CSOs regret high poverty in areas endowed with natural resources

…Blames it on government failure to equitably share the resources

By Francis Maingaila

Lusaka (27-11-18) The Zambian government has not done much to ensure that there is equal sharing of the public resources to the satisfaction of the general populace especially children.

Child Budge Network chairperson James Kafupi Banda told journalists  at the dissemination launch of report on the role of the government in promoting children rights  to education organised by the Centre for Trade and Policy Development (CTPD) at protea hotel in Lusaka that failure by the government to put measures in place to protect the interest of the people was the reason why there was still wide spread poverty in many parts of the country.

Banda regretted that little or nothing is done to improve the lives of the people especially children in concerñed areas.

For example  Banda said in Lifwanyama, the research which was done recently indicated that government has not released enough grant to support the education and health sector.

He also disclosed that the general  performance of government in the provision of services in the extractive industry is unimpressive.

What has led this factor is that government has exhibited  little control on the mining companies including other multinational companies operating in the affected area.

By so doing Banda explained the government was sitting on its right to provide for the people under local and international law protocol which obligate it to look after the interest of the people.

He said the government has no choice but to respect its obligations which it committed itself when it signed to the international protocol.

He said the government in particular has an obligation to prevent children from being discriminated upon and to promote their best interest.

He further suggested that the government is also obliged to promote the livelihood of children and ensure that their voices are heard all the time.

Regrettably, for many years the government has always taken the passive role in ensuring that the rights of not only the children but also the general populace is not well looked after.

He cited as an example failure by the government to provide a child friendly budget has always sat on the right of children to a fair share on the national cake.

He demanded that the government must always endeavour to achieve what it aspire to achieve when formulating the budget.

He also called for producing utilisation of national resources to the advantage of children.

“In all these activities the government should accommodate the area of transparency and must promote fair practices that are favourable to children.”

He equally observed that the private sector has also failed in its responsibility to promote the interest of the children.

He indicated that most of the commitment made by the private sector end up only on papers.

He said every business that fail to perform to the satisfaction of the children leave the void which will be filled with poverty.

And speaking at the same function the JCTR researcher Godfrey  Choongo regretted that the communities mostly affected by poverty are those living in areas endowed with natural resources.

Choongo said the most of the mining companies operating in Zambia have not done much to support the interest of the people in areas where they are operating through corporate social responsibility.

He suggested that the areas where the mining companies operating are list developed.

He blamed the culture of transferring the resources from mining areas to other areas for political expeditions.

He called for equal distribution of public resource to the advantage of all the communities irrespective of where the resources come from.