Mass installations of new chiefs and elevation of others have pushed the annual budget for traditional leaders’ honoraria from K7.39 billion to K20 billion, drawing queries of sustainability from governance and accountability pundits.
The K20 billion represents 1.3 percent of the total national wages and salaries for civil servants projected at K1.53 trillion in the K8 trillion 2025/26 National Budget.
Ministry of Local Government, National Unity and Culture spokesperson Anjoya Mwanza, in a written response to a questionnaire on Wednesday, said before the increment, the government was spending K7.39 billion to pay 42 882 chiefs.
Beneficiaries were seven paramount chiefs, 152 senior chiefs, 144 traditional authorities (T/As), 123 sub-T/As, 7 470 group village heads (GVHs) and 34 986 village heads (VHs).
budgeted for a hike . | Nation
Said Mwanza: “Government also budgeted for an increase of honoraria by up to 100 percent. We have an allocation of K20 billion in the budget for the honoraria.
“Government has put 15 000 on the rank of village heads, 5 000 villages promoted to the position of group village heads.”
Mwanza said this year, government has also appointed 67 chiefs to positions of sub-T/A, 52 promoted to T/As and made senior chiefs.
She justified the promotions, saying they are meant to reduce imbalances as some regions had more promotions than others before.
“As for revision, it was based on general economic considerations and also to respond to the general increase of salaries that has happened over the last two years,” said Mwanza.
But governance analyst George Chaima argued in an interview this week that promoting traditional leaders creates a burden on the national budget; hence, unnecessary.
He said: “Basically, chiefs are not civil servants and they are not supposed to get paid. The bill for chiefs’ honoraria will become overwhelmingly unsustainable if government continues paying them.”
Chaima observed that the taxpayer is already burdened and adding more to the country’s wage bill through the honoraria was not helping.
Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency executive director Willy Kambwandira feared that the development could result in unsustainable debts for the country.
He said: “Pumping huge sums into allowances and honoraria without corresponding productivity can create a localised inflation, reduces investment in productive projects and may also worsen debt sustainability.”
VHs receive K10 000 each per month, GVHs get K20 000 per month while senior chiefs take home K120 000 and paramount chiefs receive a monthly honoraria of K200 000.
During presentation of 2025/26 National Budget in Parliament in February, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Simplex Chithyola-Banda said wages and salaries were projected to grow to K1.53 trillion, representing 5.9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
