. 

Sir, transport infrastructure is very important. In addition to road infrastructure, …

The Chairperson: Order!

Business was suspended from 1615 hours until 1630 hours. 

[THE CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES in the 
Chair]

Ms Imenda: Mr Chairperson, when business was suspended, I had just finished talking about subjecting ourselves to a SWOT analysis. There are many opportunities which we are not exploiting.

Sir, does it not surprise people that in this day and age, when the world is talking about climate change, the environment impacting on climate change and the danger that plastic products pose to the environment, Zambia is still heavily dependent on plastic products? Why not substitute the plastic products with something that is environmentally acceptable? 

Rev. Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha: Hear, hear!

You are right babe, you are right. 

Ms Imenda: For example, could we not use something that is biodegradable in place of plastic shopping bags? Someone needs to come up with the idea of producing something like that. The Manzi Valley plastic water bottles that are cluttered here can be replaced with more sustainable materials.

Mr Chairperson, we know that glass is manufactured from sand and we never run out of sand in the Western Province. No matter how much you take out, there will always be more.

Mr Mutelo: Hear, hear!

Ms Imenda: Why not go and set up a glass factory in the Western Province where the raw materials will be free of charge? You will not need to buy sand from anyone as long as you secure a piece of land to set up your factory. Why do we not do that? That is an opportunity. Hon. Minister, in your foreign direct investment (FDI), as you go to market Zambia as a potential investment destination, think about the possibility of setting up a glass factory in the Western Province. 

Mr Mutelo: Hear, hear!

Ms Imenda: Mr Chairperson, let me also talk about the issue of infrastructure as already mentioned by Hon. Hamududu and others who have debated before me. I think we need transport in whatever we do. With regard to exports, we should not shut ourselves from having access to neighbouring countries. Plans to construct a railway line from Solwezi to Angola have been on the drawing board for a long time and we should not ignore them. The hon. Minister of Transport, Works, Supply and Communication, …

Mr Mukanga conferred with Mr Kapyanga.

Ms Imenda: … who is not listening, …

Mr Mukanga looked at Hon. Imenda.

Ms Imenda: Mr Speaker, he is now paying attention, and I thank him for that.

Mr Chairperson, that is the route we can use to get to Angola. What can Zambia export? There are many products that Zambia can export. We frown upon the little things because we do not know their economic potential. For example, cassava has got a lot of uses. It is medicinal and can also be used to produce things such as starch and glue. Surely, why can we not look at adding value to cassava by making such products? 

Mr Chairperson, I am a quasi-vegetarian. So, when I was in Zimbabwe, I had a problem with food. In Zimbabwe, there are no proper vegetables. They only have these funny dried vegetables such as dried green beans and dried carrots. What about the green leafy vegetables? We have plenty of green vegetables in Zambia. Why can we not find a way of packaging the vegetables and exporting them to Zimbabwe? I know that you can actually can spinach and export it to Zimbabwe. Of course, Zimbabwe, being our neighbour, we do not even have to do that. We can actually export it the way it is. Those are the opportunities I am talking about.

Sir, sometime back, somebody talked about the devil’s claw in this House. The hon. Member for Sesheke can bear me witness. People from other parts of the world come to get that product free of charge. The hon. Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry can liaise with the hon. Minister of Agriculture and Livestock on how to cultivate it and find out how these other countries are converting it to some medicinal products so that we do the same before we export it.

Sir, as Zambians, let us also try to exploit the industrial intelligence. The Chinese Government sent people to America to see how machines and vehicles were manufactured. They dismantled the machines, studied the components and came up with products of their own. Why can we not do the same? We have got so many Toyota cars in Zambia.

By the way, Sir, wealth can be created by reducing on imports. It also helps to grow the gross domestic product (GDP). Let us also try to do some kind of industrial intelligence so that we can produce goods for consumption in our industries. It is very important.

Mr Chairperson, somebody talked about timber. I hope the school desks that are going to our schools are locally manufactured. If they are not, that is another area that we need to look at. We can manufacture desks in this country instead of losing our timber which is taken to China and other places in the night. By the way, China is preserving its forests. China has forests, but it is preserving them while exploiting ours. It will start selling timber products to us at exorbitant prices when our country becomes a desert and we start experiencing environmental problems. Timber is very good for small-scale businesses. You do not need a factory or the FDI to produce timber. You should make the environment conducive for small-scale business men and women to produce school desks. This will empower the people and create wealth. This will also fight poverty and add more money in people’s pockets. These are programmes that can be given to the youths. We cannot wait for roads to be constructed for us to create employment. That is not the way things are supposed to be done. Why can desks not be produced locally when we have the raw materials? 

Mr Chairperson, education is a very important aspect of commerce and industry. Let us design our curriculum in such a way that our children become innovative. Let us have a curriculum that promotes innovation.  

Mr Chairperson, Finland does not have any minerals, but it decided to invest in education. Now, it is a donor country. It has built its economy throw education and innovation and is now producing world class technologies for export. Why can we not do that? 

Sir, we also produce beans in Mbala and beef in many areas of Zambia. We can export beans and beef to other countries. This country also produces cotton. People bemoaned the low cotton prices on the Floor of this House. Why do we not set up our own factory to process cotton? I know that the Chinese have come back at Mulungushi Textiles, but we can encourage the setting up of more industries as we go to source the FDI. That is another area we can sell. 

Mr Chairperson, I would like to commend the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) for coming to the Western Province to educate us on our rights as consumers, especially in relation to public transport because we have been subjected to so much harassment by the bus crews. 

I thank you, Mr Chairperson.

Mr Muchima (Ikeleng’i): Mr Chairperson, professional economists have talked and amplified the issues on this Vote. I want to speak from a businessman’s perspective. I want to talk about what I see on the ground and what the expectations of the people are. It is through the Jubilee Alliance that we can bring our ideas together to build this nation.

Hon. Government Members: Chilingalinga!

Mr Muchima: We need proper infrastructure.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Muchima: In Ikeleng’i where I come from, there is a lot of water and the land is quite fertile, but the road infrastructure is very poor. There are also pineapples in Ikeleng’i and honey in Mwinilunga. The people of Ikeleng’i are very innovative. For example, they use grass for thatching. Let us come up with a policy of setting up a factory in that province. We should not set up factories based on political affiliation. Firstly, let us take stock of the people who are already entrepreneurs like Hon. Namugala.

Ms Namugala: Hear, hear!

Mr Muchima: You should not restrict loans that you give to the Zambians who want to establish their own businesses. For example, when you give someone K1 million, you should not restrict him/her to pay it back in three years. Your friends in China, Britain and America give their citizens loans with no restrictions. Even as they pay back, they are not ‘squeezed’. However, in Zambia, the interest rates are very high, and the Government is not helping the citizens. This country is being run by foreigners because most of the nice buildings and businesses are owned by them. We are actually slaves in our own country. You use a sweet language and you are actually professors in the English language because you make promises when there is nothing on the ground.

Laughter

Mr Muchima: Mr Chairperson, despite Zambia being a landlocked country with all the resources, we fail to utilise them. If you gave me US$4 million, I would set up a factory in Ikeleng’i and run it successfully. The co-operative union in Kabwe was run down a long time ago, but I revived it and have since employed ninety-three people and many others …

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Muchima: … in Livingstone, Solwezi and Kabompo …

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Muchima: … without the assistance of the Government. Those in the Government do not use their initiative to set up companies, and yet they keep promising to create employment. If you hate me, you also hate the people that I have employed. I did not employ my nephews or brothers, but Zambians who can add value to the company. The Government is not encouraging chain code. In Shoprite, 90 per cent of the products are foreign. I know that you are following certain protocols, but limit them because they are only benefiting foreigners and not local people. Let us be jealous. In Lunda we say, “Wunoni musunyi winki mukwenu, eyi wushali nefwaha.”

Mr Chipungu: That is a street language.

Mr Muchima: Iwe, that is a sweet language.

Laughter

Mr Muchima: Lunda is a very big tribe. It is found in Luapula and North-Western provinces, and Angola and the DRC. Lunda is not like your language where you say, “Ifwe.” Anyway, let us forget about that.

Laughter

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwanza: What does that Lunda proverb mean?

Hon. Opposition Members: Meaning?

Mr Muchima: The proverb means that you cannot get a steak and give it to your friend, while you remain with a bone. That is what the Government is doing. They should reserve the steak for the Zambians and not the foreigners. We have allocated money to all the provinces, but some provinces have not benefitted from the allocations.

Mr Chairperson, when the Jubilee Alliance forms Government, …

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Muchima: … we shall improve on the businesses that the marketeers in Kabwe, Lusaka and Livingstone are already doing and shall not chase them from the streets.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Muchima: We shall improve the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) irrespective of the parties the owners belong to. That is what we are going to do.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Muchima: Last time I debated, I said that the Movement for Multi-party for Democracy (MMD) Government distributed hammer mills equally, but in the  Patriotic Front (PF) Government, which practices donchi kubeba, the resources are not distributed equally. We can create employment without any advice from anybody. There is no muzungu or white man to intimidate us. So, let us manage our economy properly. Let us think rightly. Otherwise, we may destroy the future of our children. Let us all debate like Hon. Dr John Phiri who uses non-partisan language. That is what we want.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Muchima: We do not want cadres.

Ms Namugala: He is surprised.

Mr Muchima: The Jubilee Alliance will form an inclusive Government that will bring everyone on board. We have all the raw materials in this country which we can use to turn our economy around. Let us learn from what is happening in China and other countries.

Mr Kalaba: What is happening in China?

Mr Muchima: The moment the Chinese contractors get a contract, they get money from the Government to carry out the projects. When the project has been completed, they put the money in foreign banks. We should do the same here in Zambia. Not everyone in Zambia is a crook. Let us build our economy. It may be difficult to rear cattle in this country because of cattle diseases, but how is Botswana managing?

Ms Imenda: Hear, hear!

Mr Muchima: In Zambia, we have many rivers with fresh water, but we have not improved our fish products. We need to improve the shelf life of some products like bananas.

My brother, Hon. Sichinga, whom I respect, let us marry your words with action and be more practical.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Muchima: I want you to be popular in Ikeleng’i. So, let us set up a factory there and we will only need US$4 million to do that. No bank can give me that kind of money as an individual, but the Government can do it. I had an appointment with you one time, but when I went to your office, I did not find you.

Laughter

Mr Muchima: That is the normal culture of Zambians. Let us be real and transform our country. Let us package the rice from Mongu, Chama and other areas on behalf of the local people.

Mr Hamududu: Mongu rice.

Mr Muchima: Let us also package the pineapples and beans from Mbala and Mwinilunga. We can make stock feed from the maize that is going to waste. We can do many things using the local people. The people are ready, but you are not being resourceful. You cannot feed another child whilst your child is starving. Let us turn our thinking around. 

With these few words, I support the Vote for this ministry …

Mr Chipungu: Do not stop.

Mr Muchima: … on account that we should be supported irrespective of the parties we belong to.

Mr Shakafuswa: Hear, hear!

Mr Muchima: I am being encouraged not to stop. The Government should work on the Jimbe Road …

The Deputy Chairperson: I thought that you said you were concluding.

Interruptions

Mr Ng’onga: Finally.

Mr Muchima: Sir, finally, Jimbe Road should be worked on because it connects Zambia to Angola. Hon. Dr Musokotwane knows the state of this road because he is a practical man. That road is impassable. One needs an 8 x 8 truck to drive on that road during the rainy season. Apparently, we use that road for export and the other routes for import. 

The hon. Minister said that he believes in inbreeding. So, let us bring in other ideas so that we can grow our economy and create employment.

I thank you, Mr Chairperson.

Ms Namugala (Mafinga): Thank you, Mr Chairperson, for according me the opportunity to support the budget for the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry.

Sir, let me start my discourse by stating that trade is better than aid, both at macro or micro level. At individual level, if a person is able to trade, it is only prudent to buy what he/she is selling instead of perpetually giving him/her food. At national level, it goes without saying that instead of a country like Zambia perpetually borrowing to sustain itself, it is better that it promotes trade in a more aggressive manner.

Hon. Opposition Member: Hear, hear!

Ms Namugala: Mr Chairperson, having said that, allow me to discuss the imbalances in trade between Zambia and South Africa. As Hon. Muchima has already mentioned, if you go to almost all the shops at the new malls, you will find that 99 per cent of the goods on the shelves are from South Africa. For example, corn flakes are made in South Africa, and yet we have been pronouncing bumper harvests for the last three to four years. If we produce excess maize, but do not produce and sell maize products, it shows that the countries whose maize products we are consuming are the ones that have jobs. In fact, we are creating jobs in South Africa by consuming the baked beans and corn flakes that are produced in South Africa.

Sir, I have heard promises from this Government that it will create wealth and jobs. However, I wonder how these jobs are going to be created if we are not adding value to the products that we produce in Zambia. Job creation can only come when you add value to your products and create an enabling environment for your people to create wealth like Hon. Muchima has already said.

Mr Chairperson, imagine if we just had 5 million Zambian multi-millionaires, – I am not referring to people who become millionaires because of the kick-backs that they receive in the public offices that they hold, but those who become millionaires as a result of their hard work, of their being enterprising and role models, I can guarantee you that we would create the jobs that this Government is talking about. The Public Sector can only employ a few people, but the rest of the people must be employed by the private sector, better and still, if the private sector is dominated by the indigenous people. 

Mr Chairperson, I have heard that talking about indigenisation of the economy is, in a way, being racist. I am on record as not having been ashamed of being called a racist if it means empowering our people economically …

Rev. Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha: Mm! Walanda, mayo.

Ms Namugala: … because that is what a patriotic government must do. First and foremost, it must ensure that it moves its people out of poverty by ensuring that the economic power is in their hands. Unfortunately, we have reached a point where the wealth that is in the wrong hands of non-indigenous people is being now used to choose for us who must be in charge of the affairs our country.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Ms Namugala: This wealth is now being used by foreigners to choose who must be the President of Zambia.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Ms Namugala: Mr Chairperson, this is the danger of not empowering your people. Money in the hands of Zambians will be used for the benefit of the indigenous Zambians present and those to come. Money in the hands of foreigners will be used to ensure that the owners of the country remain marginalised while they choose who to lead them so that they can continue to benefit from the big contracts.

Mr Nkombo: Hear, hear!

Ms Namugala: Sir, this Government will be in office beyond 2015, we would like it to pledge that it will stop entertaining donations from non-indigenous Zambians for their campaigns.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Ms Namugala: We are mortgaging our country to foreign interest.

Mr Chairperson, wealth creation at local level must start with the micro entrepreneurs. When the Patriotic Front (PF) Members were campaigning in Kasama, they promised the women who sell by the Shoprite outlet that they would be empowered economically. The last time I went there, I found the women still selling their merchandise. 

Sir, Zambians are very enterprising, but what they lack is support from not only the PF Government, but also the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD). The MMD did not do enough when it was in office.

Hon. Member: Hear, hear!

Ms Namugala: Like I always say, as the PF, you now have the opportunity to liberate the women from poverty. Help them to live better lives and send their children to school in a sustainable manner. Many of us who are sitting here have been educated by poor mothers who woke up at 0400 hours in the morning to go and sell rape at the market. What have we done to empower such women? Nothing.

Mr Chairperson, the PF Government must also ensure that franchises that are going to operate in this country are held by Zambians. I really do not appreciate why Pick n Pay, Steers, Spar and many others businesses should be owned by foreigners. Some of them have put up shopping malls on the University of Zambia land while the Zambians are mere spectators. The Zambians just consume goods and products that are sold by South African businesses in Zambia.

Sir, we can do something about this. When the PF was on this side of the House, it used to say that it would change the licensing regime to one that would enable the local people to partner with foreign investors. That way, the local people would also benefit from foreign investments. However, the moment they moved to that side of the House, all that was forgotten. What has happened to the talk of ensuring that Zambians partner with foreigners before the foreigners are given licences to conduct business here? If, indeed, this was the vision of the PF, then it can still be attained. This is because we own the resources, that is, the land and everything else. The country is developing into a middle-income economy. However, the disposable income that the Zambians are spending ends up in South Africa because the goods we are consuming all come from South Africa.

Sir, before I conclude my debate, I would like to ask what justification there is for us to consume fish from China. How can fish that is imported all the way from China, over the seas up to here, be cheaper than the Zambian fish? So, what do we really mean when we talk about job and wealth creation? Are we sure that we cannot come up with measures to make it difficult for the Chinese to bring their fish into Zambia? Are we sure that we cannot aggressively protect the Zambian market so that the local producers can also thrive? How much longer can we continue to live on fish from China? It is a shame to find fish from China in our shops today. Last time, I talked about tomatoes and onions being imported from South Africa. If you go to Shoprite today, you will find onions from South Africa. All they have done is put a sticker which reads, “Produce of Zambia.” When you remove the sticker, you will find that the onions and tomatoes are from South Africa. 

Mr Chairperson, where is the Government? Where are you, the policy makers who are supposed to defend and protect the interests of the Zambian entrepreneur? Are you too busy receiving praises from the foreign interests? Are they helping you to campaign against your own people? What is your interest in protecting them? 

Rev. Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha: Hear, hear!

Ms Namugala: Mr Chairperson, this is a very sad state of affairs. It is a pity Hon. E.C. Lungu is not here. How is the rice from Mongu and Chama going to compete with the rice from China and Vietnam when it is selling at half the price? The rice that is produced locally is not well branded. So, how is it going to compete with the imported rice? As we speak about job and wealth creation, let us think about having that wealth indigenised. Let us not be jealous of each other and think that if Hon. Chikwanda is too rich, he is going to become arrogant. It is okay to be arrogant as long as we are rich enough to look after ourselves and our families. As long as we can promote our interests, it is okay to be rich. Let us help ourselves to get rich.

With these words, I support this budget.

I thank you, Sir.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Kaingu (Mwandi): Mr Chairperson, I am happy that Hon. Chikwanda is rich, but not arrogant.

Mr Kapeya: Bushe emo achilosha?

Laughter

Dr Kaingu: Mr Chairperson, I want to borrow a Lunda saying from my brother, Hon. Muchima, which goes, “I shall not give my steak to another man, but will keep it for the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD).”

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Kaingu: Mr Chairperson, the problem of unemployment in this country is as serious as that of wealth creation. The MMD came up with the Multi-facility Economic Zones (MFEZs) in order to fight poverty and create wealth, and jobs for our people. If the Zambian people were patient enough and allowed us to remain in the Government, they could have seen that we meant well when we came up with the MFEZs. When we took over power from the United National Independence Party (UNIP), we grew the economy to 6.5 per cent. We then came up with the MFEZs so that we could create jobs and wealth. I want all of you to know that we, in the MMD, are not saying we shall do this or that because we have already done it. When Mr Rupiah Banda (RB) comes back into power, he shall simply continue from where we left.

Laughter

Dr Kaingu: You think that is laughable? In one of the Zambian languages, there is a saying that goes, akopa noko, … 

 Interruptions

Dr Kaingu: Ati?

Laughter

Dr Kaingu: Eko usulile, ekopa noko.

Laughter

Dr Kaingu: So, you continue laughing.

The Chairperson: Meaning what, Dr Kaingu?

Dr Kaingu: Sir, meaning that the RB that you are laughing at is going to be your President after 21st January, 2015.

Laughter

Dr Kaingu: Mr Chairperson, if the concept of the MFEZs was followed, today, this country would have created wealth for its people. The idea was to bring …

Interruptions

Dr Kaingu: There is so much noise. 

… people from outside who could manufacture goods and sell them within the region. Zambia, as a hub of the region, has about 400 million people it could sell its goods to. However, I am afraid the people who have taken over that concept do not understand it. That is the reason, today, we are still talking about small issues like industrial clusters. If you take one MFEZ to the Western Province,  it will wipe out unemployment.

Sir, I would like to borrow the good debate of Hon. Hamududu on Zambia in relation to other countries. Can you imagine putting up an MFEZ in the Western Province, starting to grow rice and packaging it properly? That rice would sell very easily in Angola. So, the MFEZs that you are talking about are very important. If we really want to create wealth and employment in Zambia, we need to fall back on that concept and understand it. Do not talk like you initiated the establishment of MFEZs because you found it already done. Thank you, Hon. Felix Mutati, for that initiative. Unfortunately, you have been misdirected by a few of our colleagues.

Laughter

Mr Mutati rose.

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

The Chairperson: Order, order!

Please, let us not discuss party politics in here. We should stick to the issue at hand instead of debating individuals.

Dr Kaingu: Mr Chairperson, this is a situation where mutatis mutandis applies, which means changing those things which need to be changed applies. 

Sir, I strongly believe that community-based enterprises are far better than clusters. Unfortunately, ‘Mr Cluster’ is looking down (pointing at Mr Sichinga). Your Excellency, please, listen.

Laughter 

Dr Kaingu: In most cases, industrial clusters are based on trials. Enterprises under these clusters are usually owned by individuals whereas community-based enterprises are owned by the whole community. For example, we can have a community-based fishing enterprise in Liuwa or Mwandi. This can help bring development to the indigenous people in the area. The fish can be dried, canned or packaged in many different ways. This would be more helpful than having an industrial cluster in the area that the hon. Minister was talking about. 

In fact, the people who are given money under the Industrial Clusters’ Programme have no financial intelligence. I can imagine how much money is going to be wasted because these people do not know how to use it. So, it is very important that we focus on community-based micro enterprises.

Mr Chairperson, so much has been said about clusters. There was an industrial cluster for pineapples in the North-Western Province and one for cashew nuts in the Western Province. Why did we fail to run them? I think this is the question that we must address. Even if we tried the same clusters again, we would fail. 

Mr Chairperson, Hon. Namugala and Hon. Hamududu talked about finding South African products in Shoprite. When I was Minister of Community Development and Social Welfare, I engaged Game Stores and Shoprite to give us open corners in their stores to sell commodities produced by the vulnerable in our communities. We did not want the stores to buy the products for them to resell. Unfortunately, the donchi kubeba people came into power and told our people stories before we concluded the discussions. That was deception.

Laughter 

Hon. Members: What is donchi kubeba?

Dr Kaingu: Donchi kubeba means deception.

Laughter 

Dr Kaingu: So, I initiated a programme to empower communities by working with the big enterprises. Now that we are coming back in to power, we are going to implement the programme. For us, it is just a matter of continuing from where we left when we come back into office. In fact, our colleagues are trying to implement programmes that we left, but which they do not understand. Most of the policies that you have been trying …

The Chairperson: Order!

Can you address the Chair, please.

Dr Kaingu: Mr Chairperson, it is just that when they were attacking me …

The Chairperson: Order! 

Just debate, please.

Dr Kaingu: Thank you very much for your guidance, Sir.

Mr Mukanga interjected.

Dr Kaingu: Part of what?

The Chairperson: Order! 

Just ignore those who are interjecting.

Laughter 

Dr Kaingu: Sir, all the programmes by the Government, including the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) and those for women empowerment, were initiatives of the MMD. These programmes were implemented during the rule of one very important son of the soil, RB. So, we are coming back to complete them. The other thing … 

Mr Sichinga interjected.

Dr Kaingu: Ba pongoshi, I do not want to say something evil against you.

Laughter 

Dr Kaingu: Mr Chairperson, the other issue I would like to talk about is in regard to what I talked about in my debate two or three days ago. There are no linkages between ministries. For example, the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry works in isolation from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. I am glad that Hon. Hamududu mentioned this earlier. We need to link up the line ministries so that, for instance, the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry can help ensure that what is being produced under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock is processed. 

Mr Chairperson, it is a pity that I will not debate the Vote for the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education. However, I would like to say that the education system in this country is too academic. We are not offering vocational training. In the olden days, a teacher would impart both cognitive and practical knowledge to students. Pupils would be taught how to build a house, grow crops and so on and so forth. However, today, pupils are just taught about things like the Monomotapa Kingdom. Of what benefit is the Monomotapa Kingdom to us?

Laughter 

Dr Kaingu: These are topics that we are still taught in school. In this contemporary world, why are we still teaching our children about Shaka? Why should they be learning about a violent man as if we want them to be violent too? Let us try to …

Laughter

Dr Kaingu: Mr Chairperson, there is too much laughter. Therefore, with those few words, I want to support the Vote for the ministry.

Thank you, Sir.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: Mr Chairperson, seven people have contributed to the debate on my ministry. Sometimes, I am really at pains to follow the arguments that are put forward because had some hon. Members listened to what I said, they would not have raised most of the issues that they have raised. Nonetheless, let me briefly respond to some of the issues that have been raised.

Sir, one cannot sell something that he/she has not yet produced. The arguments that are being put across about this Government having taken over whatever had been implemented by the previous Government do not hold any water. This is because if such progrmmes were there, there would be no need for us to discuss their implementation now. Had our colleagues empowered our people, there would be no need to talk about empowering our people so that they become self-reliant. The Patriotic Front (PF) Government is responding to the needs of the people now.  

Sir, those who cannot see what we are doing should go and ask the twenty-four-year old young woman in Petauke who is producing cooking oil from groundnuts. She produces 1,000 litres of cooking oil per day. She was empowered by the PF Government with a loan of K493,800. She has employed her husband as her technical manager and twenty-two youths in Petauke. They should also talk to a man in Mumbwa who has been empowered by this Government. I was hoping that Hon. Big-Gen. Dr Chituwo would have referred to this in his debate because he knows the benefits of industrial clusters in his constituency.

Brig-Gen. Dr Chituwo: I forget.

Mr Sichinga: My friends from Mpulungu and Siavonga know very well how we are doing in aquaculture. We are trying to reduce the quantity of fish that is coming into the country from other countries in a practical way. You cannot take something out of our natural resources like rivers and not replace it. This is what the PF Government is doing.

Sir, the reason we are building infrastructure is to gain access to the raw materials in a particular area and use it to carry out some economic activities in that area. We are rolling out these programmes now, and not tomorrow. We are doing this not only in Petauke or Mpulungu, but also in Mungwi, Kasama, Mumbwa and Mongu where we have a value chain on mangoes, and eight women have been empowered to run factories that are going to make mango juice. We are not talking about tomorrow, but today.

The workshop we conducted here for hon. Members of Parliament explained what we are doing. We are talking about value chains that we have identified throughout the country. So far, 103 districts have been mapped out. We know exactly what is there. So, Hon. Imenda, that job has been done. We know our comparative advantage not only nationally, but also in each district and constituency. We are now implementing the programme and rolling it out. That is how you create jobs.

Hon. Namugala, we are aware of the imbalances. I want to inform you that 72 per cent of the trade in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region is generated from South Africa. In fact, this is what we found when we came into office. To change that, you need to create the factories here in order to reduce the export of groundnuts to South Africa and use them to produce cooking oil here. That is what the PF is doing.

Sir, the issue of local content is something that we are working on. At the moment, we are preparing a Bill on local content which we are going to bring to this House. The issue of policy environment has already been dealt with. 

Dr Musokotwane said that the anticipated 7 per cent growth in the economy is very small, and yet when we took over the Governemnt, there was no growth. So, what do you expect? I indicated, in my speech, that we want to increase this figure because I am not satisfied with it. 

Let me also mention the issue of empowerment that Hon. Muchima talked about. I have reported to this House that with the budgetary allocation that the Ministry of Finance provided to us in 2013, 1,086 projects worth K98 million have already been funded out of the 8,172 applicants. For 2014, we have received more than 16,000 applicants. However, with the resource base that we have, we can only do so much.

As regards the issue of access to the markets in Burundi and Rwanda, like I have already mentioned, we already have access to Tete, Katanga and Angola. We have to put infrastructure in place in order to exploit the market in those two countries.

Sir, to say that ministries are not talking to each other is incorrect because the hon. Minister of Agriculture and Livestock and I have been discussing the issue of empowerment. In fact, in specific cases where we are seeking to empower people under the Citizens’ Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC), we call them special initiatives. For us, it is very clear that we should support a micro and small enterprise that is an area where the biggest benefits accrue. Most of such enterprises are in the rural areas.

The issue that Hon. Muchima raised in regard to interest levels is true. The CEEC is lending at 12 per cent. So, the resource is available for people to access. Clusters were not a concept of the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD). If there is a project that was initiated by the MMD that is worth continuing because it creates jobs for our people, we shall continue with it because that is the right way to go. So, the issue of value chains and clusters in which the people can be able to operate is important. It is a pity that Hon. Dr Kaingu has left the House because his understanding of what a cluster is, is completely misleading. I would have liked to give him a lecture on how it is done. Nevertheless, we shall leave that for another time.

Sir, we are introducing the MFEZs and clusters side by side. A clear example of this is Mumbwa  where there is a big company called Amathione which is producing wheat, …

Interruptions

The Chairperson: Order!

Mr Sichinga: … and soya. Global Industries is producing Canola cooking oil from soya in Lusuwishi Farming Block. There are also some aquaculture activities at their farms. Olam is also producing edible oils. The PF Government has adopted an aggressive approach to bring in investment.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: The Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) is the process by which we agree with investors to create jobs and ensure that there is continuous investment. The figures I provided where very clear. There is a distinction between what we call actualisation of a pledge and making a pledge. The pledges I have mentioned exceed K3.3 billion as far as the current year is concerned. We expect it to rise to more than US$4 billion before the end of the year. What is actualised is much lower because it takes a long time for the investment to be actualised. That is the gestation period. Hon. Members of Parliament need to go the CEEC which has a presence in many provinces in the country and the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA). PACRA is also present in all the provincial centres, including Central Province where we shall be officially launching it before the end of this month. So, there is easy access to resources and information.

Sir, let me conclude by saying that we are well aware of the need to connect the local farmer. We are working with the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) to sell local produce on the local markets, in this case, the stores. However, we need to be mindful of the fact that it is not the PF Government that signed these agreements. We are signatories to the SADC and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) protocols. After you had signed the wrong agreements in January, 2011, our job now is to make sure that we maximise on what we are going to do. You signed agreements which turned this country into an open market place. It is the Government that is sitting there (pointing at the MMD Bench). 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: Now, you stand on the Floor of the House to criticise us. That is not correct. I would like to ensure that we understand one another. As far as this Government is concerned, we are very clear in our minds what needs to be done. Let me say that there is a lot more that can be done, but we are constrained by the resource base because it is not the Government that creates the jobs. Our role is to facilitate, encourage, identify what needs to be done and provide that information. 

Sir, it is now up to us to go out there and tell our people what is available. I sincerely hope that I have clarified some of the issues that have been raised. I dare say that those that sit in glass houses should not throw stones. You should have implemented these programmes when you had the opportunity do so. Then, we would not be in this situation.

I thank you, Sir, for allowing me to clarify some of the issues. I hope that we can now go ahead and look at the allocations for this ministry. They may not be adequate, but we are cutting our suit according to the cloth that is available.

I thank you, Sir.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Vote 33/01 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

Vote 33/02 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

Vote 33/04 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

Vote 33/05 – (Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry – Domestic Trade Department – K7, 817,061).

Ms Imenda: Mr Chairperson, may I have clarification on Programme 1002, Activity 045 – Zambia Agriculture and Commercial Show (ZACS) – Nil, Activity 046 – Zambia International Trade Fair – Nil. I am aware that these are some of the marketing arenas that are available. However, I am surprised that there is no allocation for 2015 for both programmes.

Mr Sichinga: Mr Chairperson, these activities are meant to promote business linkages and networking for manufacturing promotion and the SME growth. This is an on-going activity and has now been budgeted for under Programme 1559 on Trade Fairs, Shows and Exhibitions on page 5017.

I thank you, Sir.

Vote 33/05 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

Vote 33/06 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

VOTE 80 – (Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education – K8,599,147,755).

The Chairperson: Before the hon. Minister of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education gives his policy statement, the hon. Minister of Finance will provide clarity on how we shall proceed to consider this Vote.

The Minister of Finance (Mr Chikwanda): Mr Chairperson, I wish to thank you for according me the opportunity to introduce the concept of output-based budgeting (OBB) which the Government has proposed to pilot in 2015, under the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education.

Sir, in May this year, the Government launched the National Planning and Budget Policy whose objectives include integrating development planning and budgeting processes; re-orienting the National Budget towards tangible results; and improving Parliamentary oversight in resource allocation and utilisation. The Planning and Budget Policy and the enabling Act to be presented to this House early next year will anchor this country’s financial position. 

Mr Chairperson, entrenching fiscal responsibility in public institutions and re-orienting the National Budget towards results and, ultimately, tangible impact on the lives of the many beleaguered and long-suffering people requires new thinking, hard work and new ways of doing things. It is against this backdrop that the Government has embarked on the OBB with a view to changing the way the Budget is prepared and presented by providing more detailed information about public expenditure programmes as well as providing sufficient information to facilitate analysis and approval of expenditure estimates. The OBB format is also meant to make it easier for the National Assembly of Zambia to assess outputs, outcomes and impacts of public expenditure programmes.

The introduction of the OBB means shifting from the current Activity-Based Budgeting (ABB) to a more robust system that not only links allocations to output, but also places mandatory responsibilities on controlling officers to deliver outputs. The OBB also gives Parliament an opportunity to agree on deliverable outputs to be achieved in specific regions within a specified period.

Mr Chairperson, in 2015, the Government has proposed to pilot the OBB on the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education. The immediate and visible result of this piloting exercise has been the presentation of Volume II of the 2015 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure which is now before this august House for debate and approval.

Mr Chairperson, the implementation of the OBB entails a rationalisation of the programme structure so as to enhance the strategic focus of the ministry’s budget around the core functions. In this regard, there are seven core programmes in the 2015 OBB which have been drawn from the functional mandate of the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education. These programmes are reported in Volume II of the 2015 Yellow Book as follows:

 (a)     Early Childhood Education,

 (b)     Primary Education; 

(c)    Secondary Education;

(d)    Tertiary or Higher Education;

(e)    Youth and Adult Literacy;

(f)    Skills Development; and 

(g)    Science, Technology and Innovation.

The eighth programme is known as the Management and Services Programme. It will be used to cater for costs relating to cross-cutting activities and other expenditure items that are aimed at supporting the delivery of the ministry’s mandated functions.

Mr Chairperson, key output targets have been set for each of these programmes, with corresponding budget allocations. The details of each programme are presented in the form of economic classification. Narrations are also presented throughout the document to give further information about the allocation of financial resources within each programme and the expected results to be delivered by spending those resources.

Sir, budget performance information is also provided for purposes of comparison and analysis. However, since this will be the first year of presenting budget information in this format, there is no information on previous years until after the 2015 Budget.

Mr Chairperson, over the years, questions have arisen from this august House on the need to indicate the province and district where the Government projects are being implemented. Sometimes, questions on where the beneficiaries of Government programmes are have been asked. In response to such questions, the OBB has been designed to provide a detailed breakdown of the geographic location of all the on-going and new projects. An attempt has been made by starting with the infrastructure projects in 2015 under the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education.

Mr Chairperson, with regard to the procedure of debating and approving the OBB, the Government proposes that the approval of the new OBB be done by head and programme rather than by head and department as is the case under the current ABB system.

Interruptions

The Chairperson: Order!

Order, Hon. Deputy Ministers at the back, please!

Please, continue.

Mr Chikwanda: In debating the 2015 Budget for the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education, hon. Members of Parliament will have the latitude to raise issues on any content of the OBB document.

However, it is recommended that approval of appropriations be done at programme totals drawn from the programme detail. The rest of the contents of the document, including outputs, the budget summary, mandate, and strategic objectives and other narratives may be used for reference in debating the budget.

Mr Chairperson, finally, since the OBB system is being implemented in 2015 on a pilot basis, the Government is keenly looking forward to receiving valuable comments from hon. Members of this House, which will contribute to the improvement and perfection of our Budget systems  and processes. 

Mr Chairperson, I must hasten to mention that my ministry interacted with the Expanded Committee on Estimates regarding the OBB concept, the principles, and the structure of the OBB system before deciding to pilot it in 2015. Most of the comments that emanated from these consultations have been incorporated in the 2015 OBB document. Therefore, as I commend the 2015 OBB for the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education to this august House, I am confident that the hon. Members of Parliament will find the new budget format to be more informative, transparent, performance-oriented and salutary in the enhancement of the Legislature’s oversight role and the Executives’ accountability over the usage of public resources.

I thank you, Sir.

The Minister of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education (Dr Phiri): Mr Chairperson, I wish to thank you for this opportunity to present the policy statement for my ministry for 2015. 

Mr Chairperson, as the House is aware, the education, science, technology, skills development and higher education sub-sectors have seen many reforms since 2011. I stand here to share with the House what our plans for 2015 are. It is, however, sad that the driving force behind the vision and reforms in this sector, His Excellency President Michael Chilufya Sata, is no more. May his soul rest in peace. I extend my deepest condolences to the first family and the Zambian people on this loss.

Mr Chairperson, the responsibilities we are charged with, as a ministry, are outlined in our mandate which we have also included in Volume II. The mandate is: 

“Formulation and implementation of education and science policies, setting and enforcement of standards and regulations, licencing, supervision and provision of education, and skills development and promotion of science, technology and innovation”.

Mr Chairperson, my ministry has been chosen to pilot the new output-based budgeting (OBB) system. We feel privileged to be chosen, and it was a very useful experience to participate in the formulation of this system. This system will entail a stronger focus on the realisation of intended results in the sector, as the hon. Minister of Finance has told the House. As you have noticed from the separate Yellow Book, Volume II, which has been produced for my ministry, the budget has identified a total of thirty-five key output indicators that are expected to be achieved through the implementation of this budget. 

Mr Chairperson, the 2015 budget for the ministry is K9.41 billion, which is an increase of 9.5 per cent from the 2014 allocation. Of this, K6.42 billion is for personal emoluments, leaving a balance of K2.99 billion for non-personal emoluments. It will be useful to repeat this point. Of the budget that has been allocated to the ministry, which is K9.41 billion, K6.42 is allocated to personal emoluments, leaving a balance of K2.99 billion for non-personal emoluments.

Mr Chairperson, looking back at 2014, there are achievements that have been made in the areas of education, skills training, science and technology, and higher education. Our vision and budget for 2015 are premised on these achievements and our objectives for the future. Consequently, and in accordance with the OBB, the 2015 objectives of our ministry are elaborated in the eight programmes, as you heard from the hon. Minister of Finance. However, they are worth repeating. These are: 

(a)    early childhood education;
 
(b)    primary education;

(c)    secondary education;

(d)    higher/tertiary education; 

(e)    youth and adult literacy; 

(f)    skills development; 

(g)    science technology and innovation; and 

(h)    management and support services.

Mr Chairperson, I will now briefly share these objectives and present my ministry’s budget estimates for each programme.

Early Childhood Education 

Mr Chairperson, the importance of early childhood education cannot be overemphasised, as it is the foundation for better learning achievement at primary school and other higher levels of education and training. My ministry is committed to providing the support that our youngest children need to prepare them to succeed in school and in their later years. The progress in this area, so far, is as follows. 

Mr Chairperson, the curriculum for early childhood education, including the teacher training curriculum, has been developed and is being implemented. This will provide better coordination and standardisation of early childhood education services in Zambia. The ministry has further made progress in the area of teacher recruitment and establishment of early childhood education centres. Currently, the ministry has deployed 1,000 early childhood education teachers in schools and centres. More teachers have been planned for recruitment in 2015. Furthermore, 1,526 centres have been established and 70,000 learners are benefiting from the early childhood education services. In 2015, a total of K46.6 million has been allocated towards this sub-sector. Out of this, K42 million will go towards the construction of sixty early childhood education centres and six early childhood centres will be constructed per province. In addition, 1,140 existing buildings countrywide will be converted to early childhood education centres. Further, my ministry will partner with the private sector and other stakeholders, as it has done before, to establish more early childhood education centres as close to the community as possible. 

Primary Education

Mr Chairperson, the Government has remained committed to achieving our objectives in the primary education sub-sector. Our major policy objectives have been targeted at securing quantitative and qualitative primary education service delivery by improving access, quality, equity and efficiency. I am glad to inform this august House that the Government has continued with the policy of free and compulsory primary education. Other achievements include the rolling out of the revised curriculum framework to all schools, including community schools, and the development of teaching and learning materials. The ministry also facilitated the upgrading of primary teachers’ qualifications where 400 primary school teachers’ qualifications are being upgraded from certificate to diploma levels and another 400 from diploma in primary education to degree qualification in the same field. The upgrading programme will be ongoing.

In order to sustain the gains we have made and improve the quality of primary education, a total of K5.3 billion has been allocated to this sub-sector. Of this amount, K213.6 million has been allocated for the construction of a total of 500 classrooms, 200 teachers’ houses and toilets in order to replace the pole and mud temporary structures as well as construct schools in areas where there is a deficit of schools. The construction of the classrooms will create space for, at least, 20,000 additional learners. 

Further, the rolling out of the new curriculum will continue in 2015 for Grades 2 and 6 in the primary sub-sector. The ministry will continue to focus its attention on early grade assessment in order to come up with timely remedial interventions. This has been lacking in the past. Therefore, literacy and numerous assessment tools will be administered. These have been developed and are ready to be used. The development, printing and distribution of books and other curriculum support materials will be accelerated. 

Mr Chairperson, the ministry has allocated a total of K95 million to primary schools for school grants, with an additional K10 million towards school requisites for free primary education. This is an increase over the 2014 allocation which was at K83 million. 

Mr Chairperson, the other allocation made under the primary sub-sector is for the School Feeding Programme. The ministry has allocated a sum of K32 million to this programme. Last year, the figure stood at K5 million. The intention of the ministry is to scale up feeding of learners in selected schools to approximately 1,000,000 from the current 860,000. 

Secondary Education 

Mr Chairperson, under the secondary education sub-sector, the major policy objectives have been to:

(a)    increase access, progression and completion rates; 

(b)    review the curriculum to introduce a two-tier system, that is, academic and technical pathways; 

(c)    focus on teacher recruitment and deployment; and 

(d)    increase the availability of teaching and learning materials at secondary school level. 

A total of K2.1 billion has been allocated to this sub-sector. Of this amount, K42.1 million will be spent on school grants and K813.5 million on infrastructure development.

To improve access to and quality of education at secondary school level, the Government will continue with the construction of 118 secondary schools during 2014. Going into 2015, we want to accelerate progress in the construction of secondary schools. 

The Chairperson: Order!

Hon. Minister, 2015 or 2013?

Dr Phiri: To improve access and quality of education at secondary school level, the Government will continue with the construction of 118 secondary schools during 2014. My ministry will endeavour to accelerate the construction of secondary schools in 2015. 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: Therefore, we shall endeavour to complete eighty-three secondary schools whose construction was started by our colleagues before 2011 …

Mr Mwale: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: … and shall continue constructing the thirty-five secondary schools that were started in 2011. 

The upgrading of 220 basic schools into secondary schools, which started this year, will be completed in 2015. The completion of these schools will, no doubt, fulfil the Patriotic Front (PF) Government’s desire to implement the change from basic to primary and high school to secondary school. 

Mr Chairperson, K19.7 million has been allocated towards bursary support to orphans and vulnerable children at secondary school level. In order to improve quality, the ministry will also continue to upgrade teacher qualifications through the two fast-track initiatives in place. About 1,275 junior secondary school teachers are currently being upgraded from diploma to degree qualification and this programme will continue until we upgrade all the junior secondary school teachers at diploma level. 

Tertiary/Higher Education

Mr Chairperson, you may recall that in my address to this House last year, I re-affirmed the Government’s commitment to establishing, at least, one university in each of the ten provinces. Let me state that construction works are ongoing at Robert Kapasa Makasa, Paul Mushindo and Palabana universities. Further, additional infrastructure has been constructed at Chalimbana, Mukuba and Kwame Nkrumah universities.  

Following the enactment of Higher Education Act, No. 4 of 2013, my ministry has facilitated the establishment and operationalisation of the Higher Education Authority, which is now in place. Further, my ministry has established the Board of the Teaching Council of Zambia under the Teaching Profession Act No. 5 of 2013. This, I am glad to report, is also in place. I am also glad to inform you that the Zambia Qualifications Authority, under the Zambia Qualifications Authority Act No. 11 of 2013 is also operating. We have also established the councils of Chalimbana, Kwame Nkrumah and Mukuba universities. 
 
Under the tertiary sector, a total of K1.1 billion has been allocated, of which K650 million will go towards infrastructure development. As already stated, the ministry will endeavour to complete the construction of Robert Kapasa Makasa Science and Technology University. We also endeavour to complete Kwame Nkrumah, Mukuba and Chalimbana universities. The construction will also continue at Palabana and Paul Mushindo universities. 

Mr Chairperson, allow me to also state that the Government will commence the construction, of King Lewanika and Luapula Universities in January, 2015, as I indicated on the Floor of this august House. 
The ministry will also construct student hostels for Mulungushi, University of Zambia (UNZA) and Copperbelt (CBU) universities and Evelyn Hone College of Applied Arts and Science. The hostels will create an additional bed space of 9,160. The ministry will also carry out feasibility studies on the construction of universities in four provinces. However, since feasibility studies take long to conduct in this country, we shall start carrying them out next year for the construction of universities in the North-Western, Northern, Southern and Eastern provinces.  

Youth and Adult Literacy

Mr Chairperson, in order for my ministry to deliver its mandate of increasing equitable access to quality education to the youth and adult population, many of whom are disadvantaged, a total of K1.4 million has been allocated towards this programme. The ministry targets to establish 800 youth and adult literacy centres with an enrolment of 125,000 learners countrywide. 

Skills Development

Mr Chairperson, in terms of skills development and entrepreneurship training, the Government has continued with the commitment to construct a trades training institute in each district. A total amount of K153.3 million has been allocated for this, out of which K79.6 million will go towards infrastructure development. The Government will continue to construct trades training institutes, which it has already started, in Mwense, Sesheke, Mumbwa, Mporokoso, Lundazi, Isoka and Kalabo Districts. 

The Government will commence the construction of a trades training institute at Chitokoloki in Zambezi District, and feasibility studies will be conducted for the construction of trades training institutes at Luangwa and Kazungula. The Government will also continue to construct additional hostel accommodation at trades training institutes in Chipata, Ukwimi and Luanshya to enhance access to skills training. 

Mr Chairperson, to further increase access to skills training, the Government has allocated K10 million towards bursaries for vulnerable youths who would like to access skills training. 

Science Technology and Innovation 

Sir, the Government acknowledges that investment in science and technology, including innovation, is paramount to the achievement of sustainable development. In order to harness science, technology and innovation in the exploitation of local resources, the Government has embarked on the construction of the fisheries and mineral research centres in Luapula and the North-Western Provinces, respectively. This means that the fishery is in Luapula while the Mineral Research Centre is in the North-Western Province. These research centres will enhance the capacity to research local resources and establish a platform for creating employment.

Mr Chairperson, a total of K78.3 million has been allocated out of which K8.9 million will go towards the construction of research and development infrastructure and K19 million towards the procurement of research and development equipment.

Management and Support Services 

Sir, in order to facilitate support and coordinate the effective delivery of the ministry’s mandate, K522.06 million has been allocated towards this programme. A total of K292.7 million has been allocated towards human resource management and administration. Additionally, K154 million has been provided for the net recruitment of 5,000 early childhood education, primary and secondary school teachers in order to improve the teacher/pupil ratios. Most of these will go to the rural areas. 

Mr Chairperson, in our quest to improve operations in our various institutions, my ministry has allocated K97.1 million towards planning activities of which K84.9 million will be for grants to institutions such the Examinations Council of Zambia (ECZ), the Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training Authority (TEVETA) and all our colleges of education, among other institutions.

Sir, in conclusion, the proposed allocations to the various programmes will enable us to attain the outputs outlined in our OBB. We shall, no doubt, be made to account for what we have given in Volume II of the Yellow Book. This is one of the beauties of the OBB that I expect.

Mr Chairperson, once again, it is my hope that this august House will debate in support of this proposal because it will go a long way in preparing the future of Zambia.

I thank you, Sir.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

The Chairperson: I must commend the House for being very attentive. This is very special.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mtolo (Chipata Central): Mr Chairperson, I will be very brief. First and foremost, I would like to commend the Ministry of Finance for piloting the output-based budgeting (OBB) system and selecting the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education as a pilot ministry.

Sir, as we try the OBB system we, as a country, must be pleased that we shall finally have a scheme which is performance oriented. However, it is not enough for the hon. Minister to talk about this system if we do not have the requisite components for this system to work. If this system is to succeed in your ministry, you need to have the necessary performance documents signed by all the necessary staff.  

Mr Chairperson, we would like to believe that this is a system which will reject a Permanent Secretary (PS) or a Provincial Education Officer (PEO) who is not performing. However, this can only happen if we do more than talk about it. We should have those performance documents drafted so that the ministry officials who are not performing can be replaced. I would like to believe that the officials are listening to what we expect of them. They should know that we, as hon. Members of Parliament, understand what this system is all about. If the hon. Minister does not show us these performance contracts by the time the pilot begins, then, we would be wasting time and it will be business-as-usual.

However, achieving this will not be possible if the Ministry of Finance does not give you the necessary funding to enable you to assess your officials. You, as hon. Minister of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education, and the Ministry of Finance have come up with this challenging programme.

Sir, we would like to see a situation like the one in Rwanda where the President has signed a performance contract with each Minister. We want to see you sign a performance contract with each head of department in your ministry.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mtolo: Otherwise, this will just be an academic exercise, and we do not want to be a part of that. We would like you to bring those performance contracts, with very clear indicators, to the House.

For example, Mr Chairperson, the hon. Minister is saying that he wants to have 1,960 additional bed spaces at tertiary level of education. We would like him to sign a performance contract with the relevant officials so that we can ask to go and see the beds in December, 2015. Otherwise, we are just wasting time here. I want to emphasise that we are interested parties and would like you, as the Minister-in-charge, to make sure that this is done. 

Sir, we have a K9.41 billion budget for the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education but, out of this, 68 per cent is going to emoluments for members of staff. How do we expect the hon. Minister to perform all these miracles, especially that he has adopted this OBB system? How do you expect him to perform with only K3 billion which constitutes 32 per cent of the allocated budget? How will he increase the number of bed spaces, turn basic schools into proper schools, complete the construction of the 114 primary schools and eighty-three secondary schools, which were started by the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy  (MMD), and upgrade 220 schools with only 32 per cent of the budget? Are you not putting a rope around your neck, hon. Minister?

Mr Mwale: Kuzimanga chingwe.

Mr Mtolo: Sir, I am very concerned about this, and I have a proposal to make. What I have noticed since I came to Parliament is that we need to separate the budget for emoluments from that for other activities because we seem to get crowded by the issue of emoluments instead of addressing real issues.

Mr Mwale: Mwaona manje.

Mr Mtolo: How are you going to do what you intend to do with only 32 per cent of your budget? I do not know how comfortable the hon. Minister of Finance is to allow this to happen. How can 70 per cent of the budget go to emoluments? 

The Chairperson: Order!

Business was suspended from 1815 hours until 1830 hours. 

[THE DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES in the 
Chair]

Mr Mtolo: Mr Chairperson, before business was suspended, I was saying that it appears unfortunate that our Budget is crowded with emoluments. I was, therefore, making a suggestion that in future, we should consider separating the two so that we can easily identify projects which benefit the nation rather than talking about activities in the budget such as emoluments and salaries. 

Sir, in conclusion, I would like to strongly remind the hon. Minister of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education that it is not enough that we should be given universities in provinces, but that the current universities should also be strengthened. Universities need good libraries and well-qualified personnel. They should not just change from running diploma programmes to degree programmes. We would like to have quality from these universities. I would urge the hon. Minister to seriously look at this issue.

Sir, may I also remind the hon. Minister that it is not enough for him to change policies. I have in mind the way he changed the policy on the use of local languages as a medium of instruction in schools. We should have consensus on national issues like this one. I went to all the parts of the country and can confirm that this policy did not receive nationwide consensus. With those few remarks and observations, I wish to support the Vote.

I thank you, Sir. 

Mr Ng’onga (Kaputa): Mr Chairperson, thank you for giving me the opportunity to support the budget for the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education. I have always said that education is an equaliser. It separates those that would have probably been thrown into the doldrums in the rural areas, from those that were born in the urban areas where all the facilities are. Therefore, pat the Patriotic Front (PF) Government on the back for allocating K9.41 billion towards education in order to improve the education standards. I will limit my contribution on this Vote to early childhood, primary and secondary education. I shall also make a few comments on the education providers and the inspectorate wing. 

Sir, the K46.6 million allocated towards early childhood education is a good figure because, as I indicated earlier, this is the foundation of education. This is where rural children were disadvantaged because there was no early childhood education centres in the rural areas in the past. So, there was a big difference in progression between those who had access to early childhood education and those who did not. Therefore, we thank the Government for allocating resources towards the improvement of this sector.

However, Mr Chairperson, let me state that the six centres that have been provided for in the 2015 Budget are not adequate for the province. For example, in the Northern Province, there are nine districts. So, the six early childhood centres that have been built in the province are not enough. The Provincial Educational Officer (PEO) will have difficulty allocating these funds to all the districts. This can create a battle among politicians who would want, at least, a centre in each district or constituency.

Hon. Minister, we would like the budgeting to be based on district or constituency needs rather than provincial so that all the districts or constituencies can benefit. I, therefore, propose that we allocate more resources to this activity so that all the districts and constituencies can benefit from this early childhood programme.

Sir, the Government has allocated a substantial amount towards the improvement of education at primary level. I would like to bemoan the lack of accommodation for primary school teachers. For example, in Kaputa Constituency, most of the Government schools do not have houses for teachers. A number of schools have houses that were built by the Parent-Teachers Associations (PTA) which are not enough. Therefore, we need more house structures for teachers within the schools.

Mr Chairperson, some structures whose construction started in 2004 have not been completed. I have asked when these structures will be completed because they are an eyesore. There are such structures in Kaputa, and one wonders when they will be completed because there is no allocation in the 2015 Budget for their completion. 

Mr Chairperson, we know that the next school calendar starts in January, 2015. However, we do not have sufficient space for Grade 8 pupils. In January/February, 2014, we faced a lot of challenges with regard to accommodating pupils who had qualified to secondary school. I think history is likely to repeat itself. The Government’s intention was to upgrade some of the basic schools to secondary schools before the end of the year, but this has not been done. We know that some funds were released for this, but this is December and this has not been done. The hon. Minister of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education should help us solve the problem of accommodating pupils who have been selected to Grade 8 at the schools which have been earmarked for upgrading. I think the earlier we give direction to the PEOs on how to handle this issue, the better. So, the hon. Minister should advise us on how this issue should be handled.

Sir, in conclusion, I would like to comment on the conduct of teachers. When we were younger, teachers were role models and we all looked up to them in terms of career guidance. However, in most rural schools, most of the teachers are truant and others have resorted to beer drinking. This has a negative effect on young children. The appointing authorities should discipline such teachers and remind them of the important role that they are supposed to play in the communities that they serve. They are supposed to be role models for the young children who look up to them for guidance. I think the education inspectorate that is responsible for maintaining standards among teachers has relaxed over the years.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Ng’onga: I cannot entirely blame them because they need facilities such as motor vehicles for them to perform their duties effectively. So, I hope this issue will be addressed. 

Mr Chairperson, children from urban areas have easy access to education because they have the option of private schools. However, those in rural areas are disadvantaged because they rely on the Government to allocate money to this sector for the construction of schools. Therefore, the Government should consider allocating more money to rural education in order to level the playing field.

Mr Chairperson, with these few words, I thank you for according me this opportunity to debate.

I thank you, Sir.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Livune (Katombola): Mr Chairperson, thank you for the opportunity to debate this Vote.

Sir, let me start with the issue of distance from one school to the other, especially in the rural areas. In the rural areas, it is almost difficult for people to appreciate the bureaucracy that exists in the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education.

Obviously, today, people open schools simply because there is a need for a school in a particular area, and yet there are education officials in every district. One would expect information on the establishment of schools to be readily available on the hon. Minister’s table. Whichever formula is applied to open schools, that is up to the ministry to find out.

Sir, people walk long distances in search of school places because of the distances between schools. When the people come up with the initiative to construct a school, the Government always drags its feet to recognise the efforts of the people. 

In Kazungula, it is evident that people are ahead of the Government. For example, they have built a lot of community schools and have applied to have them gazetted and given Payroll Management and Establishment Control (PMEC) authorities. Unfortunately, it is taking ages for the Government to do what is supposed to be done. There are a number of schools that have been gazetted, but do not have a pay structure to date. What is the implication? The implication is that the district will never have the required number of teachers because some teachers have to be moved from the already established schools to the community schools in order to fill the education gap.

Mr Mutelo: Hear, hear!

Mr Livune: Sir, it is important that the ministry pulls up its socks so that the people are given what is right for them. It is not a crime to live in the rural areas.
 
Sir, in the next few days, this country will be led by President Hakainde Hichilema who is from a village …

Hon. Government Members: Question, question! 

Interruptions

Mr Livune: ... and went to school in a village.

Interruptions

The Deputy Chairperson: Order, order!

Let us guide one another. This Chamber is not for campaigns. So, stick to the issue at hand.

Mr Livune: Mr Chairperson, all I am saying is that some people in this country were born in the village, went to school there but, today, they are eminent people in this country. The hon. Minister should attach importance to these issues that we want taken care of in the villages. Gazette the schools and give them the required PMEC authorities so that the right number of teaching staff is attributed to each school in the village. 

Sir, Kazungula District has written to the Government, requesting PMEC authorities to be given to a number of schools but, to date, nothing has happened. The ministry should go and see the schools that I am talking about. For example, Lupani School looks better than some of the Government schools in town, and yet it is a community school. Kooma Community School is one of the best schools in the country. The same applies to Sibbulo School. What else can you ask from the community? They have done what they can. The Government must wake up and do the needful. If it does not, we shall vote it out on 20th of January, 2015.

Hon. Government Members: Question!

Mr Livune: Mr Chairperson, the other issue I would like to talk about is in regard to issuance of examination centre status to schools.

Mr Mutelo: Hear, hear!

Mr Livune: The hon. Minister is on record as having upgraded schools from basic to secondary school, but it is an open secret that most of these schools lack the required infrastructure. For example, there are no laboratories at these schools. However, the good news is that there is a provision for mobile science laboratories. Most of the schools have mobile science laboratories, but still have not been given examination centre status. I wish to call upon the hon. Minister to ensure that most of the schools that have acquired mobile science laboratories are given examination centres status.

Sir, in rural areas such as Kazungula, there are schools like Makunka, Nyawa and Musokotwane where pupils write examinations elsewhere. We all know that psychology plays a major role in education. So, when you move a pupil from his/her school to go and write examinations from another school, he/she will feel intimidated in a new place. Sometimes, he/she has to live with a relative or in a rented place. So, his/her performance will be affected due to the unfamiliar environment.

Mr Mutelo: Hear, hear!

Mr Livune: Therefore, I call upon the hon. Minister to give schools that have mobile laboratories examination centre status so that the pupils can write from where they were learning.

In any case, Mr Chairperson, what is a laboratory? Is it the building or the equipment? So, if the equipment is there, then, the schools should be given examination centre status.

Sir, the other issue I would like the hon. Minister to critically look at is in regard to the harmonisation of Robert Makasa and Mukuba universities. Mukuba University is a tested institution which is producing quality science and mathematics teachers. However, before it could be upgraded to offer degree programmes and the infrastructure completed, the Robert Makasa University was established. This institution is also meant to train science and mathematics teachers. Why is a tested institution not given what it needs in order to perform better? What this means is that we are going to have two institutions offering the same progrmmes at the expense of quality.

Furthermore, Sir, there is another university called Paul Mushindo in Chinsali that is going to have two vice-chancellors. Dr Phiri knows better than I do what the cost of having a vice-chancellor at a university is. One would think that it is only prudent that one of the schools becomes a faculty of the other. 

Mr Chairperson, it is important that the hon. Minister looks at this issue critically, especially that of Mukuba and Robert Makasa universities that will need harmonisation of some sort.

Sir, I would like to make an appeal to the hon. Minister to consider having the schools in rural areas electrified. The electrification of schools has been left to hon. Members of Parliament, councillors and villagers. I wish to remind the hon. Minister that these schools fall under his ministry. Therefore, he should liaise with his colleague in the Ministry of Mines, Energy and water Development to have the schools electrified. It does not matter whether the schools are given solar or hydropower, all that we need is electricity so that we can also promote adult literacy.

Mr Mutelo: And Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Mr Livune: Also Information and Communication Technology (ICT), like hon. Mutelo has mentioned. It is important that our schools are connected to power. What is important here is that the hon. Minister should liaise with his colleague in the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water Development to ensure that that the schools are electrified. 

Mr Chairperson, I would also like to talk about the issue of funding to schools. This year, I expected schools such as Mukuni and Simango secondary schools in Kazungula to be funded because this House appropriated money for this. Each school should have received K1,280,000 for infrastructure development. These are new schools that have been upgraded. However, to date, the money has not been disbursed to the schools. When will the money be disbursed to schools? Has anybody ‘chewed’ the money? I would like to know because my people are expectant.

The Deputy Chairperson: Order!

The word ‘chewed’ is unparliamentary. Can you substitute it with another word?

Mr Livune: I mean embezzled, Sir. We have heard about the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) being embezzled. So, it is possible that the money for Mukuni and Simango secondary schools could have been embezzled too. Could the hon. Minister look into this matter, please. Schools will be opening soon and there will be new classes for Grade 10, and yet there is no infrastructure to accommodate the pupils. Where will we take the pupils from the two schools? I am appealing to the hon. Minister to come to the aid of the people of Kazungula District, particularly with regard to the two secondary schools. 

As I conclude my debate, Sir, allow me to register my disappointment with the ministry which recruited about eight teachers for Kazungula District. We need not less than 300 teachers in Kazungula to meet the required teacher/pupil ratio. However, according to the Yellow Book, only eight teachers have been budgeted for. So, what happens to the rest of the schools? It is important that we deal with these matters as and when the need arises. At the moment, we need more teachers.

Sir, I have a lot to say but, for the sake of other hon. Members who want to debate, allow me to rest.

I thank you, Sir.

Dr Musokotwane: Mr Chairperson, I would like to start by thanking the previous speakers, including one of my former students, Hon. Mtolo. You will also agree with me that when my former students stand up to speak, they give me pride.

Mr Mtolo: Hear, hear!

Dr Musokotwane: Sir, I think it was Hon. Hamududu who once said that the best resource for the country is the human resource. That is true. We know that today, if we got all the Zambians and took them to Japan, and brought all the Japanese to Zambia, after about fifteen years or so, Zambia will look like Japan and Japan will look like Zambia.

Laughter

Dr Musokotwane: Mr Chairperson, what is the difference? The difference is in the quality of the human being. So, education is a manufacturing process. When you look at sand on the ground, it looks valueless but, when you put it through a manufacturing process, it produces glass, circuit fruits and many other things. Similarly, as human beings, when we are born, we are quite raw and to turn us into doctors, accountants and teachers, we need to be refined. That refinery process is called education.

Mr Chairperson, I come from a constituency that has a long history of academic excellence.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Musokotwane: Sir, in 1964, when President Kaunda constituted a Cabinet for the first time, he looked for young men and women with degrees. I am happy to report that in that year, four of the Cabinet Ministers with degrees came from Liuwa.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Musokotwane: The graduates included Mundia Nalumino from a village called Nambanda, Mubiana Nalilungwe from Libonda and the Wina brothers from Silai Village. So, four Members in that Cabinet of eighteen came from Liuwa. This is not because most of them had parents to pay for their education, but because there was a functional education system under the traditional authority, the Barotse National Treasury …

Ms Imenda: That is right.

Dr Musokotwane: … which made sure that talented children always had their potential exploited to the maximum. That was fifty years ago. So, this is where I want to base my reality test which I want to give to the hon. Minister of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education. If fifty years ago, there were four graduates from Liuwa when the population was very small but, today, you have to struggle to find graduates from Liuwa, what has happened? Were the imperialists better than us at planning? 

Sir, I have heard all that the hon. Minister has said. I have heard what his plans are for early education, university education and secondary school education and so on and so forth. However, let me give you the reality on the ground.

Mr Chairperson, in spite of that history of excellence, most of the young people in Liuwa, today, are illiterate. At one time, I went to one of the remote places and was shocked to hear a parent say that these days when one of his sons receives a letter, he takes it to the father to read for him. That is the reverse of what used to happen in the olden days when illiterate parents would go to their children to have their letters read to them. Today, it is the parents who went to school fifty years ago who are reading to their illiterate children. If that is not going backwards in the ladder of development, what could this be?

Sir, the quality of education, today, is a disaster. When I completed Grade 7, I could write a letter in English. I could read basically any book. However, today, even the Grade 9 and, probably, Grade 12 pupils cannot write a letter. They can hardly read and are hardly numerate. This is the reality of what is happening today.

Mr Chairperson, when it comes to progression, especially with what has happened now, very few children are able to progress in school. Like I said before, even when they progress, the quality of education that they are receiving is very poor. What this means is that the manufacturing process of the human capital that I talked about earlier is not taking place. This has consequences in many areas such as workmanship, the attitude of people and so on and so forth. This means that poverty will be with us for years. As somebody from that side said, education is the equaliser. So, if it is not taking place, communities are condemned to poverty for the next twenty to thirty years.

Sir, I heard you talk about early childhood education and how many schools you are building. Quite frankly, I am not really sure if that is a priority for us. I really doubt that because most of the schools in Liuwa do not have teachers. I know about one or two which I visited in September. For example, there are no teachers at Sikunde School. Sometimes, I wonder why we do not bring back the policy of untrained teachers which, unfortunately, was abolished by my own Government, the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD). With untrained teachers, at least, there will be more contact between pupils and teachers. 

Mr Chairperson, at the time I went to school, the first and third grades were taught by one teacher and Grades 2 an 4 also had one teacher. For each grade, there was one class in the morning and another in the afternoon. From Grades 4 to 7, there was a teacher per class. 

Mr Ng’onga: Were these teachers untrained or qualified?

Dr Musokotwane: They were qualified teachers. There was also a headmaster who had no class responsibilities. The headmaster’s job was to administer, supervise and, in rare cases of absenteeism, step in to teach. Today, however, most schools in Liuwa that go up to Grade 7 or 9 have two or three teachers for the whole school. Are these schools? What is the point in having a kindergarten class in public schools when there are no teachers? Is that a priority in our education system? On the other hand, township schools are congested with teachers. I wonder what has happened to the administration of our schools. Where has the discipline gone? How come there are so many teachers in urban schools when schools like Mushukula, Sikunde and Liuwa have no teachers? Why should all the teachers be based in the district headquarters in Kalabo? There is a need for equity in the deployment of teachers in rural schools. 

Mr Chairperson, let me make a few remarks on the teacher/pupil contact. Pupils in Liuwa have no access to a teacher for half of the month because the teacher is always away, chasing after his/her salary. A teacher will spend four days to walk the 120 km to the district headquarters. Another five days will be spent buying basic necessities for the home and then four days walking back home. So, for half the month, the teacher is away from school.

The timers went off.

Dr Musokotwane: It is very good that I can debate forever since there is no clock. 

Interruptions 

Dr Musokotwane: Mr Chairperson, I am personally angry with this Government because the issue of paying teachers can be solved through mobile phone money transfers. Unfortunately, when our colleagues came into power, they abandoned the construction of the three communication towers in Liuwa that we had started. At the moment, there are only holes at the sites where the towers were supposed to be erected. How are teachers going to be paid on site so that they have more time with the pupils? The erection of towers at Siluwe, Luola and Liuwa has been abandoned for three years now. I do not know what kind of solution we are looking for to pay teachers on time.

Mr Chairperson, we need to motivate our teachers. You would be shocked if you went to some of the houses where teachers live. So, how do we expect the teachers to have the commitment to teach? I know that resources are limited, but with a bit more focus, I think we can make some progress. 

Mr Chairperson, the other time, I talked about the many by-elections that have been held under the Patriotic Front (PF) Government. I know that the poverty situation in the constituency of my neighbour from Mitete is as bad as mine. Meanwhile, the Government is willing to spend as much as K7 to K8 million on a by-election. If that money was used to improve schools, for example, you can imagine how much progress we would make. Resources are limited but, with better prioritising, I think they would go a long way in developing the education sector.

Mr Chairperson, my final point is …

Mr E. C. Lungu entered the Assembly Chamber.

Mr Livune: Question!

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Musokotwane: Mr Chairperson, my time is being taken up by hecklers. However, my final point is on the Information Communication Technology (ICT) programme that has been introduced in the school curriculum. Teachers are angry and were asking me where the hon. Minister who introduced this programme without providing them with computers is. So, the hon. Minister needs to deal with that issue.

Thank you, My Chairperson.

Dr Phiri: Mr Chairperson, I thank all hon. Members who have contributed to debate on this Vote. They have unanimously agreed that this is a very important ministry and that they will support its budget, although they have also made all sorts of lamentations. I must say that our technocrats have taken note of the challenges mentioned by hon. Members. We shall consider them when we have the review meetings at national, provincial and district levels.

Sir, we are excited about the output-based budget (OBB) for the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education. I hope the results will be worthy of our excitement. The only issue that we may need to address is the organisation culture because our staff may not appreciate the OBB if we do not build capacity. We are, however, working towards strengthening our strategic plan and restructuring the ministry. 

Mr Chairperson, we need to continue with the numerous projects we have started for universities. There is no need for apprehension over the two universities in Muchinga District. The Mukuba University is meant to enable us to train as many teachers of science and mathematics as possible. We have even included technology as one of the faculties because we are behind in that area. The Robert Makasa University is for science and technology. Although the two institutions will share some of the faculties, they are completely separate universities.

Mr Chairperson, I have heard Hon. Ng’onga loud and clear and I appreciate his contribution. Hon. Livune also raised a few issues, but I did not know that he was such a bad friend. I had discussed some of these matters with him, but I was surprised when he lamented over them on the Floor. Anyway, I appreciate that this is election time. I guess he was persuaded to raise those issues.

Laughter 

Dr Phiri: He should, however, not drag me into politicking because I am seated next to the in-coming President of the Jubilee period. 

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: Sir, I would also like to thank Hon. Dr Musokotwane for his remarks. I think this is the third time I have heard him lament the poor education standards. It pains me even more to see the things he talked about. I was delighted when he said the first Cabinet in 1964 had four hon. Ministers from Liuwa. The four hon. Ministers were produced by the colonial system which was decentralised. I am a product of the Chewa Native Authority and he is a product of the Barotse Native Authority. The late four hon. Ministers he talked about were part of the Government’s decision to do away with the Native Authority in the name of one Zambia, one Nation. We could have gone a long way in our education system if that system was maintained. Now, there are calls for decentralisation. Yes, we must decentralise. That is the only solution to the problems primarily in the primary school education where we have over 9,000 schools. I have been challenged that if I am a real Minister, what am I doing about the school in Liuwa and Kaputa. It is not possible for a Minister to run more than 9,000 schools countrywide. We need to have a system which can hive off this huge responsibility from the ministry.

Do not be afraid when we talk about opening a university per province. That is the same attitude Dr Kaunda had in the 1970s when he popularised secondary schools. He wanted each district to have a secondary school. Today, we are saying that each province should have a university because of the obvious advantages. People should not travel from Kaputa to Lusaka to collect a piece of paper called degree which is completely irrelevant to what Kaputa needs. So, we have a challenge, but give our new curriculum an opportunity to produce results. I think, this far, the revised curriculum is showing promise. 

To all those who contributed on the Floor and those who did so silently, I thank you. This is an endless journey in education, and I hope that we can be together until that day when all the children will have access to quality education. However, the challenges are many. Nevertheless, God gives us opportunities to dismantle the challenges so that we bring smiles to the faces of more children than we already have.

I thank you, Mr Chairperson.

Vote 80/5501 – (Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education – Early Childhood Education – K46, 587,001).

Mr Mutelo (Lukulu West): Mr Chairperson, according to the mathematics I learnt from Washishi, when you add the last numbers for the activities in this programme, that is, two plus seven plus five plus six, the answer is twenty, not twenty-one. So, that Head total is wrong with that K1 that has been added. Why is that so?

The Deputy Chairperson: Well, we are not dealing with the Head total. We are dealing with programme total. Turn to page 13. That is where we are.

Mr Mutelo: Sir, page 13 is a replica of page 7. The K46,587,001 on page 13 is not the right total.

The Deputy Chairperson: Ask the question.

Mr Mutelo: Why do we have the wrong total with that K1?

The Deputy Chairperson: Hon. Minister, why is there a wrong total with that K1 that you have added. I do not know where it is?

Dr Simbyakula: It has been rounded off.

The Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education (Mr Mabumba): Mr Chairperson, the total could be because of the system of computation. I am not too sure, but it could be because the figures have been rounded off. That is why we have that K1 at the end of the total.

I thank you, Sir.

The Deputy Chairperson: So, what should the total read?

Mr Mukanga: As it is.

The Deputy Chairperson: As it is?

Interruptions

The Deputy Chairperson: Mr Mutelo, ask the question.

Mr Mutelo: The total, Sir, cannot read as it is. The total for what has been outlined would be K46,587,000, not with that K46,587,001. I am saying this is according to the computation I learnt from Washishi.

Interruptions

Dr Simbyakula: Noted, it will be attended to.

I thank you, Sir.

The Deputy Chairperson: It is a question of arithmetic. Six plus six gives you twelve, plus four, plus four, you get twenty.

Interruptions

Mr Mabumba: Mr Chairperson, we have taken note of it. The corrections will be made accordingly.

I thank you, Sir.

Interruptions

Vote 80/5501 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

Vote 80/5502 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

Vote 80/5503 (Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education – Secondary Education – K2,111,692,224).

Mr Mutelo: Mr Chairperson, again, all those figures add up to twenty-three, not twenty-four. I am talking about the last figures only. So, K2,111,692,224 is another wrong figure. Why are they doing things that way? That is why we are saying there is a need for quality education.

Hon. Government Members: Question!

Mr Mabumba: Mr Chairperson, the system is rounding off numbers which, unfortunately, are not reflected in the booklet. So, the figures have been rounded off. That is why we have those totals. 

Otherwise, Sir, the figures are correct.

I thank you, Sir. 

Interruptions

Mr Pande (Kasempa): Mr Chairperson, while the explanation by the hon. Minister could be correct, we would be going against our own rules to pass wrong figures. My advice is that the hon. Minister should go back and come with rounded off figures correctly reflected because we will be doing the wrong thing here.

The Deputy Chairperson: You will recall that even last year, there was that aspect of rounding off figures. My memory is very clear on that issue.

Rev. Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha (Keembe): Mr Chairperson, it is necessary for the hon. Minister to bring an amendment …

Hon. Opposition Members: Yes!

Rev. Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha: … in order for us to move forward. We cannot round off the figures because it would be wrong on our part. We want to pass the Budget. So, let there be an amendment and we shall deal with it.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

The Minister of Transport, Woks, Supply and Communication, Chief Whip, and Acting Leader of Government Business in the House (Mr Mukanga): Mr Chairperson, if we look at the figures and we have an error of K1 over K46 million. …

Mr Mutelo: It is not K1.

Mr Mukanga: It is K1.

The Deputy Chairperson: Order!

Mr Mukanga: What mathematics do you know?

The Deputy Chairperson: Order!

Please, let us observe order. There is no need for you to debate whilst seated. It is totally unacceptable. As hon. Members, we must learn to give each other the opportunity to debate. It costs nothing. You are honourable because you are expected to behave in an honourable manner. You will be given the chance to speak. I have noted your indication to take the Floor. So, I will call upon you to speak.

Continue, hon. Leader of Government Business in the House.

Mr Mukanga: Mr Chairperson, if, for example, a figure is written K8,193,792 and there is no point, it means it has been rounded off. I am sure mathematicians will agree with me. Every time you see an absolute figure that has no point, it has been rounded off. If you want to expound it, you will have a situation where the numbers will be rounding off. I do not see the problem here. If you look at the marginal error, what percentage of K46 million is K1? It is a very minimal figure. It is important that we pass the budget and move on.

Mr Livune: Question!

Ms Imenda: Mr Chairperson, perhaps, we can accept it if it is a one-off difference. However, on the next page, there is a difference of four. I do not know whether we shall be doing ourselves …

The Deputy Chairperson: We are debating Programme 5503.

Ms Imenda: I am just giving an example that as we proceed …

The Deputy Chairperson: We are debating Programme 5003. You cannot give an example of a Programme that has not fallen for discussion.

Mr Mutelo: Mr Chairperson, there is also a shortfall of K1. By the end of what we are doing, the figures will add up and the shortfall will not be K1, but K200. 

The Deputy Chairperson: What is your question?

Mr Mutelo: Are we going to approve figures that are wrong?

Vote 80/5503 is ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

Vote 80/5504 is ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

VOTE 80/5505 – (Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education - Youth and Adult Literacy – K1,402,354).
          
Ms Imenda: Mr Chairperson, the difference on this programme is four. It is not just one which has been rounded off. This means that the computation is wrong. May I have an explanation, Sir.

Dr Phiri: Mr Chairperson, I am not a mathematician, but will try to be one today. The Programme total is (1) Current Expenditures – K1,201,550. Therefore, (01) Personal Emoluments and (02) Goods and Services are explanations towards that total. Then, you add current expenditures to (2) Transfers, Subsidies and Other Payments – K200,804. The total will be correct. However, we seem to be attempting to add everything, but it will not give you that total. (1) and (2) are equal to the programme total.

I thank you, Sir.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!    

Vote 80/5505 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

Vote 80/5506 ordered stand part of the Estimates.

Vote 80/5507 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

VOTE 80/5508 – (Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education - Management and Support Services – K522,057,658).

Mr Mutelo: Sir, the total there is K522,057,659 and not K522,057,658. Even when you add all that, it does not add up to that figure. It will add up to K522,057,659. Why are we doing the wrong things today? Even if there is a difference of one ngwee, an accountant would still hold you accountable.

Mr Mabumba: Mr Speaker, our explanation is still the same because even when you look at the significance of the variation, it is too negligible to affect the values.

I thank you, Sir.

Rev. Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha: Sir, hon. Members of Parliament on this side of the House were voted into the House to come and do the right things. Is it in order for us to pass the wrong figures?

The Deputy Chairperson: Have you added it?

Mr Mutelo: Yes, Sir.

The Deputy Chairperson: No, please, I am not asking you. Let there be order. Do not tempt me to send you out because you gave me powers to do so. Hon. Rev. Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha, have you added the figures?

Rev. Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha: Mr Chairperson, the hon. Members are saying that these are wrong figures.

The Deputy Chairperson: We are trying to help each other. Have you added the figures?

Rev. Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha: Yes, Sir.

The Deputy Chairperson: The explanation has been given. It is the same explanation as before and this is now the last figure. This is the last item and after this, we go to the Head Total.

Vote 80/5508 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.
_________

HOUSE RESUMED

[MR SPEAKER in the Chair]

(Progress reported)
_________

The House adjourned at 1942 hours until 0900 hours on Friday, 5th December, 2014.