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The Acton Institute for Policy Analysis Centre (AIPAC) has called for greater transparency over government’s renewed plans to sign a billion-dollar health Memorandum of Understanding with the United States.
AIPAC Executive Director, Solomon Ngoma, said the move came months after the government rejected the same MoU, citing what it described as irregular and troubling conditions.
In a statement issued in Lusaka on Wednesday, Ngoma said conditions previously highlighted included exclusive mining rights and access to patient databases.
He said the provisions raised questions about Zambia’s sovereignty, protection of citizens’ privacy and safeguarding of national interests.
“It is therefore troubling that the new Health Minister has now indicated a willingness to revisit and potentially sign this MoU without informing the Zambian people of the revised terms or making the contents of the agreement public,” Ngoma said.
He said the lack of transparency undermined public trust and left citizens uncertain about commitments being made in their name.
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“The people of Zambia deserve to know whether the conditions that were previously deemed unacceptable have been removed, altered, or replaced, and whether the new terms protect or compromise the nation’s sovereignty and welfare,” Ngoma said.
Ngoma said agreements of such magnitude, particularly those involving critical sectors such as health, should be subjected to public scrutiny and debate.
“With the coming into effect of the Access to Information Act, AIPAC insists that the Ministry of Health has a legal and moral obligation to make the full contents of this MoU available to stakeholders, if not to the nation at large,” he said.
He said Zambians should be given an opportunity to examine the commitments being undertaken and determine whether they align with the broader national interest.
“Transparency is not optional; it is a constitutional and democratic requirement. Anything less would represent a failure of governance and a disregard for the principles of accountability and public participation,” Ngoma said.
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