Partners Demand a More Critical Stand from MS

The MS-Zambia Annual Report should critically comment and reflect more on the political and socio-economic situation in Zambia, demanded participants at the MS-Zambia Annual Meeting, where the MS-Zambia Annual Report 2003 was presented.

By Manja Kamwi Information Officer MS-Zambia

MS-Zambia partners want to be more involved in formulating the Annual Report of MS-Zambia. That came out during the presentation of the Annual Report 2003, which was discussed and debated intensively at the Annual Meeting 2004.

The discussions also lead to several recommendations and comments to Government – comments that the participants would have liked the Annual Report to reflect more critically.

Especially on the topics of the fight against corruption, the decentralisation process and the appointment of opposition members in Government had the attention of the participants, who presented their general comments to the Annual Report during the Annual Meeting.

“We would like to urge the government not to interfere with the judiciary in the fight against corruption and also allow for independent investigations on corrupt practices. So far no body has been convicted on corruption practices. We urge government to act in order to correct this poor situation,” stated participants in a draft statement.

Decentralisation needs support

Further Government was urged “to strengthen and support the local government systems in Zambia by revising the Local Government Act and allocate sufficient funds to local authorities to implement the decentralisation process.”

Participants also expressed disappointment in government’s appointment of opposition members of Parliament to ministerial positions: “It weakens the opposition and undermines the multiparty parliamentary system,” said the draft statement.

It was also recommended that the political and socio-economic events should be related to the situation of the average Zambian, so that the impact on local level is more visible in the Annual Report.

The Annual Report did reflect these issues but in order for participants to have a stronger say in the formulation of the Annual Report 2004 it was decided that partners should provide inputs at the provincial meetings in September/October.

It is the MS-Zambia Policy Advisory Board, which outlines the content of the Annual Report, which is then written by the Country Office.

With regards to the MS-Zambia Programme partners commented that there is need to put environmental issues into the actual policies. Further monitoring results of partner activities should be included in the Annual Report.

Partners also felt that the Natural Resource Management component of the Policy Paper was not dealt with in the Annual Report compared to the other two components, which are Agricultural Management at Community Level and Democracy and Governance at Local Level.

The participants decided to make a statement about their concerns – however there was not enough time to finish it. However, MS-Zambia Country Director, Mr. Kanene emphasized that next time a similar issue arises it will be given priority “as it very important that we utilize a forum like the Annual Meeting for partners to come together and express their views to a broader public.”