By John Chola
The Ministry of Finance and National Planning has expressed concern over more than K1 billion in unremitted non-tax revenue owed to various government ministries and agencies, a situation that threatens public service delivery.
Finance and National Planning Minister Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane revealed the extent of the issue, citing a report from the Office of the Accountant General that highlighted an outstanding K1,078,158,586.39 in non-tax revenue by mid-2024.
The report, presented to Dr. Musokotwane by Secretary to the Treasury Felix Nkulukusa, outlined significant payment arrears for services offered by the government across several sectors.
The sectors affected include energy, tourism, water development and sanitation, labour, transport and logistics, and home affairs and internal security.
“This state of affairs has impacted the resources available for the government to finance public service delivery,” Nkulukusa said.
The report specified that unpaid revenues could undermine the government’s macroeconomic objective to increase domestic revenue to at least 22 percent of GDP by the end of 2024.
The breakdown of outstanding dues indicates that the energy sector owes the largest portion, with K617.9 million which the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) has failed to recover in unpaid license fees.
The tourism sector follows, with K8 million outstanding for casino and hotel registration fees, while the water development and sanitation sector owes nearly K5.7 million in unpaid fees to the Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA).
Other unpaid amounts include K382,798 from the labour sector, K3.56 million from transport and logistics, and K442.2 million in ground rent and consideration fees owed by the lands and natural resources sector.
To expedite the recovery of these funds, the government plans to publish a list of all organizations and individuals with outstanding payments, hoping that public disclosure will encourage timely remittance.
“We anticipate positive results from the exercise,” Nkulukusa added.
The unremitted funds are critical for Zambia’s 2024 resource mobilization framework, particularly as the country grapples with a severe drought exacerbated by the El Niño weather phenomenon.
Earlier this year, President Hakainde Hichilema declared the drought a national disaster, marking it as one of the worst in living memory.
The government has since launched several initiatives to mitigate its effects, including distributing low-cost food supplements, providing food and cash-for-work programs, and expanding the social cash transfer scheme.
Dr Musokotwane emphasised that clearing the outstanding non-tax revenue is essential to sustaining these drought emergency measures and ensuring that socio-economic programs continue to receive adequate funding.
Dr. Musokotwane reaffirmed the government’s commitment to pursuing all relevant channels to secure the remittance of the overdue revenue by the end of October 2024, stressing the need for collective responsibility to support Zambia’s socio-economic stability and resilience.
