The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) has appealed to citizens in the country to faithfully pay taxes if they were to enjoy government’s improved service delivery.

ZRA Director of operations in Northern Province, Charles Shapi, said this when he addressed over 60 Mpulungu businessmen during a tax payers’ seminar held at the civic center on Friday.

Mr. Shapi said it was unfair for people, who neglected to pay tax, to cry for better services from public institutions because it is the same money from the taxes that government utilizes to provide goods and services.

He said ZRA has this year launched the tax payers’ week whose theme is ‘Develop Zambia, Pay Your Taxes’, adding that this initiative will be held at the beginning of every business year, which starts on 1st April, for the authority.

Mr. Shapi explained that the main essence of this initiative is to appreciate the support taxpayers render to the Authority in its duty to collect money on behalf of government.

“Every citizen has a national duty therefore, to give what is due to government if we are to see an emergence of a prosperous Zambia, free of the poverty that has afflicted many our dear brothers and sisters for decades,’’ he said.

He revealed that this year, ZRA has a challenge of raising 70 per cent of the national budget from domestic sources, saying it was incumbent upon every citizen to pay tax to support the budget.

Mr. Shapi warned the business people that it was a criminal offence to evade tax and urged them to pay freely to avoid falling into conflict with ZRA officers.

“As long as you are in business, you can’t avoid taxes, there is a saying that ‘death and taxes are the only two things in life that humans cannot avoid’. Besides, we have several ways of recovering monies from those defaulting or evading tax, so just pay.’’ Mr. Shapi told the gathering.

He explained that amount collected from a citizen will go a long way in enhancing service provision by government, adding that ZRA’s interest is not to be a liability to people but to help facilitate the smooth running of businesses in the country.

And speaking earlier, Mpulungu District Commissioner, Willie Simfukwe, said the initiative which ZRA has introduced will create a mutual understanding between tax payers and officers.

Mr. Simfukwe saying this will in the long run contribute to increased government revenue.

He added that it is this money collected by ZRA which will go towards the recruitment of civil servants like teachers, nurses and Doctors, policemen and others, who will eventually provide adequate and efficient services which the Zambian people are hungry for.

Simfukwe said after the seminar, Mpulungu businessmen must no longer fear ZRA officers but consider each other as partners in national development.

“Even in Biblical times, tax collectors were feared and hated. Jesus for one was criticized for dinning with them but he came out clearly that people must ‘Give to Caesar, what belongs to Caesar’. So ZRA officers are there to do a job for us and must not be feared and hated,” he stated.

ZANIS/EK/KSH/ENDS

The Maureen Mwanawasa Community Initiative (MMCI) has donated assorted items worth K15 million to the women’s fellowship of the Reformed Church in Zambia (RCZ).

And the MMCI has pledged K1 million in cash to the same fellowship.

Former first lady Maureen Mwanawasa, who is also MMCI chairperson, said the donated items will benefit the vulnerable people, whom she said were facing a lot of challenges in the country.

Mrs. Mwanawasa made the donation today when she officiated at a fundraising tea party organized by the women’s fellowship of the Reformed Church in Zambia.

She said in order for the vision 2030 to succeed, the underprivileged people should be incorporated in the national development plans of Zambia.

She noted that the church’s commitment to serving the underprivileged people in society was in line with the MMCI’s objectives in its five year strategic plan.

Mrs. Mwanawasa noted that the economic meltdown has not only hit the developed world but it has also impacted negatively on the people living in poor countries.

Speaking at the same occasion, Women’s Fellowship of the Reformed Church in Zambia chairperson Cynthia Banda the fellowship aimed at raising funds for the establishments of multi-skills resource centre that would create various business activities.

Mrs. Banda said the resource centre will have skills such as carpentry, baking and tailoring among others.

She urged women to assist the less privileged people by providing skills.

ZANIS/WM/KSH/ENDS

EDITOR’s Note

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The World Bank (WB) has observed that the cost of doing business and various structural inefficiencies have affected Zambia’s economy, making it difficulty to grow above the 6 percent threshold.

World Bank Vice President for Africa, Ezwekwesili Obiageli said there are significant administrative and structural weaknesses affecting the way to do business in Zambia.

In her keynote speech at the official opening of the National indaba in Lusaka today, Ms Ezekwesili said the communications sector has remained among the most expensive in the world.

She further said the energy sector, on the other hand remains highly inefficient with the bulk of the money generated by ZESCO tilted towards supporting wages.

The World Bank Vice President for Africa also said human capital has remained underdeveloped and under-utilized.

Ms. Ezwekwesili said the agriculture sector has continued to lag behind despite its great potential to contribute significantly to the growth of the wealth of the country.

She said government has been emphasizing more on fertiliser provision and subsidies without attending to other critical aspects to support peasant farmers such as investment in infrastructure development and establishment of an open market system for the disposal of the farmers’ produce.

Ms. Ezwekwesili further said investors in this sector have had to contend with the poor inputs distribution system, high cost of production, high interest rates, unpredictable markets and pricing as well as inadequate extension service officers to support the rural farmers whose production standards are not cost efficient and competitive.

She said the sector was not sufficiently diversified to help the rural farmers can take advantage of the global demand for various products.

Ms. Ezwekwesili added that the rural electrification programme has still not met minimum benchmarks to attract large scale investments in rural areas, thereby making it difficult for business people in rural areas to adopt new technologies as part of their investments.

She said citizens with sufficient capital resources in urban areas have resisted investing in agriculture because the sector does not offer meaningful value for money.

She pointed out that even commercial farmers with the potential to maximize the economies of scale have struggled to break through, due to problems they face, ranging from sourcing inputs to accessing markets, which have remained highly inefficient and expensive.

She added that most farmers are failing to service their loans with commercial banks and advised government support the sector which she described as important to the sustained growth of the country’s economy.

She said it is now time to institute bold structural changes at micro-economic level because government has lately shown tremendous goodwill towards private sector initiatives.

ZANIS/AJN/PK/ENDS