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Anti-corruption group demands more transparency over carbon funds

by Gloria Siwisha | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Friday, 20 May 2011 17:41 GMT

* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

 

A leading Zambian anti-corruption group has called for more measures to uncover irregularities in government spending.

These steps would reinforce plans already launched for audit and integrity committees in all government spending ministries, says Zambia Youths Association in the Fight Against Corruption (ZYAFAC).

The organisation’s executive director Rickson Kanema says in an interview that supporting the introduction of such initiatives will help enhance transparency in government spending ministries and agencies as opposed to waiting for the Auditor General’s report released after a delay of  two years.

According to Kanema his organisation is at pains to understand why motorists are being asked to pay carbon emission taxes when they are already subjected to huge motor vehicle taxes.

He has demanded that the ministry of tourism and natural resources should explain how much revenue it has collected from the time carbon emission tax was introduced and how these funds will be used.

Kanema has since challenged law enforcement agencies to tackle misuse of public funds.

Environmental experts believe the carbon tax, which is levied on the carbon content of fuels, should help fund the environmental sector adequately and help it mitigate the impact of climate change.

However, from 2006 when the government launched its carbon emission tax plan for all motor vehicles, there has been a hue and cry from motorists across the country over what they perceive as a further strain on their incomes.

The Zambia Revenue Authority said it raised more than US $1 million in carbon emission tax when revenue collection agencies started collecting money from motorists at the start of last year.

Zambia envisions raising US $ 6.4 million in carbon emission tax through this year’s budget as part of the country’s effort to control environmental pollution through carbon emission.

 

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