Grow Zambia does not need many more or many fewer ministries. It needs clearer mandates: one minister answerable for each target, planning separated from the annual budget, and the front line protected in any merger. This note proposes a low-disruption structure that keeps the total at 25 ministries, and a five-step method MPs can use to test whatever list the Vice-President tables.
1. What Parliament is being asked to do
On 26 October 2026, State House announced that the President has written to Parliament under Article 92(2)(d) seeking approval to establish, merge and dissolve ministries. Vice-President Mutale Nalumango will move the motion. The stated aim is to make the machinery of government support the Grow Zambia Agenda and improve service delivery.
The press release does not say which ministries are affected. MPs will first see the list when the motion is tabled. Since 14 September, only four Cabinet ministers have been appointed: Finance and National Planning, Foreign Affairs, Health, and Green Economy and Environment.
The legal frame. Article 92(2)(d) lets the President establish, merge and dissolve ministries subject to the National Assembly’s approval. Article 94 requires the Assembly to decide within 21 days of the start of the sitting after it receives the request. The window for scrutiny is short.
Precedent. In 2011 the House approved cutting ministries from 23 to 19. In September 2021 the same Vice-President moved a similar motion; the order paper listed every statutory body moving between ministries, and the debate recorded that nine ministries were merged, three renamed, and the Ministry of National Development Planning dissolved into Finance. MPs should expect, and ask for, at least that level of detail this time.
Why it matters. Once approved, each change means new ministers, staff transfers, new budget lines and new parliamentary committees. A realignment that only renames ministries will cost months of disruption without changing how services reach citizens.
2. Eight design principles
A ministry structure should be judged by whether it makes each Grow Zambia target someone’s clear job, and whether it builds the capabilities described in The Architecture of Independence. Eight principles follow.
- One target, one answerable minister. Each of the eight headline targets (10m tonnes maize, 10,000 MW, 5m tourists, 3m tonnes copper, 3m tonnes soya, 1m tonnes wheat, 1m tonnes sugar, US$1bn beef exports) needs a single lead ministry, as do the 11m cattle and 500,000 ha irrigation targets added in the President’s address. Supporting ministries are named, but one minister answers to Parliament.
- Value, not only volume. The structure must give someone the job of value addition, local processing and Zambian ownership, not only output in tonnes and megawatts.
- Planning separate from the annual budget. Long-term strategy should not sit inside the ministry whose daily concern is cash management and the IMF programme.
- Protect the front line. Mergers must not bury the vets, extension officers and inspectors on whom the beef, crop and disease-control targets depend.
- Keep owner, promoter and regulator apart. The ministry that licenses mines should not also be the one defending a state equity deal; likewise, the regulator that sets pump prices should not also manage the fuel stabilisation fund.
- A home for those who carry the risk. Labour, cooperatives, smallholders and the informal majority each need a ministry whose mandate is to represent them in Cabinet.
- Resilience as a mandate. Fuel security, strategic food reserves, water for irrigation and diversified power each need a named owner.
- Minimum disruption, full disclosure. Every merger costs months of transition. Change only what serves a target, publish the cost, and keep the total roughly flat while the new IMF programme constrains spending.
3. A recommended combination of ministries
The recommendation keeps the total at 25: one ministry re-established, two merged into one, six mandates realigned and five ministries renamed. The rest stay as they are, because changing them would cost more than it gains. The starting point is the structure approved in 2021, as listed by the published Cabinet list and Parliament; it should be checked against the list the Vice-President tables.
Strategic centre
| Proposed ministry | Change | Purpose under Grow Zambia |
|---|---|---|
| Finance (Treasury) | Planning functions move out | Budget, revenue, debt and the IMF programme are a full-time job |
| National Development Planning and Monitoring | Re-established (dissolved in 2021) | Owns the 2031 targets, the next national plan beyond Vision 2030, published target arithmetic and the independent annual scorecard; the Presidential Delivery Unit reports progress through it to Parliament |
Production and value addition
| Proposed ministry | Change | Purpose under Grow Zambia |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture and Food Security | Realigned: adds farm blocks, irrigation development and the Food Reserve Agency mandate | Lead for maize, soya, wheat and sugar; owns farm-gate price and smallholder income indicators |
| Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Health | Renamed from Fisheries and Livestock and realigned: Veterinary Services raised to the core mandate | Lead for 11m cattle and US$1bn beef; disease control must not be buried inside a crop ministry |
| Mines and Minerals Development | Realigned: adds a value-addition mandate (refining, fabrication, local supply) | Lead for 3m tonnes copper and the share refined in Zambia; remains regulator, not shareholder |
| Energy | Realigned: adds fuel security, ethanol blending and policy oversight of a rule-based price stabilisation fund | Lead for 10,000 MW and fuel resilience |
| Water Resources and Irrigation | Renamed from Water Development and Sanitation and realigned; urban water utilities move to Local Government | Bulk water and dams for 500,000 ha of irrigation and hydropower |
| Commerce, Trade and Industry | Name unchanged; mandate makes agro-processing and export certification explicit | Turns raw output into processed exports |
| Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperatives | Renamed to make cooperatives explicit | The jobs engine and the voice of the informal majority |
| Tourism and Wildlife | Renamed to reflect the national parks mandate | Lead for 5m tourists |
| Lands and Natural Resources | Unchanged | Land administration for farm blocks and protection of customary tenure |
| Green Economy and Environment | Unchanged | Climate finance, forestry, environmental licensing |
Infrastructure and territory
| Proposed ministry | Change | Purpose under Grow Zambia |
|---|---|---|
| Transport, Infrastructure and Logistics | Merger of Transport and Logistics with Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development (housing moves to Local Government) | One owner for rail, roads, border posts and the shift of freight from road to rail |
| Local Government, Housing and Rural Development | Realigned: gains housing, urban development and urban water utilities | Services delivered where people live, linked to the CDF |
People, skills and protection
| Proposed ministry | Change | Purpose under Grow Zambia |
|---|---|---|
| Labour, Employment and Productivity | Renamed; hosts an upgraded Tripartite Consultative Labour Council | Lead for formal jobs, real wages and productivity agreements |
| Community Development and Social Protection | Renamed | Social cash transfers indexed to the cost of the food basket |
| Technology, Science and Skills | Renamed to make TEVET and skills explicit | Skills for processing industries; national research capacity |
| Education | Unchanged | The foundation of the skills pipeline |
| Health | Unchanged | A healthy workforce; joint disease surveillance with Animal Health |
| Youth, Sport and Arts | Unchanged | Youth unemployment is about 24.7% |
| Information and Media | Unchanged | Public communication of targets and the annual scorecard |
Sovereignty and the rule of law
Home Affairs and Internal Security, Defence, Justice, and Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation stay unchanged. Foreign Affairs should hold the economic diplomacy and investment-promotion brief that Grow Zambia relies on.
What to resist
- Merging Livestock back into Agriculture. It would save a ministerial post but dilute disease control just as the CBPP incursion in Namwala tests the beef plan.
- Folding Labour into Community Development. It would treat workers as welfare recipients rather than partners in productivity.
- Absorbing SMEs into Commerce. Large-investor priorities would crowd out the small firms and cooperatives that create most jobs.
- Putting state mining equity under the Mines ministry. The regulator should not also defend Mopani-style deals. State holdings (IDC, ZCCM-IH) need a separate shareholder function that reports to Parliament annually.
4. Who answers for each target
Each of the eight headline targets, and the cattle and irrigation targets, gets one lead minister, named supporting ministries, and a second indicator that measures value, ownership or household benefit. MPs can ask the Vice-President to table a matrix like this alongside the motion. Ministries are given short names in the table.
| 2031 target | Lead ministry | Supporting | Front-line capacity it depends on | Value or household indicator to add |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10m tonnes maize | Agriculture and Food Security | Water Resources and Irrigation; SMEs and Cooperatives | Extension officers, FRA depots | Farm-gate price; smallholder income |
| 3m tonnes soya, 1m wheat, 1m sugar | Agriculture and Food Security | Commerce (processing); Water Resources and Irrigation | Extension officers; irrigation schemes | Share processed in Zambia |
| US$1bn beef exports; 11m cattle | Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Health | Commerce (abattoirs, export certification); Local Government | District vets, paravets, movement control | Days to contain an outbreak; smallholder sales into certified channels |
| 3m tonnes copper | Mines and Minerals Development | Commerce; Energy; state shareholder function | Mine inspectors, Mining Cadastre | Share refined and fabricated locally; Zambian share of supply contracts |
| 10,000 MW | Energy | Water Resources and Irrigation; Green Economy | Grid and rural electrification staff | Hours of load-shedding; tariff affordability |
| 5m tourists | Tourism and Wildlife | Transport, Infrastructure and Logistics; Foreign Affairs | Wildlife police, park staff | Local jobs and earnings in tourism districts |
| 500,000 ha irrigated | Water Resources and Irrigation | Agriculture; Lands | Water resource officers | Hectares held by small-scale farmers |
| Cross-cutting: jobs and wages | Labour, Employment and Productivity | SMEs and Cooperatives; Technology, Science and Skills | Labour inspectors | Formal jobs created; real wage growth |
| Cross-cutting: published numbers and scorecard | National Development Planning and Monitoring | Finance; ZamStats; Presidential Delivery Unit | Statisticians, monitoring and evaluation officers | Annual independent scorecard debated in Parliament |
5. A method for MPs debating the motion
MPs should debate the realignment change by change, not as a single vote of confidence in Grow Zambia. The method below works for any MP, from any party, and fits inside the 21-day window. In past sittings the motion has been put as a single question, so MPs who support most changes but oppose some should seek the Speaker’s guidance early on whether a change can be voted on separately. If it cannot, they should place their objections and conditions on the record.
Step 1. Demand the full papers before debate
Ask the Vice-President, through the Speaker, to table these with the motion. Each is a reasonable request; the 2021 order paper already supplied the second.
- [ ] The list of ministries to be established, merged, renamed and dissolved
- [ ] For each ministry, the portfolio functions and statutory bodies it gains or loses
- [ ] Which Grow Zambia target each change serves, and the lead minister for each target
- [ ] The cost of the transition: offices, systems, staff transfers, new posts, and whether it is fiscally neutral
- [ ] The effect on the 2027 Estimates of Expenditure and how budget lines will be re-mapped
- [ ] The position of the Presidential Delivery Unit: whom it reports to and how its findings reach Parliament
- [ ] Whether public service unions were consulted on staff transfers
- [ ] A transition timetable, with the date by which every ministry will be fully functional
Step 2. Apply nine tests to each change
The first five come from the design principles in Section 2. The Speaker has said every bill and budget must answer one question: does it grow Zambia? The last four tests extend that question.
| Test | Question to ask of each change | A pass looks like |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Target | Which 2031 target does this serve, and how? | A named target and a mechanism, not a slogan |
| 2. Value | Does it give someone the job of value addition and Zambian ownership? | A mandate and an indicator beyond volume |
| 3. Accountability | After the change, is exactly one minister answerable for the target? | One lead, named supporters |
| 4. Front line | Are vets, extension officers and inspectors protected or strengthened? | Posts and budgets ring-fenced in the transition |
| 5. Cost | What does it cost, and is the disruption worth it? | Published cost; benefit clearly larger |
| 6. Who owns the growth? | Does it favour Zambian enterprises, cooperatives and workers? | A local ownership or local content mandate |
| 7. Who carries the risk? | Does it protect smallholders, workers and mining towns? | A ministry charged with their interests |
| 8. Who decided? | Were social partners consulted? | Evidence of consultation |
| 9. Who checks? | Will progress be reported independently to Parliament? | A scorecard owner outside the delivery chain |
Step 3. Score and decide
Give each change one of three verdicts: support, support with conditions, or oppose. A change that fails tests 1 or 3 should be opposed; one that fails tests 4, 5 or 9 should carry conditions. Fill this template as a caucus or committee:
| Proposed change | Tests passed | Tests failed | Verdict | Condition sought |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Failures on tests 2, 6, 7 or 8 do not on their own justify opposition, but they should be raised in debate and turned into the conditions sought in Step 4.
Step 4. Secure undertakings on the record
Before the question is put, MPs should ask the Vice-President to commit, in her reply to the debate, to:
- Gazette each ministry’s portfolio functions and statutory bodies within 30 days.
- Table a transition report, with costs, to the relevant committees within 90 days.
- Keep front-line posts and their budgets intact during every transfer.
- Publish the assumptions behind each Grow Zambia target, and an annual independent scorecard debated in the House.
- Report to Parliament on state mining holdings, including Mopani, on a fixed annual timetable.
Step 5. Follow up
- Reconstitute portfolio committees to match the new ministries, so no target falls between committees.
- Hold a six-month review of the transition in each committee.
- Ask the Auditor-General to cover transition costs in the next audit cycle.
- Track the undertakings in Step 4 through questions for oral answer.
Question bank for the floor
- Planning. Where will long-term planning sit, and how will it survive a change of government?
- Beef. Will Veterinary Services keep its own budget line, and how many district vets will there be in 2027?
- Copper. Which minister answers for the share of copper refined in Zambia, and who oversees state equity in mines?
- Energy. Which ministry owns fuel security and the pricing mechanism the President said will be reviewed?
- Jobs. Which minister answers for formal jobs and real wages, not only output?
- Farmers. How will cooperatives and small-scale farmers be represented in delivering the maize and soya targets?
- Cost. Is the realignment fiscally neutral under the new IMF programme? If not, what is the cost?
- Oversight. Will the Presidential Delivery Unit’s progress reports be tabled in this House?
6. Objections the proposal must answer
A credible position should meet the strongest counter-arguments, which government MPs and others will raise.
- “Organising the executive is the President’s prerogative.” The Constitution gives the President the initiative, but it also requires the House’s approval. Asking for papers and conditions is the scrutiny Article 92 intends, not obstruction.
- “Speed matters; six weeks have already passed.” True, and further delay has a cost. That is why this method fits inside the 21-day window and asks for undertakings rather than rejection of the whole motion.
- “Planning was merged into Finance in 2021 to tie plans to money.” A fair point: separate planning ministries have often been ignored by Treasury. The answer is to give the planning body statutory authority over the scorecard and the national plan, not merely a separate office.
- “A separate Livestock ministry is an extra cost.” It is one ministerial post set against a US$1bn target and an active disease outbreak. The cost of losing an export compartment is far higher.
- “The Transport and Infrastructure merger creates a mega-ministry.” It may. If the House judges it too large, keeping the two ministries but placing rail and freight under a single lead is a workable alternative.
- “The Presidential Delivery Unit already monitors targets.” It does, but it answers to the President. Independent reporting to Parliament complements it rather than duplicating it.
There is also a genuine empirical dispute: international evidence on whether restructuring ministries improves delivery is mixed, and many reviews find that budgets, staffing and leadership matter more than the organogram. That supports the minimum-disruption approach taken here.
Sources
- Hichilema asks Parliament to approve a reshuffle of government ministries, Lusaka Times, 26 Oct 2026
- HH seeks Parley approval to realign, dissolve govt ministries, News Diggers, 26 Oct 2026
- Zambian govt moves to dissolve, merge, align ministries, Zambia Monitor, 26 Oct 2026
- President Hichilema appoints first four Cabinet ministers, Lusaka Times, 14 Sep 2026
- Approval of Government Ministries, National Assembly debates, 14 Sep 2021
- Order Paper, 14 Sep 2021, National Assembly
- Approval of Government Ministries and Departments, National Assembly debates, 19 Oct 2011
- Article 94 and the 21-day approval window, Zambian Observer
- Cabinet list, Zambia Invest
- Our goals, Presidential Delivery Unit
- The Architecture of Independence; Sixty-Two Years On; Squeezed from Every Side; Namwala and Itezhi-Tezhi; Mopani: The Warning We Ignored; Independence Is Not a Holiday (Dr Cosmas Musumali, 2026)