More than K300 million in Constituency Development Fund (CDF) allocations remains unrecovered across several constituencies, the Auditor General has disclosed, raising concerns over accountability and fund management at local authority level.

According to the latest audit findings, the unrecovered funds relate to amounts disbursed to various beneficiaries and projects that had not been accounted for by the end of the review period.

The Auditor General’s report indicates that the outstanding amounts were identified during audits conducted in multiple constituencies, where documentation supporting utilisation and recovery of CDF resources was either incomplete or unavailable.

The report notes that failure to recover the funds undermines the objectives of the CDF programme, which is intended to support community-driven development initiatives and improve service delivery at constituency level.

The Auditor General said weaknesses in monitoring mechanisms and delays in enforcing recovery procedures contributed to the accumulation of outstanding balances.

According to the report, some local authorities did not provide evidence that beneficiaries had repaid funds issued under empowerment components of the CDF, while in other cases repayment schedules were either not enforced or not documented.

The audit further revealed that certain councils had not put in place effective controls to track disbursements and recoveries, increasing the risk of misuse of public resources.

The Auditor General recommended that controlling officers ensure timely recovery of outstanding funds and strengthen internal controls to safeguard public finances.

The report also urged councils to enhance record-keeping practices and ensure that all CDF transactions are supported by appropriate documentation.

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development was advised to intensify oversight of CDF implementation and take corrective action against institutions that fail to comply with financial regulations.

Government has previously emphasised that CDF resources must be used strictly for their intended purposes and recovered where applicable to sustain the revolving nature of the fund.

The Auditor General stated that unresolved recoveries compromise the effectiveness of the CDF as a tool for local development and citizen empowerment.

Govt Targets SME Growth With 24 New Empowerment Loans
The Government has unveiled 24 new empowerment loan products set to roll out in 2026, targeting Small and Medium Enterprise Development (SMEs) as part of a broader push to expand citizen participation in the economy and stimulate inclusive growth.

The new loan products will be administered under the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) and are designed to address long-standing financing gaps faced by entrepreneurs, cooperatives, and small-scale producers across the country.

Minister of Small and Medium Enterprise Development Elias Mubanga announced the initiative, stating that the expanded product range reflects Government’s intention to reposition citizen empowerment as a central pillar of national development rather than a peripheral intervention.

Mr Mubanga said the new products would support value-chain development in key sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing, mining support services, energy, and enterprise development, with a deliberate focus on job creation and wealth retention within local communities.

He explained that the loan products had been structured to respond to challenges previously identified in empowerment financing, such as limited access to capital, rigid lending conditions, and insufficient sector-specific targeting.

According to the minister, Government has also taken steps to improve transparency and efficiency within the empowerment framework by cancelling all previous empowerment loan applications to allow for a fresh and orderly application process under the new structure.

The application window for the new loan products will open on December 29, 2025, and run until February 13, 2026. Mr Mubanga said the defined application period would enable prospective beneficiaries to prepare viable proposals aligned with the revised lending criteria.

He noted that the empowerment programme was guided by the Eighth National Development Plan, which emphasises private-sector-led growth, entrepreneurship, and citizen participation in productive economic activity.

Mr Mubanga said the empowerment loans were intended not only to provide financing but also to strengthen enterprise sustainability through improved access to markets, technology, and business development support.

He added that Government was placing particular emphasis on ensuring that women, youth, and persons with disabilities were meaningfully included in the empowerment programme, in line with national inclusion policies.

The minister further disclosed that CEEC had recorded increased demand for empowerment financing in recent years, prompting the need to diversify loan products and tailor them to different economic activities and enterprise sizes.

CEEC Director General Mwanga Muchebe said the commission had strengthened internal systems to support the rollout of the expanded loan portfolio and ensure effective monitoring and recovery mechanisms.

Mr Muchebe stated that improved loan recovery performance had enabled the commission to scale up financing and broaden its reach, adding that sustainability of the fund remained a priority.

He said the cooperative database managed by CEEC now accounted for a significant share of registered enterprises, reflecting growing interest in collective enterprise models, particularly in rural and peri-urban areas.

According to CEEC data cited during the announcement, agriculture and cross-cutting economic activities continue to account for a substantial proportion of empowerment financing, with manufacturing and financial services also featuring prominently.

Mr Muchebe said the diversification of loan products would allow the commission to respond more effectively to sector-specific financing needs while maintaining financial discipline.

He stressed that empowerment financing was not a grant facility but a revolving fund designed to support enterprise growth, employment creation, and long-term economic participation by citizens.

The Government reiterated that empowerment initiatives under the New Dawn administration were aimed at transforming citizens from consumers into producers, thereby strengthening the domestic economy and reducing dependency on imports.

Mr Mubanga said the success of the empowerment programme would be measured not only by loan disbursements but by the growth, resilience, and sustainability of the enterprises supported.

He called on prospective applicants to engage responsibly with the programme and submit credible, bankable proposals that demonstrate capacity for repayment and business growth.

Lungu family wins right to appeal as burial remains in limbo

The prolonged legal battle over the burial of Zambia’s late former president Edgar Chagwa Lungu has entered another painful chapter, as his family continues to endure uncertainty and emotional strain months after his death, following a ruling by South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal granting leave to appeal against an order directing the repatriation of his remains to Zambia.

In an order issued on December 11, 2025, the Supreme Court of Appeal granted the Lungu family permission to challenge a Gauteng High Court ruling that had authorised the Government of the Republic of Zambia to take custody of the former president’s body for burial with state honours in Lusaka. The decision was signed by Acting Chief Registrar Z V D Ntaka.

While the ruling opens the door for a full appeal hearing, it also prolongs a deeply distressing period for the family, who have now spent more than six months without the ability to lay their husband, father, brother and relative to rest. Mr Lungu died in South Africa on June 5, 2025, and since then, his remains have remained there as legal proceedings continue to delay burial arrangements.

The Supreme Court of Appeal granted condonation, allowing the appeal to proceed despite procedural timing issues. However, the court ordered that the Lungu family must bear the costs of the condonation application. It also set aside the earlier costs order made by the High Court when it dismissed the family’s initial application for leave to appeal.

The court further ruled that the costs associated with the application for leave to appeal, both in the High Court and before the Supreme Court of Appeal, will now form part of the costs in the main appeal. The judges cautioned that should the family fail to proceed with the appeal, they will be liable to pay those costs in full.

The application for leave to appeal was heard before Justices Makgoka JA and Steyn AJA. The applicants are Esther Lungu, Bertha Lungu, Tasila Lungu, Dalitso Lungu, Chiyeso Lungu, Charles Phiri and Makebi Zulu. The respondents are the Government of the Republic of Zambia, Two Mountains Burial Services (Pty) Ltd, and South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation.

At the centre of the dispute is the question of who has the authority to determine the funeral and burial arrangements of a former head of state. The Gauteng High Court had ruled that Mr Lungu should be repatriated to Zambia and buried at Embassy Park in Lusaka, the official burial site for presidents, with full state honours.

The family opposed that ruling, maintaining that burial arrangements are a private family matter and should reflect Mr Lungu’s personal wishes. They have argued that the High Court erred by treating a draft funeral programme, referred to as “FAA7”, as a binding agreement between the family and the Zambian government. According to the family, the document was never signed and remained only a draft, meaning no final agreement on burial arrangements existed.

They further contended that the High Court wrongly applied Zambian law to a case being heard in South Africa, without the support of proper expert evidence. The family has maintained that under South African law, burial decisions are closely linked to rights of dignity, religion and culture, and fall primarily within the domain of the family.

The legal contest has taken a heavy emotional toll on the Lungu family, who have repeatedly expressed distress over the prolonged delay and the uncertainty surrounding the final resting place of their loved one. Negotiations between the family and the Zambian government over burial arrangements have stalled, leaving the matter unresolved and compounding the family’s grief.

The Zambian government has argued that national tradition and public interest require that a former president be accorded a state funeral and burial in Zambia. Government lawyers have insisted that private family preferences cannot override the state’s responsibilities in matters involving a former head of state.

The Supreme Court of Appeal’s ruling does not determine the merits of the dispute. It allows the matter to proceed to a full appeal hearing, where the legality of the High Court’s directive to repatriate the remains will be argued in detail.

Until that appeal is concluded, South African law prevents any action from being taken, meaning the former president’s remains will continue to lie in limbo. For the Lungu family, the court victory to appeal offers legal hope, but it also extends a period of mourning marked by delay, legal uncertainty and continued emotional suffering.