BUDGET HAS SURPRISES AND FAMILIAR THEMES
Dear Editor,
My initial take on the 2022 National Budget is that
it has surprises, but also re- tains familiar themes. We were promised a budget that will address jobs and free education. On that it hasn’t disappointed.
The employment of 44, 200 new teachers and health work- ers is a practical demonstra- tion of employment creation. It means the 44, 200 will be able to support at least 176, 800 dependents.
Formal sector employees in Zambia have at least four de- pendents.
The employment of 44, 200 new government employees will also stimulate economic activity as there will be dispos- able income that can support informal trade and SMEs.
In some of our rural areas small shops were closing down due to depressed demand – lack of enough people with dis- posable income to buy avail- able merchandise.
The abolishment of school
fees at primary and secondary schools is a welcome move. It will free parent’s money to oth- er needy areas, and possibly re- duce the rate of indebtedness among public service workers.
But the idea of a bursary for secondary school pupils at boarding schools goes against the principle of universal pro- vision of education to all learn- ers.
As bursaries will not benefit everyone, the policy may lead the drop-outs.
The idea of bursaries being awarded by committees with- in communities looks good on paper, but will Government manage to ensure that the community bursaries commit- tees are not captured by polit- ically-connected individuals and ruling party affiliates?
We’ve been there before and the implementation of this pol- icy will need to be well thought out.
There’s still the lingering issue of the current adminis- tration of the loans and schol- arship programme for uni- versities. President Hakainde Hichilema promised to abolish the loan scheme and introduce
a bursary.
This was not reflected in the
Minister of Finance’s budget speech. Even the issue of meal allowances that were scrapped by former Higher Education Minister Nkandu Luo was not talked about.
Surely, an education loan or bursary necessarily includes living expenses. It is my hope that this will be factored in the 2023 budget. But a conversa- tion around this issue should start now.
Lastly, there is retention of a number of old programmes, such as FISP, the FRA strate- gic food reserves, Social Cash Transfer and Food Security Packs. These have been scaled up and of beneficiaries and val- ue of payments increased.
But that may just be part of the solution, one of the intrac- table challenges of previous administrations, especially the Edgar Lungu administration has been budget execution.
This is where the budget releases are much less that what is provided for. There were also inconsistencies in budget execution where some programmes had more money
released compared to others.
I have in mind, FISO and FRA that received more than 80 percent of their alloca- tion, when the Ministry of Agriculture received less than 40 percent of budget alloca- tions, thus compromising the work of extension services that is crucial to agricultural pro-
ductivity.
I’m aware that there are
many ministries that received less than budgeted funds in the last few years. Even the schools that are now expected to receive direct grants from government lieu of school fees have often not received the lit- tle funds they budgeted for.
My earnest appeal to the Minister of Finance is to en- sure that the budget is not re- duced to hollow promises, but that it is implemented.
If indeed, the CDF funds will be disbursed and funds to schools reach the schools, we should see stimulation of pub- lic service delivery. Zambians have not forgotten the cam- paign promises and will con- tinue ticking the box on the fulfillment of those promises. NEO SIMUTANYI.
