LET US PAY WORKERS ON TIME – MWANAKATWE
Fredson Yamba, Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe & Dr. Emmanuel Pamu
By Derrick Sinjela www.mof.gov.zm
MINISTER OF FINANCE MARGARET MH’ANGO MWANAKATWE held her first strategic visioning meeting with top management in the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday 20th February 2018.
During the meeting, the Mrs. MWANAKATWE commended the MoF team for ensuring that economic stability was attained. She reiterated the consensus of Cabinet to improve domestic resource mobilisation.
In a Media Statement by Ministry of Finance (MoF) Public Relations Officer (PRO) Chileshe KANDETA, Mrs. MWANAKATWE asked her top management team to ensure that the actions and performance of the Ministry of Finance met people’s expectations.
Secretary to the Treasury FREDSON YAMBA, Permanent Secretary for Economic Management and Finance MUKULI CHIKUBA, Permanent Secretary for Budget and Economic Affairs Dr. EMMANUEL MULENGA PAMU, Accountant General Dr. DICK CHELLAH SICHEMBE, and Controller of Internal Audit JOYCE SUNDANO. Others in attendance were Treasury Counsel KAWAMA GOMA-SIMUMBA, and Director [HRA] JOYCE NYAMA were commended for showing leadership.
“We have an economy to run, we have an economy to protect, we have an economy to grow,” she said, adding that “we have to intensify our domestic resource mobilisation while at the same time developing sustainable plans for concessional, cost-effective, and value for money external resource mobilization,” said Mrs. MWANAKATWE, barely a week after her appointment by PRESIDENT EDGAR CHAGWA LUNGU.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:Justice Minister Given Lubinda,Chief Justice Ireen Mambilima,High Court Judge Justice Conceptor Chinyama Zulu,Court of Appeal Judge Just Mwiinde Siavwapa, Court of Appeal Judge Justice Betty Mwaka Majula,President Edgar Chagwa Lungu,Vice -President Inonge Wina,Court of Appeal Judge Justice Petronella Chama Mwitwa-Ngulube and Deputy Chief Justice Marvin Mwanamwambwa after the Swearing-in-ceremony at State House in Lusaka on Wednesday,January 10,2018. PICTURE BY SALIM HENRY/STATE HOUSE ©2018
Formerly, Commerce Trade and Industry Minister, Mrs. MWANAKATWE prodded her team to formulate a plan for offsetting domestic arrears in a systematic manner in order to help dismantle the K9 billion domestic debt.
Mrs. MWANAKATWE directed the MoF team to develop a sustainable plan for timely payment of salaries to public service workers.
Mrs. Mwanakatwe reiterated: “Governments is concerned with the perception of corruption among some public offices. However, the Ministry of Finance “demonstrated and practiced transparency and accountability in the discharge of treasury and economic management functions. For us to win public confidence and trustworthiness, the Ministry of Finance must mobilise, manage, and keep custody of public resources “without raising credibility and governance red-lights. This Ministry is key and must play its role in assuring the public that the perception of corruption which has been appended to some public offices will be addressed”.
Mrs. Mwanakatwe called for hard work at all levels of the Ministry to ensure that the country reaches Growth Domestic Product [GDP] in excess of 5% and so that “in the near future” the benefits of growth begin to trickle down to the citizenry.
Speaking earlier, SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY FREDSON YAMBA disclosed that the Ministry of Finance was formulating a plan to deal with Zambia’s obligations that the country will hae to fulfill as the Eurobonds fall due.
Mr. Yamba assured the Minister that plans were also underway to dismantle domestic arrears and timely pay public service workers.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE, HONURABLE MARGARET MWANAKATWE, MP, WILL WEDNESDAY, 21st FEBRUARY, 2018, ISSUE A STATEMENT ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE ECONOMY IN 2017, THE OUTLOOK FOR 2018, MINISTRY’S FOCUS GOING FORWARD.
