• Government will relook at that program.
• The actual agreement was between government and the workers.
• Government and labour unions have already agreed that recoveries will be paid back.

Vice President Mutale Nalumango has reaffirmed government’s commitment to review the debt swap initiative for public service workers which was introduced by the previous administration.
Speaking in Parliament during the Vice President’s question and answer session, Mrs. Nalumango said government and labour unions have already agreed that recoveries which have appeared on pay slips of civil servants will be paid back.
She stated that negotiations regarding the program are ongoing because the indebtedness by civil servants dates back to the time the PF government was in power.
“The program did not only involve government and the civil servants, the civil servants were simply a third party in the sense that they were to remedy the money but they cause a lot of indebtedness also because of failure to remedy and this is how government came in. The actual agreement was between government and the workers.”
“The only issue that I will talk about is the recoveries that we have made of the two months, therefore this government has already signed with the unions that the recoveries for the two months will be paid back until we find a permanent solution,” Mrs. Nalumango said.
Mrs. Nalumango was responding to Mporokoso Member of Parliament and leader of the opposition Patriotic Front Brian Mundubile who wanted to know how soon government will come up with a permanent solution with regards to debt swap.
In July 2021, the previous government commenced the process of debt swap across the civil service, after a collective agreement on the implementation of the initiative between Government and the Public Sector Unions.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Nalumango said the recovery of public resources suspected to have been plundered by the previous regime will continue because it is provided for in the law.
“It is found in the Anti-Corruption Commission Act section 80 which provides for a person who is found with money or property that are proceeds of crime to quickly declare rather than allow litigation which is a lengthy process, to declare that truly they had done something wrong and willing to forfeit what had been acquired back to the state, this is the method that is being use,” she stated.
Faith Musonda, the woman behind the K65 million and 57,900 US dollars has surrendered the money to the State and the State has also taken possession of the house in which the money was found.
According to ACC Public Relations Officer Jonathan Siame, On Friday 15th October 2021, the State, using Section 80 of the Anti-Corruption Act No.3 of 2012, entered into an undertaking not to institute criminal proceedings against Ms. Musonda on condition that she fulfills the requirements of Section 80 of the Anti-Corruption Act No3. Of 2012, which she did.