The National Assembly of Zambia under the European Union (EU) support to the National Assembly of Zambia project conducted a Media Training Workshop on Public Financial Management Oversight, at Radisson Blu Hotel in Lusaka on Thursday, 29th June, 2017.
Acting Clerk of the National Assembly, Mrs Cecilia Mbewe said, the objectives of the workshop were to equip Media Houses with reporting skills and resources that can help increase the public’s knowledge of parliamentary oversight of public financial management and to strengthen the ability of the media to effectively and sustainably communicate and inform the general public on public financial management issues.
She added that, the workshop was aimed at enhancing the relationship between the National Assembly and the Media and she also encouraged the Journalists who participated in the Media Training Workshop to take advantage of the presence of the Chairperson of the Committee on Estimates to explore opportunities for further engagement with him and the Committee.
The Acting Clerk also took time to thank the European Union for the support it is rendering to the National Assembly of Zambia (NAZ) to enhance its Public financial management oversight role and the Ministry of Finance for their support in the establishment of the interim Parliamentary Budget Office.
Mrs Mbewe further informed the participants that the National Assembly would with effect from 2018 sponsor annual media awards and that the monitoring of journalists for the 2018 media awards was already underway. She stated that the National Assembly media awards would be in three categories, namely; television, radio and print and that two journalists one male and one female would be awarded in each of the three categories.
Speaking at the same workshop, NAZ Principal Clerk of Committees, Mr. Stephen Kawimbe said that the support to the National Assembly of Zambia project is a collaborative initiative between the Government of the Republic of Zambia and The European Union. The overall objective of this project is to enhance economic governance in Zambia through improved public financial management, strengthened accountability process and improved management for results.
Mr Kawimbe said, in a quest to create awareness regarding the implementation of the project, NAZ in collaboration with the EU Support to the National Assembly Project developed the communication and visibility strategy to provide a framework for the smooth flow of information.
In the closing remarks for the workshop, Chairperson of the Committee on Estimates, Mr Mwalimu Simfukwe, MP, made a Call to Action in which he called upon the Media to report more on Public Financial Management Oversight in addition to the reports of the Auditor General. He added that, Pubic Financial Management Oversight is an issue of great importance to national development and is also of great interest among our citizens.
 He further said that the EU Support to the National Assembly Project had facilitated the establishment of the interim Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) and was in the process of developing four handbooks on Public Financial Management which would be launched in September, 2017.
The workshop participants were exposed to diverse information during the presentations that were made, the presentations made were on topics that included; The Role of Parliament in Public Financial Management; an Overview of the National Assembly of Zambia; Parliament and the Media; and The Role of the Parliamentary Budget Office  in Supporting Parliamentary Oversight of the Budget.
The Media Training Workshop provided an opportunity for NAZ and   the media to interact, exchange views and enhance their relations.