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Finance and National Planning Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane, has called on all stakeholders to comprehensively and effectively respond to the current drought situation disaster which was declared as a disaster on Thursday.
President Hakainde Hichilema on Thursday declared the current drought situation as a national disaster and emergency.
Reacting to this declaration, Musokotwane suggested that stakeholders should urgently respond through short-term and long-term measures.
Musokotwane advised that these measures must include realignment of budgets, avoiding wastage, and water harvesting, among others.
He made this suggestion on Tuesday at the first 2024 Development Coordinating Committee (NDCC) meeting in Lusaka.
“The disaster declaration should take priority our programming in 2024 and is, therefore, a clarion call to action to all stakeholders including the Government, the private sector and cooperating partners.
“It also should also include churches, traditional leaders, civil society organisations and farmers unions, to act to mitigate the potential devastating consequences on critical sectors across the country,” Musokotwane said.
Speaking earlier, Vice Chairperson of the NDCC, Patrick Kangwa, noted that the primary focus of the meeting was to review progress on programme implementation for the 2023 fourth quarter and consideration of the 2024 work plans.
Kangwa, also Secretary to the Cabinet, explained that this would enable the committee reach consensus on how it is implemented going forward.
“As we leverage partnerships to drive our development agenda, we want to emphasise that stakeholder participation is a crucial aspect of Zambia’s development agenda,” he said.
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