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DEBT
The HIPC initiative is not the answer to Zambia’s debt problems
The news that Zambia has qualified for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative has not cheered the Jubilee 2000-Zambia Debt Cancellation Movement which has vowed to step up its campaign in 2001. Jubilee 2000-Zambia’s co-ordinator, Crispin Mphuka, says the activities of the Debt Cancellation Project will continue into the year 2001 because debt cancellation is a means of achieving economic justice — it’s not just a matter of cancelling a debt!
Jubilee 2000-Zambia was the brainchild of the three mother church bodies: The Christian Council of Zambia (CCZ); the Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC); and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ). It was formed in 1998 to spearhead the Debt Project campaign for the total cancellation of Zambia’s enormous debt, and is jointly managed by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace and the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) in Lusaka.
Zambia’s external debt stands at an enormous US $6.5 billion, with about 48 per cent of this owed to the IMF and World Bank. On 30 November 2000, President Frederick Chiluba announced that Zambia had qualified for the HIPC facility. He said that debt service payments would be reduced from about US $170 million in 2000 to US $140 million in 2001. However, Jubilee 2000-Zambia is still very concerned about the country’s financial situation because there does not seem to be any likelihood of a total debt cancellation.
Mphuka says: «Jubilee 2000-Zambia is intending to intensify its battle by seeking more support for the continuation of the debt cancellation campaign into 2001. The fact that Zambia has qualified for the HIPC is neither here nor there, because it’s not what Jubilee 2000-Zambia was campaigning for i.e. the total cancellation of Zambia’s debt. The struggle will continue. The HIPC initiative ensures that poor countries remain in debt. Our campaign motto will now be — “Debt, beyond 2000"».
Mphuka argues that the HIPC relief is not the answer to Zambia’s huge external debt problem. Jubilee 2000-Zambia strongly believes that Zambia will pay even more after the IMF decisions!
Social crisis
«One thing is clear», says Mphuka, «Higher debt servicing translates immediately into higher suffering among the Zambian people, because expenditure on social sectors such as health and education, and productive sectors such as agriculture, will not be adequate to meet people’s needs».
The fact is, Zambia’s social crisis is at a peak because of poverty and HIV/AIDS, thereby making it difficult for the government to make meaningful investments to counteract the on-going deprivation and disease affecting the nation. The social crisis facing the country is so severe that 80 per cent of Zambians live below the poverty line, while at least 1,000,000 people (out of a total population of 10,000,000) are affected disastrously by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. High debt servicing payments are strangling all efforts to address the country’s severe social crisis.
For Jubilee 2000-Zambia, there is no turning back. This year, 2001, the debt cancellation crusade will be intensified in the international sphere, but much remains to be done on the home front, by way of instructing our people on: How to alleviate poverty; the root causes of poverty; what steps need to be taken so that a positive approach can be made to bring about the cancellation of Zambia’s external debt.
Jubilee 2000-Zambia proposes to involve representatives of civil society, Parliament and appropriate government ministries in its campaign. Mphuka feels that: «Commitment by the government to our crusade will go a long way in winning support from both Zambians and outsiders for substantial debt relief».
Jubilee 2000-Zambia’s coordinator is happy to note that the campaign has already won acclaim from international organisations, which substantially contribute their support for the total cancellation of Zambia’s debt. Mphuka has specifically named Jubilee groups in Europe and in North America, and development organisations and church groups in both Europe and the United States (e.g.The Catholic Relief Services and Bread for the World).
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