Rufunsa people happy with CEEC’s fish farming project

Rufunsa District Commissioner Paul Kasongo has hailed the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) for choosing his district for a fish farming project.

And Mr. Kasongo has disclosed that government has already advertised for tenders for the construction of dams that will be used for fish farming.

The CEEC has since pledged to fund the dam construction project.

He said the fish farming project has received overwhelming response from the people of Rufunsa adding that over 200 people have since applied to be considered for the project.

Mr. Kasongo said people were ready to engage in fish farming and the CEEC has already approved it as the only venture it will fund this year.

He said Rufunsa was luck to be picked for funding under the government sponsored Citizen Economic Empowerment Funds.

The funding to Rufunsa district follows the CEEC’s paradigm shift in its empowerment policy in which KR 400 million was set aside to be disbursed in three years to rural districts entrepreneurs.

Among the CEEC new guiding principles are, geographical and demographic equity, cluster prioritisation and value chain approach with a broad based empowerment approach.

Its new key elements include allocation of 90 per cent of the funds for project financing in rural areas and paying particular attention to market access.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kasongo has confirmed that all the district offices that were created after the declaration of Rufunsa as a new district under Lusaka Province have started functioning except for the Ministry of Education.

The District Commissioner disclosed that officers from various ministries and government departments have all reported and started working except for officers in the Ministry of Education.

He said the construction of the district administration block will start once a contractor has been selected.

In the last few months, President Michael Sata created several districts across the country in his quest to decentralize governance operations and ensure that development reaches all people in the remotest parts of Zambia.