A reflection of the events in 2019 reveals something which has kept us together as a united local government fraternity over the years – Unity of Purpose.
Like in 2018, the year started on a promising note as we celebrated the enactment of the Local Government Act No. 2 of 2019 which we expected to provide a panacea to the various operational challenges facing our member local authorities. Better still, this piece of legislation was expected to operationalize progressive Constitutional provisions on local government. Alas, a close perusal of the provisions of the Act revealed a number of serious omissions relating to Constitutional provisions and to the most important subject of fiscal decentralisation. The 5% portion of the total annual income taxes which hitherto, financed the Local Government Equalisation Fund as a vertical division grant, was removed which perhaps explains the erratic release of this important grant to local authorities during the year under review.
Then came the debate on the proposed amendments to the Republican Constitution following the issuance of The Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill No. 10 of 2019 which formed the subject for discussion at the National Dialogue Forum constituted to deal with this matter. As the Association, we were unanimous in not supporting proposals to remove or introduce provisions which aimed at weakening the system of local government. We used various platforms to voice our objections and we owe a great deal of gratitude to like-minded institutions and individuals that significantly supported our point of view on this matter.
The Joint 63rd LGAZ Conference and 16th General Assembly of AMICAAL was held in Lusaka during the period 6th to 10th May 2019. The occasion was thankfully graced by His Excellency Mr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu who gave a key note address on the afternoon of the 6th May. Despite the conference programme being disrupted occasionally following the events arising from the National Dialogue Forum on the constitution which was meeting in Lusaka during the same period, we were able to conclude the business as planned. This was an elective conference and I want to place on record my sincere appreciation to my colleagues in local government for giving me another mandate to lead this glorious institution. I wish also to extend the same appreciation on behalf of other leaders who were elected to sit on the Presidency of LGAZ and the Steering Committee of AMICAALL.
Upon assumption of office, as the new executive, we continued engagements with government on various issues including the outstanding matter relating to the welfare of the elected local government leadership and those hindering the smooth functioning of local authorities generally. These engagements are still on-going and we are hopeful that they will yield positive results. We also carried out various activities aimed at enhancing the capacities of our local authorities through the EU and DFID supported project which was being piloted in the 10 councils in Lusaka, Copperbelt and Northern Provinces. The same was the case with the GIZ supported local authority programmes in Southern and Northwestern Provinces.
At international local government forums, the Association continued to maintain active membership on the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) and the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). In this regard, it is pleasing to report that my position as Vice Chairperson of UCLG- Africa Southern African Region and as member of the Executive Committee of UCLG was reaffirmed at the UCLG Congress – World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders which convened in Durban, South Africa from 11th to 15th November 2019. I owe this achievement to all my colleagues in LGAZ for their initial support.
During the year under review there were reshuffles at both Ministerial and Permanent Secretary Levels. Hon. Vincent Mwale with whom we enjoyed a very cordial working relationship, was transferred from the Ministry of Local Government to the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure Development while Mr. Amos Malupenga went to the Ministry of Tourism as Permanent Secretary. As we bed farewell to Hon. Mwale and Mr. Malupenga, we also welcomed Hon. Dr. Charles Romel Banda and Dr. Bishop Ed Chomba, Minister and Permanent Secretary respectively, of the Ministry of Local Government.
Let me end by expressing sincere gratitude to our cooperating partners the EU, DFID, GIZ and the UN System in Zambia whose contributions enabled us achieve our planned activities as shall be seen in the chapters that follow.