ActionAid 2022 report demands more from Hichilema administration

ActionAid on Thursday released a report which touched on human rights issues, Constituency Development Fund, education, public finance, youth engagement, agriculture and livestock, among other issues.
Below are highlights of the report presented by ActionAid Interim Country Director, Musonda Kabinga

Despite the pronouncement by the Government to promote human rights and end injustice, several violations were recorded in 2022.

These included among others the arrest of journalists for filming the arrest of a politician on unclear grounds.

The prolonged detention of Mumbi Phiri and her co-accused. Ms Phiri was arrested in February together with Mr Chilekwa over the murder of Mr Banda. The two had been in incarceration without trial for many months before they appeared before the court.

Many stakeholders expressed concern over these happenings pointing to injustice and a violation of the rule of law and fundamental rights.

The Human Rights Commission (HRC) observed that, the continued detention of any suspect without charge or trial violates a wide range of human rights such as the right to liberty, the right to secure the protection of the law which includes the right to be presumed innocent, the right to be informed of the nature of the offence charged, the right to a trial, among others.

Read more: Government tackling Constituency Development Fund hitches -Hichilema

There is need to stop arbitrary arrests. AAZ is alive to the fact that Republican President, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema did instruct law enforcement agencies to ensure that they carryout thorough investigations before making arrests.

It is commendable that Government has taken steps to reform progressively the problematic Public Order Act. Additionally, Government has abolished the defamation of the President provisions in the Penal Code.

This law was being abused to protect the President from criticism when necessary. The death penalty provision was also abolished. As an Institution that advocates for human rights, ActionAid Zambia is delighted with these measures given that such measures can improve the human rights situation in Zambia.

Climate Change ActionAid Zambia has noted the Government’s commitment towards Environmental Protection, this has been noted through Zambia’s Role as the Chair of the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change at the just ended COP27 where Zambia ably chaired the meeting and all matters related to the Negotiators in Africa.

This provided the country with a great opportunity to lobby for funding for the country’s most affected communities who have faced serious unavoidable increased multiple climate hazards because of multiple risks to ecosystems and human beings.

ActionAid Zambia is of the view that, mitigation is desperately needed, and actions related to climate mitigations need to be fast tracked because of climate change is connected to other issues such as food security and health matters which are among the most serious challenges facing humanity especially the poor small farming communities across Zambia, also in particular the ecological zone within Zambia which has been affected seriously.

ActionAid Zambia also wishes to commend the Government that, under their leadership as a Chair of the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change, a key outcome during COP27 was recorded.

This included the agreement that Funding Facility for Loss and Damage would be set up to help global south countries have access to these funds to strengthen their resilience towards climate change demonstrates the ability for the country to chair meetings at Global level that can result in impactful commitment to addressing Climate Change.

We call on the Government to ensure those commitments are followed by action and it is expected that regular follow-ups will be made to ensure this becomes a reality as well as on other commitments that were made.

ActionAid Zambia, therefore, calls on the Government to ensure plans are put in place that manages the impact at Local level. Climate change presents major health issues, premature deaths, risks to cities and settlements, and other dangers.

Furthermore, Government should allocate enough resources toward Environmental Protection which remains at 0.6% of the National Budget; this scenario is one of the major contributing factors to why the sector continues to lag behind.

As Chair African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change, our expectation is that Zambia need to lead with example to ensure Zambia is working towards climate change adaptation and mitigation programs.

Climate Change Bill

Government should prioritize the enactment of the Climate Change Bill. The Bill upon coming into Law would have among other benefits bring into existence the Climate Change Fund, another opportunity to secure more local climate funding.

Without this being Law, the fund will continue to exist on paper thus Environmental crimes
will continue to be committed with impunity by lawbreakers who are slowly but surely encroaching in areas that are meant to be preserved and protected in the name of “development”. This will also affect Government’s efforts towards climate change programming in the country without having this fundamental instrument.

Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock

ActionAid Zambia wishes to commend the Government for showing commitments to enhance the agriculture sector by way of reforming Farmer Input Support Program (FISP) to attain value for money and allocative efficiency given that the program over the years has been receiving the largest budgetary allocation in the sector.

From the K11.2 billion budget for the sector, K9.2 billion or 82 percent has gone to FISP.

As an institution, we believe the commitments made to improve beneficiary targeting, expanded scope of coverage beyond provision of seed and fertiliser to include livestock and fisheries and extension services among the reforms that the Government has undertaken in 2023 will assist to produce the results that are expected from the programme to transform Zambia into a bread basket and supplier of industrial agricultural inputs in the region given the location advantage and good hydrological and climatic conditions our country sits in as well as being a land linked country.

ActionAid Zambia has also noted that Government has also anchored the 2023 budget on Agriculture on the development of Agriculture Farm Blocks through accessing loans of up US$300 million through the World Bank to promote diversification, job creation and value addition.

Our reflection as an institution, is that in the financial year 2023 Government will undertake a new and full evaluation of the project including the factors that prevented its kick off earlier, given that this is not a new project and the reasons that failed the project to kick off in the past are addressed before any new commitments are made.

Further, Government in the advent of transparency should make available the report, especially as it is a loan that will still need to be paid back.

AAZ has also noted that Governments plans in the Agriculture sector to reach out to 1.5 million farmers through recruitment of 500 extension officers and extension services as a good catalyst for development as extension services have been a challenge which has led to low agriculture productivity.

Since agriculture is a major driver of economic growth, the review of the National Agriculture Investment Plan and the Agriculture Extension Services policy are among key activities that will see Zambia turning into an economic hub.

ActionAid Zambia is committed to working with Government and contributes to reducing poverty among women and children through enhanced food security and alternative livelihoods in agriculture, livestock, and the fisheries sector.
Effects of climate change being the greatest threat to food security in Zambia, ActionAid Zambia urges Government to ensure that farming inputs are provided to beneficiaries and small-scale farmers in time to enhance resilience agriculture systems. However, AAZ notes the late disbursement of farming inputs to farmers as a setback to turning Zambia into an economic hub.

Education Sector

The introduction of ‘’Education for all Policy’’ and the recruitment of 30,496 teachers by the Government in 2022 are some of the key highlights which are expected to have a positive impact on learning outcomes for the nation and close the gap on the teacher pupil ratio which currently ranges from 1:70 and 1:87 and disparities in the education sector as rural areas will now have the much-needed teachers to support learners.

As we reflect on these commendable steps taken by the government, we are also concerned about a few things. Firstly, housing is still an issue, particularly in rural areas, which in some cases, has resulted in newly hired teachers failing to report to their duty stations or failing to report for work as and when required because they live far from the schools and finding transportation is a daily challenge.

Secondly, most of the school infrastructure, particularly in rural regions, is in a terrible state, and with the huge enrollments brought on by free education, we observed that, for instance, a dilapidated classroom that was designed to hold 40 students is now holding 80 to 100 students which compromises the quality of learning.

AAZ is optimistic that the teacher pupil ratio will be closer to the required levels for international standards of 1:40 in 2023 because of the recruitment of an additional 4500 teachers, as stated by the Minister of Finance during the presentation of the 2023 national budget.

Additionally, we are hopeful that unemployed teachers who reside in the communities where their services are needed will be given priority during the recruitment process.

This will help to avoid the problems of teachers reporting late at the duty station. With the increased enrollment against the deplorable state of school infrastructure especially in rural areas, the Government should endeavor to prioritize the rehabilitation of such schools to ensure that all learners across the country enjoy equal access to quality learning environment.

Additionally, AAZ has noted that the financial allocation for school grants rose in 2022, and the method of which these funds where disbursed from using the District Education Board Secretary (DEBs) to transferring funds directly to the accounts of the schools it a notable gain.

We have also taken note of the Government’s prompt release of these grants, which is excellent as it will aid in the efficient operation of the schools.

Furthermore, as we take stock of the good things the Government has accomplished in terms of funding education, AAZ is worried that budget lines like free basic education and early childhood education still fall short of what is needed to satisfy the present
demand.

In light of this, AAZ is requesting that the Ministry of Education to review these particular budget lines to make sure that they are adequate for the provision of services.
To ensure the responsible financial handling of these grants, we also advocate for the appointment of dedicated finance personnel in each school.

This has come to light after finding that in some schools the management of these grants is in the hands of a teacher who at the expense of attending to learners must attend to getting quotations, purchasing of various goods and services required at that time by the school.

Public Finance Management

In the quest to have a legal framework that promotes transparency and accountability of public debt management in Zambia, The Zambian government through the Ministry of Finance concluded their review of the Loans and Guarantees Act – the primary legislation guiding public debt management in Zambia.

AAZ on 20th July appeared before the National Planning and Budgeting Committee to provide recommendations for the new Public Debt Management bill.

The recommendations from AAZ were focused on enhanced transparency though Debt Sustainability Analyses, and Statistical Updates. Additionally, we called for accountability mechanisms such as a debt ceiling as a percentage of GDP, the development of annual borrowing plans, and parliamentary oversight in line with the Constitution (Amendment) 2016.

In addition, the Zambian Government signed off the Extended Credit
Facility (ECF) deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) amounting to US$1.3 billion.

The deal provided much needed fiscal space that facilitated immediate budget support; however, it came with several conditions centred around fiscal consolidation and austerity. Notably, the Government has planned to increase the Tax to GDP ratio while cutting down on costs, particularly from subsidies on energy.

Effectively this has exposed Zambian citizens to the volatile prices of fuel that are revised monthly and exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

For progressive taxation, the Zambian Government have acknowledged that there is need to
increase domestic resource mobilization for sustainable development.

To this effect, Government needs to abolish harm tax incentives and review and renegotiate Double Taxation Agreements (DTAs) between Zambia and other countries that have unbalanced taxing rights.

In 2022, the adoption of the UN Tax Convention presents an alternative to the OECD Framework and is a milestone opportunity for global tax reform that takes into consideration the needs of developing countries like Zambia.

Health Sector

In the year 2022 the Government recruited 11,000 health personnel and in the 2023 national budget the government has committed to recruit an additional 3,000 health personnel at K307.5 million of the health budget.

This is a commendable move looking at the existing challenges that the health sector is facing such as limited health personnel especially for rural areas.

Health workers play a critical role in uplifting the well-being of the citizens. The Government has also allocated a total of K17.4 billion representing 10.4 percent compared to K13.9 billion in 2022 indicating a 2.4 percent increase in allocation health sector in the 2023 national budgets.

AAZ has taken time to analyse the trend analysis of budgetary allocation to the health sector for the past three years beginning 2021, 2022 and 2023 which shows an increased amount allocated systematically from K9.7 billion, K13.9 billion, and now K17.4 billion.

As we reflect on the operations of Government in year 2022 in the health sector, ActionAid Zambia is of the view that with the 2023 health recruitment it is set to undertake, Government must prioritize recruiting more pharmacists to address the shortage of Pharmacists across the country.

The reported shortage of drugs in public health facilities affected the delivery of quality health services to majority Zambians who rely on public health services.

AAZ calls on the Government to ensure that there is value for money when procuring drugs and that the drugs should be dispersed timely and fairly across all health facilities even the most remote especially in rural areas.

There is need for Government to revamp regional storage of drugs by way of building infrastructure to store more drugs for improved service delivery especially in the rural health sector.

In 2023, the Government has increased the budgetary allocation for the procurement of drugs and medical supplies to K4.6 billion indicating a 35.7% increase from the previous allocation.

This is an honorable gesture.

There is need for the Government to increase investment towards the local manufacture of drugs. This will ease the timely provision of essential drugs. Further, this is the next important component towards improved health provision services as the Government has improved the number of health personnel.

In the year 2023, Government should create more youth friendly centres to ease access to service for the adolescent young people. AAZ further calls on the Government to recruit more health personnel to administer SRHR services.

Additionally, ActionAid Zambia recommends that in the 2023 National Budget administrative oversight function to ensure SRHR services are not deprioritized further, AAZ is of the view that the increased allocation towards reproductive health will help mitigate against teenage pregnancies.

Government should also ensure that the new procurement systems with drug suppliers are completed timely to avoid supply chain breaks of essential drugs which have a devastating effect on the national health system administration.

Constituency Development Fund

The Government has increased the allocation to the Constituency Development Fund from K 25.7 million to K28.3 million. This is a satisfactory agenda for Zambia in stimulating the local economy at constituency level and providing more resources for empowerment to
the local community.

It is also gratifying to note that the Government has decided to allow the Constituencies that will not be able to complete the utilization during this fiscal year to retain their funds to 2023.

This will enable the projects that have already been identified this year and for which implementation of the projects has commenced to continue next year. However, there has been low absorption of the CDF on account of administrative challenges among others.

Our reflection as an institution (AAZ) is that there is need for the Government through the Ministry of Local Government to address the challenges leading to absorption of the CDF.

Our recommendation is that the Government in the year 2023 should prioritise the review of the Local Government Act and align the CDF guidelines to the revised Act.

This should be done to address the challenges in the administration of the CDF. Additionally, there is need to decentralize the approval process of the CDF projects. Furthermore, Government should in 2023 consider translating the CDF guidelines into local languages.

This has potential to increase community participation in CDF Management.

Youth Engagement

AAZ has noted that Government continues to make pronouncement aimed at
improving the welfare of the young people In Zambia through increased participation
in decision making structures and creating business opportunities for many young people.

In the year 2022 ActionAid Zambia noted that Government has created a parliamentary youth
caucus aimed at enhancing youth participation in decision making process at parliamentary level.

Our reflection is that Government needs to do more in the year 2023 to improve participation of youth in key decision-making structure especially the young people. We call on the Government to Nominate and appoint more youths in senior key leadership positions to enhance youth voices in the decision-making structures.