Local government and housing minister Sylvia Masebo has been congratulated on her appointment to chair the Local Government Desk in the SADC region.
Ms Masebo has also been elected as Board member of the Commonwealth of the Local
Government Forum.
Vice president Rupiah Banda who was speaking during the official opening of the
Local Government Association of Zambia’s 51st Annual Conference in Livingstone
today, said Ms. Masebo should take the opportunity to spearhead development of the
local government for Zambia, the commonwealth as well as SADC.
And Mr Banda has implored the Local Government Association of Zambia (LGAZ) to
seriously pursue the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) for the benefit of the
local government system.
Mr. Banda said the APRM, which is a NEPAD initiative if properly implemented, would
deal with issues of corruption, wrong decision making, and promote good governance.
He added that the APRM tool enables integral and sustainable development to occur on
the continent.
And the Vice president has said government is seriously looking into the issues that
LGAZ raised with President Mwanawasa and that further consultations with relevant
bodies are going on.
Mr Banda informed members of the LGAZ that President Mwanawasa has directed the
Minister of Labour and Social Security to ensure that councils are exempted from the
provisions of workers compensation act in response to some issues raised in the
consultative meeting two months ago.
LGAZ requested president Mwanawasa to exempt local government employees from workers compensation fund, and implementation of the national decentralisation policy among others.
