The Alliance for Community Action (ACA) hosted a one-day Citizen Insaka on Public Resource Accountability on 11th November, 2017. The Insaka brought citizens together to reflect on the Public Resource management situation in the country as well as citizen’s responsibility to demand accountability. The event was organised by the Joint Action for Accountability in Zambia (JAAZ) which constitutes of ACA, the Zambia Council for Social Development (ZCSD) and private citizens.
Among the key issues discussed during the Insaka was the 2016 Report of the Auditor General whose revelations have disturbed many citizens. Also, central in the discussions were recent government procurement decisions including the purchase of 42 fire tenders at a cost of US$42 million and 50 Ambulances at US$11.5 million. There was a consensus that the public money is citizens’ money and that citizens should therefore be able to benefit from it through improved service delivery.
Citizens expressed concern over the way public money is been misapplied and misappropriated at the expense of improved service delivery. The citizens made a call that all the erring officers as exposed in the AG’s report be punished. The Insaka agreed that citizens should be more interested in the outputs of oversight bodies including the Auditor General and Public Accounts Committee of parliament. In closing, it was agreed that the initiative of the Citizen Insaka must be rolled out to other parts of the country to especially include more marginalised communities.
