By CHUSA SICHONE –
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has challenged Government ministries to convince the Ministry of Finance why they should be accorded top priority when disbursing funds.
President Lungu, however, said he did not want to be told that the Ministry of Health failed to procure drugs because the Ministry of Finance had no money.
President Lungu said all sectors needed funding, but that it was up to the ministers and Permanent Secretaries to give convincing reasons to the Ministry of Finance to justify why they should be funded earlier than others.
The Head of State said this at State House in Lusaka yesterday when he swore in Kennedy Malama as ministry of Health Permanent Secretary in-charge of administration.

• PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu chats with Vice-President Inonge Wina (l) Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya (r) and newly appointed Health Minister Permanent Secretary for administration Kennedy Malama after being sworn-in at State House yesterday. Picture by ROYD SIBAJENE/ZANIS

“I have always given this now worn out example of twins being born from the same mother, same time, one surviving, one dying, it’s all because some ministries don’t assert themselves, they don’t explain why they should be funded before others are funded,” he said.
The President said he observed that some ministers and Permanent Secretaries were fond of blaming Finance Minister Felix Mutati for not releasing funds as the reason for them not performing certain tasks.
“Even in homes, children who cry the loudest and make so much noise, make you feel uncomfortable as you have your meal and you say, ‘ah, can you give them what they want’,” President Lungu said.
President Lungu noted that procurement of drugs was an emergency, but that it could not be viewed as such if it was planned for ahead of time by calculating how much was required at a given time so that the country could not end up in a crisis.
He reiterated his observation that ministries executed their tasks lethargically and that the delegation of the functions to subordinates without supervision was a recipe for failure.
Mr Lungu tipped Dr Malama that he would succeed if he took his job description as his Bible and executed it to the latter besides supervising his subordinates.
He reminded Dr Malama that procurement of drugs and related functions fell under the administration portfolio, hence challenging him to ensure that there were no shortages by planning beforehand.
President Lungu was confident that Dr Malama would deliver accordingly, because the new Permanent Secretary was a seasoned health practitioner who better understood its needs to provide the expected services.
Dr Malama told journalists in an interview that he was grateful to President Lungu for having confidence in him and assured that he would use his 23-year experience in the health sector to perform as expected, because he was privy to what the priority areas were driven by the Seventh National Development Plan.
Dr Malama has replaced John Moyo, who died in road traffic accident in Lusaka last month.