ZAQA Is Failing Zambians

GUEST ARTICLE: ZAQA Is Failing Zambians

By Lenin Banda

Public institutions exist to serve citizens not to frustrate them. Yet for many Zambians, the Zambia Qualifications Authority (ZAQA) has become a symbol of bureaucracy, inefficiency, and unnecessary hardship.

It is time to say it in plain language, the Zambia Qualifications Authority Act must be repealed or seriously amended.

ZAQA’s core business and justification is qualification verification. But why is so much emphasis placed on verifying qualifications obtained within Zambia qualifications that are already easily traceable through local institutions?

The real risk is with foreign qualifications. That is where scrutiny is justified and necessary. I think that should be the special focus for the institution.

Citizens who studied in Zambia are subjected to redundant processes, delays, and fees for credentials that can be confirmed directly with local institutions without a lengthy process. I feel this is not regulation, It is duplication.

Even more troubling is the operational reality.
The system is unstable. The website is unreliable. Payment inconsistencies are alarming, just the other day I was trying to get a diploma verified for someone the normal cost is supposed to be K200 but the system generated an invoice of K800.

Calls go unanswered. Their Customer service is non-existent, it’s pathetic! airtel is even better. We as their clients are left confused, stranded, and powerless. This is unacceptable for a statutory body entrusted with such an important function. We need to seriously hold them accountable.

Verification and validation processes take forever! In today’s competitive job market, delays of weeks or even days can mean the difference between employment and unemployment.

Zambians have missed job opportunities because their documents were stuck in procedural limbo.
This is not a minor inconvenience. It is economic sabotage through inefficiency.

When a public institution becomes an obstacle to citizens’ progress, reform is no longer optional, it is urgent. We must have this conversation and act.

Please find time to visit the ZAQA Facebook page and see the frustrations from their clients. No one sings hosanna for them, everyone is calling for their crucifixion.

ZAQA exists because Parliament made it law. Parliament therefore has the authority and the responsibility to revisit it. The Zambia Qualifications Authority Act must be, repealed and replaced with a more focused framework. It must be amended to drastically reform its mandate, processes, and accountability standards.

This matter must be tabled in the National Assembly before the 2026 General elections, it’s as urgent matter as Bill 7.

Let’s not be hopeless, let’s not fold our hands, we can do something. We must lobby our Members of Parliament to raise a motion and debate the matter.

Civil society organizations must also step forward. This is an issue of governance, economic justice, and administrative accountability. Proper public consultation must take place. The voices of affected graduates, job seekers, and professionals must be heard.

This is bigger than one institution. It is about how Zambia structures its regulatory bodies, whether they empower citizens or entangle them in unreasonable bureaucracies.

No law is beyond review. No institution is beyond reform. If ZAQA cannot operate efficiently, transparently, and in the interest of citizens, then the law that sustains it must change. It simply means it’s a bad law.

Brethren, the time for polite frustration is long gone. We need to act now.

Let’s join forces together.