State hailed over social cash transfer
By NATION REPORTER GOVERNMENT has been praised for including people with disabilities on the social cash transfer programme, Mkushi Persons with Disabilities chairperson Earnest Mushalila has said.
Mr Mushalila told the Daily Nation that the move would go a long way in uplifting living standards and livelihood of his members.
Mr Mushalila said government’s gesture had allowed people with disabilities to start their own businesses to support themselves.
“Inclusion of people with disabilities on the social cash transfer programme shows that President Edgar Lungu’s government cares for its people including people living with various disabilities. We really thank President Edgar Lungu for his care for people with disabilities and we now feel we are not neglected,” Mr Mushalila explained.
Mr Mushalila added that some of his members had even managed to buy and own bicycles for the first time out of the social cash transfer money.
He also said his association had full confidence in President Lungu’s government, because it had proved that it did not discriminate its citizens based on physical capabilities.
Mr Mushalila thanked the community and the social welfare departments in the area for ensuring eligible people benefited from the government programme.
Meanwhile, the Parliamentary committee on Local Governance, Housing and Chiefs Affairs chaired by Mwinilunga Member of Parliament Newton Samakai has rejected Mkushi Council’s report on the fiscal decentralisation policy.
This follows discrepancies and lack of detail in the report presented by council secretary Carol Chanda during the meeting held in the Mkushi council chamber.
The committee observed that the report did not contain real issues obtaining on the ground as regard fiscal decentralisation policy implementation.
During questions and answer session, the council secretary was asked to rate her council in percentage on the fiscal decentralisation implementation, to which she responded at 55 percent.
It was at this point that the committee fired her with many questions on, among others, channel of reporting, ward development committees, equalisation fund and the actual implementation of fiscal decentralisation which the committee felt were contrary to contents of the report.
“Madam council secretary, we are asking you to redo the report and send it as quickly as possible. We are not instructing you, but asking you to amend and redo the report which should be inclusive, involving every one,” Mr Samakai said.
Mr Samakai stressed that his committee’s visitation was not to share information on decentralisation policy implementation but to provide checks and balances to the executive arm of government.
He added that the committee’s aim was to ensure that the policy was implemented within the time frame and the information equally trickled down to institutions that were supposed to receive it because not everyone knew about the policy.