Is Zambia’s president ready to heal a divided nation through his choice of Cabinet Ministers?

In our savage political life of craziness, trumpery, slanders and tribalist smears, it is difficult for a man to survive and thrive. Edgar Lungu recently won Zambia’s closely contested presidential election. His inauguration was delayed while the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) contested the result in court. Now that the court has okayed his election, we might well see the criticism focus on his choice of Cabinet Ministers.

The 59-year-old president, who has been sworn in for a new five-year term, has promised to heal the nation and unlock the country’s agriculture potential in order to reduce the economy’s dependence on copper mining. As he begins to name the members of his Cabinet, following his delayed inauguration, the appointments to key positions are providing the first and most revealing look yet at his priorities. A picture is emerging of a team focused on assuring the international community of Zambia’s favourable prospects and on improving the economic situation in order to lessen the chances of a recurrence of the widespread violence that destabilised the country before the election.

An accountant for the Ministry of Finance

The country’s new Minister of Finance is Felix Mutati, an accountant and well-known public figure. Between 2002 and 2004, he served as the Minister of Energy and Water Development and subsequently, from 2004 to 2011, as the Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry. During this time he coordinated international efforts to harmonise regional trade and investment.

The government’s focus on economics should come as no surprise. Its performance on bread-and-butter issues will be a decisive factor in its popularity.

The appointment of Mutati will not go down well with the opposition Movement for Multiparty Development (MMD), who will see it as a reward for splitting their party into two groups ahead of the August election. Dr Nevers Mumba, leader of another MMD faction, opted to support opposition UPND leader, Hakainde Hichilema.

Cabinet swearing in ceremony. Photo credit: Margaret Mwanakatwe/Facebook

The new Finance Minister is facing the tall order of turning around the economy. Some economists have referred to the deficit-ridden Zambian budget as ‘abnormal’ and the country’s demographic growth rate as ‘a potential disaster’. Others have also spoken of the need ‘to fix the entire system’, most notably by expanding the liberalisation measures, not seen in the last five years of the Patriotic Front (PF) government.

The government’s focus on economics should come as no surprise. Its performance on bread-and-butter issues will be a decisive factor in its popularity. The country’s deteriorating economic conditions must be reversed. Lungu even devoted a large section of his inauguration speech to this topic, attempting to assuage anger over high food prices and double-digit unemployment. It is a situation that almost cost him the (re-)election.

Tackling the IMF conundrum

The looming question is whether Zambia’s new government can strike a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with whom negotiations started way before the election. The agreement, which many observers believe will also spur billions in private international investment, has so far been held up by Zambia’s refusal to cut its massive subsidies on energy and food before the election. Economists have described the subsidies as ‘unsustainable, and the situation is critical’, but slashing them before the election could have provoked a political backlash that the government was keen to avoid.

Appointing people from the south] would not just be a great show of love but a commitment to unite the nation, given that the recent election has left political and ethnic divisions.

Expectations from the public are high. The new Cabinet must tackle slowing growth due to low copper prices, which caused a 9% fall in the kwacha against the US dollar since April this year. In addition, consumer inflation has nearly tripled to 20% year on year.

The new government’s foreign policy will be determined by a figure already familiar to Western diplomats. Harry Kalaba has accepted his second appointment as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, a portfolio he held in Lungu’s first term in office, when he acted as president to complete the late Michael Sata’s term. Kalaba has established a reputation as a stable emerging leader with a youthful dynamism. It is no wonder that President Lungu has opted for him again as he starts his first full five-year term.

Few women appointed

The new government appears not to have made an active effort to include female Ministers. Two women have been selected so far, while others are being considered for the remaining ministerial posts. Margaret Mwanakatwe, the new Lusaka Central Constituency Member of Parliament (previously held by the former vice president, Dr Guy Scott), has accepted her former position as the Minister for Commerce, Trade and Industry, while the nominated MP, Joyce Nonde-Simukoko, will be Zambia’s Minister of Labour and Social Security. The final number of female ministers is still up in the air but it could rise given that several ministerial positions still need to be filled.

Margaret Mwanakatwe the new Minister for Commerce, Trade and Industry, at President Lungu’s inauguration. Photo: Mwanakatwe/Facebook

Nonde-Simukoko, a trade unionist in the Federation of the Free Trade Unions in Zambia (FFTUZ), comes with the experience of handling labour matters, which are likely to dominate the country once the implementation of the IMF-enforced wage freeze and budget cuts begins. She served as the president of the FFTUZ for many years and was a vocal critic of the MMD government’s handling of labour issues. She is a vibrant and frank leader who commands a following, especially among the workers. She was appointed PF member of the central committee in charge of labour after retiring from the union movement in 2015.

Lungu has also appointed Davis Chama, the secretary general of the Patriotic Front, to the powerful Minister of Defence position. Chama played a key role in ensuring that Lungu retained the presidency. Chitalu Chilufya is the new Minister of Health, taking over from his former boss, Dr Joseph Kasonde, who has retired, while Lucky Mulusa has been appointed to head the Ministry of Development Planning. It was previously headed by Vice-President Inonge Wina, who had a double role in the previous government.

Using ministerial appointments to unite a divided nation

Lungu has further appointed ministers for all 10 the provinces of Zambia and is yet to choose the remaining members of his Cabinet. So far, he has appointed only one minister from the south, where his rival Hichilema hails from, and it remains to be seen whether he will use the remaining key positions to appoint people from that part of the country. Doing so would not just be a great show of love but a commitment to unite the nation, which has been left with political and ethnic divisions after the recent election.