WESTERN Province Minister Kapelwa Mbangweta has directed all Heads of Departments in the province to work in accordance with the decentralised governance system to improve service delivery. 

Mr Mbagweta has expressed disappointment that most departments were still working in a centralised manner evenwhen government in running a decentralized system. 

ZANIS reports that Mr Mbangweta was speaking during the 2025 first senior management meeting for heads of government departments held in Mongu today. 

“From my own position we are not doing well because a number of you here are still in a sort of a distance for reasons which I do not understand. The government position is that we are running a decentralised government system not a centralised system. 

“We are running a decentralised system because it is easier to account and it is easier to see targets, set them, monitor them and see how they are being handled,” Mr Mbangweta said. 

The Minister urged the officers to work closely with the provincial administration and warned officers against reporting all matters to Lusaka without consulting the provincial administration. 

He said the tendency of most officers working in a centralised manner has contributed to poor development in the province. 

”The majority of you feel that you still need to report to Lusaka when the Permanent Secretary is there, but I think this year we are not going to allow that because what happened last year has resulted in this province being at the tail,” Mr Mbangweta said. 

He expressed disappointment at the low pace on the construction of the 22 secondary schools in the province and implored the provincial education office to ensure that the project is completed this year in order to create more learning space and increase on the teacher recruitment.