SUMMARY - CLGF

1 Country profileSUMMARYZ ambia is a democratic republic with two spheres of government, national and local. There is constitutional provision for local government and the main governing legislation includes the Local Government Act 1991 and the Local Government Elections Act 1992. The 99 local authorities are overseen by the Ministry of Local Government and Housing and consist of four city councils, 15 municipal councils and 84 district councils. There are also ten provinces, which are purely administrative. Local governments must establish and maintain roads, bridges, ferries, watercourses, street lighting and public transport services provide firefighting and prevention, environmental health services.

2 Councils must also provide and maintain supplies of water maintain drains, sewers, roads, and dispose of sewage and refuse. They must maintain cemeteries, crematoria and mortuaries, parks, zoos, gardens, pleasure grounds, camping grounds, caravan sites, art galleries, libraries, museums and film CENTRAL GOVERNMENTZ ambia is a democratic republic with a unicameral parliament, known as the National Assembly. The head of state and government is the president, who is directly elected for a five-year term and a maximum of two terms. The National Assembly has 150 elected members and not more than ten (usually eight) nominated members.

3 Elections are conducted using the first-past-the-post system to single-member constituencies, and members sit for a term of five years. The president appoints the vice-president and cabinet from amongst the members of the national assembly; no more than five members of cabinet can be appointed from amongst the nominated LEGAL BASIS FOR LOCAL Constitutional provisionsPart 8 of the constitution provides for a system of local government comprised of councils elected on the basis of universal adult suffrage. Main legislative textsThe relevant legislative texts are: Local Government Act 19914b (Cap.)

4 281), and its amendments: Act No. 19, 1992; Act No. 30, 1993; Act No. 13, 1994; Act No. 30, 1995; Act No. 22, 1995; Act No. 8, 2004; Act No. 9, 2004; and Act No. 6, 2010 Local Government Elections Act 1992 (Cap. 282) amended twice provides additional detail on the election of Proposed legislative changes An Urban and Regional Planning Bill is being proposed that will require councils to involve communities more in their planning and STRUCTURE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT Local government within the stateIn November 2002, the government approved a national decentralisation policy following two previous failed attempts in 1968 and 1980.

5 The policy covers aspects such as empowering local people through setting up sub-district structures, and clearly defined roles and responsibilities for local authorities, the provinces and central government. Additionally, it states that the ultimate aim of the government is decentralisation through devolution, although the process will start with de-concentration of services while capacity is being developed in the local authorities. The objective of the policy is to enhance governance, by giving citizens more authority and power in decision-making at the local level.

6 Ministerial oversight The Ministry of Local Government and Housing (MLGH) is responsible for overseeing local government. The mission of the ministry is to promote a decentralized and democratic local government system and facilitate the provision of efficient delivery of quality housing, infrastructure and other social services by local authorities and other stakeholders for sustainable development . MLGH has the following six departments: Human Resources and Administration, Local Government Administration, Housing and Infrastructure Development, Physical Planning, Government Valuation and Decentralisation.

7 MLGH is also responsible for the following statutory bodies and institutions: Chalimbana Local Government Training Institute, the National Housing Authority, the National Fire Services Training School and the Local Authorities Superannuation Fund. The provincial liquor licensing boards have been abolished and local authorities have been given full licensing powers, following the repeal of the Liquor Licensing Act (Cap. 167). With the enactment of the Local Government Amendment Act No. 6 of 2010, the Local Government Service Commission has been re-established with oversight from MLGH.

8 The commission is mandated to hire, fire, promote, demote and discipline officials of all councils. MLGH has also been responsible for providing various national grants to councils, including the Constituency Development Fund. Council types There is one tier of local government. Local governments are called councils and as of October 2012 there were 89 councils four city councils, 15 municipal councils and 70 district councils with a total of 1,422 wards. The local government system in ZambiaZambiaKey Facts POPULATION (2014 est.)1: 15,023,315 AREA2: 752,612 sq km CAPITAL: LusakaCURRENCY: Zambian kwacha (ZMK)HEAD OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT: President Edgar LunguFORM OF GOVERNMENT: democratic republicPARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM: unicameralSTATE STRUCTURE: unitary stateLANGUAGES: English (official).

9 Bemba, Kaonde, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga (recognised)NATIONAL ELECTIONS: last: 2011 turnout: next: 2016 LOCAL ELECTIONS: last: 2011 turnout: na next: 2016 WOMEN COUNCILLORS: naLOCAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE as a percentageof total government expenditure 2013/14: CLGF EDIT PAGES 21809/11/2015 15:48 Zambiacountry profile In general, city councils are located in those urban districts which have more population and diversification in economic activities, while the municipal councils cover the suburban regions. District councils are located in those relatively rural districts which have less population and rely heavily on agriculture, and hence have fewer local tax revenue resources.

10 However, legally all councils have the same mandates and authority vis- -vis their residents and central government. There are also ten provinces, which are used for purely administrative purposes: Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka, Northern, Muchinga, North-Western, Southern and Western. Each province is headed by a provincial minister appointed by the president and there are provincial departments of central government ministries. A council has both legislative and administrative wings. In the legislative wing, councillors are directly elected by universal adult suffrage on the first-past-the-post system as representatives of the residents.