CABINET DECISIONS: 10TH CABINET (SPECIAL) MEETING

At the 10th (Special) Cabinet Meeting held this morning, Cabinet considered ten (10) Agenda Items and the following decisions were made:
1. The Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and the Constitution of Zambia Bill, 2015: under this item,Cabinet approved introduction in Parliament of a bill to amend the Constitution of Zambia in order to increase the number of elected members of the National Assembly from the current 150 to 156. This has been necessitated by the increase in the number of districts and the resultant effect of where some constituencies currently belong to more than one district.
2. The Referendum (Amendment) Bill, 2015: Under this item Cabinet has approved the introduction in Parliament of a bill entitled, “The Referendum (Amendment) Bill, 2015” whose object is to amend the Referendum Act of 1967 so as to bring it into conformity with the Constitution of Zambia in so far as the eligibility criterion for voting in a national referendum is concerned. Whereas the Constitution requires fifty percent of all persons entitled to be registered as voters to vote in a referendum, the Referendum Act provides for persons registered as voters to vote in a referendum. The inconsistency between the Constitution and the Referendum Act renders section 3 (1) of the Referendum Act void. This is because in accordance with Article 1(3) of the Constitution, the Constitution is supreme law of Zambia and any other law that is inconsistent with the Constitution becomes void.
3. National Resettlement Policy:Under this item, Cabinet approved the National Resettlement Policy whose primary purpose is to protect the resettlement schemes from illegal land allocation and to create stable and sustainable human settlements, which are economically productive and socially just.
4. National Disaster Management Policy: under this item Cabinet approved the revised National Disaster Management Policy which seeks to introduce a paradigm shift from the hitherto reactive approach of disaster management to the emerging pro-active approach of disaster risk reduction and climate change issues.
5. Financial and Monetary Affairs: Purchase of Government Vehicles under Asset Lease Facility: Cabinet approved the contraction of an Asset Lease Facility from Stanbic Bank Zambia Limited amounting to K175.310 million (Kwacha One Hundred and Seventy Five Million, Three Hundred and Ten Thousand) for the purchase of motor vehicles and other requisite equipment for government institutions in order to ease their transportation and logistical challenges.
6. Financial and Monetary Affairs – Contraction of a Loan amounting to US $22,487,000 from the African Development Bank: Cabinet approved the contraction of a Loan amounting to US$22,487,000 from the African Development Bank to support the implementation of the Lake Tanganyika Development Project.
The project will help to protect the ecological integrity of the Lake Tanganyika basin and improve the quality of lives of the basin population.
7. Statutory Instrument to raise the minimum paid up share capital for Insurance Entities:under this item Cabinet approved the issuance of a Statutory Instrument to raise the minimum paid up share capital for Insurance Entities so as to:
(i) ensure that they attend to and discharge their obligations towards policy holders and other beneficiaries when the obligation fall due:
(ii) ensure that insurance companies have adequate capital assets to absorb losses beyond the coverage of their technical reserves;
(iii) enable insurance companies to grow their capital base so that the industry could develop the required capacity to underwrite mega risks;
(iv) ensure that insurance companies maintain internationally acceptable capital and solvency standards;
8. Reducing Government Expenditure on Residential VIP Furniture through the Introduction of a Furniture Loan Scheme: Cabinet has approved the introduction of a Furniture Loan Scheme in order to reduce Government expenditure on the procurement of VIP Furniture.
9. National Youth Policy 2015:Under this item,Cabinet has approved the National Youth Policy, in order to bring it in line with the African Youth Charter and other international statutes as well as new developments in the political, economic, technological and social environments. The policy has put emphasis on the need for youth programming to address the transition from adolescence to youth-hood and also putting in place effective exit strategies that prepare youths to be self-reliant. To this end the policy has revised the definition of a Youth as a person of 18 to 35 to one of 15 to 35. The new policy also emphasises Youth mainstreaming as a key strategy in enhancing youth participation in national development.The policy further, acknowledges that youths are not homogeneous but are a heterogeneous group. Therefore, it segments the youth cohort into age brackets and target groups in recognition of the differences and uniqueness of each group. The segmented approach is meant to provide a targeted approach for youths with similar characteristics and also ensure age- disaggregated data that can meet the different needs of the targeted youths.
10. Action Plan for Youth Empowerment and Employment: In order to actualize the National Youth Policy under item 9 which I have just alluded to,Cabinet approved the Action Plan for Youth Empowerment and Employment and its implementation. The Action Plan for Youth Empowerment and Employment provides a comprehensive Strategy that will facilitate the creation of employment and empowerment opportunities for the youth to enhance their participation and contribution to national development.
The Strategy offers a clear direction for all line Ministries and implementing agencies on the measures to be taken in order to achieve Government’s vision of creating jobs and empowerment opportunities for the youth.
Issued by:
Hon. Dr. Ngosa Simbyakula
MINISTER OF JUSTICE
ACTING CHIEF GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON