8 November 2007
interview
Washington, DC — The Zambian ambassador to the United States, Dr. Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika, 64, has had a wide-ranging and high-powered career. She studied at California Polytechnic University and earned a PhD from New York University. She served as Professor of Education and Teacher Training at the University of Zambia before spending the decade of the 1980s as senior programme officer in Eastern and Southern Africa for Unicef. In the 1990s, she entered politics, won election to Parliament, headed a political party and, in 2001, ran for president. She was named special envoy by President Levy Mwanawasa, after he won the 2001 contest, and in 2003 was tapped for the important posting to Washington. This month, she is embarking on a new quest - campaigning to become chair of the African Union. In an interview, she discussed current developments in Zambia and her reasons for wanting to lead the AU. Excerpts:
As a copper producer, Zambia is benefiting from the rising price of cooper. How is the economy responding to it?
For the past six years that the economy has been growing by 5%. I think it will be 6% this year. Before we had one province producing copper. We now have a second province now that is producing cooper and gold. We have cobalt, we have uranium, and we have precious stones. So Zambia is really loaded with minerals and we are calling for investors to come. Many have come and, as a result, the economy is growing and more and more people getting employed. There is very good news on the economy and the World Bank and IMF are very happy at the moment.
Accompanying economic growth is an increased need to control corruption. What is happening on that front?
Part of the economic growth came from better management of financial resources. This brought Zambia to the completion point for HIPC [Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative for Debt Relief], because of more transparency with the ministry of finance, and their better management of budget allocation and spending.
The first issue that our president [Levy Mwanawasa] brought to the table when he was elected in 2002 was zero tolerance for corruption. He has waged this war and enlisted more people to fight this war, and I think the biggest benefit has been to deter people from corruption. We have legal cases against leaders who plundered resources. The court process is very slow, but our government stores [that were] almost empty six years ago are full of stuff because people think many times before they engage in corrupt practices. Even present leaders have been prosecuted for corruption, so the war goes on. And it has been very beneficial in promoting Zambia. You can now register a business in Zambia in three days or so. It used to take three weeks or more. When you bring goods across the borders, you can clear them in one day. You save a lot of money in that process. Fighting corruption saves a lot of money.
As ambassador, you have worked to attract investment to your country. How is that going?
Our president was just in Seattle at a business forum calling for Americans to come and invest. We have been saying this in Washington, as well. We have been wooing them, giving incentives, improving the business climate. We are doing all this, and we have a few - about 20 - small American companies in Zambia. But we hope more will come.
Every time I look around my country I wish Americans were there because I have spent so many years here. You never colonized us. Your attitude towards us is very positive, so I don't know why you don't come. Its very profitable. You make more money investing in Africa than elsewhere, but you still are not coming!
Is tourism an important way to stimulate African development?
Yes, tourism is one of the fastest ways to employ people. Zambia has 19 game parks. We even sell lions! Tourism cements relationships and makes friendships. Some tourists end up as investors.
With malaria being such a significant problem for Zambia, can you tell us about the steps the government has been taking to tackle the disease?
Yes, malaria kills more people than HIV/Aids. Too many people die from malaria. But the good news now in Zambia is [the number of deaths] has been cut by close to fifty percent using nets. With… support from different partners I understand that by March, three million Zambians will be sleeping under nets. The other preventative measure is spraying, both indoor spraying and outdoor spraying. So really, most of tackling malaria is through prevention - so that mosquitoes do not bite.
Two cities in Zambia have not reported a death in the last two years. You know, people are sick but people have not died in [those] two cities. That is dramatic and has excited the private sector to join in the mosquito net distribution. The petroleum companies are joining in. The banks and everybody is getting there to distribute the nets. Laura Bush was there in June to add her voice and support. She kicked-off one of the distributions of the nets.
People have understandable, historically-based concerns about the use of DDT, which of course is part of the indoor residue spray. Would you address that?
What the experts have told us is that it is harmful if it goes directly on plants but if you do it inside - on the wall or around the house - it is okay. They have been saying that for a few years. Because you remember some years ago there was an alarm to stop it altogether and it was stopped for a long time and so they have been working on it. So the experts tell us it is okay to use it.
And it is an important part of the combined arsenal against malaria?
It is very very important. It adds actually to the fifty percent reduction of of mosquito bites [provided by] mosquito nets. We have what is called the Keep Zambia Clean Campaign. Which means cutting the grass, collecting water, no water around, things like that. And everybody is participating - children, men, women, private sector, public sector, council, city councils. It is also going to help in the prevention of malaria.
We look forward to being malaria-free in Zambia, but also in our neighbors. Mosquitoes don't need passports and visas - they move around. So even if we did it in Zambia alone, we wouldn't get far. One of the programs, which is called Macepa is going to be tried also in Tanzania and Malawi because it has been very successful in Zambia.
You said you were encouraged by what you saw in Zambia recently. Why is that?
One is the fight against HIV/Aids. Zambia is a leader in that area. The government is playing a key leadership role and has made awareness a priority. We have seven languages in Zambia and all of the messages are broadcasted in these seven languages. We have lots of posters, a lot of drama, and everyone is involved in it.
Every ministry has a committee on HIV/Aids as do all of the embassies. We talk about prevention; we talk about getting treatment. The administration has enlisted the traditional rulers - they are people of influence.
Again the partnership and support has been very helpful. Support from the Global Fund as well as from the Pepfar has really made a difference in the treatment getting out to the people, even in the rural areas. I think we started at like 15,000 people being treated and now it is over 100,000. With people being treated and getting well, it minimizes the stigma and people are encouraged to go for testing because they will know that they will get some treatment. More people are going for testing. The list is still long and we still need more resources.
As you know, a problem across Africa in improving health is the lack of health workers, and we read that in Zambia less than half of the medical doctors and nurses who have been trained with Zambian tax-paper money are still in the country. How does Zambia supposed to address this shortage?
The brain drain is a major problem. The government is very concerned and the Ministry of Health has a package now to give incentives to health workers. They gave doctors who work in the rural areas improved their housing, car loans and a school allowance. They started with 15 doctors, and last year they had 85 doctors working in rural areas. What the minister would like to do now is expand that to the other health workers, not only to the medical doctors, but that really calls for resources.
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