DPP demands full disclosure of $1.5 billion health agreement with U.S.

Antonio Mwanza of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), has called on Government to publish the full US$1.5 billion five-year health agreement with the United States before signing it.

Mwanza said Government had indicated that it had resolved contentious provisions in the proposed agreement, including a requirement for biological specimens to leave Zambia.

“If that is the case, publish the final agreement before signing it,” Mwanza stated in a statement issued in Lusaka on Monday.

He said Zambians had a right to know every condition, obligation, performance requirement, financing arrangement, data provision and commitment attached to the funding.

Mwanza noted that an earlier draft reportedly made the health agreement conditional on a separate Bilateral Compact, while Zambia had also publicly objected to linking health assistance to negotiations over critical minerals.

“Let the public see the revised text and verify that for itself,” he said.

He questioned why a resource-rich country with copper, cobalt, nickel, gold and emeralds continued to depend heavily on external financing for essential public services.

Mwanza said Zambia had been told that the Financial Intelligence Centre recorded estimated illicit financial flows of K9.93 billion in 2022, K51.25 billion in 2023 and K85 billion in 2024, amounting to K146.18 billion over the three years, with tax evasion identified as the dominant underlying offence.

“These are estimated illicit financial flows. This demands serious action,” he said.

Mwanza said Zambia should not reject legitimate international cooperation, but should mobilise more domestic resources by closing tax loopholes, combating tax evasion and illicit financial flows, strengthening revenue collection, fighting corruption and theft, and ensuring Zambians receive a fair return from their natural resources.

He said Zambians should welcome international support without surrendering transparency, national interests or economic sovereignty.

Mwanza also called for greater domestic capacity to finance development, saying it was a tragedy that 62 years after independence, Zambia, despite its mineral wealth, was still relying on external funding for basic needs such as health and education.

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