By CATHERINE NYIRENDA  –

THE Parliamentary Committee on Government Assurance yesterday sent back Community Development Mother and Child Health Permanent Secretary Elwyn Chomba and her team for presenting an unsatisfactory data before it.
United Party for National Development (UPND) Kabompo West Member of Parliament (MP) who is also the Committee chairperson, Ambrose Lufuma told Professor Chomba and her team to re-submit their report with factual data.
“The Committee wants factual information from you on the assurances that were made in the House by the minister and not mere reports, we will request you to go back and reorganise your response and re-submit,” Mr Lufuma said.
The Government Assurance Committee follows up on declarations that are made by the executive members in the House on the programmes that Government undertakes and ensures that they are implemented.
One of the assurances that Dr Chomba failed to give a satisfactory answer to was on the social cash transfer programme and the criteria that the ministry uses to select the vulnerable to be assisted by Government.
Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) Luena MP Mulumemui Imenda questioned the permanent secretary if the ministry was working with the Central Statistics Office (CSO) to identify the poorest and what criteria it was following.
Chama North MP January Zimba wondered how the permanent secretary and her team could fail to give a satisfactory response to the answers that are generated by them for the executive to give to the House during oral question and answer sessions.
“This is a trend by most controlling officers, you fail to give tangible answers for the answers that are generated by yourselves.
“This committee does not want you to give us projections when you appear before it, we are interest in what has been implemented so far and proper figures and not projections,” he said.
Prof Chomba assured the Committee that the team would come up with the required data as soon as possible.