HH rewarding politicians using Cabinet
By Ludia Ngwadzai and Thandizo Banda
NATIONAL Democratic Congress (NDC) leader Saboi Imboela says the UPND government is prioritising political appointments over genuine job creation and public welfare.
But Vice President Mutale Nalumango has defended President Hakainde Hichilema’s decision to increase the number of ministries to 30.
Commenting on the decision to expand the Cabinet, Imboela said the move would increase government expenditure at a time when the country was facing resource constraints.
She said it was sad that at a critical time such as this, when government was relying on borrowing to finance its activities, the UPND administration has decided to create more ministries.
“It is very sad that the government is really increasing expenditure in all ways possible. We know that there was delimitation, there was MPR, and now instead of maintaining the ministries at the same number, they have gone further to put it at 30,” she said.
Imboela said the government should have maintained a lean Cabinet instead of increasing the number of ministries.
She said the expansion suggested that the government was more interested in creating positions for politicians rather than addressing high unemployment levels among citizens.
“Meaning that government is more interested in giving politicians jobs rather than giving people employment. The money that will go towards running all these ministries is just too much,” she said.
Imboela said the UPND had abandoned its earlier position on running a small Cabinet.
“This is the very UPND which criticised the PF over the same 30 ministries. One of the things which the UPND heavily criticised the PF on was that they had a bloated Cabinet and that when they came into office, they were going to reduce it to 24,” Imboela said.
She said the decision was concerning given the financial pressures the country was facing.
“It is just last week that the Finance Minister came to the public to say he was going to ask Parliament for K18 billion in a supplementary budget. Everything is borrowing,” she said.
Imboela urged government to demonstrate prudent management of public resources by pursuing strategies that would generate revenue and create jobs.
She said the UPND government must also ensure that women, young people and persons with disabilities were also represented at Cabinet level.
But Vice-President Nalumango defended the government’s decision to increase ministries from 25 to 30.
Nalumango said the realignment demands specialised focus to deal with evolved challenges peculiar to current times.
Speaking when moving the motion in Parliament seeking approval for the establishment, merger and dissolution of ministries under Article 92(2)(d) of the Constitution on Tuesday, Nalumango said the current structure was too broad to drive the Grow Zambia Agenda.
“The alignment of ministries will require special specialization to deal with evolved challenges that are peculiar to the current times,” she said.
She said splitting portfolios such as Energy into Electricity and Petroleum, Commerce, Trade and Industry into Trade and Exports and Industry, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development into two ministries, and Youth, Sport and Arts into Youth and Sports and Culture and Arts, plus creating Skills and Higher Education, would allow for focused leadership and clearer accountability.
