PELEKELO LISWANISO: CURRICULUM VITAE

C/o Zambia Daily Mail
Longolongo Road

P.O. Box 31421

Lusaka
Zambia 101010

Tel/Fax: 260-211-221364
Mobile: 260-97 -7-280464

Home: 260-211-264543

E-mail: pelekelo05@yahoo.com

PELEKELO LISWANISO
Postgraduate Diploma in Media Management (PDMM), Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa.
Fellow (Journalism and Public Affairs), University of Maryland, USA,
BA (Journalism), Stefan Gheorghiu Academy, Bucharest, Romania,
Certificates 1& 2 (Marketing) Copperbelt University, Kitwe, Zambia
Certificate (Public Relations), Evelyn Hone College of Applied Arts and Commerce, Lusaka, Zambia.

Date of Birth: 31-1-59

Place of birth: Sesheke, Zambia

Nationality: Zambian

Marital Status: Married/Two children

Objective:To become a successful and enterprising Media Manager /Consultant/Diplomat

EXPERIENCE: More than 20 years as a Journalist/Editor/Media Manager/Advocate for sustainable development including on democracy, the environment, water and HIV/AIDS.

EMPLOYMENT:

April 6, 2009 to May 20, 2009, Zambia Daily Mail, Lusaka, Zambia

Acting Deputy managing Editor-

Duties: Head of editorial department and proving policy guidelines to line editors and supporting staff including the Sunday Mail. Writing daily commentaties and in charge of the administration of the Company, which has a total workforce of 160 employees.

July 2004 to April 6, 2009. Zambia Daily Mail, Lusaka, Zambia
ONLINE/PRODUCTION EDITOR-
Duties: In charge of the Online version of the Zambia Daily Mail and its sister paper- the Sunday Mail; Copy editing and layout; supervising quality controls in the production of the two newspapers. Being the last gatekeeper in the information chain before printing in close liaison with Sub-Editors.

July 1998 – July 2002, Zambia Daily Mail, Lusaka
CORRESPONDENT/ HUMAN RESOURCES & ADMIN OFFICER:

Duties: Writing in-depth articles, commentaries and analysis on political, social and economic issues for local and international publications in Southern Africa; Published weekly column- Tuesday Spotlight; Supervising workforce of 138 employees in terms of discipline, training, recruitment and general administration at head office and regional bureaus in Kitwe, Ndola and Livingstone. Acted Human Resources and Administration Manager September 1999 to March 2000.

May 1998 – July 1998, Zambia Daily Mail, Lusaka
CHIEF SUB-EDITOR-
Duties: Head of the Sub-editors. Copy editing; co-coordinating page design, lay- outs and headlines on a computerized network and proof-reading in readiness for camera work; selecting and editing foreign copy;

April-May, 1998, Zambia Daily Mail, Lusaka
ACTING EDITOR- IN- CHIEF-
Duties: In charge of all editorial departments providing policy guidelines to desk editors. Chairing editorial meetings and coordinating marketing functions, printing and distribution of the newspaper.

April 1997 to May 1998, Zambia daily Mail, Lusaka
NEWS EDITOR-
Duties: Head of news; In charge of head office in Lusaka and the regional offices in Livingstone, Kitwe and Ndola; plan, supervise and coordinate news gathering activities; selecting and editing news on computer from staff reporters, correspondents and stringers on a daily basis to meet deadlines; co-coordinating news diaries and photographs; liaising with chief sub-editor on stories available and allocation; attending editorial meetings; in charge of staff discipline, office maintenance and budgetary requirements including transport for all the offices; providing professional guidance to student journalists on attachment from Evelyn Hone College of Applied Arts and Commerce, Africa Literature Centre and Norma - Jean College of Broadcasting and Communications; as the link man between the Managing Editor and the other departmental editors in the general administration of the company; liaising with Marketing and Advertising Manager to improve advertising revenue and sales; monitor the performance of Chief reporters for periodic appraisal; liaising with news agencies; establish and maintain reliable news sources and cover major national and international events.

Sept 1996- April 1997- Zambia Daily Mail, Lusaka
SENIOR SUB - EDITOR/COLUMNIST/Correspondent
Duties: Page design and layout of the Zambia Daily Mail and its sister papers the Sunday Mail and Financial Mail on a computerized network; co - ordinating flow of stories and photographs with desk editors; writing headlines; correcting grammar and editing out defamatory material in copy;

As a columnist: - Gathering and writing in depth articles and analysis on the trend in Zambia's mining industry for my weekly column Spotlight on the Mines in the Zambia Daily Mail

As a Correspondent for: - African Mining- a leading South African mining magazine- Writing in-depth articles on mining activities in Zambia and serving as the magazine's representative in Zambia for advertising and subscriptions.

As a Correspondent for: - The Voice, a newspaper in Botswana, and the Mirror, a newspaper in Malawi, providing in-depth articles on issues of public interest in the region through Letter from Zambia columns and with Panos Feature service in London.

December 1987 - to August 1996, Zambia Daily Mail, Kitwe
BUREAU CHIEF-.
Duties: As head of the daily paper's regional office, serving as Chief Reporter in charge of staff of 10, covering fax and telex transmissions of general news, features, sports and business desks and advertising for the Zambia Daily Mail and the sister papers - Sunday Mail and Financial Mail, supervising the distribution of the three papers in the region.
Under my supervision, staff gathered hard news, features, photographs and advertisements from around the Copperbelt towns of Kitwe, Chingola, Chililabombwe, Kalulushi and the North Western provinces; performed duties as the company’s spokesman or public relations officer on professional queries in the region; providing professional guidance to student journalists on industrial attachment; responsible for the general administration of the office, maintenance and staff discipline.

December 1986 to December 1987, Zambia Daily Mail, Ndola
SENIOR REPORTER-
Duties: Covering day to day news on political, economic and social issues; accompanying the state president on international conferences at OAU, The PTA and SADC; covering civic functions, disasters; sometimes in charge of regional office in the absence of Chief Reporter; Writing in-depth news for features desk, Business Mail and Weekend Entertainment pullout.

February 1984 to December 1986, Zambia Daily Mail, Lusaka.
REPORTER-
Duties: Gathering and writing day-to-day news and feature articles on social, political, economic and scientific issues. Covering courts and investigative reporting; summarizing speeches and rewriting press statements; accompanying the state president on official international visits and conferences as well as covering state house functions; feature writing on issues of poverty, agriculture, international cooperation, population control, health, environmental problems, transport, food shortages, shelter, clothing etc

Aug 1982 to Sep1983 Zambia News Agency, Lusaka
REPORTER-
Duties: Joined as Assistant Reporter and rose to Reporter; gathering and writing hard news stories for broadcasting on Radio and Television Zambia and for dissemination to the local and international news agencies such as Reuters, Tass, PANA and AF; gathering and summarizing news from house journals, speeches and press releases

Education/ Training
· Postgraduate Diploma, Media Management and Leadership, Rhodes University, South Africa, February 2005- November 2006
· Fellow (Journalism and Public Affairs) Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland, USA, September 2002- June 2003.
· Certificate (English for professional development/Communications), University of Arizona, USA, August 2002
· Intern, Washington Times, Washington D.C., USA, December 2002-January 2003
· Certified Member (American Management Association (AMA), March 2003.
· Intern, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Washington D.C., April 2003
· BA (journalism), Faculty of Journalism, Stefan Gheorghiu Academy, Bucharest, Romania, October 1979- June 1982.
· Certificate (Public Relations), Evelyn Hone College of Applied Arts and Commerce, Lusaka, November 1993.
1st and 2nd Certificates in Marketing, Copperbelt University, Kitwe, 1994-1995.
University of Cambridge School Certificate, December 1978; School Certificate in Division Two with five "O" Levels in Joint Examination for the School Certificate and GCE held at Libala Secondary School 1978, Lusaka.

Short courses/Seminars
· Economic Reporting - World Bank, Inter - Continental Hotel, 1992, Lusaka
· The Role of the Media in the Third Republic- Nkana Hotel, 1992, Kitwe
· The Media and Consumerism - Edinburgh Hotel, 1993, Kitwe
· The Media and Secretaries - Edinburgh Hotel, Kitwe 1993
· French language - Alliance Francaise, Lusaka, Ndola and Copperbelt University,
· Rural Reporting - Panos Institute (UK) and the Zambia Union of Journalists, 1994 Mongu and villages in Western province.
· The impact of HIV/AIDS in the Community, Africa Literature Centre Kitwe, 1995
· Reporting from a Foreign Country, Nordic-SADC Journalism Centre, Harare, 1995.
· International Water symposium/Underground water /ZCCM, Konkola 1995
· Ethnicity and the Media - Africa Literature Centre and the World Association of Christian Communications, 1995, Kitwe.
· Desktop publishing - Zambia Institute of Mass Communication, November 1996,
· Environmental Reporting - Institute for the Advancement of Journalism, Johannesburg, South Africa, December 1996.
· Convention of African Journalists on AIDS/ HIV Reporting, Pamodzi hotel, Lusaka, April 1997.
· Internet use by Journalists/Environmental focus, ZAMNET/ University of Zambia Lusaka, June 1997.
· Gender sensitisation. Gender in Development, / Ministry of Information and Broadcasting- Rimo Motel, Kafue, September 1997.
· Economic and Financial Concepts, Inter Press Service (IPS) Harare, Zimbabwe,
· November 1997
· National workshop on alcohol, tobacco and drub abuse- Andrews Motel, Lusaka, March 9-14, 1998.
· Global Water Partnership, briefing on Water Resources/ International Conference
· on Water and Sustainable Development, Le Meridien Montparnasse / UNESCO
· Headquarters, March 18-21, 1998- Paris, France.
· Global Water Partnership (GWP) Consultative Committee Meeting, April 1998,
· Harare, Zimbabwe.
· Packaging Population Advocacy, Information, Education and Communication by
· Journalists, August 31-October 23, I998, Accra, Ghana.
· National Workshop of Drug/Alcohol Abuse, Siavonga, May 1999
· X1th International Conference on AIDS and STDs, Lusaka, September 1999
· Business Management for Print Media Executives, RhodesUniversity, S.A. 1999
· Xth Congress of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA), Melbourne,
· Australia, March 200
· Global Water Partnership launch of the Southern Africa Water Partnership- May
· 2000, Accadia hotel, Pretoria South Africa.
· X111th International Conference on AIDS, July 2001, Durban, South Africa
· 2nd Asian Water and WasteWater Conference, May 6-10, 2001, Tehran, Iran.
· Ist Annual Consultative Partners Meeting of the Global Water Partnership (GWP)-Southern Africa, July 25-26 2001, Harare, Zimbabwe.
· 9th International Conference on the Conservation and Management of Lakes, October 11-16, 2001, Shiga, Japan.
· 2nd Annual Consultative Partners Meeting of the Global Water Partnership
· (GWP) - Southern Africa, July 4-7, 2002, Farm Inn, Pretoria, South Africa.
· Power Point presentation skills November, 2002, University of Maryland, USA
· Society for Environmental Journalists Convention, October 2002, Baltimore, USA
· International Finance and development, International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank headquarters, March 24-28, 2003, Washington D.C., USA
· Conflict resolution, April 20-25, University of Maryland, USA

Community projects
· Vice-Secretary, Zambia Fulbright Humphrey Alumni Association, ZFHAA April 2005 to date
· Chairman, Southern African Editors Forum (SAEF), August October 2004 to date
· Editor/Writer, HIV/AIDS News, (a National Aids Council publication), June 2004 to date
· Secretary, NAC Information/Advocacy Committee Committee, March 2005 to date
· Chairman, Media Enviro Forum, April 2001 to date
· Member, International Institute of Education (IIE) network, USA, June 2003 to date.
· Consultant, Culture and International affairs (Meridian International Center), Jan 2003-June2003, Washington D.C., USA
· Member, Press Association of Zambia, 1995 to date
· Member, Olympus gym, September 2002-June 2003, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
Member, Bethel Outreach Church, September 2002-June 2003, Silver Spring Maryland, USA, Regional Secretary, Planned Parenthood Association (PPAZ) 1990 - 1996.
Member, Programme Evaluation and Development Committee (PPAZ) 1996 to Present
· President, Kitwe Press Club 1991.
· Vice - President, Kitwe Press Club, 1989 - 90.
· Vice - Secretary, Ndola Press Club, 1986 - 87.
· Member and Public Relations Officer (Itimpi Lions Club - Kitwe), 1995 - 1996.
· Member, T&T Sports Club, 2000 to present
. Member Bank of Zambia Social Club, 1998 to Present
. Member, Lions Club of Kapila, 1999 to 2001

. Member, Seventh Day Adventist Church, 2007 to date

Hobbies
Writing articles for the African Mining in South Africa, Panos Institute London, Inter Press Service (IPS), The Voice in Botswana, the Mirror in Malawi, National Aids Council publication, World Health Organisation, Style magazine in South Africa, Network Africa on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Gemini News Service, Commonwealth Press Service, drama and theater, music, movies, chess and basketball.
Countries visited

Countries visited
Albania, Angola, Austria, Botswana, Cyprus, Italy, Kenya, Romania, Tanzania, Yugoslavia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Africa, France, Britain, Ghana, Singapore, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Hong Kong, Japan, the United States of America, Namibia, Swaziland and Mozambique.

Referees
Dr. Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika
Zambia’s Ambassador to the United States of America
2419 Massachusetts Ave., N.W
Washington D.C., 20008
USA.

Professor Reese Cleghorn
Philip Merrill College of Journalism
University of Maryland
College Park 20742
USA

Mr. Parkie Mbozi
Regional Manager

Panos Southern Africa

Plot 32A, Leopards Hill Road
P. O. Box 39163

Woodlands, Lusaka

Zambia.

Mr. Francis Mdlongwa
Director, Sol Plaatje Media Leadership Institute (SPI)
Rhodes University
P.O Box 94
Grahamstown
South Africa.

Chulumanda calls for increased regional trade

By Pelekelo Liswaniso in Maputo, Mozambique

ZAMBIA´s High Commissioner to Mozambique, George Chulumanda has called for increased regional cooperation between Zambia and Mozambique saying the potential for trade and tourism were highly favourable in the two countries.

Mr Chulumanda who is also accredited to Swaziland and Mauritius said similar opportunities exisit in the two countries and Zambian business entrepreneurs should cast their nets wider and venture into businesses with neighbouring countries.

Speaking in an interview at the Zambian High Commission in Maputo on Thursday, Mr Chulumanda said the bilateral relations which Zambia has in the region should shift focus from being political to economic development.

Mr Chulumanda who has been in the country for the past three months, said there were a lot of joint projects between Zambia and Mozambique that require maximum exploitation.

He cited the Cabora Bassa hydro power project, which he said, will have greater economic benefits for the people in Zambia particularly those in Eastern province. Such projects, he said should be guarded jealosly.

Mr Chulumanda said President Levy Mwanawasa and his Mozambican counterpart, President Armando Emelio Guebuza have laid strong and favourable parameters conducive for investment because of their resolve to fight corruption, ensure financial discipline, create wealth and the desire to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

“We need to improve our rail transport, energy and concentrate on implementing projects that have been identified in the region as well as look for other opportunities which can benefit our people,”Mr Chulumanda said.

He has already made contacts with officials of the Mozambican airlines to explore the possibility to have direct flights between Lusaka and Maputo. He has written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lusaka to facilitate a business tour for Zambian business entrepreneurs to the forthcoming Mauritian Trade Fair to be held towards the end of next month.

“As a mission, we are not on holiday but working very hard to woo investors coming into Mozambique to know what we can offer as well in Zambia and I´m pleased to say that in the three months I have been here, there has been growing interest by investors to look for opportunities in Zambia,” he said.

He pointed out that real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rates improved from 2 percent in 1999 to over 5% in 2005 while inflation and interest rates also manifested a declining trend over the same period.Poverty levels in Zambia have also declined from 73 percent to 68 percent of the population “and this is what we wanted.”

“We may not have diamonds but we have other resources such as copper and other minerals… huge water resources as well as the potential to improve our industries, manufacturing and commodity trade especially that Mozambicans were rebuilding their country,”

He said SADC member countries need to develop relations which were not dependent on one country but based on regional cooperation.

He dismissed fears that language differences of Portuguese being spoken in Mozambique could be a barrier saying the leadership including the President, Ministers, and those in the private sector were conversant in English.

Mr Chulumanda has meanwhile taken a swipe at some opposition political leaders in Zambia who were bent on spreading falsehoods and ill coated promises which will yield nothing to stop misleading the nation but to direct their energies to more productive issues. The people of Zambia, he said, should instead support President Mwanawasa´s vision to develop the country.

Earlier, when he hosted a dinner at his residence for a Zambian delegation attending a
water conference in Maputo, Mr Chulumanda said now that there is global warming, the
West would be looking for a cleaner environment and even food and its time to ensure
that he country’s environment is kept clean all the time.

The Zambian delegation that is here under the auspices of the Global Water Partnership – Southern Africa and Dannida was led to his residence by Permanent Secretary - Planning and Economic Management Division at the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, Mr James Mulungushi.

“Talk less and implement projects”

By Pelekelo Liswaniso in Maputo, Mozambique

Ministry of Finance and National Planning Permanent Secretary, James Mulungushi has called for fewer workshops and seminars in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) so that money saved was used for programme implementation.

Mr Mulungushi who is in charge of the Economic and Planning Management Division said there should be a reduction in conferences to direct financial resources and time to implementation of national and regional economic plans.

He was speaking on Wednesday when he presented his keynote address to a SADC multi-stakeholder Water Dialogue in the Mozambican capital.

“I think there must be less talking ….we hold too many workshops, seminars and conferences in the region,” Mr Mulungushi said amidst applause from delegates who had convened at the Joachim Chisano Conference Centre.

Mozambique’s Minister of Public Works and Housing Felicio Zacarius, who, earlier opened the meeting, urged the SADC region member states to take water high on their agenda in development plans.

“SADC is endowed with a lot of water resources which we can harness especially to improve our hydropower and it’s critical that this resource is well managed,” the Minister said.

In his presentation under the theme: Watering development in SADC: beyond IWRM concepts and the converted, Mr Mulungushi said governments in the developing countries have a challenge to reduce poverty and realize the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

“Key to these challenges is water for food, water for agricultural productivity, water for domestic use, and water for energy and environment. The achievement of these milestones depend on how we manage and use natural resources especially water resources,”

Mr Mulungushi stressed that financial resources should be channelled towards construction of schools or health centres and the improvement of water, a resource, which, he said, cuts across all economic sectors.

“We need to improve our water because it is critical for increased agricultural production and food security, increased mining and industrial production, transport and communication, promotion of tourism and recreation as well as hydropower generation”

For social development, water is key in the improvement of people’s well being through accessibility to clean and safe water, Mr Mulungushi said, adding that water was not an engineering equation. It affects everybody and is a cross-cutting issue like gender and environment.

To yield maximum benefits programmes outlined in the 5th National Development Plan (FNDP) require Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), as an approach for inter-sectoral coordination.

There is need therefore to have an integrated and coordinated implementation framework among sectors to avoid duplication and overlap and to achieve maximum impact.

The SADC region, he said has a wide wealth of plans and projects that require implementation and he expressed happiness that the Zambian economy has been growing over the past five years.

Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rates improved from 2 percent in 1999 to over 5% in 2005. while inflation, interest rates and poverty levels have also declined. To build on this success, however demands more economic growth, wealth creation and further poverty reduction in the 5th National Development Plan.

Mr Mulungushi paid tribute to Global Water Partnership Southern Africa and the Zambia Water Partnership for their critical role in ensuring that the priority interventions in the water and sanitation are included in national planning process.

Earlier, SADC Director of Infrastructure and Services, Remigious Makumbe said although the SADC is home to 15 shared watercourses, the region remains water deficient resulting in a mismatch between water availability and water demand.

“Water scarcity continues to cause region-wide negative impact on human populations and today not one SADC member state demonstrates a score higher than 61.9 on the Water Poverty Index. More than half of the Sub-Saharan population lack access to safe water while, more than 40 percent lack adequate sanitation,”

SADC develops protocols to manage water resources

By Pelekelo Liswaniso in Maputo, Mozambique

Pumulo Sililo is a 67 - year old man of Simungoma village in Zambia’s Sesheke district. He retired from the Copperbelt where he had worked for close to thirty years at one of the mines but decided to settle in the village with his wife Muyunda and their three children.

This was twelve years ago. At the time of his relocation from the bright lights of Kitwe on the Copperbelt, Sililo thought it would be an easy change to move from the city and settle in the village with his pension benefits and the long-held belief that life is cheap in the rural areas.

However, life has not been rosy for the Sililo´s family. All their dreams of a happy rural life just fizzled out in no time and the family became sober to the grim realities of rural life.

Food was hard to come by because of the frequent poor rains. The little food they would grow in the fields was hardly enough to see the family through to the next season. They ended up buying mealie meal, the staple food and other necessities, and in no time Sililo’s hard earned pension ran out. He became an ordinary village as poor as any other in Sesheke district, daily being haunted by the extreme poverty, disease and hunger.

Fresh water for drinking and for bathing was difficult to find and became an agonising task to search for. Each day Sililo’s wife and children have to walk long distances, sometime for as long as ten kilometres in search of water, which they draw from dirty streams or shallow ponds.

His children are frequent victims of diarrhoea, dysentery and other water borne diseases because of poor sanitation. Their village has no toilets or pit latrines and they have to answer the call of nature from nearby bushes, posing a health risk to the family and other villagers.

Sililo had hoped to have electrical power in his house but even after living for 15 years in the village, that dream has s remained a pipe dream although there are electric power lines passing over his village.

Poor Sililo and his family are but an example of the many rural dwellers and poor people in rural and peri-urban of Zambia and in neighbouring countries that are still exposed to the harsh realities of life of marginalised communities who have been left to the vagaries of nature including the impact of the dreaded HIV/AIDS pandemic.

They are part of a vicious circle of poverty ravaging most, if not all the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Economic development in general has been slow in the region because of a wide range of factors - lack of water being probably the main contributing factor.


Mama Tshepo, a small scale farmer in Limpopo, South Africa, made a moving presentation in a wheel chair in Maputo, Mozambque, last week, highlighting the plight of poor South Africans saying authorities in SADC need to get down to the local people and help them come out of poverty and strenghthen local communities.

Mama Tshepo, who is in her late 70´s, described herself as a “loose cannon” saying despite her advanced age, she has enough energy which has assisted her to successfully harvest rainwater, combined with organic farming techniques, to boost agricultural produce in her gardens and feed her family. Most villagers in her age in South Africa, she said, were suffering and need help.

Another activist, Mr Kunda Chimambo, a community leader in Zambia´s Chalimbana River Catchment area, east of Lusaka, made a passionate appeal to the Zambian government to protect water recharge areas in forests so that there is continous flow of water to rural communities.

“If recharge areas are degraded, the poor become more vulnerable and this complicates their livelihoods because the quality and quantity of water become more scarce,” Mr Chimambo said.

“ Sewer disposal in natural streams from sinks further contaminates water upon which communities living at the lower ends of the streams depend and this has health implications,”he added, citing Chalimbana area as an example of sewer disposal, which requires control to protect the lives of the poor villagers in Chingwe, east of Lusaka.

Water infrastructure, be it for domestic and industrial water supply, sanitation, hydropower generation, irrigation, flood control, drainage, is inadequate in Zambia and the SADC region in general and often operates inefficiently due to problems of operation and maintenance or simply lack of it.

Despite SADC being home to 15 shared watercourses, the region remains water deficient resulting in a mismatch between water availability and water demand. This has resulted in lack of water for food, for sanitation and other needs causing misery in most communities.
“Water scarcity continues to cause region-wide negative impact on human populations and today not one SADC member state demonstrates a score higher than 61.9 on the Water Poverty Index. More than half of the Sub-Saharan population lack access to safe water while more than 40 percent lack adequate sanitation,” said Remigios Makumbe, the SADC Director of Infrastructure and Services.

Other challenges that the region confronts include irrigation which accounts for approximately 70 percent of the water consumption in the region but shows insufficient ground water protection and widely varying efficiency rates.

Another example is the energy sector. Water is a very important factor in the energy equation as it provides the source of hydropower, which must be further harnessed to avoid serious energy shortages in the region.

Some studies from the region indicate that hydroelectric generation accounts for about 20% of the total energy supply to SADC countries. However, the undeveloped hydro-power potential is very high resulting in most people especially in rural areas living without electricity.

According to the information obtained by Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP), 50% of short-term projects required to improve energy supplies and avoid energy shortfalls involve hydropower, thereby depending on the water resources of the region.

If water is not well harnessed, majority of the populations in the region will therefore continue wallowing in extreme poverty and lack of electricity for many years to come.

All is, however, not lost because there is hope on the horizon. Sililo and his siblings could possibly come out of their misery in the near future.

Governments in the SADC region together with non-governmental organisations, social activists and other stakeholders have pledged to introduce interventions in their economic plans to fight poverty and its offshoots of huger, disease afflicting most communities like Sililo´s family.

This came to light at the just ended 7th SADC Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue held in Maputo, Mozambique at which the region resolved to change the course of development and focus on alleviating the plight of the poor in the region.

SADC comprises South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Angola, Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar, Seychelles, Mauritius, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

“The main challenge of our generation is to help the poorest of the poor to escape the misery of extreme poverty so that they begin their own ascent up the ladder of economic development. In this way we will have a better world for all of us,” said Mr Remigious Makumbe, SADC Director of Infrastructure and Services.

Speaking at the opening of the 2007 SADC Dialogue at Joachim Chissano International Conference Centre, in Maputo, Mozambique, Mr Makumbe pointed out that central to the suffering of most of the people in the region was poor access to water.

He disclosed that various instruments have been developed at the regional level with regard to the management and development of water resources in the region. These include the SADC Revised Protocol on Shared Watercourses which was adopted in 2000 and came into force in 2003.

State parties to this Protocol have undertaken to harmonise the water uses in the shared watercourses and maintain a proper balance between resource development and enhancement of the environment to promote sustainable development and a higher standard of living for people in the region.

“SADC also has a Regional Water Strategy that translates the policy further into implementable strategies. In addition, SADC is addressing the water management challenges in the region through a number of programmes and projects that form part of the Regional Strategic Action Plan for Integrated Water Resources Development and Management which is a component of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan,” Mr Makumbe said.

All these instruments do provide a framework for sustainable, integrated and coordinated development, utilisation, protection and control of national and trans-boundary water resources in the SADC region for the promotion of socio-economic development, regional integration and improvement of the quality of life to all people in the region.

SADC recognizes that water is the engine for economic growth and that member states have adopted Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) as the fundamental approach to water resources management to ensure that water is adequately contributing to poverty eradication, regional integration and socio-economic development in a sustainable manner.

The IWRM principles have been accepted by all member SADC States who are increasingly recognizing that water resources in the SADC region are limited, demands are rising rapidly and the potential for disastrous water shortages is high unless these resources are managed with great care and for the benefit of all.

Zambia’s Permanent Secretary for Economic Planning in the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, James Mulungushi said since water is cross cutting in all sectors of economic development like gender and environment , there is need for all actors in the planning process to involve all stakeholders and not only water engineers and natural resource conservationists.

“Make different sectors appreciate the role of water…and ensure that there is bottom – up and top-down planning,” Mr. Mulungushi said.

He said if water is a key ingredient in economic development, there is need to conserve it, and use it in a sustainable way,” Mr Mulungushi said, adding that this calls for collaboration by all stakeholders at all levels including the catchment, country and international levels.

Mr Mulungushi said this in a key note address to the just ended 7th Multi-Stakeholder Water Dialogue at Joachim Chisano International Conference Centre in Maputo, Mozambique.

At household level, he said, IWRM should translate into food security, improved health, and access to clean energy sources as well as a source of income.

At National level, it should go beyond partnerships and move to implementation plans.

At international level, IWRM should go beyond observing international agreements, conventions, global values and good neighbourliness to sustainable utilization. Indeed, if all these interventions were made, the suffering being experienced by the likes of Silolo´s family and others would become a mere statistic and history for Africa.

Meanwhile, former diplomat in Lesotho, Reggie Teka Teka was elected chairperson of the Global Water Partnership (GWP) Southern Africa after polling 13 votes beating Malawian Geologist, Grain Malunga, who polled 6 votes and Gender activist Norma Neseni of Zimbabwe, who polled 4 votes during the 7th Consulting Partners meeting held at Cardoso hotel in Maputo last week.

Mr Teka Teka pledged to raise the agenda of IWRM in the SADC region and called for cooperation amongst country water partnerships in the fight against poverty in the sub region.

Build AIDS resilient Governance Structures - IDASA

FROM Pelekelo Liswaniso in Cape Town, South Africa

AFRICA’s growing and in some cases fragile democracies could collapse unless the dreaded HIV/AIDS pandemic is addressed in the continent’s electoral system and governance structures.

This fear came to light at the on-going 2nd Governance and AIDS Forum under the auspices of the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA) at the Southern Sun hotel, in Cape Town.

Delegates drawn from various institutions dealing with governance issues across Africa including members of parliament agree that there is need to build AIDS resilient democratic institutions and communities if the continent is to move forward in the wake of the pandemic, which is devastating all sectors of human development.

For the past four years, IDASA Governance and AIDS Programme has conducted innovative studies to investigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on the electoral systems and processes in Africa to assist African governments to deal with political and economic consequences of the pandemic that have until now been based on assumptions.

The research was conducted from the perspective of democratic governance and has profiled information highlighting numerous political, civic and economic issues that urgently need to be addressed in response to the pandemic.

The evidence which was generated from the research makes it possible for decision makers to plan more concretely to address the many challenges posed by HIV/AIDS.

Research
The study was carried out in Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Senegal and Zambia and presents the first insights into the implications for a sustainable democracy in the face of the continuing onslaught of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The research provides insight for the implications of HIV/AIDS on sustainable democracy, the consequences of depleted leadership pools and the rising economic costs associated with replacing deceased elected representatives.

Delegates were informed that HIV/AIDS was eroding leadership pools of legislators and other high profile political leaders in parliaments.

The stigma associated with the disease has made many leaders to avoid going for Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) while others die without accessing Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART).

It was not easy to know leaders whose lives could have been claimed by AIDS, but the costs associated with replacing such leaders through by-elections were high.

The research further addresses the capacities of strategic political institutions such as parliaments, political parties and electoral management bodies to sustain healthy democracies. It also looks at the effect of stigma and discrimination on citizen participation in democratic processes like elections.

The outcomes suggest that HIV/AIDS could place further burden on national treasuries and poor management of the pandemic could potentially weaken the quality of governance in Africa but also suggest that most of the effects could be managed if governments adopt appropriate strategies.

IDASA Governance and AIDS Programme Manager Kondwani Chirambo said the multi-country studies were undertaken by the Centre for Social Research (CSR) at the University of Malawi, the Namibian Institute for Democracy (NID), the Economic and Social Research Foundations in Tanzania (ESRF), the Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) in Zambia, the Southern African Centre for Policy Dialogue and Development (SACPODD) in South Africa and the Institute for Environmental Sciences at the University of Cheik Anta Diop in Senegal.

Key findings
Mr. Chirambo who reviewed key findings on the impacts of HIV/AIDS on the electoral system in the region pointed out that a pilot study undertaken in 2003 in Zambia which uses the First-Past-the Post (FPTP) electoral system, indicates that between 1964 and 1984, the 20-year period before the advent of HIV/AIDS, a total of 46 by-elections were held, 14 of them as a result of death by illness and accidents combined.

However, over an 18-year period, from 1985, the year the first case of AIDS case was documented in Zambia, to February 2003, a total of 102 by-elections were held and 59 of those were due to death by disease.

Most of these by-elections, altogether 39, were held between 1992 and February 2003, which are the years in which the HIV/AIDS pandemic peaked in Zambia.

The majority of the deceased fell into the age group of 40-60, which is the most susceptible to HIV/AIDS and sexually active age cohort. There were no MPs below the age of 40 at the time of the study.

While there may be no specific information on the nature of the illnesses that led to the deaths of people’s representatives, trend analyses can be indicative of the influence of the pandemic, Mr. Chirambo said.

FODEP Executive Director Elijah Rubvuta and University of Zambia lecturer Derrick Elemu, in a joint presentation, stressed that there was growing understanding that the epidemic was having considerable impact on governance in general and electoral processes in particular but that governance and elections had largely been left out in the national HIV/AIDS response.

Mr Rubvuta pointed out that the electoral system in Zambia is very vulnerable to the HIV/AIDS era, especially on the replacement costs for elected leaders.

“The impacts can be disruptive both in the economic and political sense,” he said, adding that the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), which has been tasked to oversee the country’s electoral system, has not been spared either.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has adversely impacted on the ECZ in many respects, although the exact extent is difficult to establish due to unavailability of the relevant information.

“The problem of attrition is more disruptive at provincial and district level where the ECZ depends on other government ministries and departments to administer elections.

The Ministry of Education, upon which the ECZ depends for most of their grassroots personnel, has particularly been singled out as one ministry in Zambia that has been adversely affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and statistics are easily available.

Furthermore, the electoral reforms which have been tasked to re-assess the operations of the ECZ and other critical electoral institutions have not taken on board the implications of the HIV/AIDS epidemic for good electoral management and administration, Mr Rubvuta said.

ECZ Deputy Director for Elections and Voter Education, Ms Priscilla Isaacs who was also in attendance and chaired one of the sessions explained that the commission was in the process of developing an HIV/AIDS policy and would also consider the issue of regularly updating the voters register by removing voters who have died through collaboration with the National Registration department.

This would be done under the continuous voters’ registration which will provide for the daily registration of voters.

FPTP Electoral System
The FPTP electoral system appears to be the most vulnerable system in the context of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This system is likely to be even more expensive to sustain as the epidemic spreads further, Mr. Rubvuta said.

“There is therefore need to reconsider Zambia’s Electoral System in order to take on board the implications arising from the HIV/AIDS epidemic,” he said.

He noted that Government has now widely acknowledged that HIV/AIDS is negatively impacting on the legislature in Zambia.

In the same presentation, Mr Elemu explained that HIV/AIDS is causing MPs, key legislative personnel and administrators, and other support staff to fall ill and or die, leaving gaps in different positions, skills, experience and talent.

Mr Elemu, giving the latest findings of the study pointed out that the frequent deaths of MPs and other political representatives as a result of illness have only become common in the last ten to fifteen years in Zambia.

The number of by-elections as a result of death of incumbent MPs and councillors has also increased during the last 15 years.

While there were only 46 by-elections between 1964 and 1984, with only 6.4 per cent resulting from the death of the incumbent, there were 146 between 1985 and 2005, with about 60 per cent of them due to deaths of incumbent MPs.

Power shifts
HIV/AIDS has made political parties very weak in many respects, Mr Elemu said. The epidemic continues to deplete dependable personnel both in terms of organization, mobilization and financial support, most opposition political parties have become relegated to what was termed “ad hoc assemblies that only become alive for election purposes.” Mr Elemu said.

Opposition parties he said have generally been losing the majority of the by-elections, mainly because they have not been able to compete with the well-resourced ruling party.

Election fatigue:

The high frequency of by-elections has contributed to election fatigue as evidenced by the low voter turnout during by-elections.

The tendency by contestants to engage in electoral corruption also kills the value and essence of elections being the ‘free expression of the will of the electorate’ due to such vices as bribery and other enticements that are rife during the by-elections.

Mr. Rubvuta said that parliament was well positioned to positively influence HIV/AIDS policy.
He said some HIV/AIDS programmes are going on, but that a lot needs to be done to have significant impacts.

“Most of the responses are donor-driven rather than internal to Parliament. Parliament has not done well in eliciting appropriate policies for HIV/AIDS or People Living with HIV/AIDS. MPs as individuals are also not doing much in HIV/AIDS in their constituencie, Mr Rubvuta said.”
He noted that in spite of the fact that Parliament has been in the process of setting up the HIV/AIDS response for a number of years, little progress has been made so far.

Mr Rubvuta said research had shown that MPs and support staff were not keen to test and know their HIV status, and that few have gone for VCT.

Notification or disclosure of their HIV status is seen as suicidal due to the stigma that follows. Infact the associated stigma and discrimination is perceived as the main reason for poor VCT and disclosure by members of Parliament or councillors.

As regards access to treatment, at least in theory, there are efforts at Parliament towards treatment and care services. However, these have remained inactive and ineffective, they said.
Delegates here have agreed that to have an AIDS resilience Africa demands not only improved management of the pandemic by state institutions such as parliament, but the existence of thriving democratic communities, able to confront the epidemic and its consequences, with confidence, looking towards a more hopeful future.

IDASA through its Governance and AIDS programme has instituted an ambitious campaign to promote democratic governance on the continent by creating a culture of collaborative problem-solving involving states and non-state actors, which can lead to the unlocking of resources across communities to deal with HIV/AIDS and promote development.

Recommendations
IDASA has recommended that stigma and discrimination is weeded out at all levels of society in Africa as citizens recognize each other’s democratic roles.

Furthermore, democratic institutions should be strengthened and take full account of the political and organizational implications of the epidemic and plan strategically.

“Elected leaders and top officials in government at every level should be seen to be actively involved in addressing HIV/AIDS, while acknowledging that they cannot fight the pandemic on their own, without the collaboration of citizens across the society, including people living with HIV/AIDS,” a communiqué issued here said.

IDASA Executive Director Paul Graham and Professor Nana Poku from the African Studies of the Department of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford in UK, called for a more strategic approach in dealing with the complexity of HIV/AIDS in the governance process.

Ben Botolo from the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development in Malawi said participation in leadership should not be based on one’s HIV status. Policies and development plans should treat HIV/AIDS as a continuing priority, while focusing on building democratic hope and empowering citizens to shape and create a society of the future.

South Africa’s Transport Minister and acting Minister of Health Jeff Radebe, who officially opened the conference, said the challenge for Africa was huge and that there was need for a multi-sectoral response to the pandemic and that there must be no leadership vacuum in the HIV/AIDS fight.

“We need to ask the question why individuals and the environment make sub-Saharan Africa the epitome of HIV and AIDS in the world,” Mr. Radebe said adding that while everyone is at risk of HIV/AIDS, the groups at higher risk are poorer populations especially young women in the age-groups of between 25-35 years.

HIV/AIDS has posed serious health system challenges on the continent including shortage of human resources and inadequate infrastructure.

Access to affordable and quality medicines and limited social security for the poor constitutes the majority of the population, also remain a serious challenge.

“There is no better opportunity than now, at a point where we seem to have reached the peak of the HIV prevalence. What we do in various countries in the region will determine the extent to which we effectively leverage on this natural trend,” he said.

Mr. Radebe agreed that an effective national response to HIV and AIDS cannot be the responsibility of the health sector or the state alone. There must be democratic governance and a culture of collaborative problem-solving in national response to the pandemic.