ASSETS MANAGEMENT OFFICE A MUST – THINK TANK

By Arnel Chitundu

THERE is a need for the establishment and operationalization of an Assets Management office by the Government, an Entrepreneurship Think Tank has said.

Speaking to The Scoop, the Zambian Empowerment Hub for Entrepreneurship and Skills Training (ZEHEST), Executive Director Clarence Muzyamba said it was critical for the Government to establish an Assets management office immediately.

“Ever since the New Dawn Government came into office, they have taken an active stance in fighting corruption by engaging on an assets recovery path,” Mr. Muzyamba said.

He said the absence of such a vital office had brought uncertainty in the management of assets seized from proceeds of crime.

He said it was important to have a law governing how assets or money recovered from proceeds of crime would be used.

He stated that opening such an office had huge benefits as resources generated would be ploughed back into the economy and help revive a lot of sectors that were underperforming as a result of climate change impacts.

He explained that the same money generated would help empower small and medium Enterprises SMEs through affordable loans adding that the money would sustain their businesses by offering them low interest loans as many people had been affected by various economic factors.

“As ZEHEST, it is our hope that this money generated will be used for skills training as well as other empowerment programs and projects. We would be glad if some of these recovered assets and funds are given to us as an organization so that we conduct community entrepreneurship and empowerment symposiums where we empower citizens with skills, information, and knowledge,” he said.