PRESS STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND MEDIA ON THE DECISIONS MADE BY CABINET AT THE 15TH CABINET MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY, 30TH JULY, 2024.
The President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, called for the 15th Cabinet Meeting at State House on Tuesday, 30th July, 2024, to deliberate on policy and legislative matters pertaining to National development, in accordance with the National Development Agenda for the New Dawn Government.
The following are the decisions made:
- Tax Measures to mitigate the current drought and energy crisis.
Cabinet, as a way to address the challenges arising from the effects of the drought, which also includes the energy power crisis the country is facing, approved some tax measures that could cushion against the impact of the drought.
These tax measures include among others, zero rate VAT on the importation of selected equipment and machinery used in the development and establishment of electricity generation, transmission and distribution projects for the period 1st July 2024 to 31st December 2033; suspend customs duty and zero rate VAT on the supply of generators, and components and auxiliary items for solar power equipment for the period 1st July, 2024 to 31st December, 2027; exempt the importation of equipment and machinery for the manufacturing of fertilizer for VAT purposes; and suspend customs duty on the importation of irrigation equipment accessories for the period 1st July, 2024 to 31st December, 2027.
Cabinet is of the view that these tax measures, when implemented, are expected to catalyse investments and stimulate economic activities in the energy and agriculture sub-sector so as to strengthen the macroeconomic environment, create jobs and consequently, alleviate poverty among citizens.
- The Revised National Sports Policy.
Cabinet, during the Meeting, approved the Revised National Sports Policy and its Implementation Plan, in order to re-affirm Government’s recognition of the importance of sports in contributing to the social, economic and political development of the country.
The implementation of the National Sports Policy will improve the standards of sports in the country. It will further lead to development of the sports sector through the provision of adequate and modern sports facilities and equipment, identification and nurturing of talent and promotion of participation in sports by the marginalised groups that include women, girls and persons with disabilities.
It is envisaged that increased participation in sports will lead to improved standard of living provided by income generated from sporting activities as well as reduced incidences of non-communicable diseases resulting from having a physically active lifestyle by the general citizenry.
- Appointment of Members of the Food Reserve Agency Board.
Cabinet approved an eleven (11) member Food Reserve Agency Board in accordance with the provisions of Section 6 (1) of the Food Reserve Act No. 6 of 2020. The previous Board was dissolved in October, 2023 and since then, the institution has been operating without a Board.
The core functions of the Food Reserve Agency are to market and trade in designated agricultural commodity; stabilise, manage, lease and maintain a storage facility and equipment to be used in relation to a designated agricultural commodity. The FRA also manages the national strategic food reserves and also advises the Minister of Agriculture on matters relating to the national strategic food reserves.
- Legislative Matters:
Cabinet approved, as follows, a number of legislative matters so as to facilitate implementation of government policies when the Bills are finally enacted into law: (a) The Agriculture Marketing Bill, 2024.
Cabinet approved in principle, to the introduction of the Agricultural Marketing Bill, 2024, in Parliament, in order to provide an appropriate legal framework for marketing of agricultural products in a cost-effective manner and to enhance private sector participation and investment in agricultural marketing.
The proposed legislation seeks to among other things, enhance the viability and sustainability of the agriculture sector; increase access to markets in the agriculture sector; encourage the development of market infrastructure; promote the efficiency of the marketing of agricultural products and services; and facilitate an efficient private sector driven agricultural marketing system.
(b) The Agricultural Credits (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
Cabinet also approved in principle, to the introduction of a Bill in Parliament to amend the Agricultural Credits Act No. 35 of 2010, in order to operationalise the Warehouse Receipts System.
The proposed amendment will harmonise the Agricultural Credits Act with provisions in different Acts such as the Securities Act and the Food Reserve Agency Act, among others. This harmonisation is necessary to facilitate unified trading in agricultural commodities.
(c) The Food Reserve Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
Another legislative matter approved by Cabinet in principle, is the introduction of a Bill in Parliament to amend the Food Reserve Act No. 6 of 2020, in order to align the mandate and operations of the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) with the current Government policy of increasing private sector participation in the agricultural value chain.
The FRA Act of 2020 provides for expansion of the mandate of the FRA to manage the national strategic grain reserves, provide market access to smallholder farmers and manage public agricultural storage facilities. This expanded mandate has been identified as an impediment to agricultural development as it has the potential of crowding out private sector participation, as it has led to increased Government’s role in the purchase of commodities such as maize grain, thereby putting a strain on the Treasury.
(d) The Examinations Council of Zambia (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
Cabinet also approved in principle, to the introduction of a Bill in Parliament to amend the Examinations Council of Zambia Act No. 3 of 2023, in order to provide for the Examinations Council of Zambia to legally administer examinations and award teacher education diplomas in all private and public colleges of education. The Examinations Council of Zambia has to continue to administer examinations and award diplomas in an effort to promote the standardisation of teacher education qualifications. This will allow for implementation of a common curriculum in Teacher Education, as approved by the Ministry of Education. Furthermore, this will allow for the common teacher education curriculum to be in tandem with the school curriculum, which is also examined by the Examinations Council of Zambia, thereby ensuring quality education.
The current Examinations Council of Zambia Act No. 3 of 2023, does not provide for the administration of examinations leading to the award of a teacher education diploma. It is, therefore, important to amend the current Act to include the administration of examinations and award of diplomas.
(e) The Sports Council of Zambia (Repeal) Bill, 2024.
Cabinet further approved in principle, to the introduction of a Bill in Parliament to repeal the Sports Council of Zambia Act Cap 142 of the Laws of Zambia, in order to bring it to conformity with the constitutional changes and align it to acceptable international standards and practices.
The Sports Council Act faces a number of challenges that include, dispute resolution and sanctions, and imbalanced funding, as well as accountability of sports associations. There is also need to implement the enacted Gender Equity and Equality Act, as an expression of the strong resolve of the Government to bridge the gender inequality gap in all sectors including sports.
(f) The Energy Regulation (Energy Fund) Regulations, 2024.
Cabinet also approved the issuance of a Statutory Instrument, entitled the Energy Regulation (Energy Fund) Regulations, 2024, in order to ensure that all resources collected from the Energy Sector by Government, are held in one Fund and provide for modalities and guidelines of how to respond to emergencies in the energy sector going forward.
Currently, there are two stand-alone Funds which makes it difficult to utilise the financial resources available, because the utilisation of financial resources from each Fund is restricted to the objectives of a particular Fund and as such, does not provide for financing of other activities even in emergency situations.
Cabinet has, therefore, decided to have one Fund from which all activities in the energy sector shall be financed so as to facilitate the development of the entire energy sector.
(g) The Higher Education (General) Regulations, 2024.
Cabinet approved for issuance, the Statutory Instrument entitled the Higher Education (General) Regulations, 2024, in order to provide criteria for registration of new types of higher education institutions.
The Higher Education Act No. 4 of 2013 was amended in 2021, to provide for the revision of the types of higher education institutions, introduction of annual institutional audits, classification of higher education institutions, assessment of universities and technical universities, affiliations among private higher education institutions and accreditation of learning programmes. However, to date, there are no regulations to operationalise the provisions of the Higher Education (Amendment) Act No. 23 of 2021. It is, therefore, necessary to introduce specific regulations that shall operationalise the amendment, so as to enhance quality assurance in higher education institutions.
- National Strategy on the Production of Three Million tonnes of Copper by 2030.
In winding up debate for the day, Cabinet deliberated on the importance of the National Strategy on the production of the three Million tonnes of Copper by 2030, Zambia being a mining country.
Cabinet emphasised on the need to implement the Strategy as it will, among others, provide an enabling environment for ramping up copper production from all expansion projects in all brownfield mining companies; facilitate the development of the artisanal and small-scale mining sub-sector; scale up promotion of investment in exploration, mining, processing and value addition; conduct countrywide highresolution aerial geophysical surveys, and further, improve regulation, efficiency and transparency in the mineral value chain with focus on licensing system, safety, health and environment.
Original copy signed
Hon. Cornelius Mweetwa, MP
MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND MEDIA AND CHIEF
GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON
3rd August, 2024