By HELEN ZULU? –

CENTRAL Statistical Office (CSO) deputy director economic statistics?Goodson Sinyenga has said there is need to find a mechanism of?monitoring the informal cross-border trade in the country.
Mr Sinyenga said Zambia had been having a challenge in monitoring the?informal cross border trade because the boarders were wide hence the?need to find a way of accounting for the informal trade.
Accounting for the informal trade has not been done before in Zambia,?so there is need to find a way of accounting for the informal trade?and capture it in the total trade.?He was speaking at the sixth COMESA committee on statistical matters?meeting in Lusaka yesterday.
“We need to take this issue of information very critically, because?how do you know if the programme has a positive impact on the people?if you do not have a monitoring mechanism, so in everything we need to?measure to plan well, If you do not measure, it will be?difficult for us to plan for the future,” Mr Sinyenga said?The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) was doing a good job in places?where it had automated checks but did not have sufficient manpower?to manage the whole border area.
There was need for monitoring of all the programmes that the country?was undertaking to see if the programmes were achieving the intended?purposes.
Mr Sinyenga said most programmes that the country and the Common?Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region were implementing needed to be monitored and evaluated in order to measure the impact they had on the well being of the people.
He said in each and every programme that the country was implementing,?there should be a monitoring and evaluation component.
There was need to safeguard resources for monitoring mechanisation so?as to be able to plan accurately.
“Most of the programmes that we are implementing?as a region need to be monitored and evaluated to be able to see?whether the programmes are achieving the intended purpose and having?an impact on the well being of the people,” he said.