By Chief Editor
Copyright lusakatimes
After the presentation of the 2026 national budget by the Government last week, Socialist Party president Dr. Fred M’membe has criticised the government’s spending plan, describing it as a continuation of failed economic policies.
Finance and National Planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane presented the K253.1 billion budget in Parliament last Friday, an increase from last year’s K217 billion. He said the package would be largely financed from domestic revenues amounting to K206.5 billion, representing 81.6 percent of the total budget and 22.3 percent of GDP.
Dr. Musokotwane told Parliament that the government had prioritised education, health, social protection and constituency-level development. He said the Constituency Development Fund would be raised to K40 million per constituency, up from K36.1 million last year, describing it as “a game-changer in transforming the livelihoods of the people.”
He added that the education sector would receive K33 billion, with K2.4 billion allocated for free education and K2.3 billion for the completion and rehabilitation of schools and universities. In higher education, K1.4 billion was set aside for the Higher Education Loans and Scholarship Board to support students from poor families.
The health sector was allocated K26.2 billion, with K6.4 billion going towards the procurement of medicines and medical supplies. The minister said the increase, representing 30 percent more than in 2025, was to fill the gap left by the withdrawal of some external support. “I am happy to hear now and then from colleagues from the health sector that the availability of drugs and medicines is satisfactory across the whole country as opposed to the situation during our early days in government,” he said.
Other key allocations included K15.7 billion for social protection programmes, such as the Social Cash Transfer and pensions, and K1.2 billion for the 2026 general elections. Tax incentives for the energy sector were also proposed to attract investment in electricity transmission and hydroelectricity generation.
While government has described the budget as progressive, Dr. M’membe today issued a statement rejecting the plan. He said the budget reflected “business as usual” and lacked an innovative vision to tackle the country’s economic challenges.
“The budget presented last Friday is, in my view, the definition of insanity. It represents a continuation of a flawed and ineffective course of action, and it is unreasonable to expect better results,” he said.
Dr. M’membe argued that the reliance on foreign investor–driven growth had not delivered tangible benefits for citizens. “After 61 years of independence, it is unacceptable for our country, which is so rich in resources, to still be inhabited by so many who are poor,” he said.
He added that Zambia needed “a fundamental shift in our economic thinking—an independence from a neoliberal bookish, theoretical economic mindset that has repeatedly failed to deliver for the people.”
The budget is now before Parliament for debate and approval.
