Zambia: National Assembly accounts oversight and Treasury Minutes

The law on Treasury Minutes

The Public Finance Management Act No. 1 of 2018 received assent on 9 April 2018 and was gazetted on 11 April 2018 ¹. Section 2 defines a treasury minute as "a report on an action-taken by the Treasury in response to the recommendations" of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts ¹.

Section 7(1)(h) gives the Secretary to the Treasury the duty to "implement the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts" ¹. Section 7(1)(i) gives the same office the duty to "prepare the treasury minute in respect of the implementation of the recommendations" ¹.

Section 9(1)(j) lists among the Accountant-General's functions the "preparation of a memorandum in form of treasury minutes" on Auditor-General report recommendations ¹. Section 9(1)(k) covers "following up on outstanding issues in respect of the report of recommendations of Parliament" ¹.

Audit reports that start the cycle

The Office of the Auditor General describes itself as the supreme audit institution mandated to audit all government institutions, and says it provides Parliament with independent information, guidance and assurance ⁴.

The Office published a release on the Report of the Auditor General on the Accounts of the Republic for the financial year ended 31st December 2025, released by Acting Auditor General Patricia Malaila ². The release lists K3.56 billion in outstanding obligations at the Ministry of Health, K626.64 million in uncollected mining penalties, over K72 million in irregularities under the Farmer Input Support Programme and 5,568 confiscated Mukula logs that could not be accounted for ². These are audit findings. They are not committee findings.

The release says unresolved audit findings fell from 33 in 2024 to 27 ². The release page does not state a tabling date ².

How follow-up is reported

This site has not confirmed from a primary source a fixed deadline for laying a treasury minute, as of 22 October 2026.

The National Assembly's committee and report pages could not be opened by this site on 22 October 2026. The committee's Standing Order basis, current chairperson and report dates are left out until they are confirmed.

• The Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts makes recommendations ¹.
• The Secretary to the Treasury prepares a treasury minute on implementation of the committee's recommendations ¹.
• The Accountant-General follows up outstanding issues from Parliament's recommendations ¹.

Where to find documents

• National Assembly website menu sections: Committees, Debates and Proceedings, Votes and Proceedings, Order Paper, Ministerial Statements and Publications ³.
• Auditor General reports and releases on the Office of the Auditor General website ⁴.
• Text of the Public Finance Management Act 2018 ¹.

Records on this site

This site's Zambia record will cover Public Accounts Committee recommendations and the treasury minute replies to them. Each record follows the method in How to track a recommendation. The Uganda page describes a similar Treasury Memorandum system.