By BRIAN HATYOKA –

GOVERNMENT has urged the Zambia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (ZEITI) to continue improving the quality and content of its reports to enhance transparency in the management of mineral and other natural resources.
Southern Province Permanent Secretary, Margaret Miyoba said there was need for the ZEITI to continue improving the quality and content of its reports to assist the Government on mining policy formulation.
Ms Miyoba said the contents from ZEITI reports were important as it was helping stakeholders to actively participate in the management of natural resources.
She said this in a speech read for her by Livingstone district administrative officer Harriet Kawina during the dissemination of the fourth Zambia EITI 2011 Reconciliation Report workshop.
EITI, which was launched in London in 2003, is a global coalition of donors, governments, private sector, civil society organisations and investors aimed at contributing to poverty reduction and sustainable development.
Its objective is to disclose payments by oil, gas and mining companies and revenue received by the Government to enhance transparency and accountability in the management of natural resources.
Ms Miyoba commended the Zambia EITI, which is housed at the Ministry of Mines in Lusaka, for facilitating a disseminating workshop for stakeholders in the province.
‘‘Information is power and by giving information of payments by mining
companies and revenue received by the Government, we are empowering all stakeholders to participate in the management of mineral resources.
“I therefore urge all stakeholders to make use of the EITI reports to make informed decisions,” Ms Miyoba said.
She said being EITI compliant, Zambia had put effective processes for enhancing transparency and accountability in the mining sector to enable the country to maximise benefits from the sector.
Several representatives of Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), learning institutions, civil society, Government agencies and institutions in Southern Province, Livingstone in particular attended the workshop.
Zambia joined the EITI in 2009 and became compliant in September 2012 and became the first country in Central, Eastern and Southern Africa to join.