It's about upholding 'the Civil Rights' of the individual over that of one's government.
"The right to live."
Human rights.
"The right to be happy."
"The right one's body and it's safety."
"The Rule of Law" and "The Commerce Clause" were never conceived to injure citizens anywhere on Earth. They were designed to protect the public trust of the USA. They were designed to enable benevolent interactions internationally without war. The misuse of these 'ideas' and 'laws' has to be rolled back. Without question. Where they are applied correctly there can be astounding results. I would think the USA also could take some jurisdiction over oil companies that have committed murder of citizens as in Nigeria in their pursuit of commerce.
Zambia Praised for Taking "Strong Stand" Against Corruption
Nation signs threshold agreement with Millennium Challenge Corporation
By Charles W. Corey
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The people of Zambia and their government -- under the leadership of President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa -- have "taken a strong stand against corruption," and a $22.7 million threshold agreement with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will help them achieve even greater transparency efficiency and prosperity, according to Lloyd O. Pierson, assistant administrator for Africa at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Pierson joined John Danilovich, MCC's chief executive officer, and Ng'andu P. Magande, Zambia's minister of finance and national planning, to sign the agreement at MCC headquarters in Washington May 22.
Pierson said the $22.7 million two-year plan will further anti-corruption efforts already under way by pursuing a three-pronged strategy to help prevent corruption in targeted institutions, improve public service delivery to the private sector and improve border management and trade. The MCC provides economic-development aid to poor countries that show results in ruling justly and promoting economic freedom.
"USAID is pleased to support the government of Zambia in the design and implementation of the threshold country plan," Pierson said.
Danilovich said the agreement stands both as a "natural extension" of Mwanawasa's established policy of zero tolerance for corruption and one of Zambia's "several pioneering programs of reform for a more democratic, transparent and accountable government."
The successful implementation of the threshold program, he told his audience, will bring "many benefits to the Zambian people, including more accountability and transparency in ministries that are responsible for land registration, taxation and immigration; expanded business and investment opportunities for regions outside of Lusaka and a dramatic reduction in the time it takes for imports and exports to clear Zambia's borders."
Danilovich expressed MCC's confidence that this program -- combined with broader efforts already under way by the Zambian government -- will bring the country closer to achieving an even greater eligibility for the Millennium Challenge Account and inspire greater confidence on the part of the Zambian people in the institutions that serve them.
Magande said the people of Zambia were grateful and "overwhelmed" by the award. The agreement, he pledged, will be well utilized over the next two years "because we are determined to move on to the next stage" of the process.
Magande went on to reiterate Mwanawasa's pledge of transparency and public accountability.
"We intend to reduce the opportunities for corruption. That is one of the most basic things. To make sure that the systems are in order, the procedures are in order, the documents are in order, the tender process is in order and everybody knows what they are doing" to eliminate the chance for corruption.
Magande said his government is forming a Zambian Development Agency "as a central receiving point" for those -- both foreign and domestic -- who want to invest in the country. As an inland country bordering on eight African nations, he said, Zambia could do much more to facilitate regional trade if the right transparent and functional systems are put in place.
He went on to praise his country's long-term relationship with USAID and said the agreement will help Zambia in a number of ways: it will cut in half to 30 days the time it takes to title land; outlaw and bribes to customs officers that have often been needed in the past to clear goods out of customs; reduce from 60 to 30 the number of days needed to export products from Zambia and likewise halve the 60-day period it now takes to import goods into Zambia.
"At the end of two years [the term of the threshold agreement], "I think we will have made quite a lot of progress," he said. "If we do encourage our people by facilitating their operations, that is what brings wealth into their pockets and reduces the poverty of our people," he said.
Within the two-year period, Magande said his government wants to demonstrate the benefits of operating a "transparent, effective and accountable government to the people of Zambia and the world at large.
"Such success will lead to immediate improvements," he said, and will help create wealth for the Zambian people.
MCC's threshold program assistance now totals approximately $116 million in six countries: Burkina Faso, Malawi, Tanzania, Albania, Paraguay and Zambia. The threshold program is designed to assist countries that are on the "threshold" of Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) eligibility for broader assistance, known as compacts.
Since its creation in 2004, MCC has committed more than $1.5 billion in compact assistance to eight countries: Madagascar, Honduras, Cape Verde, Nicaragua, Georgia, Benin, Vanuatu and Armenia.
For more information on U.S. policies, see Millennium Challenge Account and Africa.
