. CHIKWANDA

By REBECCA MUSHOTA –
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu  has appointed Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda as chairperson of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Council and directed him to ensure that the PPP is operational.
The appointment is in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Public Private Partnership Act No.14 of 2009 which designates the office of the Finance minister as chairperson of the Council.
This is according to a statement issued by Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations, Amos Chanda yesterday.
Mr Lungu also appointed Works and Supply Minister Yamfwa Mukanga as the vice-chairperson.
Others appointed are Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe, Energy and Water Development Minister Dora Siliya and her counterpart at Local Government and Housing, Stephen Kampyongo. The rest are Roads Development Agency chairperson Samuel Mukupa, former Energy Regulation Board chief executive officer and energy expert Moses Zama, quality surveyor and investment adviser Fungai Musana, and structural engineer Salvatore Hara.
“The President expects the Council to work expeditiously to implement all outstanding PPP projects and not embark on new ones as part of the Government strategy to reduce expenditure on infrastructure development while strengthening private sector participation,” Mr Chanda said.
During the official opening of the Fifth Session of the 11th National Assembly, President Lungu directed that an autonomous body be created to professionally deal with PPP partnership matters and that State House, in liaison with Cabinet Office and relevant stakeholders, should spearhead the formation of this body which would eventually be transferred to Cabinet Office. The President said it was not right that well-meaning policies of PPP could be on statute books for years without any tangible project seeing the light of day.

Meanwhile, the Finance minister has reconstituted the board for the National Savings and Credit Bank (NATSAVE).
This is in accordance with the directive of Cabinet at its 25th special meeting held on November 26, 2015.
Ministry of Finance public relations officer Chileshe Kandeta said the people on the board were appointed taking into consideration gender parity, qualifications, competencies and track records.
The board will be chaired by Chiselebwe Ng’andu while members are Chief Mumena, Judith Mwananshiku, Frederick Siame and Tiziana Marietta.
Others are Cosmas Mambo, Chobela Mutantika and Vincent Mwanza.
Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba said effective policy oversight in the operations of NATSAVE would now be ascertained and that the board should ensure that the governance systems at the bank were strengthened.