TIGHTEN BELTS (EDITORIAL COMMENT FOR THURSDAY 16TH OCTOBER 2014) The workers of this country, those who make contributions through Pay As You Earn are going to contribute K7.46 billion to government revenues, that is 16 per cent of the country’s budget of K46.66 billion, in 2015. This is the contribution from our workers. The contribution from company income tax will only be K2.39 billion, while that from mineral royalties will only be K5.9 billion. It is clear that the workers of this country are making a really huge contribution to the financing of the operations of government. But look at what is being given to them in return! Look at how they are treated with little or no respect at all by the likes of Alexander Chikwanda! Chikwanda could not openly talk about the workers’ contribution, through Pay As You Earn, to the 2015 budget. When did 16 per cent of the budget become nothing, something not worth talking about in the budget address? But the same Chikwanda went to great lengths to talk about the tax regime pertaining to the mines, whose contribution to the budget through royalties is far less than that of the workers through Pay As You Earn. And there is even a drop in the allocation to those things that really matter for the workers – health and education. They have increased the allocation to defense, where it is easy for them to get contracts, tenders without anyone asking questions. Look at how the contracts in the Army, the Air Force and the National Service are distributed! So is this a way of increasing the amounts of money they are going to share? We must begin to share the goods of this country more equitably and more fairly among all our people. If people have to be hungry, let us be hungry together. The privileged few should not defend their well-stocked larder by making others go without the plenty they could have. Clearly, our people’s right to an adequate standard of living will require a search for viable means to end corruption, bearing in mind that the sources of corruption are both structural and personal. It is good and proper that those who work hard, who develop their abilities and who take on responsibility should be rewarded for their efforts. And it is fitting that incentives should be provided to encourage people to do these things. However, a balance must be achieved in which material values such as wealth, status and power do not become the dominant or sole motivation. If this happens, more important values such as the common good and solidarity tend to be neglected or altogether ignored. There are numerous examples of this in our country. Much has been said about nchekelako, ukulila mwi bala and so on and so forth in our public sector, in which often excessive salaries and benefits are provided to the holders of public office. These are justified as being necessary either to attract qualified people or to lessen the temptation presented by corruption. Both of these justifications indicate that the value of service to the community is perceived as secondary to the material value of wealth. Again, status symbols such as expensive automobiles are routinely provided, and in many cases, demanded as somehow enhancing the dignity and worth of the recipient. Such tendencies are not only a drain on the resources of the state, limiting its ability to finance important social needs; they also set an example for the nation at large. The message is that public life is an opportunity for self-enrichment, rather than an opportunity to serve others. Materialism in public life stems, in large part, from the overtly materialistic nature of the private sector. Here, success is measured largely in terms of a person’s wealth or influence, in terms of the number of possessions they have accumulated, or what they earn and own. People are encouraged to aspire to ever-great material wealth to a point where they don’t even see anything wrong with stealing public funds to achieve that. People are encouraged to get ahead of others, to compete, sometimes ruthlessly, for a bigger share of what is available. It is disturbing to note that so many people are prepared to receive their education and training often at a vast expense to the people, the workers and then turn against them. There is little sense of the duty which we all have to contribute, to put back into society what we have received from it. It must also be pointed out that materialism is not confined to the rich. Even the relatively poor can allow materialist values to dominate their lives. Where this happens, whether for rich or for poor, the economy becomes nothing more than an area of competition where the most corrupt, the best equipped, the luckiest or the toughest prosper. In the absence of the truly human values, the weak, the ill-equipped, the incorruptible or the unlucky fall by the wayside. Once again, it is a question of balance. It is entirely legitimate to strive to increase one’s wealth and to enjoy the fruits of one’s labour, but this must happen in harmony with one’s social responsibilities. Material values should be accorded their proper place in relation to social, spiritual and moral values. Where this balance is disturbed, as is increasingly becoming the case in our economy, injustice is the inevitable result. Even when the trap of materialism is avoided, and the human values are recognised and maintained, the temptation to excessive consumption is always present. Each of us must discern for ourselves what our real needs are, how much of this world’s goods we really require to live a fulfilling and dignified life. As long as we can meet our needs, we should be content, given that there are almost always others whose needs are not being met. This is not to say, however, that we should reject all comfort, all the pleasures that can be derived from what God has given us on earth; but simply that we must always bear in mind the needs of others, especially where millions of our brothers and sisters lack the barest necessities. Unfortunately, the dominant ethic in our country today appears to be one of consumerism, drinking all sorts of wines, tuma wines utwa lekana lekana, a preoccupation with the acquisition of money and goods even to the point where it becomes impossible actually to use them, and satisfaction is derived merely from having them. This is nothing less than a form of idolatry. It is all the more harmful in that it occurs at the expense of others. Since there is a limited amount of wealth available, the greed of one is directly linked to the deprivation of another. We have people in this government who are positioning themselves, their families, associates and friends to get every government contract or tender or a part of it. Nothing seems to be allowed to bypass them. If you scrutinise carefully every government policy initiated by them, there is something in it for them, directly or indirectly. How much money do they want to have? And look at how dangerously they are using the money they have corruptly obtained to realise their political goals and continue their hold on power! Of course, they need political power to continue getting the contracts, tenders and bribes. It is normal, then, for a human being to take an interest and pride in one’s country; to weep when it weeps, to rejoice when it rejoices and to take to heart its advancements and prosperity; because love of one’s country will express itself in this way. But we must beware lest love of our country or as it is called, patriotism, become a cloak of evil and be quoted as a pretext for doing all the corrupt things we are seeing. Real love for one’s country can only exist when one is sincerely convinced that all people are children of a common parent, who is God. How can a person love God who is invisible, if one refuses to love the image and likeness of God clothed in the flesh and blood of one’s fellow human being, irrespective of their station in life? And we are told in Romans 13:8: “Love of our neighbour refrains from doing harm of any kind.” Good leaders must be interested in the welfare of those in distress. We expect them to feel the distress of many who have a big problem about the cost of goods, education, medicine, with the tragedy of unemployment of youths, of serious problems, with lack of transport, public and personal security, and so many other important concerns where we are all involved, and all must help the government. And when it comes to the issue of tightening belts, we should all tighten our belts. On a plane, no matter what class cabin you are in, when it comes to fastening belts, everyone does – all fasten their belts. It should be the same for people living in one economy as it is for those traveling in the same vessel.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 12:28:37 +0000
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