DISHONEST POVERTY

 

There was a report in yesterday’s paper of three deaths in Western Province by people drinking methylated spirit as if it were alcohol. This unfortunate trend follows the banning of packaging and selling of sachets of cheap spirits known as tujilijili. Following these and other deaths there is an increasing demand for a curb on sales from unlicensed stalls (Tuntembas) or stores. Despite strong pronouncements from local Churches and authorities on temperance and public drunkenness, Mwandi is plagued by the arrival daily of two opaque beer tankers, bowser-sized, from Livingstone peddling their wares which are sold on in unlicensed informal yard bars; an income generating scheme for many single mothers. Two recent stabbings locally were drink-related.

 

Despite steady growth from macro policies, a stable inflation rate, increasing direct investment still half the Zambian population lives in extreme poverty and cannot meet basic needs. Inequality and injustice are obvious with the growing gap between rich and poor. Too many girls still don’t finish school, one shocking statistic is that 30% of 14-19 year old girls have been impregnated and have at least one child. Most rural youths remain jobless and spend their time loafing around. Even if in school Zambian youth also continues to suffer from poor quality education, a recent UN figures suggests that only 10% who enter Grade 1 emerge at Grade 12 - a 90% attrition rate.

 

A UCZ minister from the North has squarely laid the blame at the door of the selfish and greedy elite in leadership in government and the administration, who are entrusted to manage public affairs for the common good but instead show their indifference to the plight of the majority of our population, living in abject poverty.

Zambia is endowed with abundant wealth and natural resources yet many people are still living in perpetual and abject squalor below the poverty datum line. This can only be addressed when the national cake is shared more selflessly by those at the top.

 

Last Saturday morning we were on our way to the opening of the new Maternity wing at Masese Clinic. This has been built by Irish donors through the Arthur Cox Foundation. At the Mulobezi junction a briefcase commodity dealer company had set up a fenced compound and was offering spot cash to local farmers for their maize - cynically enticing those in need with a price, less than the floor price, before the Food Reserve Agency opens for business. The difficulty is that although farmers get the floor price for their maize from FRA they often have to wait some considerable time before they receive payment, so many are tempted to take the lower price.

 

We do most of our purchasing in Livingstone and the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection notes that the 15 basic food items for a family of 5 in Livingstone in June has risen to K940.54 and to K2 684.01 if essential non-food items are included. Livingstone is the third most expensive town after Lusaka (K3 684.46) and Solwezi- a still rather inaccessible mining boom-town, (K3 013.65).
Divide by 5, 6 or 8 to get the approximate rates in US$, Euros or GBP respectively.

 

The Council of Churches in Zambia, the Zambian Episcopal Conference (RC) and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia all agreed at a recent meeting that mining investors have not really helped the country’s poor communities but in fact have made things worse by the way they conduct their business. Mining is a social justice issue because the associated environmental pollution, which impacts negatively on agriculture, rivers and air and the consequences of this contamination was borne disproportionately by the poor.

 

Statistics suggest 42% or 5.4m of the Zambian population lives in abject poverty this rises to 84% in Western Province. Moderate poverty accounts for another 2.4m people or 18% of the population. Despite valiant attempts at diversification in agriculture, tourism and other services, mining still remains the mainstay of the Zambian economy.  80% of export value comes from minerals and of that 90% is copper. That is 5.1% of GDP and 64% of the balance of trade.

 

But mining still makes a comparatively small contribution, especially since privatization, to the Zambian tax authorities. The multi-national conglomerates that make up most of the mining companies are well-resourced and have cutting-edge technology available to them. They are powerful and have been able to lobby and use influential individuals in both the political and civil spheres to work for their mutual benefit and for that of their shareholders. This has all happened at the expense the poor, illiterate and vulnerable.

 

Christ teaches us to remove the rock of offence and take away the stumbling block. The Church has its own interest too in the elimination of poverty. Poverty is not the ally but the enemy of the Gospel. The Gospel will not flourish amongst the submerged. The poor still have the Gospel preached but poverty and hunger can bar the way to the entrance of the Word.  Scripture reminds us that expectancy of the poor for better times and things will not always be doomed to disappointment. Psalm 9:18: For the needy shall not always be forgotten; the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.