Tuesday 17 November 2015

ZAMBIAN HOME ECONOMICS

A number of articles that appeared recently in the Zambian media point out quite rightly that the present economic challenges Zambia is going through at the moment are both natural and man-made and require intelligent intervention by the political leadership and policy-makers.

This crisis has brought increased social and political tension despite the national prayers and attempts at reconciliation, as ordinary Zambians try to earn a dignified living. The overwhelming human suffering by the majority of the Zambian people needs to be addressed and reversed. The most obvious problem for many is the frightening increase in the cost of living and the majority of the population are failing to cope, as the cost of even basic food and services are becoming beyond their reach.

Many working men and women are losing their jobs as a result of the harsh economic conditions that the country is experiencing. This distressing loss of jobs needs honest and genuine dialogue between government and employers. With the falling exchange rate and weakening of the Kwacha, practical policy interventions are needed to halt or stabilise it.

Another related area of concern is that increased government borrowing will doom future generations to a form debt slavery to the international monetary markets. Borrowing to cover current government expenditure, instead of investing in infrastructure is seen as frivolous and a worry to many.

The constitution has still not been endorsed by the people in the promised referendum, but selective and selected articles are being pushed through the National Assembly in a piece-meal fashion. 

To help see how this plays out using figures, the Central Statistical Office last month reported an increase in inflation of 6.6%. October’s inflation rate is 14.3% , almost doubling in a month from September’s 7.7%. This has been laid fairly and squarely at the door of the depreciating Kwacha. This merely confirmed what many Zambians knew from their own pockets and their experience of rising prices.

The Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) has published its October Basic Needs Basket for a family of five living in Lusaka which has increased by K302.1 from K3, 957.46 in September to K4, 249.56. 12 out of 15 items of food rose in price; kapenta(dried fresh- water white-bait) rising by a massive K50.

The Lusaka October 2014 BNB  stood at K3, 635.83 and over the year has risen more than K600 (16.8% increase). A cause for concern is that the Lusaka Basic Needs Basket has broken the K4, 000 barrier and on top of this, there are the rolling power cuts of 8 hours every day and the retrenchments and resultant job losses stemming from the fall in productivity, promise to make life even more difficult for many.
 
In light of rising inflation the Bank of Zambia has raised the interest rate from 12.5% t to 15.5%  in an attempt to keep yearly inflation below 10%; adding substantially to the cost of doing business in a period of declining productivity. A way needs to be found to sustain productivity and keep inflation low so that people with loans and mortgages are not too badly hit.

The wisdom of off-loading precious forex reserves to prop up the Kwacha is also being questioned. It is suggested it might be put to better use in investment, to diversify the economy so that our mostly primary products and resources can have value added here by growing our manufacturing industry.

Friday 13 November 2015

Some Silozi Idioms



Silozi is rich in idiomatic and proverbial expressions. For learners there is often no other source of information about these than from phrase books and dictionaries. The works on phonology and morphology tend to concentrate on phonemes, syllables and grammatical constructions. These ‘ready-made utterances’ (locutions toutes faites – De Saussure) can be difficult to learn as they seem unanalysable expressions used by mother-tongue speakers on particular occasions. They are usually listed with an indication of the situations in which they can be used and their meaning. These phrases are normally used in a metaphoric sense that goes beyond their literal meaning.  

Below is a list of idioms I have found; some will be still current and in use, others will be dated and perhaps unfamiliar to the modern speaker. I am happy to hear from readers who may wish to help modernise it; please feel free to add to or amend this list or even add a little more concerning the context for use.

 

Bunde bwa lapa:                                             Deceptive appearance

Bunde bwa  liyemo:                                       All that glitters is not gold

 

Kabemba-muca-habeli:                                 Untrustworthy person, traitor, sell-out

 

Kashimani kanalolo                                        Hunger

 

Ki fa ngo ni mulomo                                       It is very close, right in front of your nose

 

Kuamuhela ka mazoho amabeli                  To welcome warmly

 

Kuba ni bundee:                                              To malinger, to shirk duty

Kuba ni kacimacima:                                      To be impatient or short-tempered

Kuba ni pilu ya liiba:                                       To be inquisitive or afraid

 

Kuca batu buswazi:                                        to loaf around, to malinger

Kuca kobe ka mutwa:                                    to live in prosperity

Kuca mutu lulimi:                                            To let the cat out the bag, to betray in speech

 

Kuikalulula:                                                      To help oneself to food

Kuikunga:                                                          To be proud

Kuikwetulula:                                                   To have food after a long time feeling hungry

 

Kuina mwa kazuma                                        To be in danger or in trouble

Kuina mwa mbombolelwa                            To lead a good life

 

Kuinyaya mati:                                                To eat a little

 

Kuipinya lunya                                                 To do oneself injustice

 

Kukena mwahanu:                                          To interrupt while talking

Kukena mwandu ya mutu                             To commit adultery

Kukenela (mutu) mwa sinyamba                 To change one’s colours or to be indifferent

 

Kulunisa hopani mafula ayona                     To deny someone what they deserve

 

Kumizeza mati:                                                To desire greatly for eating or drinking. To crave

Kunyalela mwa lizazi                                      To have poor or bad in-laws

Kunyalela mwa muluti                                   To have rich or good in-laws

 

Kupilela fa linala                                             To have one foot in the grave. Just hanging on

 

Kupinya mutu lunya                                        To do an injustice. To hate

 

Kupuma lutokwa                                             To eat a little

Kupuma mati                                                   To eat a little

 

 

Kusa wela fafasi                                              To be loved very much

Kusinduka                                                         To have eaten an ample sufficiency

Kushwa tala                                                     To be hungry, to need to eat.

Kushwa mezi a mwa luswana                      To expose yourself to danger

 

Kutoba pilu                                                       To calm down a little, to reduce anxiety

Kutokwa pilu                                                    To be of bad character                                                

Kutomola mutwa                                            To help very much

Kutomola pilu                                                  To sympathise with

 

Kuwa pilu                                                          To be of good character

Kuwisa pilu                                                       To calm down a bit, eat a little

 

Kwaulu mulimu yomusisani                          To have a narrow escape

(Kwahalimu nzila yesisani)

 

Kuyela seli                                                        To notice

Kuyema pilu                                                     To be of bad character

 

Mundi wa anuke                                             A leaderless community

 

Munyaka silupi                                                A prostitute, a harlot

 

Munzi kwande                                                 A village with a bad reputation ‘Sin City?’

 

Sico mbulaye                                                   To eat to excess

 

Uce kono un’wate kwaten’i                         Don’t eat everything at once