By EditorZambia
At a time when Zambia’s economy is steadily emerging from years of turbulence, the decision to award civil servants a K700 salary increment must be viewed in its proper context. It is not a token gesture. It is not an insult. The K700 salary increment reflects responsible leadership in a recovering economy.
The development is a responsible, negotiated for, and progressive adjustment that reflects both improving national fundamentals and a commitment to fiscal discipline. 
The Tonse Alliance faction presidential candidate Brian Mundubile has described the increment as a mockery. Harry Kalaba, another loud mouth with nothing to offer has echoed similar sentiments. Yet such criticism rings hollow when placed against the record of the very administration they once defended.
Under the Patriotic Front (PF) rule, civil servants endured a wage freeze. Salaries stagnated while the cost of living climbed. Mundubile and Kalaba were in the PF cabinet that resolved to effect the wage freeze. Yet today, the same voices who presided over frozen incomes now want to champion workers’ interest.
Mundubile and Kalaba are lost at sea of politics. But Zambians know that the K700 increment was not imposed unilaterally. It was agreed upon through negotiations between government and workers’ union representatives. That distinction matters even when you are politically bankrupt. Collective bargaining is a cornerstone of industrial democracy. It means workers’ representatives sat at the table, examined the fiscal space available, and reached an agreement. To dismiss the outcome as meaningless is an insult to the workers and their elected representatives. Mundubile and Kalaba’s belittling of the K700 increment undermine the very process unions exist to defend workers’ entitlement.
For a civil servant earning K7,000, the K700 represents roughly a 10 percent increase. For those on lower scales, the percentage impact is even greater. This comes on top of previous increments since 2022, when government resumed structured salary adjustments despite inheriting a constrained treasury, high debt levels and limited fiscal breathing room.
Unlike in the recent past, civil servants are being paid on time. Predictability in salary payments is not a small matter. It restores dignity and financial planning to thousands of households. An increase, even one calibrated to fiscal realities, builds on that stability.
The increase is progressive, and to suggest that under current circumstances, any government could responsibly grant dramatically larger increases – is economically reckless. Zambia is rebuilding credibility after years in the doldrums. Macroeconomic stability cannot be sacrificed for applause.
What strengthens the case for the K700 increment is the broader economic environment in which it arrives.
When the Zambia Association of Manufacturers (MAZ) announced that more than 30 of its members had reduced prices of essential commodities, it marked a turning point that ordinary households can feel. Mealie meal from Delicious Milling dropped from K300 to K260, a reduction of more than 13 percent. Cooking oil, bread, sugar, and soya products have all seen price cuts ranging from five to nearly 20 percent. These are not theoretical improvements. They are visible at shop counters.These reductions followed the appreciation of the Kwacha and calls by the Ministry of Commerce for manufacturers to pass on the benefits of improved macroeconomic conditions.
A strengthening currency lowers import costs. Lower import costs reduce production expenses. Responsible manufacturers then reduce prices. This is how sound economic management translates into relief for families.
Fuel prices have also eased, reducing transport and distribution costs across the economy. ZESCO has increased hours of electricity supply, bringing predictability back to households and businesses alike. Reliable power lowers operational expenses for industry and reduces the hidden costs that load shedding imposes on workers and entrepreneurs.
Free education has further eased pressure on family budgets. For civil servants raising school going children, the removal of tuition fees represents a substantial saving each term. When salary increments are assessed, they must be viewed alongside such policy measures that effectively increase disposable income.
Taken together, these developments create a different picture from the one painted by opposition rhetoric. A K700 increment in a context of falling commodity prices, easing fuel costs, improved electricity supply and free education carries greater purchasing power than the same figure would have in a collapsing economy.
Mundubile and Kalaba’s criticism appears less about economic analysis and more about campaign positioning ahead of the 2026 elections. Public sector workers are a significant voting bloc. Wage policy will always attract political interest. But responsible governance requires balancing social expectations with fiscal sustainability.
Economists understand that excessive wage hikes in the public sector can fuel inflation, widen deficits, and ultimately erode the very purchasing power they seek to enhance. The lesson of recent history is clear. Unsustainable spending leads to debt distress, currency instability, and price spikes that hurt workers the most.
Under the PF, Zambia slid into debt default and economic contraction. Today, debt restructuring is advancing, investor confidence is returning, and the Kwacha has shown resilience. These are not abstract achievements. They create the conditions under which salary increments become sustainable rather than illusory.
Whether Zambians like it or not, K700 increment represents what responsible leadership looks like in a recovering economy destroyed by the likes of Mundubiles and Kalabas. It honours collective bargaining. It aligns with fiscal discipline. It arrives at a moment when prices of essential goods are falling and macroeconomic stability is strengthening.
To call it a mockery is to ignore context and to recklessly politicise it is to overlook the hard lessons of the recent past. Zambia is not yet where it wants to be, but it is no longer in the doldrums. Progress may be gradual, but it is real. Civil servants deserve honesty, not hyperbole.
