This story is part of a series on the new UPND-Alliance administration and what they’ve planned for their first 100 days—and beyond.
After the victory of the UPND-Alliance in the 2021 presidential polls, there were common sentiments of the people wanting change. Much to their desire, the sworn-in president Mr Hakainde Hichilema made commitments to make this a reality on every developmental level.
With only a few weeks in power, the president made his first appointment of the Finance Minister, Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane, probably a cardinal move before their administration’s first formulation of the national budget.
This, therefore, leaves us with the question of why that particular choice is for such a principal position.
Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane, born in the year 1956, he is a married man and the father of Mwiya Musokotwane, Chief Executive Officer of Nkwashi Homes and a 2018 Forbes Africa 30 and 30.
Academically, Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane obtained his Economics degree from the University of Zambia, an MA in Monetary Economics from the University of Dar-es-Salaam. He read for his PhD in monetary economics from Konstanz University in Germany. He appears to be a not-so-common man, tracing through his experience and contributions to the nation thus far. A close look into the financial status of the country acutely suggests a need for an expert in the management and analysis of money in the economy.
In the year 1991, he served as the Bank of Zambia Advisor Researcher, and later the Acting Deputy Governor of operations in 1997. In the same year, he also served as Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Finance, and thereafter, the General Advisor to the Governor of the Central Bank of Swaziland in 1998.
After serving as Secretary of the Treasury in 2003, Dr. Musokotwane was appointed Special Advisor to the President for Economic Affairs in 2007. Subsequently, he was appointed Minister of Finance for the first time in 2008 and was appointed a Member of Parliament under the government of the Multi-Party Movement for Democracy (MMD).
He is the Executive Chairman of Thebe Investment Management (Nkwashi Homes), a company he co-founded with his son, Mwiya Musokokwane.
Reportedly, Zambia recorded the first-ever double-digit annual economic growth rate 0f 10.3% in 2010, since the 1960s, under Dr Musokotwane’s tenure as Finance minister. A record that has not been outnumbered since he left the office. In the year 2008, as Finance minister, Dr Musokokwane announced an agreement between the government and the mining firms, where; the corporate tax was raised by 5%, royalty tax increased from 0.6% to 3%, and 15% profit variable tax was introduced. Zambia then also received praises from the World Bank president on policy reforms and governance.
His political career has been largely under both the MMD and UPND. He served as a finance minister and Member of Parliament in 2008, and contested as Member of Parliament of Liuwa constituency on the MMD ticket in 2011. In 2016, He left MMD to join UPND with other former ministers, including Brian Chituwo, Professor Jeff Lungwangwa, Ronnie Shikapwasha, Keith Mukata, and the late Sarah Salifwanda. He was re-elected to the national assembly in 2021.
However, he goes without critique; he was victim to the probes by the Micheal Chilufya Sata led Patriotic Front government on the government officers of the erstwhile Rupiah Banda regime under the MMD. He was cited to have been investigated over the awarding tax incentives to the Indian owned Varun Beverages that produces Pepsi in Zambia. He was also found in possession of 1260 bicycles at his house post the 2011 elections, an accusation to which he denied and reported that he had the documentation to the possessed bicycles. The question now remains as to whether what was held against him holds enough water to discredit his capabilities.