United States Department of State Office of Inspector General

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Inspection of Embassy Lusaka, Zambia [ [link removed] ] 06/09/2025 09:35 AM EDT

What OIG Inspected 

OIG inspected the operating environment, executive direction, policy and program implementation, resource management, and information management operations of Embassy Lusaka.

What OIG Found

• The Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission generally led Embassy Lusaka consistent with the  Department of State’s leadership and management principles.
• The embassy had morale issues with its locally  employed staff, attributed to the aftermath of its 2023 fraud investigation that resulted in terminating, suspending, or reprimanding 135 staff members.
• Extended power outages and other hardships in Zambia also affected locally employed staff, and embassy leadership took action to alleviate the impact of the hardships on those staff.
• Public diplomacy efforts were well integrated and supported the embassy’s Integrated Country Strategy goals, but the Public Diplomacy Section did not document its administration of grants in accordance with requirements.
• The Consular Section did not process nonimmigrant and immigrant visa cases, conduct visa validation studies, and implement consular internal controls in full compliance with Department standards. 
• The embassy’s financial management office did not track employee accounts receivable for approximately 5 years and did not have a process to ensure the funds overpaid or advanced to employees were repaid to the government as required. 
• Embassy Lusaka’s property management program, fuel operations, cashier operations, and contracting officer’s representative program did not fully comply with Department standards. 
• The embassy’s information management and information security operations, including network operations, non-enterprise networks, telephone program, emergency preparedness, and cybersecurity operations, did not fully comply with Department standards.

What OIG Recommends 

OIG made 32 recommendations to Embassy Lusaka. In its comments on the draft report, the embassy concurred with 30 recommendations and neither agreed nor disagreed with 2 recommendations. OIG considers all 32 recommendations resolved. The embassy’s response to each recommendation and OIG’s reply can be found in the Recommendations section of this report. The embassy’s formal response is reprinted in its entirety in Appendix B.

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