Editor, RE: “At this rate, bakeries will run out of cakes” (The New Times, October 31). I see many points I can agree with and those I disagree with on both sides of this well-commented on issue. I don’t know how faithfully, in terms of content as well as nuance, the Minister’s statement was reported. I know from painful personal experience how meaning can be misconstrued even when only one’s words have been used. Kinyarwanda is also an exceptionally subtle language whose words, the context in which they have been made, and the manner of their reporting lends itself to all kinds of variegated interpretation. But this is one side of the issue. The other, and more important issue, on which both sides are both right and wrong, are the respective roles of government and individuals in the economy and in job-creation. Beyond the direct employment in public service and parastatal enterprises to deliver government services and to ensure necessary – often essential services that are a right of citizens and for which investments may be beyond the capacity of the private sector or whose returns to investments may not interest the private sector, government is really more of a cost centre rather than a profit centre and, therefore, a job generator, at least as a direct outcome. Government’s role is to create an environment conducive for business creation, business survival and growth, whether this is by individuals, households or enterprises of varied sizes (micro, small, medium and large, in different economic sectors, whether in the organised or informal economies). Government’s primary responsibility is to ensure that a business climate (security of people and their property, taxation, education and skills availability, health, affordability of finance and a healthy macroeconomic and a supportive monetary environment, a regulatory environment that encourages entrepreneurial activity, a well-functioning infrastructure, a trustworthy system of rule of law, etc.). Beyond ensuring that such a conducive national business and social structure is in place, government cannot be, nor should it be expected, to create jobs directly. That is the responsibility of all of us. It is important that we all understand this. It is equally important that leaders be frank in pointing out these facts of life, even if, perhaps, also understanding the importance of communicating hard facts honestly but also emphatically. Unemployment and hardship mean that people are extremely sensitive to any perception that they are being talked down to, even where this may be far from what is intended. Mwene Kalinda
