Ministers Owe State K4.7Million

In the latest development concerning the money owed by 63 former cabinet ministers and deputies as a result of their illegal stay in office ahead of the August 2016 elections, the State has proposed that the recoverable amount is K4.7 million.

In August 2016 the courts determined that ministers must pay back their allowances and salaries for the period following the dissolution of Parliament. During this time cabinet members stayed in office and continued to draw their salary and benefits, which the courts ruled to be illegal following a challenge.

Since then the process to recover the money owed has been slow and drawn out. In November 2019 state advocate Francis Mwale set out the challenges encountered by the state in determining the precise amount to be paid.

Almost four years after the initial ruling the matter continues, with the Office of the Accountant General at the Ministry of Finance last week indicating that the emoluments for the period May to July 2016 have now been computed.

According to the department’s director of policy research and standards Fides Kalangwa “As can be seen from the said computation, the total amount recoverable from the former cabinet ministers and former deputy ministers for the period of May to July 2016 is in the sum of K4,778,664.10.” 

“The computation was arrived at after looking at the pay slips of the former cabinet ministers and former deputy ministers,” he explained.

Minister of Justice Given Lubinda has previously stated that government is committed to ensuring return of the money owed once the amount to be repaid has been established.