Vice president Wina’s lamentation over pending aid cuts from US Govt

By MacDonald Chipenzi

Vice President Inonge Wina says the Zambian government is worried that the announced budget cuts in foreign aid and funding to United Nations agencies will have devastating effects on the country’s health sector.

“It is a pity that the new administration of the United States and President Donald Trump is considering cutting aid to many countries, especially in the health sector. Some of the support we [have been] receiving from the US will not be there, so we’ll have to find ways of supplementing what we will [be] receiving so that our programs do not stall,” Mrs Wina said [Source: Lusaka Times]

My hopes are that these worries and lamentations from veep are genuine if not cocrodilian.

If they are, govt must start taking stock of its extravagance observed in its propensity to undertake unnecessary expenses such as the K2m on the ICC pull-out consultations; the global trotting of herself, the president, ministers and other govt officials. This govt has failed to pursue a lean cabinet principle and opted for a bloated one and created more ministries and embassies when the resource envelope is very lean.

More importantly, this government has failed to abolition the “leaky pipe” in the treasury-Office of the DCs-in all the 106 districts. Once this is done, govt will save money and also get proceeds from the sale of all the 104 vehicles recently purchases for DCs and channel the proceeds to health care services among others.

Zambia is not poor to fail to support its own government systems and services but our leaders have become irresponsible rakes raking all the resources for development into their pockets.

It is sad that at this age of our independence we are still worried about donor pull out just because of our imprudence in use of our resources and yet govt officials’ individuals bank accounts are fatter than the national treasury and their overall well-being improving at a swallow’s flight speed . Shame on us.

Leaders and govt officials in Zambia become so stinkingly rich within a short period of time and yet still crying for aid from the west. Let us seal off all the leaky pipes….then our our lamentations will be listened to.

Donors are also tired of pumping money in bottomless pits with no hope of near stop to it as those helped become more dependent the more help they are advanced.