Civil Society Groups Call for Close Evaluation of Government Projects Following 2021 Waste Report

Officials from the civil society organisations Debt Alliance and the Zambia Tax Platform have called for increased and standardised evaluations of government projects. 

The recommendation comes after a report was recently released into resource waste at the government level. The 2021 Auditor General’s report, published on October 6th, cited failures to follow procurement procedures, non-recovery of loans, and un-accounted-for outlays as the most important reasons for the wasting of state resources in 2021. The auditor general’s primary purpose is to ensure the “equitable, efficient, and effective” delivery of public services and use of public funds.

“There is a need to strengthen regular monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for all government projects especially those funded using borrowed money and to ensure that no deviations from contractual agreements go unpunished,” commented civil society officials in a statement on Wednesday.

They also said law enforcement agencies must be empowered to “enforce the law on all perpetrators of resource mismanagement and all those linked to cases as cited in the report.” 

Since President Hichilema was elected in August 2021 he has promised to stamp out corruption and decrease the historic wastage of state resources. In an interview with the BBC he described the “horrifying” levels of corruption under the previous administration. As part of this effort, former government ministers have been arrested on corruption charges. For instance, September saw the arrest of two former ministers, Amos Chanda and Zindaba Soko, for laundering state resources to the sum of $21,000 USD.

However, in light of the auditors report, civil society groups have encouraged more steps to be taken. The New Dawn administration wish to grow the Zambian economy, particularly through pursuing foreign investment, to both benefit the Zambian people and increase the state’s revenue. However, the statement encourages issues regarding resource management to be rapidly addressed in order to reduce leakage and boost revenue.

According to Debt Alliance and Zambia Tax Platform, efforts “towards the need to widen the tax base should be preceded by measures to enhance internal controls within ministries to improve their abilities to collect what is already available.”