Public Resource Management 

Corruption has remained rampant at both national and local levels as shown by the Office of the Auditor General whose 2022 report revealed financial irregularities amounting to ZMW103.5 billion. To further this fact, the 2022 Zambia Bribe Payers Index, a study conducted by Transparency International Zambia and the Anit-Corruption Commission, indicated that the probability of a bribery experience or the percentage number of incidences where a bribe was asked for was 24.1%. Another issue of concern is the level of transparency and accountability in the revamped Constituency Development Fund (CDF) which has increased significantly from ZMW 1.6million per constituency in 2021 to ZMW 30.6 million per constituency in 2024. Further to this, public participation in public finance management issues and budget formulation processes has remained low across the country. These issues point to the need to enhance public capacity on public finance management to participate effectively in public finance processes and in turn demand for transparency, accountability and the protection of public resources.  

Our action contributes to increased citizens’ capacity to participate in public finance management through the use of social accountability and human rights-based approaches to demand for transparency and accountability in public resource management from duty bearers.

Evidence generation and use for third party monitoring (TPM) on specific issues in CDF, public campaigns and engagements will solidify and lead to effective public participation and demand, which will also lead to increased transparency, accountability and integrity in CDF processes.

• Capacity-building for citizens to participate in social accountability and human rights approaches, third part monitoring (TPM), CDF processes, budget formulation, public debt transparency
• Strengthening engagement spaces for citizens and duty bearers’ engagements at sub national level