Northwestern Province Permanent Secretary, Grandson Katambi  says President Hakainde Hichilema has placed decentralisation  top priority on  governments developmental agenda to be used  towards reducing poverty and supporting job creation.

Col. Katambi (Rtd) said through participation and engagement decentralization can be achieved at the local level hence the Ministry of Justice in collaboration with Smart Zambia Institute developed a contract management and tracking system.

He said this in Solwezi during the official opening of the ongoing stakeholders training of procurement officers on the contract management and tracking system organised by the Ministry of Justice in partnership with smart Zambia Institute.

Col Katambi said the system is a tool that will recognise the contracts management streamline process and improve efficiency across the board.

“Therefore colleagues, this training saves as a crucial step in ensuring the timely approval of contracts thus contributing to expeditious implementation of projects in the province especially under Constituency Development Fund, I think this is where there is a problem,”he said.

Col Katambi said once the system is implemented it will eliminate the need for officers to travel to Lusaka for submission of contracts thereby lessening the burden on the treasury.

He expressed hope that the training will foster a broader understanding of the contract management and tracking system and will raise awareness on the system to other stakeholders through sharing of experiences on the use of the system.

Ministry of Justice Department of International Law and Agreements Assistant Director Diana Muma said the Ministry wants to play its part  in ensuring that CDF contracts are approved quickly, urging the procurement officers to embrace the system.

“You don’t have to come to Lusaka to make submissions of contracts or make follow ups or bring a contract profile letter, it is not sustainable, so we came up with this system,” she said.