IMF owes Zambia an apology

By NATION REPORTER

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) should apologise to Zambia and African as a whole for impoverishing the continent which has seen the loss of lives, increased poverty and the de-industrialisation of economies implementing its reformed programmes, Emmanuael Mwamba has demanded.

Mr Mwamba, Zambia’s former ambassador to Ethiopia has said in its current form, the IMF structural programmes remain as harmful to the poor and vulnerable as it was in the 1990s because its main agenda has been to promote multinational interests without regard to the people and their way of life.

Mr Mwamba who is one of the Patriotic Front’s presidential candidates stated that the IMF programmes in Africa have remained fundamentally flawed and not different from what it was in the 1990s.

In his letter to Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director and Chairman of the Executive Board of the IMF, Mr Mwamba has demanded that the IMF should make the full disclosure of the development agreement conditions the world’s biggest lender has signed with the Zambians government through its Parliament.

“The IMF structural programms remain harmful to the poor and vulnerable, promotes multi-national interests, entrenches liberal policies without regard to the people and their way of life, and their development aim remain narrow. We have noted that the IMF have since moved on by attempting to merely reform the programmes, pretend to allow for more domestic consultation and adjust them without apologising for the loss of lives, increase in poverty and de-industrialising the economies of Zambia and Africa,” Mr Mwamba said.

Mr Mwamba said the IMF Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) in the 1980s and 1990s that aimed at providing low-interest loans, debt relief but conditioned on the implementation of structural adjustment programs had caused a lot of economic and social misery to Zambians.

He recalled that Zambia had religiously implemented the IMF Structural Adjustment Programme that had adverse negative impact on the poor and vulnerable, leading to reduced standard of living for many apart from creating mass unemployment.

Mr Mwamba said the programmes promoted liberal economic reforms that opened doors to exploitative investments from Western multi-nationals where lucrative companies in mining and commodities like sugar and cement were snapped up by western multi-nationals.

Mr Mwamba said most Zambian industries were shut down while and countries become import dependent.