2004/07/02
Zambia: Finance Minister debates Social Watch findings
The launching of the Social Watch report 2004 in Zambia sparked a nation-wide discussion on poverty in the country. Finance Minister Ngandu Magande argued there is now plenty of food in the country and even stone crushers have bank accounts and questioned the accuracy of the Social Watch indicators. In an editorial comment, the influential Zambian daily "The Post" advised the minister "to look at his own government's statistics on poverty produced by the Central Statistical Office" and argued that "the issues raised in the 2004 Social Watch report are true and deserve our government's and indeed all our politicians' most serious considerations".