ActionAid acting head of programmes Geofrey Sizala
ACTIONAID & TAX EDUCATION ALLIANCE HOLD INDABA
…as they lobby to increase funding to education sector
Thursday, 1st December, 2022
ACTIONAID Zambia has urged authorities to amend the law regarding the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) as it has been identified as the biggest hindrance contributing to the current low absorption of the fund across the country.
The education sector is being affected because some funds were to come from the CDF under the revised set up by the government through school projects support.
ActionAid acting head of programmes Geofrey Sizala said the devolution of the CDF to local level was a great milestone but the law still needs to be amended as it was currently giving a lot of decision powers to politicians such as serving members of parliament (MP).
Mr. Sizala said the current law still allowed the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development to have then final authority on the disbursement of the CDF across all constituencies.
Sizala was speaking during the Tax Educational Alliance (TaxEd) cross sectoral capacity building meeting in Lusaka today, Thursday, 1st December, 2022
Zambia Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPPAR) research fellow Miselo Bwalya also revealed that issues of drug procurement were also affecting the health sector in Zambia.
Mr. Bwalya acknowledged an increase in funding to the health education sector in last two years.
In his presentation on Education Financing and social spending for Vision 2030, Bwalya said while a lot of funds were allocated in the budget for the Social Cash Transfer (SCT) the number of actual beneficiaries were still low.
Bwalya said National spending social sector in Zambia still remain low due to non-execution of the budget allocation particularly in the education and health sectors.
Centre for Trade Policy and Development (CTPD) researcher Wakumelo Mataa said the tax system need harmonization in Zambia to allow people earning more money to pay higher taxes than those earning less.
Mr. Mataa said Value Added Tax (VAT) application also has to be relooked at it has a direct effect of the standard of living for the low-income earners.
Mataa urged institutions such as the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) to ensure tax compliance by everyone in the country.
ActionAid Zambia, Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) and National Action for Quality Education in Zambia (NAQEZ), Zambia National Teacher’s Union are part of the TaxEd alliance.
