The National Assembly of Zambia has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with various cooperating partners for financial and technical support amounting to US$ 6.5 million for the implementation of phase three (3) of the Parliamentary Reforms Program (PRP).
Clerk of the National Assembly Doris Mwinga signed on behalf of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Amusa Mwanamwambwa while United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Resident Representative, Aeneas Chuma signed on behalf of the cooperating partners.
Speaking after the signing ceremony at National Assembly buildings in Lusaka today, Mrs. Mwinga said the financial and technical support from the cooperating would run for a period of four years, starting with this year.
Mrs. Mwinga said the funding would be in form of direct support under a special account at the Bank of Zambia and indirect funding through a trust fund administered by the UNDP.
She explained that phase three of PRP would focus on building capacity of the National Assembly in the areas of human resources of Members of Parliament and staff, infrastructure and facilities and systems development.
Mrs. Mwinga said the National Assembly would be fully accountable and responsible for the implementation of the program and for the management of the financial contributions of the cooperating partners.
“National Assembly of Zambia will keep financial records of the support provided in accordance with international, financial reporting standards and government of Zambia financial regulations” she said.
The Clerk of the National Assembly of Zambia has since assured cooperating partners that adequate and qualified personnel would be assigned to effectively implement the program.
Mrs. Mwinga however appealed to the cooperating partners to quickly submit the nominations of the members to sit in the parliamentary steering committee, which is responsible for the technical aspect of the implementation of the program.
And speaking on behalf of the cooperating partners, Mr. Chuma said there was need to increase the effectiveness of the National Assembly in order for parliament to fulfill its constitutional mandate of monitoring and advising government on how to use its financial resources.
Mr. Chuma was confident that the MOU which has been signed would deliver meaningful results that would deepen the democratic governance in Zambia.
The cooperating partners that will provide financial and technical support to the National Assembly include Irish Aid, UK Department for International Development (DFID), European Union (EU) and the UNDP.
Hallo, can someone educate me on these Parliamentary Reforms Program (PRP). What are they all about? They’re going into phase 3. I gat no clue what phases 1 and 2 were about. We ordinary citizens need to be well informed about these things for us to be able to hold our parliamentarians accountable.
#1 there you go again with the (We) syndrome. you are the only one ignorant about these reforms. am sure you have acess to the internet. you can go to the parliamentary website and you will find all the information there. so next time speak for yourself man.
When did we become partners with the rich nations? We are their subjects hence their writing the rules of engagement. I find Zambian institutions illogical and grossly misleading by always calling their givers “Partners” when in actual fact they are the down trodden and essentially a failed state.
When did we become partners with the rich nations? We are their subjects hence their writing the rules of engagement. I find Zambian institutions illogical and grossly misleading by always calling their givers “Partners” when in actual fact they are the down trodden and essentially a failed state. This I suspect is due to the acute infection of the nation by the Stockholm Sysndrome!