Finance minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane last Friday pronounced to Parliament the 2026 national budget, in which a number of progressive policy announcements were made, in the area of infrastructure and energy.
However, Musokotwane also worryingly announced a number of policy moves that would actually end up worsening the economic situation for most Zambians.
Musokotwane also announced an uptick in the allocation towards the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) from around K36 million to K40 million. There is generally nothing wrong in scaling up the CDF, and the policy must be supported provided certain matters are addressed. In our view, we would have expected the government to hold on a bit in terms of scaling up the fund given the huge challenges already experienced, where there has been heavy abuse of the facility, with many actually failing to honour up on the loans. Government should have addressed all the inefficiencies attached to the same, as the scaling up will actually worsen the problem associated with the fund.
Then several announcements by Musokotwane have been denounced as betraying the Zambian people given the tax hike on several goods and services.
Veteran politician and former minister Dr Mbita Chitala has for instance observed that the government started moves to squeeze Zambians even before the budget when on August 19, 2025 introduced the Minimum Alternative Tax (MAT) which is 1% tax on turnover of firms and partnerships that make zero profits in addition to annual income tax. He likened the same to introducing the hated poll tax which forced Zambians to go and hide in the bush running away from tax authorities during the colonial days,”
Musokotwane further intends to introduce legislation to increase mobile money transaction levy to range from K0.08 to K1.80 which will hit the poor and informal workers hardest since they all now depend on mobile money for small transfers.
He stated that Musokotwane also introduced other levies such as toll fees, citizenship fees, firearm licence fees.
“Additionally within the past year he raised excise duties on non-alcoholic beverages from 30 ngwee to 60 ngwee, tobacco duty from K361 mer mille to K400, licence fees for Kapenta fishermen from K3,333 to K4,000, introduced DNA testing fees K3,750, tax bands for passenger transport vehicles increased by 20%, betting tax increased by 10%, introduced 15% tax on advance tax on remittances, increased corporate income tac for non-traditional exports from 15% to 29% and so on,” noted Chitala, among several observations.
As the government is working towards overtaxing Zambians, and squeezing the little that they have, many would have thought they had reflected on the cries of millions to get a fair share from the country’s mainstay, the mines. We would have thought that even if they may not have been inclined to do something, they could have for instance taken some appeasement moves just to appear like they were listening, in the same manner they have suddenly scaled up electricity supply in compounds where the population is dense and offers more opportunities for voter catchment.
However, it seems those running these multinationals have cast a huge spell upon some officials in this UPND administration. Could it be the collusion between our government and some of these multinationals, where the latter oils the former handsomely, that all they see from the same arrangement is personal or private enrichment that comdemns Zambians to more everyday suffering, despite being richly endowed.
We urge President Hakainde Hichilema and Musokotwane and those in government generally to consider the cries of many Zambians who want to see a handsome return from the mines, especially during these times of historically high copper prices, where for a considerable period the price has been fetching at around $10000 per metric tonnes, far higher actually than when late president Levy Mwanawasa progressively acted in favour of Zambians.
It’s not too late for Hichilema and Musokotwane to reconsider the huge taxes they have decided to impose on Zambians, while aiming to work towards ensuring that the mines contribute a fair share to the treasury.
By Daily Revelation Editor
Finance minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane last Friday pronounced to Parliament the 2026 national budget, in which a number of progressive policy announcements were made, in the area of infrastructure and energy.
However, Musokotwane also worryingly announced a number of policy moves that would actually end up worsening the economic situation for most Zambians.
Musokotwane also announced an uptick in the allocation towards the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) from around K36 million to K40 million. There is generally nothing wrong in scaling up the CDF, and the policy must be supported provided certain matters are addressed. In our view, we would have expected the government to hold on a bit in terms of scaling up the fund given the huge challenges already experienced, where there has been heavy abuse of the facility, with many actually failing to honour up on the loans. Government should have addressed all the inefficiencies attached to the same, as the scaling up will actually worsen the problem associated with the fund.
Then several announcements by Musokotwane have been denounced as betraying the Zambian people given the tax hike on several goods and services.
Veteran politician and former minister Dr Mbita Chitala has for instance observed that the government started moves to squeeze Zambians even before the budget when on August 19, 2025 introduced the Minimum Alternative Tax (MAT) which is 1% tax on turnover of firms and partnerships that make zero profits in addition to annual income tax. He likened the same to introducing the hated poll tax which forced Zambians to go and hide in the bush running away from tax authorities during the colonial days,”
Musokotwane further intends to introduce legislation to increase mobile money transaction levy to range from K0.08 to K1.80 which will hit the poor and informal workers hardest since they all now depend on mobile money for small transfers.
He stated that Musokotwane also introduced other levies such as toll fees, citizenship fees, firearm licence fees.
“Additionally within the past year he raised excise duties on non-alcoholic beverages from 30 ngwee to 60 ngwee, tobacco duty from K361 mer mille to K400, licence fees for Kapenta fishermen from K3,333 to K4,000, introduced DNA testing fees K3,750, tax bands for passenger transport vehicles increased by 20%, betting tax increased by 10%, introduced 15% tax on advance tax on remittances, increased corporate income tac for non-traditional exports from 15% to 29% and so on,” noted Chitala, among several observations.
As the government is working towards overtaxing Zambians, and squeezing the little that they have, many would have thought they had reflected on the cries of millions to get a fair share from the country’s mainstay, the mines. We would have thought that even if they may not have been inclined to do something, they could have for instance taken some appeasement moves just to appear like they were listening, in the same manner they have suddenly scaled up electricity supply in compounds where the population is dense and offers more opportunities for voter catchment.
However, it seems those running these multinationals have cast a huge spell upon some officials in this UPND administration. Could it be the collusion between our government and some of these multinationals, where the latter oils the former handsomely, that all they see from the same arrangement is personal or private enrichment that comdemns Zambians to more everyday suffering, despite being richly endowed.
We urge President Hakainde Hichilema and Musokotwane and those in government generally to consider the cries of many Zambians who want to see a handsome return from the mines, especially during these times of historically high copper prices, where for a considerable period the price has been fetching at around $10000 per metric tonnes, far higher actually than when late president Levy Mwanawasa progressively acted in favour of Zambians.
It’s not too late for Hichilema and Musokotwane to reconsider the huge taxes they have decided to impose on Zambians, while aiming to work towards ensuring that the mines contribute a fair share to the treasury.
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