MINISTRY of Local Government Permanent Secretary Nicholas Phiri says government is engaging NAPSA and ZRA to see how they can help local authorities quickly move away from their debt situation. The Auditor General’s Report on the audit of accounts of local authorities for the financial year ended December 31, 2023, revealed that 109 councils owe various institutions a total of K3,522,262,654 in statutory and other obligations, including taxes, pensions and insurance contributions. The Report indicated that some of these debts had been outstanding from as far back as 2013. Phiri has attributed the debt to poor capacity among local authorities to collect revenue in the past, untimely disbursement of the Local Government Equalisation Fund, and other factors. In an interview,...