🇿🇲 INSIGHT | A Bigger Parliament, More Ministries: At What Cost?
President Hakainde Hichilema wants to increase the number of government ministries from 24 to 30, saying the restructuring will improve efficiency and support the Grow Zambia Agenda. The proposal comes shortly after constitutional changes expanded the National Assembly. Zambia is therefore confronting two significant changes to the size of its government within the same political period. The question is not simply whether the President can establish more ministries, but what the country will pay for them and what improvements citizens should expect.
Consider Parliament. Constitutional amendments increased constituency-based seats from 156 to 226 and introduced 40 proportional representation seats. The National Assembly’s budget allocation rose from K1.10 billion in 2025 to approximately K1.58 billion in 2026. Some of that increase relates to end-of-term gratuities, not parliamentary expansion. Nevertheless, the larger legislature will require additional administrative support, facilities and recurrent expenditure. Greater representation is important, particularly for communities previously underserved, but it carries financial obligations that taxpayers will continue meeting.
Now consider the proposed ministries. Electricity and Petroleum would become separate portfolios, although both functions have been administered under the Ministry of Energy. The proposed Ministry of Petroleum would oversee petroleum policy, pipelines, refineries, storage and pricing, while Electricity would supervise institutions including ZESCO. What has prevented the existing ministry from managing these responsibilities effectively? Would separating them improve electricity supply or fuel distribution? The parliamentary documents offer a division of responsibilities, but do not establish that two ministries would perform better than one.
Other divisions raise similar questions. Housing would become separate from Infrastructure and Urban Development. The existing Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry would be divided into Trade and Exports and Industry, while Small and Medium Enterprise Development would remain a separate ministry. These functions are closely related. More specialised portfolios could improve policy attention, but they could also increase coordination costs. The proposed allocation of responsibilities even lists the Zambia Metrology Agency under both Trade and Exports and Industry. Such details deserve clarification before the restructuring is approved.
Then comes the financial question. Additional ministries will require ministers, permanent secretaries, offices, vehicles, support personnel and separate administrative budgets. Some resources would be transferred from existing ministries, so the entire expenditure would not be new. However, the government has not presented a public estimate of the additional annual cost. Zambia’s original 2026 budget stands at K253.1 billion, including K34.5 billion in planned domestic and external borrowing. With Parliament already expanded, the cost of further administrative changes deserves careful examination.
The government’s financial management record makes that examination particularly important. On 16 October, Health Minister Roma Chilengi told Parliament that an audit of the Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency had identified K1.4 billion in procurement contracts awarded despite internal audit objections, with some prices inflated by up to 1,613 per cent. Approximately K290 million in medicines and medical supplies could not be verified. The Auditor General’s 2025 report also identified K626.64 million in uncollected mining penalties and irregularities exceeding K72 million under the Farmer Input Support Programme.
These findings concern different financial management failures, not a combined amount of stolen money. They nevertheless expose weaknesses in controls that additional ministries would also need to address.
There is another reason the proposal has attracted attention. Since Hichilema’s re-election, government departments have continued operating under permanent secretaries and directors while the President has taken time to appoint a full Cabinet. The People’s Brief previously reported that only four ministers had been appointed during this period.
For those who expected a smaller Cabinet, the proposal for 30 ministries is a significant departure. It also raises a practical question: could government achieve greater efficiency by strengthening the civil service, improving supervision and enforcing accountability, rather than expanding political and administrative structures?
Yes, the President is entitled to propose a new ministerial structure, and Parliament has the responsibility to examine it. But approval should follow a clear explanation of the problems the changes are intended to solve, the projected costs and the expected benefits. Zambia has already committed itself to a larger legislature. Before establishing six additional ministries, the country deserves to know whether the existing institutions have been adequately supported and whether the proposed changes offer better value.
The measure of an effective government is not how many ministries it has, but how well those institutions serve the public.
This Insight is brought to you with the support of Rhydon Consulting.
The People’s Brief | Ollus R. Ndomu
27 October 2026