Zambia in Chains

A WALK along Independence Avenue in Lusaka and you see the famous freedom statue with the nationalist breaking the chains that symbolised enslavement to past colonial masters as we pride ourselves in the thought of freedom and Independence gained on the 24th October which marked the country’s largest celebration, though one might ask, PRESENTLY are we truly free?

It can be argued that on the surface, yes Zambia is free, as the country is considered independent and our superstructure is self-sufficient despite that, deeper factual analysis shows a slave master we have been unable to free ourselves from, a modern slave master; External Debt.

As a nation we find ourselves in a paradox where we borrow for consumption rather than investment. Nonetheless, it becomes and endless cycle fortunately for Mother Zambia, she recently benefited from the Highly Indebted Poor Countries strategy that freed our beloved nation from all its debt but no sooner was Zambia free than she began borrowing more money.

The IMF report of 2016 reveals that Zambia had nearly US$8 billion of external debt, and counting. Numbers, numbers, everyone can use Google, what do these number mean to the average Zambian? The citizens, the slay Queens and Kings?

A nation with so much debt is not at liberty to design its own budget, the economy is chained to its debt and every effort is made to repay that debt. In short; all your hard work, all you profits are all being in channelled to repay debts rather than actually invest in a more sustainable manner and grow our economy.

Of course debt cannot be completely avoided by most developing countries like Zambia but it can be minimised. So to you and me; the underdogs, next time you see something you can`t afford, don`t borrow money just to get it, rather work hard and slay harder.

The wisest man who has ever lived warned in his book of proverbs that a borrower is the slave of the lender. The fact still remains that our country Zambia is still in chains and MUST break fee.