The Local Government Association of Zambia (LGAZ) President Christopher Kang’ombe says his association plans to train all civic leaders throughout the country in Local government administration at the Zambia Open University from January next year.
Mr Kang’ombe says the introduction of the two year Diploma Course was aimed at equipping councilors with management skills and operations in order to improve local government operations.
ZANIS reports that the LGAZ President disclosed this during the LGAZ Executive meeting in Mansa District, today.
Mr. Kang’ ombe explained that the training programme is intended to bridge the gap in understanding local government basics for civic leaders adding that it would be proof that the councilors had become professionals during their tenure in office.
The Diplomas will also be used in other life pursuits after their ( the councilors ) term of office, said the LGAZ President .
Mr. Kang’ombe was certain that the skills acquired after the diploma training programme will give the nation a reservoir of skilled local governance human resource which he said could be used by Non- Governmental Organizations, the ministry of local Government and the ministry of community development because of the valuable course content.
He said consultations with the ZOU management and other higher learning Institutions, he did not disclose, had reached an advanced stage in readiness for the first intake next January.
And Mwinilunga District Council Chairman Allan Kanyemba has commended LGAZ for initiating the training programme saying once implemented, it will enhance understanding between District Commissioners and Local Authorities.
He alleged that, currently, there are perceived differences between the two offices in some Districts that need attention for the smooth running of both District Administration by the District Commissioner and local Government Administration by the Office of the Council Chairman.
Great move. This i support 100%
@dkny what a wise person you are, yes we should commend this.
However, the misconception for Africans and Zambian inclusive is that they value education before experience, what a load of diatribe.
In the UK experience comes before education, you are worth nothing whether you carry a PhD if you dont have enough experience.
Unless we change that line of thinking we will always have people occupying offices who don’t have the charisma and know how to do a job.
In my humblest opinion a degree is enough. Postgraduate although good should be a prerequisite for any type of job be it a director or not.
I have a phD i am an exception of course
Thanks
BB2014,2016
I hope this course will include also modules in Leadership and Governance. Currently, there are big gaps in these areas by Zambian PF leaders.
Progress – I hope this course will also include modules in Leadership and Governance. Currently, there are big gaps in these areas by Zambian PF leaders.
Fikopo fyonse, educate them! Also send Kampamba to the course and teach her about public speaking in a human voice. She shouts kwati ni malukula!
Total waste of resources, the dummies want nothing but to share plots. Just let then do the course before they become councilor, make it a prerequisite and see how many will make it.
Next, we will employ people as Teachers then send them to college to study Teaching methods. What time will these councillors have to study and also deliberate in chambers?
THIS IS A WASTE OF RESOURCES. Do not elect dull people who need on the job training. FULL STOP.
EXCELLENT MOVE. I TOTALLY, AGREE.
Dr. Tasila Lungu will best in class.
Let only those with qualifications contest instead of training on the job. The world doesn’t work like that. Poor Zambia where the unqualified get the jobs and work on their papers afterwards. Sad!
What happens when they fail? Do they still represent their areas or end of their term? Another scheme not well thought through. May be send them into seminars and not wasting money this way when Finance Minster is busy increasing taxes.
Yes on the job training no matter the original education of the Councillor is necessary to improve performance. Also necessary to impose the standards the gov’t wants its Councillors to meet. This provision of training will justify non performance sackings. It’s a legal route to reach a consensus on performance requirements.
Well thought out. Er…maybe if they fail to perform or leave their jobs after training they can be made to pay back the public funds used to train them. Look after the public purse.
What is the tenor of councilors? Is it not 2 years? Just saying….
Exactly my worry. Councillor tenure is five years and if two years are spent on book-worming how will they deliver? How about doing it the other way round- introduce the diploma into colleges and attract as many candidates such that you can tap to fill gaps in political leadership. This way the latter choice is of a long term nature than the former one.
tenure not tenor
It is a nice move but suffice to say that it will be worthless if it is not accompanied by hands on training mechanism.A diploma should be tailored in such a way that its contents will be practical and valuable to Councillors. It will be pointless if a paper is academic and lucks pragmatism.There are a lot of academic papers which have made graduates to be square pegs in round hole in execution of their duties. It should not just be like another academic paper which is fit to be a tissue.Otherwise,it is a good move but it should be a practical paper.Let academicians who have done Public Administration be in the fore front to design the syllabus for such a diploma.It should not be a School Certificate that has lost its value.
At whose expense so govt will be losing colossal sums money to train councillors every after five years.
When will they work?? This association is useless…they must insist on electing Councillors with this qualification
@1.1 Mushota, you’ve ripped my ribs. So so naughty in your manner of pushing the point!
Taumfwa.
But back to the topic. For once I thought NIPA is best placed to hold such training. It was precisely set up to train public administrators. Or is someone trying to enrich ZAOU by circumventing NIPA?
Thats Politics as usual that you are now bringing in..this is a specialized tailored course if I understand from what has been said above.. lets support the move and we can debate the implementation details later
This young man, who managed to clean Kitwe off street vendors has brought some fresh air to this area of our country that needs civilized minds and not party cadre mentality. This is move in the right direction and as MMD Chief Bootlicker, I whole heartedly endorse it .
No doubt the theory will be in class and the practicals on the real job. And Adult education requires both theory and practical implementation coupled together. And this is the best place for that.
Well done young man.
I hope they would be allowances included in that..why not fast track it to one year or should be a requirement to stand for a sit to save taxpayer money.
*I hope they would not be …
Who is going to fund the course?
If you give them loans just like university students on merit that’s ok. No free money! If citizens can’t get such opportunities why give such opportunities on top of the allowances they get.
They are there for five years, so the course is very welcome move. Lets give credit were it is due other than just yapping all the time. Kudos to you sir train them.
You do understand that Councillors are not full time? Why not invest more in council staff training..
WHAT TIME ARE THESE COUNCILLORS GOING TO WORK IN THIER WARDS IF THEY START GOING TO SCHOOL AND DO THEIR DIPLOMAS?
DONT FORGET THAT SOME OF THEM ARE IN FORMAL EMPLOYMENT WHOSE COMPANIES REQUIRE THEIR PRESENCE TO ACCOMPLISH THIER DUTIES,ARE THEY GOING TO GIVE THEM TIME TO DO THEIR PRIVATE STUDIES TOO.
ARE WE DRIVING TO COUNCILLORSHIP BECOMING A FULL TIME JOB? TAX PAYERS MONEY BEING WASTED AGAIN.DONT FORGET THAT COUNCILLORS ARE POLITICIANS.
ANOTHER PROFESSION
Are these permanent positions, and what times are they going to deliver
pompos
you are a great thinker
What are people smoking in Zambia? Who said a councilor is a profession? Mr Kang’ombe says ‘the introduction of the two year Diploma Course was aimed at equipping councilors with management skills and operations in order to improve local government operations.’ I have never heard of such tosh!
Introduce Local govt education in secondary schools so as not to worry about educating serving Councillors in future. As a first step, civic leaders already meet the G 12 constitutional requirement that qualifies for office, and that’s a very important first step.
But going forward, it would be prudent to insert into the constitution the need for Councillors to hold a certificate in local govt if they are to qualify to run for office. A diploma would be a big ask.
The importance of having knowledgeable civic leaders cannot be over-emphasized in that the governance of the whole nation is founded on a sound governance at the local level.
A ‘blank’ Councillor can never think beyond scrambling for plots, and that’s the wound this nation has bled from since its birth.
I totally endorse this move. In the same vein I question the continued stay of DCs as nothing but a move for achievement of political ends not development. I believe the continued employment of DCs will be stumbling block to the decentralization policy that MCS earnestly started. I also believe ECL can further achieve a lot by scrapping the position of DC country wide. currently DCs are in a power sharing fight with their local government counterparts.
Why Open University.What about Chalimbana Local Government College.This is where LGAZ courses used to take place.A lot of courses, which included grader drivers course, were ran!!!!In short, revive the Chalimbana Local Government College instead of going to a private institution.ZRA college collapsed, but it took a patriot. the late Criticles Mwansa,to revive it.The administration before were about to sell it and then start renting it!!If the president of LGAZ is serious, let him work on what I have just said , reviving the LGAZ Chalimbana College.
Total waste of resources, the dummies want nothing but to share plots. Just let then do the course before they become councilor, make it a prerequisite and see how many will make it.
@18 ROKA, you know what I know.
Minimum of 5 O’level atleast credits which some these councilors especially from pf don’t seem to have, when we were told to submit results at ECZ, the ruling Patriotic from was dragging its feet while the opposition for fear of being disadvantaged tried to pick many candidates with good grades. We can only ask Zambia open University to be strict with minimum required qualifications.
I am happy to read this there are few leaders who can come up with a wise notion of assisting his fellow colleagues to get an education so easily. keep it up Christopher I admire you courage may God BLESS YOU!
What happens to those who fail the course? They cease to be councillors? Most of them failed grade 7. I think its a good idea though but diploma vazafeluka better ka basic certificate… start with a certificate to save resources and traumatizing their brains
Why dont they get the qualification then get the job? Training them when they have already been elected to work as councillors will just mean they will be wasting our resources for personal advancement
Well done Kangombe, thats difinitely a good move. Would you also pay for me if i want to do a PHD outside Zambia the way you govt will pay for the counsellors
That would be a waste of resources guys. By the time they complete the course, we will be electing new civic leaders (Councillors). There is no guarantee they will be re-elected again. So are we going to take them to school as well?
So my suggestion is that we make such a diploma a requirement to be eligible to be elected to that post, that is off course if we really think it can help resolve the current challenges with councilors.
Good idea, but why Zambia Open University and not NIPA? Also who is going to meet the cost of their study?
Reading the other comments, I think the idea of skills development for our civic leaders is plausible. However, it cannot work in the current form. There will be many challenges taking these guys to school. Instead, Mr. Kang’ombe, perhaps, consider the three months intensive induction programme for all new councilors with exam style module completion and those who complete the induction successfully they be given a certificate of completion.
But again, what happens to those who fail to complete the induction?…….
That is why we talk about grade 12 because grade 12 already has CIVICS and CIVIC education so no need of shibukeni for councillors,
No problem..as long as it is not done at these universities that are mushrooming in every other backyard in Zambia
Great move, am in full support of this
Though ok, it sound s like job training. I beg to ask now , why did it ever not to occur that the constitution institutes a clause, those running for those positions should be qualified ( a diploma in thaat programme). To me its looks like you get employed before qualification. it does not make reasonable sense. This is Public duty gentleman not laboratory trials.
No! jokes aside ba kangombe naimwe why think like a bushman or a typical villager? with whose resources will these dull Councillors be trained? cdf? is it in the budget tata naimwe? how many councilors does the country have and will the country train? the period is to short think before you open your mouth otherwise you may become a laughing stock. please dont increase our burden just make it a prerequisite or just say a minimum of a diploma course. i thought you could stand for an mp but you are too junior i wonder how you are representing kitwe as a mayor. please look at the duties of a councilor does it show any room for a diploma? asking for street lights, garbage collection and grading of feeder roads and cleaning or drainage system and grass cutting requiring a diploma? you are a…
Kangombe need to be told that DIPLOMA is a three year programme by any standard local or internationally especially ZAMBIAN standard,a two year programme is a certificate so let then do that course but dont call it diploma but certificate LOL