1. Introduction

Like many other Zambians who have the interest of our beloved country at heart, I am confounded by President Edgar Lungu’s decision to create five more government ministries.

Since our beloved country’s political independence in October 1964, we have miserably and lamentably failed to use our national resources wisely in our quest to attain meaningful socioeconomic development and improve the livelihoods of the majority of our people. Besides, we have continued to mortgage our country by borrowing heavily from both local and external sources of funds in order to sustain government operations.

1.1 The UNIP Era:

During the UNIP era, for example, rampant economic and public-sector mis­man­agem­ent re­sulted in the di­version of human, financial, and other national resources to unpro­duc­tive projects and progra­ms.

For instance, the creation of the Central Committee (a somewhat parallel structure to the National Assembly) and the position of Prime Minister that followed the introduction of a one-party State in 1972 contributed greatly to the misappropriation of public resources, and also escalated the cost of performing government functions.

During the same era, implementation of socialist policies increased our country’s public-sector borrow­ing and government spend­ing to finance the operations of state companies, and the operations of their subsidiaries, especially in times when they were not able to generate profits.

Alan Whitworth has summed up the financial situation which our beloved country faced between the late 1960s and 1991 in the following words: “[V]irtually all resources were devoted to wages, debt service, subsidies … and bailing out parastatals.”

Besides, the compulsory recruitment of Grade 12 students to undergo military training and engage in agricultural production activities between 1975 and 1980 at Zambia National Service (ZNS) camps (as mandated by ZNS Act No. 121 of 1972) contributed to the draining of public coffers.

A lot of money was wasted on ZNS personnel, the construction of facilities to accommodate Grade 12 graduates, payments of stipends to the graduates, and on procurements of food, uniforms, semi-automatic rifles (SARs), and live ammunition and blanks for training purposes.

1.2 The MMD Era:

In March 2007, the late former President Levy Mwanawasa, during his official visit to Namibia, revealed that 65% of the national budget was devoted to the sustenance of a bloated state apparatus, and that only a paltry 35% was left for education, agriculture, healthcare, roads and bridges, and so forth.

In June 2009, former President Rupiah Banda decried the fact 50% of the government’s domestic revenues were spent on 1% of the population, including government ministers, and wondered how provision for roads, hospitals, schools, energy, and defence and security could be met.

1.3 The PF Era:

In October 2012, an article by Kabanda Chulu, which appeared in The Post Newspaper, revealed that 50% of the 2013 national budget would be spent on the wages, salaries, allowances, and fringe benefits of civil servants and government officials.

And in October 2014, Comrade Alexander Chikwanda was quoted by Zambia Weekly as having revealed that 75% of Zambia’s domestic revenue in 2015 (amounting to K35 billion) will be consumed by wages, including those of Zambia’s 200,000 civil servants (K15 billion) and other salaries supported by government, leaving only 25% to cater for all other government operations designed to facilitate socioeconomic development in the country.

Besides, there are news stories reported by Chiwoyu Sinyangwe of The Post Newspapers and Katherine Nyirenda of the Times of Zambia, which have raised fears that Zambia may slip back into the ‘debt trap’—that is, a situa­tion whereby a coun­try’s borrowing from external sources of capital eventually leads to its ‘debt servicing’ (which includes interest payments plus amortization) in any given year being greater than the total amount of new loans it may secure, resul­ting in a reverse flow of capital from the debtor nation to its creditors.

One would perhaps do well to use the following summary provided by Zambia Weekly of September 11, 2015 to describe the evolvement of our beloved country’s debt burden:

“In the mid-1980s, in the face of an economic meltdown, [the] … UNIP government embarked on economic reforms supported by the [IMF] … and World Bank … to curb overall expenditure and reduce budgetary deficits. Yet, in 1987, Kaunda famously divorced Zambia from the IMF due to shortage of foreign exchange and food riots. When Frederick Chiluba’s MMD government in 1991 inherited a fiscal mess, he embarked on harsh Structural Adjustment Programmes approved by the IMF and World Bank [which] …. allowed Zambia to eventually qualify for the [HIPC] … and Multilateral Debt Relief … initiatives [and] … reduced the country’s debt from over $7 billion in 2005 to less than $1 billion in 2006. The foreign debt has since increased to over $6 billion.”

Clearly, it is surprising that President Edgar Lungu could create five more government ministries rather than trim the existing and highly bloated structure of government!

Apart from the general lack of both vision and compass among our national leaders, their apparent failure to prudently administer our country’s resources has made our quest to break the bondage of the majority of our people to want, misery and destitution a formidable challenge.

If it is actually not for our leaders’ lack of vision and compass, how else can one explain our failure to improve the livelihoods of the majority of our people when our beloved country is blessed with abundant natural endowments, which include fertile soil, ideal weather conditions, an ideal system of perennial rivers, a wide range of wildlife, wide stretches of natural forests and grasslands, a wide assortment of mineral resources, and a sizeable population of peaceful and hard-working citizens?

In the ensuing sections, I have outlined viable ways and means by which a Republican president who has the interest of our beloved country at heart can spearhead the process of administering our beloved country’s resources in order to save financial and material resources for application in meeting some of the needs and expectations of the people.

By the way, the need to prudently marshal our beloved country’s resources is one of several development-related issues that have been pressing hard upon my heart over the last 20 or so years.

2. Consolidation of Public Services

There is a need for any newly elected Republican president to seriously consider the prospect of consolidating some government services that would result in cost savings. Such service consolidation could include the following:

(a) Incorporation of the functions of the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) that is currently vested in the Office of the Vice-President into the functions of the Zambia National Service (ZNS) in order to make it more efficient and effective by making it less prone to political meddling and manipulation;

(b) Creation of an autonomous Bureau of Statistics and Archives to replace the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and the National Archives of Zambia (NAZ) so that the new entity can freely and independently collect, process, maintain, publish, and archive essential data and information about our country;

(c) Detachment of the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) from the Ministry of Agriculture and conversion of the Agency into an autonomous body in order for it to perform its duties without any political meddling or manipulation, and to broaden its mandate to the provision of assistance to the needy by incorporating the functions of the Public Welfare Assistance Scheme currently administered through the Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health, including the Social Cash Transfer Scheme; and

(d) Removal of public assistance to chiefs from the office of the Republican president and place it under the aegis of a new Ministry for Culture, Gender and Community Services, which should deal directly with the House of Chiefs in matters relating to the various forms of assistance extended to chiefs, including the allowances or subsidies granted to chieftains, electrification of chieftains’ palaces, the procurement of motor vehicles for chieftains, and any other matters relating to the welfare of chieftains.

3. A Smaller National Government

Clearly, there is a pressing need for our beloved country to streamline its government structure by creating ministries that do not have overlapping functions. The national government should, in this regard, have at most 12 government ministries, the functions of which should be complemented by the work of several semi-autonomous executive agencies.

Each of the 12 government ministries should have no more than 1 Deputy Minister, and no more than 1 Permanent Secretary. And each of the executive agencies should be administered by a small group of technocrats.

The need for a newly elected Republican president to make political appointments designed to reward major political supporters, and to attain satisfactory levels of ethnic and gender balancing, can be fulfilled within such a leaner government structure.

To paraphrase Mr. William J. Clinton, a former U.S. president, we need to create a government that is smaller, a government that lives within its means, and a government that does more with less.

The creation of a “smaller” national government can be accomplished by getting rid of sinecures—that is, positions that inflate the cost of running government but which contribute little or nothing to the overall output of government services.

Suggestively, a smaller national government for our beloved country should be composed of a fewer number of Cabinet portfolios, such as the following: (a) Education, Training and Sport; (b) Public Health and Sani­tation; (c) Agriculture and Food Secu­rity; (d) Finance and Reve­nue; (e) Commerce, Trade and Indus­try; (f) Defence and Securi­ty; (g) Home Affairs; (h) Lands and Public Housing; (i) Works, Supply and Transport; (j) Justice, Prisons and Immigration; (k) Culture, Gender and Community Services; and (l) Foreign Affairs and Tourism.

(I have provided a description of the specific functions of each of the suggested government ministries below.)

It is also important to make a distinction between “line” ministries, which perform actual functions (such as the Ministry of Health) and “staff” ministries, whose functions are advisory in nature (such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock).

Accordingly, “line” ministries would necessarily be larger, and would require larger allocations of funds, while “staff” ministries would be smaller, and would require smaller allocations of funds. It is, therefore, strange that Comrade Edgar Lungu has decided to create two ministries out of a “staff” ministry like the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, for example.

In the Table below, I have provided an example of savings that would accrue from having a 12-member Cabinet and 1 Deputy Minister for each of the Cabinet portfolios.

Perfor­mance of the func­tions of the Execu­tive branch of the national govern­ment would be comple­mented by the work of several semi-autono­mous gov­ern­ment agencies, as provided for in the Repu­bli­can cons­titution. For reasons of cost, each of the semi-au­tono­mous gover­nment agencies should be managed by a small group of technocrats, and should be expected to en­hance the national govern­me­nt’s ability to meet the chan­ging needs and expec­tations of the people.

Civil servants who would be affected by the streamlining exercise should be encouraged to seek early retirement with full benefits. Professional and skilled civil servants should be re-deployed in the handful of new government ministries, while others could be re-deployed in executive agencies.

With respect to District Commissioners, they would need to be afforded the opportunity to compete for positions in the civil service.

Huge savings in the form of salaries, special allowances, and utility allowances could be made through the streamlining of the national government.

Table:

Example of Savings to Be Made

	Current Structure*			Proposed Structure
	Posts	K/Post/Yr	Total K/Yr	Posts	K/Post/Yr	Total K/Yr
Minister	20	316,780	6,335,600	12	316,780	3,801,360
D/Minister	32	302,080	9,666,560	12	302,080	3,624,960
			Total: K16,002,160			Total: K7,426,320

Savings:

K16,002,160 – 7,426,320 = K8,575,840 per year.

Other savings would be in the form of the various kinds of payments currently being made by the government on behalf of government officials who would be retired, including payments for housing, phones, buildings, office supplies, automobiles, gasoline, water, and electricity.

All these savings could supplement the existing sources of government revenue, which include personal and busin­ess income taxes, value-added tax, postal revenues, national lottery, commercial undertak­ings, customs duties, passport fees, fire-arm registration fees, excise taxes, hunting licence fees, work permit fees, citizen­ship and naturalizat­ion fees, and NRC replacement fees.

The selling and/or buying of government bonds by the Bank of Zambia through the Lusaka Stock Exchange and regional stock markets (by means of “open market operations”) on behalf of the government could also provide additional revenues for the central government.

The creation of a government with a smaller number of Cabinet portfolios needs to be complemented by the following measures designed to capture additional cost savings:

(a) Removal of unnecessary and cumbersome bureaucratic procedures and excessive paperwork that prevent civil servants from competently performing their work;

(b) Waging a vicious war against corruption and, thereby, reduce the hemorrhage of public resources through the scourge;

(c) Ensuring that tenders to perform sub-contracted work and/or supply materials to the government are awarded to companies which have the lowest bids, coupled with relevant experience; and

(d) Reduction of the number of our country’s foreign embassies in a manner that would require servicing clusters of countries through single embassies by means of extra-accreditation.

The handful of government ministries suggested above should be constituted in a manner that would make it possible for them to perform all existing and any planned government functions. To reiterate, perfor­mance of the func­tions of the Execu­tive branch of the national govern­ment should be comple­mented by the work of several semi-autono­mous gov­ern­ment agencies, as provided for in the Repu­bli­can cons­titution.

The functions of portfolios in President Edgar Lungu’s Cabinet which are not reflected in the suggested structure of our country’s government should be performed as follows:

(a) Ministry of Tourism and Arts: Functions should be performed by the proposed Ministry Foreign Affairs and Tourism; and the proposed Ministry of Culture, Gender and Community Services.

(b) Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs: Functions should be performed by the proposed Ministry of Culture, Gender and Community Services. There is really no need to have a government ministry intended to provide services to only 286 or so chieftains! I also do not understand the rationale for the provision of public assistance to our chieftains through both the Office of the Republican President and the Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs!

(c) Ministry of Labor: Functions should be performed by a new government agency to be referred to as “Labor Standards and Occupational Safety Board” or any semblance thereof.

(d) Ministry of Information and Broadcasting: Functions should be performed by the existing Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA).

(e) Ministry of Lands, Natural Resources and Environment: Functions should be performed by the proposed Ministry of Lands and Public Housing, and the existing Environmental Council of Zambia.

(f) Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water Development: Functions should be performed by the proposed Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Indus­try; the existing Energy Regulation Board; and the existing National Water and Sanitation Council.

(g) The “Communications” part of the Ministry of Transport, Works, Supply and Communications should have been assigned to the existing Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA).

(h) Ministry of Community Development and Child Health: Functions should have been assigned to the a proposed Ministry of Culture, Gender and Community Services; and the existing Ministry of Health.

(i) Ministry of Local Government and Housing: Functions should be performed by Provincial Deputy Ministers and Provincial Permanent Secretaries; the proposed Ministry of Culture, Gender and Community Services; and the proposed Ministry of Lands and Public Housing.

(j) Ministry of Gender and Child Development: Functions should be performed by the proposed Ministry of Culture, Gender and Community Services; the proposed Ministry of Education, Training and Sport; and the proposed Ministry of Public Health and Sani­tation.

(k) Ministry of Youth and Sport: Functions should be performed by the proposed Ministry of Education, Training and Sport. The function that the government is currently performing in overseeing the administration of sporting activities which are outside the realm of formal and tertiary education is misplaced. Superintendence over amateur and professional sporting activities should be left to non-governmental institutions, associations, and/or federations. And

(l) There is absolutely no need for a new Ministry of Development Planning! While our country needs sound, formali­zed national plan­ning, such planning should not be the prepon­derance of a govern­ment mini­stry to generate Zambia’s annual and/or longer-term socioecono­mic plans.
Moreover, there is no need for the National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC), which was established in 1999 to engage in policy articulation, advising the government and the Republican president on the most effi­cient ways of implementing economic reform programs, identifying obstacles to socio-economic development, and, inter alia, undertaking research on the application of socioeconomic policies.
By and large, the capacity for generating, implementing and evaluating policies should exist within government ministries. After all, govern­ment ministries are supposed to be staffed with our fellow citizens who are the finest in their respec­tive fields of endeavor.
There is, therefore, a need to require each and every government ministry to bear the responsibility for making estimates of expendi­tures and stipu­lating the projects and programs on which the expen­ditures would be commit­ted. Thereafter, each ministry’s budget and project pro­posals should be presen­ted to the Cabinet for scrutiny.
The composite of government ministries’ refined budget and project proposals should ultimately consti­tute the Republic of Zambia’s “National Plan” for a stipulated period of time. Here are a few sugges­tions of what would need to be inc­luded in each minist­ry’s proposals: (a) role of the ministry; (b) existing projects, progress made on them, extenu­at­ing circum­stances (if any), and contem­plated projects; and (c) any other pertinent matters related to the ministry’s mandate.

4. An Efficient National Government

There is also a need for our country to create a national government that is not only “smaller,” but one that is “efficient” as well—that is, a government that does more with less.

This can be accomplished by:

1) Passage of pieces of legislation designed to reduce the incidence of by-elections, which have been costly to the nation. And

2) Implementation of strategies designed to create a work environment that is conducive to the nurturing and tapping of new ideas and innovations from civil servants—ideas and innovations which can be used to improve the dispensation of public services.

Such strategies should include the following:

(a) “Quality circles,” which represent a Japanese management prac­tice that pro­vides for work groups to meet regu­larly (say, once every month) on the employer-organization’s time to critically dis­cuss pro­duction and/or opera­tional problems and how the existing modus opera­ndi can be altered to yield improved perfor­ma­nce.

(b) A “gripe system,” which would require an employer to intro­duce a for­mal system for gaug­ing empl­oy­ees’ inno­vative ideas and sug­ges­tions, and which should be oper­ated by means of sug­ges­tion boxes and a hotline through which employees could ano­nymous­ly or other­wise suggest cha­ng­es that can bene­fit the organ­iza­tion or institution involved.

(c) A “ringi” decision-making system, which refers to a Japanese deci­sion-making sys­tem in which an employer-orga­nization encoura­ges individ­ual middle-level manag­ers and administrators to generate or suggest innova­tive ideas and prepare a plan or proposal (referred to as a “ringi­sho”) on how the ideas can be im­ple­mented to the ben­efit of the organi­za­tion or institution.

The system may be descri­bed in a nutshell as follows: first, the written propo­sal, or “ringi­sho,” is initially circulated among the spon­sor’s peers for examina­tion and comments; and, second, the “ringisho” is sent to the employer-organizat­ion’s managers or administrators for evalua­tion and possible approval for implementa­tion either as sug­gested by the sponsor or with some suggested modi­fica­tions by the spon­sor’s peers.

(d) An “Open-Door Policy,” which would require senior managers and/or administrators to gener­ate a formal policy that encour­ages man­agers, admi­nistra­tors, and supervi­sors to adopt an open-door posture so that the rank and file can freely call upon them any time to suggest or discuss ways in which qual­ity, productiv­ity, work-related stress, employee morale, and so forth, can be im­proved. And

(e) Adoption of “Theory Z” management, which is essentially a Japanese manage­ment philosophy that seeks to integrate consensual decision making, greater job security, holistic concern for each and every organizational member, open communi­cation, and the like, as ways and means of ensuring the long-term success and survival of an organizat­ion or institution.

5. Aid from Development Partners

In addition to the creation of a smaller and more efficient government, we need to ensure that the financial and material resources provided by our country’s development partners are used wisely.

In this regard, we should earnestly thank our beloved country’s multilateral and bilateral cooperating partners, including the African Development Bank, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, the IMF, Ireland, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and The World Bank.

And we should be grateful for their support in different fields and sectors of our country, including agriculture, decentralization, education, energy, gender, governance, health, housing, HIV/AIDS, macroeconomics, private sector development, social protection, science and technology, tourism, water, transportation infrastructure, and the environment.

There is no doubt that their support has continued to bolster our efforts to address some of the problems facing our country and its people, including poverty, hunger, ignorance, illiteracy, disease, widespread unemployment, disadvantaged children, dilapidated infrastructure, crime, corruption, and moral decay.

Therefore, their continued support in these important fields and sectors of our beloved country needs to be acknowledged and appreciated.

At this juncture, allow me to share with you the following comment made by Mr. Murray Sanderson in an article entitled “High Rates, High Charges, High Taxes,” which appeared in Volume 2/Number 2 of the Profit Magazine of July 1993: “High inflation and high taxes are a reflection of inefficient and bloated government institutions which serve themselves instead of serving the public.”

6. The Cost of By-Elections

To circumvent the costs associated with Parliamentary or local government by-elections, we should make the following additions to the draft Republican constitution:

(a) A constitutional clause providing for a political party that loses a Member of Parliament or elected local government official due to death or incapacitation to appoint a replacement to serve the remainder of the incumbent’s term.

(b) A constitutional clause providing for a Member of Parliament or elected local government official who loses a seat through a nullification of his or her election by a court of law to be replaced by a candidate from another political party or an independent candidate who secured the 2nd highest number of votes to serve the remainder of his or her term.

(c) A constitutional clause providing for a parliamentary or elective local government seat that becomes vacant due to an incumbent’s expulsion from his or her political party, or due to his or her decision to voluntarily leave his or her party, to be filled through an appointment of another member of the political party by the party’s national executive committee, or any semblance thereof, to serve the remainder of the term.

(d) A constitutional clause providing for a Member of Parliament or elected local government official whose political party ceases to exist due the dissolution or de-registration of his or her political party to become an independent elected official and serve the remainder his or her term.

(e) By-elections should be held only in the case of unopposed office bearers; or in the case of non-availability of persons with the second highest number of votes due to death or incapacitation of the persons with the second highest number of votes, or due to a tie in the number of votes obtained by persons with the second highest number of votes, or due to any other reasons.

Addendum:

Functions of the Suggested Government Ministries

1. Education, Training and Sport: To b­e directly responsible for advising and represent­ing the REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT on­ matters and issu­es­ rela­ting to the follo­wing: general and tertiary educa­tion; vocation­al trai­ning; the training of teach­ers; adult literacy programs; matters concerning re­muner­ation for teachers, lec­turers, trainers, and re­search­ers; and sporting programs in all educational and training institutions.

2. Public Health and Sani­tation: To be directly responsible for advising and repre­senting the REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT on­ matters and issu­es­ rela­ting to the following: medical care, medical research, child health and develop­m­ent, family planning, disease con­trol and prevention, food safety (local and impo­rted foodstuff), drug safety (local and imported medici­nes), safety of herbal medi­cines, public health educa­tion, public health inspections, and matters con­cerning remu­ner­ation for public health per­sonnel.

3. Agriculture and Food Secu­rity: To be directly­ responsible for advising and represent­ing the REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT on­ matters and issu­es­ pertaining to the following: sustai­nable agricul­tural devel­opment and long-term food secu­rity—including the provi­sion of agricul­tural incen­tives, support to agri­business estab­lishments and agricu­ltural resea­rch centers, damming rivers, and con­struc­tion of irriga­tion canals.

4. Finance and Reve­nue: To be directly responsi­ble for advising and represent­ing the REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT on: financial matters and mone­tary issues, including the stock / securities market; national debt mana­ge­ment and external debt resolu­tion; management of all state-own­ed enter­prises; administra­tion, dispensa­tion and recovery of loans gran­ted to stu­dents and trainees admi­tted to institutions of higher learning, and manage­ment of a govern­ment scholar­ship fund through a “Lo­ans and Schola­rships Com­mittee” to be created in due course; and revenue genera­tion through taxat­ion, cust­oms and excise duties, ser­vice fees (char­ges), superintendence over the National Road Fund Agency (NRFA), and pro­vision of postal services through the Zambia Postal Services Corporation (ZAMPOST).

5. Commerce, Trade and Industry: To be dire­ctly­ responsible for advising and represent­ing the REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT on trade and industriali­zat­ion strategy, tour­ism, mining, business and invest­ment promo­tion, regulation of imports and expo­rts, trade rela­tions, registra­tion of foreign compa­nies, re­search and de­velop­ment (R&D) support for local manu­fac­tur­ers, and superintendence over the operations of the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA).

6. Defence and Securi­ty: To b­e directly responsi­ble for ad­vising and represent­ing the REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT on matters and issues concerning the following: enhan­cement of national defe­nce and security, includ­ing the issues of training, equip­ment, and matters concern­ing housing and remu­neration for defe­nce and secu­rity per­sonnel.­

7. Home Affairs: To be directly responsible for advising the REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT on, and spear­heading the implementation of policies relating to, the follo­wing: the protection of life and property; the preservation of law and order; the detection and prevention of crime; and the operations of the Zambia National Service (ZNS).

8. Lands and Public Housing: To be directly responsible for advi­sing the REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT on, and spear­heading the implemen­tation of policies relating to, the fol­lowing: delineation, administration and development of state and customary lands; management of the land resettlement program; issuance of title deeds; resolution of land-related disputes; provision of consent in the acquisition, transfer and leasing of lands; implementation of home ownership schemes for all civil servants; provision of low-cost rental hous­ing units for low-income fami­lies; manage­ment of a home-ownership sche­me for low-in­come fa­mil­ies to be fi­nanced th­rough low inte­rest mort­gag­es; stipulation of fair eligibility requirements to be met by applicants for low-income rental public housing; generation of rules of occupancy, and determination of rental and other related charges; and derivation of a grievance procedure and guidelines for resolving any and all the issues and matters relating to non-compliance with rules of occupancy.

9. Works, Supply and Transport: To be directly res­ponsi­ble for advising and rep­resenting the REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT on­ matters and issues rela­ting to the follo­wing: utili­zation and management of nationally own­ed pieces of land; provision and maintenance of vital infrastructure nation­wide – inc­lud­ing an effi­cient, inter-modal and safe network of ground and air trans­portation; develop­ment of mal­lea­ble stret­ches of the Zam­bezi, Kafue, Luan­gwa and other sizable pere­nnial rivers for water trans­por­tation – including the proposed Shire-Zambezi Waterway involving Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique; construc­tion, reno­vation and mainte­nance of gove­rnment faci­lities and pieces of property nationwide; the supply of office supplies, fixtures and equipment, and maintenance of office equipment; and physical arrangements for party functions.

10. Justice, Prisons and Immigration: To be directly respon­sible for advising and rep­resenting the REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT on­ legal matters (in­cluding representation of the govern­ment), prote­ction of citi­zens’ rights and free­doms, administration of the Zambia Prison Service, legal aid, national regi­stration, pass­ports and immigration, citizen­ship and naturali­zation, work permits, treaties and agreeme­nts with other countries, intelle­ctual property rights (patents, copyrights and trade­marks), and remuneration for judi­cial personnel and sup­port staff.

11. Culture, Gender and Community Services: To b­e directly responsible for advising and represent­ing the REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT on issues and matters relating to the following: preser­vation of the count­ry’s national trea­sures, inclu­ding national monu­ments, museums, his­torical sites, che­rished tradi­tional and cultural val­ues; promo­tion of tradition­al music and culture-related crafts; national unity and patriotism; religious harmony; national cere­mo­nies and fes­tivals; and issues relating to wom­en, children, disabled citizens, and retirees and the aged. And

12. Foreign Affairs and Tourism: To be direc­tly responsi­ble for advis­ing and representing the REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT on: foreign poli­tical relations, including conflict resolution and peace-keeping efforts; consular affairs and services; profiles of foreign countries; services and vital infor­mation to Zambi­ans in, or travel­ing to, foreign countries; publicizing Zambian soci­ety abroad; tourism; and management of a program which shall confer rare and special “Zambian Residency” status upon a selected number of distinguished foreigners

The author, Mr. Henry Kyambalesa, is a Zambian academic currently living in the City and County of Denver in the State of Colorado, USA. 1535 Krameria Street, Denver, CO 80220 / (303) 399-1765