Zambia's public service is going digital and pushing power out of Lusaka, and Secretary to the Cabinet Patrick Kangwa says the results are already showing. Speaking at the Association of Public Administration and Management conference, Mr Kangwa declared that government has invested deliberately in e-government and decentralization, the twin engines behind the Grow Zambia agenda.
According to LusakaTimes.com, which reported the conference, citizens can now complete entire processes online for tax payments, road service licenses, land rates, and ground rent without the endless queues and delays that used to define dealing with government offices.
What the Digital Push Means for Ordinary Zambians
The Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security has launched an online passport application system, and a digital national registration card is on the way. Mr Kangwa said these are the result of deliberate planning and execution aimed at making public services faster, transparent, and accessible.
This is the kind of change Zambians have demanded for years. No more travelling to Lusaka to chase a document. No more waiting weeks for a service that should take a day. When services move online, the power moves back to the people, where it belongs. The Smart Zambia Institute's decentralised digital-skills programme, launched for government staff in December 2025, shows the same logic: push the capacity out to the provinces instead of hoarding it in the capital.
Decentralization: Power Back to the Communities
Mr Kangwa did not stop at digitization. He said decentralization sits at the heart of President Hakainde Hichilema's development agenda, and that devolving functions, resources, and decision-making to local authorities is empowering communities to manage their own development.
This is what sovereign nations do. A country of over 20 million people cannot be run like a village with one headman in Lusaka. Every province, every district, every ward has its own priorities, and the people who live there know them best. Zambia's public sector has long struggled with heavy bureaucracy and red tape, as Wikipedia's country profile notes, and moving decisions closer to the people is the most direct way to cut through that red tape.
Proof on the Ground: The Rocky Gardens Transformation
Mr Kangwa pointed to concrete proof that government targets are not just talk. The former Rocky Gardens in Lusaka West has been transformed into one of Africa's biggest industrial parks by the Wonderful Group conglomerate, producing packaging materials and fertilizer. A new urea plant was commissioned by the President on October 16, creating over 6,000 jobs and projected to bring in US$5 billion by 2029.
That is Zambian land producing Zambian jobs and Zambian value. This is the model the whole country needs: our resources processed here, our people employed here, our wealth kept here.
Mr Kangwa told public administrators the private sector must feel the facilitation role of the public service.
You must make sure the private sector feels the facilitation and enabling role that we play as public administration.
He urged public service workers to embrace change, break down silos, and build institutions that deliver consistently for citizens. The message is clear: the era of the government office as an obstacle is over.
Local Authorities Urged to Step Up
Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development permanent secretary for administration Gabriel Pollen said the ministry's partnership with the Association for Public Administration of Zambia (APAZ) was born out of the passion for duty shown by the association's leadership.
Dr Pollen admitted concern over the low response from local authorities, who are the main stakeholders of the conference, but said the inaugural event will give special momentum going forward. He encouraged staff in his ministry and all local authorities to affiliate with professional associations such as APAZ, because regardless of backgrounds, all are public administrators.
Local authorities cannot sit back while the country moves. If councils want to be taken seriously as the frontline of decentralization, they must show up and own these reforms.
APAZ Wants an Act of Parliament
APAZ president Mudonda Sikawala said the association, formed by public administration enthusiasts in 2020, has grown to over 150 members across five provinces. It now wants to become a professional association backed by an Act of Parliament to regulate thousands of practicing but unregulated administrators.
The goal is the same recognition already enjoyed by accountants and lawyers. Mr Sikawala said the association needs the Secretary to the Cabinet's guidance as its new patron, and he assured government of APAZ's readiness to support the Grow Zambia agenda. He recommended that the Ninth National Development Plan and the next five budget cycles be synced to the agenda for policy coherence and easy monitoring.
He also announced that 14 individuals and organisations are being awarded this year, and thanked ZESCO and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development for their support ahead of a bigger event in June 2027.
Why This Matters for Zambia's Future
This conference comes at a moment when Zambia's direction is under intense discussion. Zambia's political and economic power runs through a re-elected president and a copper economy, as The Rio Times recently explained, and the question of who controls that power, the people or distant elites, has never been more urgent.
E-government and decentralization answer that question in favor of the people. When a farmer in Mongu can pay land rates online, when a council in Chipata can decide its own budget priorities, Zambia is governing itself the way a sovereign nation should.
The next test is execution. Reforms announced at conferences are worth nothing until they reach the person standing in a queue at a government office. The online passport system is live, the digital national registration card is coming, and the industrial park in Lusaka West is already employing thousands. The momentum is real. Now every ministry, every council, and every public administrator must deliver on it.
FAQ
What services can Zambians now access online?
According to Secretary to the Cabinet Patrick Kangwa, citizens can complete end-to-end processes for tax payments, road service licenses, land rates, and ground rent online, and the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security has launched an online passport application system.
What is Zambia's decentralization policy?
It is a government policy that devolves functions, resources, and decision-making from central government to local authorities, so communities can manage their own development.
What is the Grow Zambia agenda?
It is the government's national development agenda, which Mr Kangwa says is being driven by investments in e-government and decentralization.
What happened at the former Rocky Gardens site in Lusaka West?
The site was transformed by the Wonderful Group conglomerate into one of Africa's biggest industrial parks, producing packaging materials and fertilizer, with a new urea plant commissioned on October 16 that has created over 6,000 jobs and is projected to bring in US$5 billion by 2029.