We are pleased to inform you that we have received a response from the Office of The Public Protector following the complaint raised regarding the inconclusive investigations into the purchase of 42 Fire Trucks at $42 million by the Ministry of Local Government in 2017. On the 9th of March 2023, the ACA wrote a…
Continue Reading Office of The Public Protector Responds to Complaint Raised on 42For42 Case
Claim being Checked: Did Kenneth Kaunda International Airport Beat any Others to be Awarded Best Airport in Africa? Background: On Wednesday 2nd November 2022 a news story was published to the effect that Lusaka’s Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (KKIA) had been awarded the accolade of the best Airport in Africa by the World Luxury Travel…
Claim being checked: Can citizens check declarations of the assets, interests, liabilities, and income of Members of Parliament and Ministers at the National Assembly and the Electoral Commission of Zambia? Background: On the 25th of March 2022, the Alliance for Community Action (ACA) Fact-checking Unit inspected the Asset Declaration Register at the Supreme Court for…
Background: On 6th March 2022, Chapter One Foundation released a press statement that stated that there was low compliance with the Parliamentary and Ministerial Code of Conduct Act among Cabinet Ministers. The statement showed that only a few ministers had filed their statutory declarations of assets, liabilities, interests, and income as required by law. Later,…
The current “Office of The Filer” is the Registrar of the Supreme Court, who is appointed by the Chief Justice in accordance with Section 11(2) of the Parliamentary and Ministerial Code of Conduct Act. Background Following the public interest in the “Office of The Filer” video extract, shared by the ACA which was circulated widely on…
Continue Reading We have found “the Office of the Filer” and we looked at the files!
Does the ZLDC Report propose decriminalisation of bigamy? Following the release of the Zam Law Development Commission review of the Penal Code & Criminal Procedure Acts, the debate suggests that the report proposes that bigamy be decriminalised in favour of polygamy. The ACA Fact Checking Unit verifies this & sets out other proposals in the…
Continue Reading ZLDC review of the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Act Fact-Checks
Following allegations that some Choma UPND youths attempted to close the local Debonairs franchise on account of not displaying the presidential portrait on the business premises, we republish a fact-check we did in 2018. At that time, then Kitwe District Commissioner Binwell Mpundu had reportedly threatened to close businesses not displaying or having the wrong…
Continue Reading It is an offence not to display the presidential portrait in Zambia?
Promise Being Checked: Construct and establish universities in each province (Eastern, Northern, Southern and North-Western Provinces). BACKGROUNDElections in Zambia take place within the framework of a multi-party democracy with elections held every five years. Electoral manifestos play a crucial role in the electoral process as they illustrate a party’s vision for the country if elected…
Continue Reading Promise Check: Construct and establish universities in each province
BACKGROUNDOn 26th September 2020, Finance Minister Bwalya Ngandu disclosed, as he unveiled the proposed 2021 national budget in Lusaka, that the government of Zambia will increase the monthly allowances for Social Cash Transfer (SCT) beneficiaries from the current K90 to K110.In line with the above statements, the ACA conducted a fact-checking exercise around the use…
BackgroundIn 2020, the Auditor General’s Office carried out a review of records relating to the fight against COVID-19 at the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Ministry of Health (MoH), Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) and selected districts.The Report of the Auditor-General reviewed that as of 31st July 2020, Zambia had received pledges and commitments from…
Claim checked:In Bill 10, Pensioners will be paid promptly and regularly. (Claim made by the Policy Monitoring and Research Centre (PMRC) BackgroundA robust and polarised debate has been going in Zambia over the constitutional amendment process that the country is currently undertaking. The debate is centred on the Constitutional Amendment Bill 10, of 2019 that…
Issue to be Investigated 🔍🔎 The Alliance for Community Action (ACA) works to strengthen public resource management accountability, in Zambia. In this regard, the ACA, cooperating with other CSOs, advocates for laws to be passed that will strengthen the legislative framework underpinning public resource management and accountability. In connection with this, the ACA Fact Checking Unit…
Continue Reading Are Ministers declaring their assets, interests, liabilities, and incomes?
On the 27th of February 2019, then Minister of Transport and Communication, Dr Brian Mushimba, stated on his Twitter page that he had paid the cost of his evacuation to South Africa for treatment of a broken arm sustained in a car accident, from his own resources. He further said he was willing to prove…
Continue Reading Minister Mushimba Fails to Prove He Paid for his Medical Evacuation to South Africa
Claim checked: The de-registration of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)by the Registrar of societies means that the party’s Roan parliamentary seat held by Mr Joseph Chishala becomes vacant leading to an upcoming by-election in the said Roan Constituency. Following the announcement of the deregistration of the National Democratic Congress, (NDC) by the Registrar of Societies…
Continue Reading NDC Deregistration – Is Another Roan By-election Looming?
On the 5th of May 2019, a number of Civil Society Organisations participating in the National Dialogue Forum (NDF) announced the formation of the Constitutional Reform and Education Coalition (CRECO). The coalition stated its aim as “to protect the content as agreed by stakeholders of the NDF process.” The constituting members of the coalition and…
Continue Reading Was National Dialogue Forum Delegate from a Ghost University?
Following the recent drive by the Department of National Registration Passports and Citizenship for parents to apply for birth certificates for their children, a request was made to the ACA Fact Checking Unit to investigate whether a child can be registered by a mother without the father’s presence, and, in that case, whose surname the…
Alliance for Community Action Fact Checking Unit The ACA fact checking unit embarked on a fact finding exercise to determine whether emergency lines were accessible to citizens in an event of an emergency incidence in their area. Verification Process A review of Zambia Information, Technology and Communication Authority (ZICTA) 2017 numbering report showed that the…
Continue Reading Are Emergency lines accessible to citizens?
Alliance for Community Action Fact Checking Unit Fact being checked: President Edgar Lungu travels much more frequently than President Michael Sata did. Following repeated claims in the public, that President Lungu travels too frequently, the Alliance for Community Action Fact checking unit compared the travelling patterns of the two Presidents who have both come from…
Alliance for Community Action Fact Checking Unit Claim being checked: The Republican President needs recommendation from the Speaker of the National Assembly to further censure a Minister who has been disciplined by the National Assembly. The Alliance for Community Action Fact Checking Unit verified the statement made by President Edgar Lungu as regards the recent…
Alliance for Community Action Fact Checking Unit Claim checked: Zambia has the highest number of public holidays in the region. Assertion widely made on social media following President Lungu’s declaration of Friday 9 March, 2018,as a public holiday. SADC region public holidays (Source: Office Holiday) Verification process The ACA fact checking unit used the online…
Continue Reading Does Zambia have the highest number of public holidays in the region
Claim Being Fact-Checked: The Government is not breaking the law by diverting money from the sale of Mukula logs directly to the revamping of the Kawambwa Tea Plantation without depositing the money into the Treasury control account. – Hon Jean Kapata, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources. On 20 February 2018, Minister of Lands…
Alliance for Community Action Fact Checking Unit Claim checked: Following a vigorous discussion by the public on whether the new Minister of Finance is a good pick for the position, the ACA Fact Check Unit carried out a desk research to determine the question. Is Hon Margaret Mwanakatwe constitutionally qualified to be Minister of Finance?…
Continue Reading Is Hon Mwanakatwe qualified to hold the Position of Minister of Finance?
Claim Checked: It is an offence for any institution not to display the new presidential portrait issued to the public by Cabinet Office. – Kitwe District Commissioner Binwell Mpundu. On Monday 5 January 2018, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) reported on their website that, Kitwe District Commissioner Binwell Mpundu, during an inspection of…
Continue Reading It is an offence not to display the presidential portrait in Zambia?
Alliance for Community Action Fact Checking Unit Claim checked: Recently appointed Constitutional Court Judge, Martin Musaluke, falsely claimed in his CV submitted to the Parliamentary Select Committee set up to ratify among others, his appointment, that his Masters in International Business Laws Degree, obtained from the University of Cumbria, included an International Human Rights module.…
Continue Reading Did Court Judge, Martin Musaluke Lie on His CV?
We checked this Public Pronouncement: Withdrawing his appointment of Chinese nationals as police reserves, Inspector General of Police, Kakoma Kanganja said the move had been lawful but unpopular. We find this: FALSE Evidence 👇 The Republic Constitution says: Article 193. (1) There are established the following national security services (a) the Zambia Police Service; 194.…
Continue Reading Withdraw of appointed Chinese nationals as police reserves
DEPUTY MINISTERS IN GOVERNMENT: VALUE ADDITION OR VALUE EROSION? But for the freeze on the portfolio, 44 Deputy Ministers could have been sitting pretty and holding office in 26 ministries in 2017. Their presence in the government structure would have added at least K13, 291, 518.2 to the current budget presented to Parliament by Finance…
Our July/August Social Accountability adverts, that were running on News Diggers. Watch/Read and add your voice, remember “The baby that does not cry, dies on the mother’s back”. Error: Embedded data could not be displayed. Error: Embedded data could not be displayed. Error: Embedded data could not be displayed.
The Alliance for Community Action (ACA) has since October 2015, been implementing the EU-funded Speak Up Zambia project with the aim of empowering Zambian citizens to have a voice and enabling media to act as watchdogs for society. The ACA jointly implements the project with Free Press Unlimited (FPU) and House of Consciousness (HoC) …
Continue Reading ACA RECOMMENDS MSC FOR NON-QUANTITATIVE PROJECT EVALUATION