– Govt. urged to re-introduce crop levy

The Local government Association of Zambia has joined Local Councils calling on government to
re-introduce the grain / crop levy which was abolished by the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) regime in 2009.

ZANIS  reports that Local Government Association of Zambia President Mulenga Sata confirmed this in an interview in Chirundu District, today.

Mr. Sata said that the re-introduction of the crop levy would enable councils broaden their revenue base and provide quality services to the people
in their respective areas.

He  stated that the crop levy would also be one way of raising money for councils that are facing financial challenges especially
councils located in rural areas.

The association president observed that rural councils have no means of generating revenue compared to councils in urban areas hence the
need for government to re-introduce the levy.

ZANIS reports that Mr Sata  was speaking in an interview shortly after officiating at the provincial annual conference for the Local Government Association of Zambia Lusaka chapter in the Chirundu, today.

The annual conference which is also convened to fill the vacant positions at provincial level has attracted participation from all the
councils in Lusaka province.

Local Government Association of Zambia Vice President for Lusaka Province Gibson Sinkala also echoed Mr. Sata’s sentiment on the crop
levy.

Councillor Sinkala who is also Mayor of Kafue stated that some rural council are limping because they do not have means of raising revenue
to discharge their services efficiently.

Mr. Sinkala said once the crop levy is re-introduced rural councils will have one way of making revenue for their operations.

Commenting on the provincial conference Mr. Sinkala explained that beside electing leaders for the association the meeting come up with
some resolutions that will be presented to the national conference in Livingstone sometime this year.

He however could not disclose what the meeting would talk about saying doing so would pre-empting what would be submitted to the national
conference.

The crop levy is a tax charged by the local authority to anyone transporting crops or grains from one district to the other.

In 2012 the Local Government Minister at the time Nkandu Luo promised to reintroduce the levy as a source of funding for local councils.

But farmers union have been against the re-introduction of the levy arguing that the tax will push the cost of production as the country
looks at expanding its exports base.