[{"bbox": [97, 153, 1134, 286], "category": "Text", "text": "accountability in the public sector, lack of public access to information, compromised independence and operational autonomy of investigative agencies, limited technical, operational and financial capacities of oversight institutions, inadequate anti-corruption policy formulation and coordination mechanism, incomplete policies and/or ineffective systems for prevention and detection of corruption, and lack of prioritization in investigating and prosecuting corruption offences."}, {"bbox": [97, 297, 1134, 457], "category": "Text", "text": "Good governance is one of the four priority thematic areas of the current administration and it entails enhanced transparency, accountability, consultation and dialogue. The President's declared commitment to good governance, rule of law and anti-corruption has been reiterated in his inaugural speech and many other public statements, and reflected, by a significant increase of the oversight and investigative agencies' budgets in 2022 and 2023. For 2023, the budget of the Office of the Auditor General was increased by 50%, while the annual budget of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) increased by 71%."}, {"bbox": [97, 468, 1134, 815], "category": "Text", "text": "A draft access to information act is being finalized and is planned to be adopted by the end of 2023. Delays in the preparation and publication of activity reports across government is yet another contributing factor to weak institutional accountability. While the authorities cite lack of resources and capacity constraints as impediments to publication of activity reports (including those on budget spending and performance), the root cause is a strong tendency for opacity in the public sector, including in those institutions that are expected to set a high standard for transparency and accountability. However, the new Government has made some significant progresses towards greater transparency with the publication of detailed information on the Executive's Budget Proposal (Yellow Book), a citizen's budget, the monthly economic indicators, quarterly economic reviews, and the annual aggregate budget execution reports. However, the timeliness of the reporting is wanting and in-year budget execution reporting of expenditure lacks details and does not yet follow functional or budget programme classification (OBB), which would allow to track expenditure on individual programmes. The publication of detailed quarterly budget execution reports is hindered by lack of availability of comprehensive data in IFMIS. The MoFNP is trying to build capacity within the line ministries on the use of IFMIS to ensure timely capture of relevant data."}, {"bbox": [97, 826, 1134, 959], "category": "Text", "text": "Key elements of the National Accountability System are in place. The Office of the Auditor General conducts all three types of audits (compliance, financial, or performance) and makes them available to the public on their website. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) holds in-depth public hearings on key findings of audit reports. The legislature issues recommendations on actions to be implemented by the executive. However, implementation of recommendations by the executive is low and the activities of the PAC are not public."}, {"bbox": [97, 970, 1134, 1132], "category": "Text", "text": "A specialized court for Financial and Economic crimes has been established and efforts are being made to improve asset recovery as well as operational effectiveness of anti-corruption institutions. In February 2023, in a large scale investigation of the ACC, 18 senior officials of the MoFNP and the Office of the Auditor General were suspended and indicted. The investigation covers mismanagement of public resources and embezzlement of public money between 2018 and 2021. This has sparked suspicion on the overall integrity of the two institutions, but it confirms the President's commitment to a zero-tolerance policy against corruption."}, {"bbox": [97, 1143, 1134, 1277], "category": "Text", "text": "A Country *Governance and Corruption Assessment* conducted by the IMF in July 2022 and published in January 2023, proposes 50 recommendations, including a sub-set of 10 priority actions, to support the government's continued reform efforts in establishing effective governance arrangements and strengthening the rule of law. The diagnostic has been endorsed by the president and will constitute a building block of the new National Anti-corruption Policy expected to be approved by the cabinet in 2023."}, {"bbox": [97, 1288, 1134, 1392], "category": "Text", "text": "A coalition of partners, including the EU, Germany and Sweden, are scaling up their engagement on public sector transparency, accountability and fight against corruption in Zambia. Cooperating Partners are coordinating their engagement through the Democracy & Governance Cooperating Partners Group. A sub-group on corruption has been established in 2023."}, {"bbox": [97, 1405, 1045, 1434], "category": "Text", "text": "In conclusion, the relevant budget documentation has been published and the eligibility criterion is met."}, {"bbox": [86, 1473, 607, 1507], "category": "Section-header", "text": "# 3 DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION"}, {"bbox": [86, 1539, 511, 1572], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 3.1 Objectives and Expected Outputs"}, {"bbox": [97, 1585, 1048, 1640], "category": "Text", "text": "The **Overall Objective** of this action is to improve access to quality, efficient, equitable, affordable and inclusive public services for all Zambians."}, {"bbox": [1027, 1680, 1144, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 15 of 33"}]