UCZ Synod United Church of Zambia
UNITED CHURCH HOUSE – LUSAKA: 10/05/2022 –The United Church of Zambia Synod ( UCZ) on 10th May 2022, in Lusaka signed a co-operation agreement with the Zambia National Building Society ( ZNBS) to construct houses for UCZ Church workers under the home empowerment policy.
The memorandum of agreement will allow Zambia National Building Society to provide housing facility to the beneficiaries of the UCZ home empowerment policy. The agreement will provide a platform for the UCZ members of staff to access personal loans to the Zambia National Building Society.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, the United Church of Zambia General Secretary, Rev. Chipasha Musaba, said the partnership agreement was a milestone in ensuring that there is efficiency and equity in the implementation of the UCZ Home Empowerment facility. Rev. Musaba said the Home Empowerment Facility was initiated to solve accommodation challenges which Church Workers used to face after retirement, but it’s implementation was met with challenges. “However, it was in the long run noted that the Home Empowerment Policy came with its own challenges which ranged from administration of the policy, Staff migration to presbyteries along the line of rail, Insecurity among church workers, abuse of the facility, discrepancies in the benefits of the policy to church workers , stress and home empowerment obligation overload on the congregations and resistance of church workers to take up pastoral charges that lacked capacity to execute the policy,” he said. He added that in light of these setbacks, the Synod Executive in 2020, resolved to temporarily suspend the policy in order to allow for policy reform. ” Synod Executive tasked the Synod Management to find strategic alternatives that would streamline the administration of the policy, lighten the financial stress and Home Empowerment obligation overload on the congregation, curtail abuse of the facility, remove insecurities among church workers by guaranteeing a church worker a retirement home regardless of where they are serving and eliminate all forms of discrepancies in the benefits of the policy by harmonizing and standardizing the Home Empowerment Policy benefits,” Said Rev. Musaba The General secretary said ,the church might consider extending the partnership with ZNBS to other institutions like the University, schools and health facilities which the United Church of Zambia is running.
Meanwhile, Zambia National Building Society Managing Director, Mildred Mutesa, commended Management of the United Church of Zambia Synod for the Home empowerment initiative meant to benefit all the Church Workers. Mrs .Mutesa thanked the United Church of Zambia for the Collaboration with her institution over the years. Zambia National Society was established by the Government of the Republic of Zambia in 1970 as a bank and mortgage with a mandate to mobilized Resources for onward housing financing to increase housing stock in the Country.
The memorandum of agreement signed with the UCZ will require the Church to open a dedicated account with the Zambia National Society out of which construction of Houses under the UCZ Home Empowerment Policy will be financed for the beneficiaries. In the initial phase, the MOA will in 2022 be expected to start bearing results
