LUSAKA CITY COUNCIL REVENUE JUMPS FROM K61,000 to NEARLY K14 MILLION FOLLOWING E-COUNCIL DIGITALISATION

LUSAKA CITY COUNCIL REVENUE JUMPS FROM K61,000 to NEARLY K14 MILLION FOLLOWING E-COUNCIL DIGITALISATION

By Victoria Kayeye Yambani

Revenue collection at Lusaka City Council has surged from just K61,000 in January 2026 to more than K13.9 million in June, a dramatic increase that the government says demonstrates the success of its e-Council digitalisation programme in sealing revenue leakages and improving efficiency.

Speaking during a press briefing, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development Permanent Secretary for Administration, Dr Gabriel Pollen, says the improved collections are the result of automating local authority revenue systems through the Government Service Bus (GSB)/ZamPortal platform, which has reduced reliance on manual cash-based transactions.

Dr Pollen says before the digital migration, the seven services now onboarded under Lusaka City Council generated K61,000 in January, K627,000 in February, K398,000 in March and K258,000 in April. After the services went live on 26 May, the council collected more than K1 million within four days, ending the month at K1.8 million before recording an unprecedented K13.9 million in June, the first full month under the digital platform.

He says the Ministry, working with the Electronic Government Division (Smart Zambia) and the Ministry of Finance and National Planning through the Accountant General’s Office, has now successfully onboarded eight pilot local authorities onto the e-Council platform.

The initiative enables citizens and businesses to pay electronically for services such as property rates, business levies, health permits, building permits, market and bus station fees, among others, while enhancing transparency, accountability and service delivery.

The Permanent Secretary added that  government expects the increased revenue to be channelled back into communities through improved local authority service delivery as the nationwide rollout of the digitalisation programme continues.

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