Two of Zambias largest and economically active land borders of Nakonde and Chirundu have resume normal operations
The Zambia Revenue Authority – ZRA has confirmed that after consultations with other Revenue Authorities in the region particularly Zimbabwe and Tanzania, the institution has with immediate effect started operating 24/7 at Chirundu for the next one week while Nakonde has resumed the normal 24/7 as before the shutdown.
ZRA is working with other Government agencies to ensure that travelers and the general public are served in an efficient manner and reduce congestion at the borders.
The Covid 19 pandemic has created a huge upsurge in traffic volumes at Chirundu and Nakonde border posts in the past weeks due to traffic diversions from other entry points attributable to health measures implemented by some transit countries in the region.
This has further caused enormous pressure on the social and health amenities to the communities at the two entry points and if left unchecked may exacerbate the current pandemic.
In a statement made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT on June 2, 2020, ZRA Commissioner General Kingsley Chanda has explained that this measure will also reduce the costs of doing business in the country and these measures shall be reviewed in line with the prevailing situation at the time.
The Authority has since encouraged all importers, exporters and clearing agents to take advantage of the online platforms to lodge in entries from anywhere any time. Chanda said this is because the authority has increased human resource capacity for the two borders to ensure speedy processing of all entries.
The Authority has further recruited 150 new employees to help deal with the situation. These are part of the 1,200 applicants mainly from the major public and private universities in Zambia who did their aptitude tests in February 2020.
The Authority is aiming to increase its numbers in terms of human resource but due to budgetary constraints only 150 additional headcounts was approved for the 2020. The new officers will report for training on Monday next week and will be dispatched to their various stations countrywide after graduation from training.
