Debt campaigners demand government transparency

Zambian debt activists are questioning the transparency of government social spending under the donor-supported Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. So far, the government has made two allocations this year to rural development and health from funds saved under HIPC debt relief. However, according to the debt group Jubilee-Zambia, it has failed to announce how much money was disbursed, and what precisely it was spent on. Under the HIPC initiative, which aims to make debt repayment "sustainable" for poor countries, Zambia was granted US $3.8 billion as total debt relief from all its creditors in December 2000. However, the data is not clear on what Zambia will save on annual debt repayments under the programme. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), without HIPC, Zambia's debt service would have "more than doubled" in 2001 to over US $420 million. The government estimates service payments at US $158 million for 2001, while debt campaigners suggest the figure would be in the region of US $170 million. Nevertheless, despite "frontloading" of Zambia's debt relief by donors to reduce obligations over the next few years, Oxfam points out that Zambia spends three times as much on debt servicing as it does on primary education Under the terms of HIPC, Zambia is committed to channeling its additional resources into the social sector as part of a poverty reduction plan. A local HIPC monitoring team, in which civil society groups have been invited by the ministry of finance to witness disbursements, in theory is intended to provide accountability over the process. However, according to Charity Musamba of Jubilee-Zambia, who attended the first meeting of the monitoring team last week, government officials and debt activits reached deadlock on the role of the inspection mechanism. She alleged that the team was viewed by finance ministry officials as a "rubber stamp", without the ability to examine the proposed projects for funding, participate in priority setting, or audit expenditure. "What government considers priorities may not be something that we as civil society can give support to," Musamba said. What concerns debt campaigners is that savings under HIPC could be squandered. While auditing is by act of parliament the preserve of the Auditor General, Musamba said civil society was proposing a "special case" as part of a "positive partnership" to address poverty. "From our side we don't want to go into a process where we don't have full information, full disclosure," she added. Despite the deadlock surrounding the monitoring team, Zambian debt campaigners said they would continue to insist on a more pro-active role in examining HIPC spending.