That question was triggered by the revelation that government plans to set up foreign missions in Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Saudi Arabia (Source: Daily Mail). On our Facebook page we noted that this proposal is a "bad idea", unless it comes with rationalisation of existing foreign missions. In short, our assessment is that the economic case for additional embassies does not exist given competing priorities and rampant corruption in these embassies.
We were subsequently challenged to provide more information. We have pulled together this table to give a fuller picture of annual spending, based on information to hand. In short, London over the next lifetime of the present Parliament will cost Zambian taxpayers a minimum of K60bn. The two embassies in DRC will cost around K50bn. The three embassies in close proximity Paris, Brussels and Rome will cost nearly K120bn. The question we are asking is simple : how many schools can we build if we rationalised some of these embassies? We don't need new embassies, we need a new foreign policy that will take these issues into account. This position is not new - we have made this clear many times e.g. here and here.
Foreign Missions Budget Allocation, 2007,
2008 and 2009
(Kwacha)
|
|||
Foreign Mission
|
2009
|
2008
|
2007
|
Abuja
|
4,616,700,986.
|
2,474,664,715.
|
|
Accra
|
|||
Addis
Ababa
|
5,659,081,300.
|
4,135,433,753.
|
|
Beijing
|
4,853,407,835.
|
4,735,411,281.
|
|
Berlin
|
7,455,055,894.
|
6,463,139,586.
|
|
Brasilia
|
|||
Brussels
|
9,699,608,731.
|
6,966,713,142.
|
|
Cairo
|
4,641,508,614.
|
5,040,870,000.
|
|
Dar-Es-Salaam
|
4,236,375,165.
|
9,468,020,712.
|
|
Gabarone
|
3,855,072,186.
|
5,125,421,610.
|
3,019,071,465.
|
Geneva
|
10,184,332,300.
|
7,590,904,914.
|
|
Harare
|
5,433,190,504.
|
4,384,625,910.
|
|
Kinshasa
|
5,632,451,091.
|
3,957,337,697.
|
|
Kuala
Lumpur
|
|||
Lilongwe
|
|||
London
|
15,769,256,438.
|
||
Luanda
|
5,214,640,128.
|
4,608,102,537.
|
|
Lubumbashi
|
4,375,893,620.
|
4,818,819,899.
|
|
Maputo
|
3,493,734,687.
|
4,063,563,013.
|
|
Moscow
|
6,516,826,948.
|
4,611,134,014.
|
|
Nairobi
|
4,027,102,680.
|
3,822,049,607.
|
|
New
Delhi
|
4,333,205,558.
|
3,842,061,065.
|
|
New
York
|
|||
Ottawa
|
6,747,496,911.
|
3,239,020,013.
|
|
Paris
|
6,939,712,455.
|
6,294,738,951.
|
|
Pretoria
|
6,993,414,949.
|
6,300,942,106.
|
6,374,992,266.
|
Rome
|
7,239,123,334.
|
5,472,121,191.
|
|
Stockholm
|
7,596,698,569.
|
6,346,183,915.
|
|
Tokyo
|
4,511,595,884.
|
3,773,406,994.
|
|
Tripoli
|
5,524,534,204.
|
||
Washington
DC
|
7,024,511,879.
|
8,233,677,419.
|
|
Windhoek
|
3,363,137,691.
|
3,684,940,113.
|
|
The natural question is what this money is being spent on. As the table below reveals over 905 of the money in embassies go on "personal emoluments". In short, we can save huge amounts by cutting diplomatic posts, though it would make sense to undertake a thorough cost effectiveness review. Not all embassies are the same. A proper economic case must be demonstrated.
Sample
of Foreign Missions Spending :
Distribution of Spending, 2009
(Source: Auditors General Report for 2009
Accounts)
|
||
London*
|
Tripoli**
|
|
Personal Emoluments
|
K14.3bn
|
K9.3bn
|
General Administration
|
K0.2bn
|
K0.1bn
|
Utilities
|
K0.2bn
|
K0.1bn
|
Political / Economic Relations
|
K0.2bn
|
K0.0bn
|
Infrastructure Development
|
K0.9bn
|
|
Areas
|
K0.0bn
|
|
Total
|
K15.8bn
|
K9.5bn
|
*Allocated budget **Actual
spend
|
||
