A SPECIAL Luanshya Municipal Council Meeting chaired by Mayor Nathan Chanda has approved a Sixty –four million, sixty four thousand nine hundred twenty five Kwacha fifty-four ngwee only (K 64,064,925.54) as 2020 budget estimates.
Luanshya Municipal Council Finance, Human Resource and General Purpose Committee Chairperson Justus Bwalya prepared the budget performance and 2020 estimates of recurrent revenue, expenditure and capital amounting to a total a sum of K 64,064,925.54 before the Special Council Meeting which was held in the Council Chamber
In a Special Budget Speech read for him by Finance, Human Resource and General Purpose Committee vice-chairperson Timothy Nkandu, Councillor Bwalya said the local authority’s 2020 budget would be financed using various sources of locally generated income which include local taxes and rates which are expected to account for K19, 339,994.20, estimates from fees and charges are expected to amount to K 16,143,568.60
A total of K 8,234,002.80 income is expected to be sourced from the debtors. The other listed sources of the budget income are licences, levies, permits and other incomes totalling K 3,697,066.10.
The implementation of 2020 Council budget is subject to approval by the Ministry of Local Government.
The Finance Committee Chairperson also said in his budget speech that the Central Government was also expected to make a substantial contribution to the Council’s budget income in form of the Local Government Equalisation Fund (LGEF) grants amounting to K13, 450,293.84 and Constituency Development Fund (CDF) K3, 200,000.00 for the two constituencies in the district.
He explained that, in line with the 7th National Development Plan and the vision 2030 Council would continue with infrastructure development. A total of K 8,716,258.80 will be allocated towards capital projects, which are part of service delivery to Luanshya residents.

The additional Council’s major capital projects expected to be implemented next year 2020 included various developmental projects which will take place in Roan and Luanshya Central constituencies under CDF.
The other capital projects approved by the Special Council meeting is the rehabilitation of the H-Figov Road, in the central business district at a cost of Two million Kwacha (K2, 000,000.00)
Some additional capital projects and service delivery activities at ward level are expected to be implemented using the Ward Development Fund, which is expected to be allocated to each of the twenty-eight wards using resources amounting to five percent of the total locally generated funds by a local authority.
The 2020 Luanshya Municipal Council budget which was prepared in accordance with the provisions of The National Planning and Budgeting Bill 2019 and circular no. MLG/71/1/91 of October, 2019 from the Ministry of Local Government which requires that stakeholders should have an input in the preparations of the Council budget because they serve as catalysts in the implementation process, on grounds of them paying rentals,rates due to the Council.

As per requirement the local authority held a stakeholders budget consultative meeting on Thursday 5thOctober to 12th November 2019, and the outcomes from the said meeting was used in the budget making process.

Mayor Chanda commended the Town Clerk and Council management for making sure that stakeholders through all the twenty-eight Ward Development Committees (WDCs), which represents residents, participated in the budget making process.
The Mayor urged Councillors and management to ensure that the local authority operate within the budgetary provisions in line with austerity measures in order to avoid incurring expenditure outside the scope of the budget.
LUANSHYA NEWS ONLINE/ LUANSHYA MUNICIAL COUNCIL PR UNIT.