President Hichilema Officiates First Ever PDU Delivery Forum

On Wednesday, President Hakainde Hichilema presided over the first-ever Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU) Delivery Forum at the Taj Pamodzi Hotel in Lusaka.  

The PDU was set up to help facilitate and progress the government's agenda by tracking and accelerating the implementation of Presidential Priority Projects. “It serves as a collaborative toolkit to drive the country's economic agenda forward,” the President wrote after attending the forum.  

The forum marked the significant milestones of three years since President Hichilema took office and just over eighteen months since the PDU was set up to help fast-track the Presidential Priorities.

The forum highlighted progress and discussed the challenges in implementing the president’s priority areas, focusing on key sectors such as energy, infrastructure projects, and the rollout of Constituency Development Funds (CDFs).

This inaugural year’s theme was “Delivering for the People”. The forum featured exhibitions and presentations from 15 government ministries, as well discussions with permanent secretaries and private sector partners.

Before making his keynote speech, the President visited each and every exhibition stand with the Secretary to the Cabinet, Patrick Kangwa. The exhibitors explained to the Presidentwhat they have been able to achieve with the collaboration and assistance of the PDU.

Upon opening the delivery forum, the President began his address by criticising the “slowness of delivery by the public sector” when he first took office. In Hichilema’s words, he could not deliver “at the speed that was needed to resolve the challenges that [he] inherited when [he] came into office.”

President Hichilema noted that the PDU's objectives shared the common goal of delivery with other government organisations but that working with the PDU “has been vital in delivering efficiency across the public sector.”

Indeed, the president described the PDU's culture as “positive disruption.”

"This is what the PDU is all about: accelerating projects, positive disruption, a culture shift—respecting processes but respecting delivery, too,” he explained.

In recent months, a major focus of the PDU has been solving the country’s energy challenges, and President Hichilema praised the unit’s round-the-clock work with stakeholders in the energy sector. The President told the forum that during his recent visit to China, where he attended FOCAC in September, he told President Xi Jinping, “Energy is top on my agenda. My agenda is to solve the energy crisis.”

The President also cited the Zambia-UK Green Growth Compact as an example of international cooperation to improve energy supply chains and lessen reliance on hydropower. The compact sets ambitious targets for green investment, including up to £2.5 billion of UK private sector investment and up to £500 million in UK government-backed investments.

Discussing the PDU’s role in road infrastructure, the President gave examples of the significant strides made due to the unit’s work, including starting work on the Lusaka-Ndolo dual carriageway and the Ndola-Sakania road. The President also noted the importance of collaboration with the private sector in delivery. Public-private partnerships are planned to deliver 828 km of new roads in 2025.

The President concluded by saying, “We have a job to grow this economy. I listen to a lot of opposition colleagues talking, and I choose not to respond with words; I choose to answer by delivering.”