A Development Expert has urged government to clearly outline the lessons learnt from the previous Cash-for-Work phase before rolling out the newly revised programme, saying transparency and accountability are essential for public trust.
Cabinet has approved the Revised Cash-For-Work Programme for vulnerable Zambians, aimed at providing temporary employment opportunities to stimulate economic activity at local community level.
The Revised Programme was approved during the 24th Cabinet meeting held on Monday, 8th December, 2025, with coverage now expanded to all the districts from 87, covered in the last Cash for Work Programme this year, to 116 districts.
Reacting to the newly approved initiative, Dr. Charity Musamba said the programme remains a good intervention in principle because it targets citizens in dire situations who are capable of work but lack employment opportunities.
she noted that such efforts are necessary in a country where many people still struggle to access basic needs like food due to limited job prospects.
Dr. Musamba, however, stressed that government must begin by publicly explaining what went wrong in the previous cycle.
“Government should say to the public: these are the lessons we learnt, upon which we have revised this programme and are now implementing it,” she said.
She added that successive governments, including the UPND, have a pattern of closing initiatives and restarting them without demonstrating growth or learning.
“They never learn lessons, they close up initiatives and come back as though there was nothing to learn from the previous,” she said.
She noted that the previous phase suffered from poor management and lacked visible results.
“People were cleaning compounds, but there was no picture before and after, we did not see a significant difference and waste was being pushed from one area to another, but nothing really changed,” she said.
Dr. Musamba insisted that proper coordination and clear performance markers including measurable improvements in public spaces are essential.
With the country entering a politically charged period, Dr. Musamba warned against the temptation to manipulate community based programmes for electoral advantage.
“We know it’s campaign time, and the thinking of most governments during such periods becomes opportunistic. But this is a chance for the UPND to prove they mean well for everyone,” Dr. Musamba stated.
According to Chief Government Spokesperson and Minister of Information and Media, Cornelius Mweetwa, the initiative has been revised to address shortcomings related to targeting, safeguards, payment and disbursement system and grievance redress management, following change in programming focus and observed implementation hurdles.
