Jean-Oscar Ngalamulume is one of those Congolese who are convinced that it is possible for the Ilunkamba Government to raise the level of the State Budget, whose 2020 forecasts put a ceiling on it at around US$7 billion. This is enough to call on the Head of State to give the impetus for increased mobilization of public revenues.
This economist estimates that with taxes on human capital applied in a context of wealth creation and decent jobs, the Treasury can easily capture US$60-70 billion. Below, the content of his Tribune:
Since the beginning of the century, the sovereign missions of the modern state, that is, of a state governed by the rule of law, have become more and more diversified, while at the same time leading its objectives towards the economic growth it must achieve. However, this economic growth is to a large extent a function of investment, the most appreciated component of which is financial capital….
The primary source of the State’s income comes from taxes.
For a Congolese to pay taxes to the State, not only that he must have work, but also a decent salary that allows him to pay the rent, eat from the first to the thirty of the month, pay for transport, provide medical care, pay his children’s fees and save.
This Congolese man who meets these six conditions, thanks to his salary, whatever his social rank, will pay the tax to the State. So, to restore the broken economic balances, our country needs two capitals.
Human and financial capital
From a human capital point of view, we are estimated at 90 million inhabitants. The Congolese State has a duty to promote the training of the workforce and, above all, to specialize it.
The accumulation of human capital, capable of contributing to the country’s development, is an increasing function of the time devoted to education. That is, to the formation of human capital. It is formulated as follows: h,=S (l-u,) h.
Investment in human capital therefore includes expenditure on education, learning and training, which will enable companies to benefit from a skilled workforce, the one that should be part of an environment conducive to business development.
From a financial capital point of view, Congo has two choices. Either it self-finances its reconstruction, or it relies on the international financial community, while strengthening control over the allocation of mobilized capital to the reorganization of the factors of production, i.e., the creation of many jobs and decent wages for better consumption.
Indeed, if it happened that the Congolese State facilitated the task of private entrepreneurship, the only one capable of creating at least 500 million jobs and paying decent wages, that is, a minimum wage of 500 dollars per month, from which the State will receive only 50 dollars per month.
Let’s do the simplest calculation: let’s take 50 dollars that the State collects on the salary of each working Congolese and multiply by 50 million of the Congolese who receive 500 dollars, the State will have 2,500,00,000 dollars each month in its coffers. Multiply $2,500,000,000,000 by 12 months, the state will already have $30,000,000,000,000 in payroll taxes.
And when it adds DGRAD, DGI, DOUANE, DGM and other related tax services…..
The budget of the Democratic Republic of Congo can easily be estimated at between 60 and 70 billion US dollars.
Fiscal policy is the work of the Government through which it defines the policy that allows it to influence the country’s economy by using its power to set revenues and priorities in the allocation of public expenditure. It is therefore a means at its disposal to regulate the economy and carry out actions over economic cycles in order to achieve its objectives in both the social and economic fields.
The state, which has a good budget thanks to taxes, can reorganize and equip the intelligence services, the police, the army and the civil service. The State, which has more resources thanks to taxes, can carry out major public works by building hospitals, schools, prisons, bridges, etc.
The State which has more means thanks to taxes will pay civil servants and State agents decently. It could even give scholarships to humanities students.
On the condition that you remember one thing: ALL THAT IS UMPUNI IS PERMITTED.
When you have a patient, you should give him/her appropriate treatment instead of sedative.
The Congolese political class is specialized in numerous declarations and announcements in place of the debate in full responsibility on a good governance project, capable of restoring the broken economic balances, such as objective 80, the change of mentalities, the new citizenship etc.
Change of mentalities, a case of conscience….
« I am a teacher with an exceptional desire to change the mentality, I live in Bandalungwa and I work in N’djili… To get to my place of work, I have to use transport from my neighbours, my unpaid three-month rent, water, the electricity and the cost of my unpaid children… I arrive at school and take the exam for my 70 students… 40 succeed, 30 who have failed organize themselves, prepare the envelope and come to me, I Professor with an exceptional desire to change the mentality, they make me understand that they do not want to take the class again…« .
You give lessons in changing mentalities, instead of this Professor, which way will you look at it?
What I say for the teacher, I can also say for a civil servant, a law enforcement officer or a government official. We can only understand the present in order to build the future when we have a deep knowledge of the past.
Jean-Oscar Ngalamulume