Business
You can’t grow an economy that’s being looted-AG report exposes the rot
Zambia has swept the Auditor General’s 2025
Picture: Zambian Business Times
Zambia has swept the Auditor General’s 2025 revelations under the carpet and moved on to debating new ministries, but experts caution that sweeping dirt under the rug does not clean the house because the Grow Zambia agenda will not see the light of day if looting continues unchecked.
Speaking in an interview with Zambian Business Times (ZBT), economic expert Kelvin Chisanga said financial leakages, misappropriation of public funds and other irregularities are undermining the country’s efforts to build a strong and productive economy.
Chisanga explained that the reported irregularities in key sectors, including health, are particularly concerning at a time when the country is operating under austerity measures and pursuing domestic resource mobilisation to finance national development.
“You cannot build tax compliance when there are a lot of leakages taking place in the budget, because people are being asked to contribute more while public resources are not being properly protected,” he said.
Chisanga warned that the situation can weaken tax compliance as Zambia prepares its 2027 national budget, which relies heavily on domestic taxation to finance government programmes and development projects.
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He said it is contradictory for the government to expect citizens and businesses to comply with tax obligations while reports continue to highlight illegalities, unethical conduct, misappropriation and theft involving public resources.
Chisanga further added that leaving the Auditor General’s findings unaddressed can undermine the Grow Zambia agenda because economic growth requires strong financial controls, accountability and action to recover misused public funds.
“The economic leakages that we are seeing in public resources will not support the kind of quality growth that Zambia wants to achieve, because the systems are contradicting the growth we are trying to cultivate,” he said.
Chisanga also warned that Zambia’s ambition to achieve annual economic growth of about seven percent can become difficult to attain if public resources continue to be lost instead of being channelled towards productive sectors and essential services.
He added that expanding government structures, including Parliament and Cabinet, will place further pressure on public finances if existing resources are not being managed effectively and leakages are not addressed.
“The mechanism of control should start now, because we cannot fail to manage the limited resources we have and then proceed with an expanded Cabinet or Parliament without correcting the problems that are already affecting public finances,” said Chisanga.
Article by Philip SinkalaZambia
Source: Zambian Business Times — Read more
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