THE Lusaka City Council (LCC) has been suspended with immediate effect.
The council will remain suspended for 90 days and Government has appointed Solomon Finandi Sakala, the Copperbelt Provincial Local Government officer as the administrator.
Minister of Local Government and Housing, Brian Chituwo announced the suspension of the council yesterday following reports that the local authority has been involved in some land allocation scams.
Dr Chituwo said at a media briefing that Government has decided to suspend LCC to pave way for investigations into the alleged illegal land allocation.
The Lusaka City Council has been accused of illegally allocating land to itself without following the law governing the allocation of land.
Out of 102 plots, the councillors got 45 plots, 10 plots were given to the Mayor while the deputy Mayor got five plots and members of the public were only allocated 11 plots.
[pullquote]“In order to understand the matter, my office requested for a written report from the local authority. The report forwarded to my office by the council does not give much detail on who allocated the plots and how the beneficiaries were picked,” Dr Chituwo said.[/pullquote]
Dr Chituwo said he would soon appoint a committee to audit the allocation of land in Lilayi.
He said the piece of land in Lilayi that is alleged to have been shared among the Mayor, his deputy and councillors is titled and should have been advertised. Dr Chituwo said the council did not even bother to seek authority from the ministry as stipulated by law.
“Therefore, it has become necessary for the Ministry of Local Government and Housing to suspend the Lusaka City Council in accordance with the Local Government Act, Cap 281 of the laws of Zambia to pave way for investigations into the Lilayi land allocation,” he said.
Dr Chituwo said the council should have realised the importance of seeking authority from his office to allocate plots on the piece of land in question. He said his office should have authorised the council to deal with the piece of land in terms of transfer, disposal or even in the mode of exchange or swapping.
Dr Chituwo said it is the understanding of the Ministry of Local Government and Housing that any proposed allocation of land should be done through the Plans, Works and Development Committee.
“In order to understand the matter, my office requested for a written report from the local authority. The report forwarded to my office by the council does not give much detail on who allocated the plots and how the beneficiaries were picked,” Dr Chituwo said.
He said the council failed to explicitly state how it decided to allocate councilors one plot each.
The Minister wondered whether it has been the trend that the Mayor and his councillors should have a lion’s share of plots each time there was a piece of land earmarked for allocation.
“I as Minister of Local Government and Housing hereby announce the suspension of the council for 90 days through the statutory instrument number 11 of 2011and appoint Mr Solomon Finandi Sakala, who is Copperbelt Provincial Local Government Officer as administrator,” Dr Chituwo said.
[pullquote]
“As a council, we presented our report and we maintain that whatever was done, we followed the law. The general public will judge us after the investigations,” Mr Chisenga said.[/pullquote]
But Lusaka Mayor Daniel Chisenga has maintained that the allocation of land in Lilayi was done in accordance with the law.
Mr Chisenga said the public will have to judge the council after all the investigations have been done and the report on the investigations released.
He said the council welcomes the investigations as it has encountered investigations in the past and all officers found wanting had been dealt with according to the law.
“As a council, we presented our report and we maintain that whatever was done, we followed the law. The general public will judge us after the investigations,” Mr Chisenga said.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
Good riddance! Now institute a comprehensive land audit at LCC and let the same law that got Hon Gladys Nyirongo in jail get all criminals indicted for judicial recourse. We have to sanitize public offices of criminals.
Well, Mr. Mayor, this appears to be a bad law, if at it all there is such a law, that you followed. How does a sane Law allow councillors to get almost all the plots at the expense of the public?
Good job Bwana Minister (assuming that its not politically calculated), and make sure these selfish, greedy and little educated coucillors face the full wrath of the law if found wanting. They are a ‘road block’ to development. You might also need to expand your audit to other towns, we know you cant end coruption, but you can reduce the vice to sustainable levels.
Well done, but why should councilors be allocated plots at all? This just inspires corruption and seems unnecessary for a “public servant” to receive such a perk. That land belongs to Zambia and everyone should have equal access through fair market channels.
Thats y barotseland wants t go its way,too much corruption in zambia,too much dirty!
Can you imagine, the Mayor says the allocation of plots was done according to the law? I didnt know there is a law in Zambia that allows a mayor to get 10 plots! By the way, why hasn`t the Post covered this?
Good move by the minister.i only hope this is not a political move.anyway lets wait n see the outcome of the audit.
It is a practice that a councilors are entitled to sufficient land during their tenure, The minister should find out from previous mayors and governor over this practice. He might be ignorant on this matter, Mayors despite their political affiliation have enjoyed this entitlement by precedence which could have changed by ministers directives before allocation. He should have said that next councillors should not be entitled due to apparent shortage of land in lusaka, or they can negotiate with other councils and get allocated land else where,.
Lands Ministry,Councils are full of corruption.They now want to take over traditional land and give to foreigners and huge dollar sums and thus all the fight against traditional leaders who have a hold on vast sums of land.
#5 Good Question why hasn t the post covered this story? N’way good move Hon. Minister
LUSAKA CITY COUNCIL RUN BY PF THUGS, WELL THATS ANOTHER WAY OF PUTTING MONEY IN YOUR POCKET PF SLOGAN, I LOVE THE PF GUYS THEY NEVER CEASE TO AMAZE ME ITS SCANDLE AFTER SCANDLE, ZAMBIANS PLEASE COME 2011 LETS VOTE FOR PF KAPONYAS AND THEN WE WILL BE READING STORIES EVERY DAY ON LT OF PF VUVUZELA POST AND THAT WAY WE WONT BE BORED, VIVA PF VIVA SATA , 90DAYS MONEY IN YOUR POCKETS EITHER LAUNDERED FROM TAIWAN OR ANY WHERE. GO PF GO
Iam shocked that it has come to this extent. MMD is so scared of PF and SATA.
The truth is all Zambian Local authorities have problems when it comes to plot issues. The Minister should suspend and send Auditors to all councils.
Corrution i zambia
90% of men are corrupt
They dont know what it feels like to be holding pounds, let alone Kwachas
The character of an average zambian man is deceipt.
I am glad I never made a wrong decission with my choice . Also those plots are not what i want, why dont you dream of plots in Glasgow, Fife, Dumfries, Galloway
Also I have seen a lot of Dull people blogging lately, It has put me off. Just losoe canons, uninspiring and some of you are jokes
Thanks
looks like zambia will benefit more if no one political party has monopoly on running the Gov. secondly if PF is a descent party it should have investigated the matter and punish the culprits and as a matter of internal party discipline. not only disciplining someone starts talking against the party
Dr.Chituwo these thugs are not only allocating plots but stealing money from citizens too. Follow up the Bauleni Concilor and a man called Lungo before they runway into the tunnels.
Tentatively gates will be heavily guarded.
Mr.Chisenga is not faithful to even say that ,Becoz it is clear that these plots were not advertised and they simply distributed to each other by veture of there positions.This shows the type of Leaders we choose.I therefore ask the pipo of Lska not to vote for such Leaders becoz they are not there for them.
No 5 & 9 good question, the Post is actually biased, anything against PF they wont report.
Well Done Brig. Gen Dr Hon and suspend Chanda Munkanta as well for defending her friends vehemently and emotionally, am sure she benefited as well.
15 DKmuntu, you have a point. those guys are not worth calling leaders but gangsters, thieving innocent citizens of millions of Kwacha.
cage the criminals and revise the law to benefit all zambians sir, I will need a plot when I come back home
PF slogan is “PUTTING MONEY IN YOUR POCKET”, so PF supporters don’t see anything wrong. I don’t think its political, When Gladys Nyirongo went IN PF supporters celebrated why, because it was MMD minister so why should these PF Kaponya’s not go IN also.
# 11 read between the lines, dont just support for the sake of supporting even if things are going wrong.
Its time to clean councils. Keep it up Dr.Chituwo.
#5 DAWA 1 Post vuvuzela and the demons are not happy ,they always want to bring RB’s name in disrepute.They are busy twisting the story just wait for the eye catching headlines.
The b******s had it coming. Where’s the freaking ACC when you need it most?
PF ,Post stinking filfth.
# 5,9 and 21.
If you feel the Post is too pro Sata/PF keep away from it and stick to yr Times and the rest.
# 5,9 and 21 if you feel the Post is too pro PF keep away from it.Its that simple!!!!!!
Can the good doctor investigate Kalulushi Municipal Council too?
#1 What else can you say? Kalulushi is as corrupt as Lusaka why hasnt MMD done anything about it? I dont support what PF have done in Lusaka, but justice must not be selective. Let Chituwo go to Kalulushi and ask the residents on who owns what and you will be disapponted if you are honest.
Note how deathly slient the PF cadre the POST and its Membe are silent and blind to this basic human right of the right to hold land…but what do you expect from peoples whose agenda is one and the same..
these chaps jst target PF councils why dont they talk abt mmd destroyed councils #28 post and PF can nt talk abt this cause each day mmd plots against them. they will comment when its properly established. i guess pf is not like mmd which shields criminals
It would be interesting to see what kind of report was presented by the council.
# 27 Deja Vu ……It appears that this practice is nationwide and is across all parties. I just wonder how this particular case came to the attention of the ministry . Was it exposed by a whistleblower or was it through the transparency of the system ? ..,, I see your point in the need for consistency if we are going to root out this greedy , corrupt practice .
Let the 92 years old Maxwell Mututwa die in jail o that Kanitundila can get to know cinalesa Kakolwe kananu tundila pa cigurumuthu kusavala kabudula. This will break hell loose in Western Province and will teach these cowards a lesson they will never forget.
POST where are you. You claim to be professional and here is an issue of blatant land theft and you elect to be silent. Pretenders !
#30
The Lord SITH – The minutes of the meetings were availed to the MoLGH by a director who had been fired from LCC. Had that man been in employment this story would not have come out
Mushota, you appeal to have an uncanny knack of getting under Zambian men’s skins. Anyway enjoy the sun today up there in the Scotland after being smothered under snow. Back to the topic; the PF’s cries for change of government to usher in an accountable system flies in the face of this scandal. It is not only corrupt but illegal too. “The report forwarded to my office by the council does not give much detail on who allocated the plots and how the beneficiaries were picked,” Dr Chituwo said. Let’s take these elections seriously.
LT, why do I keep getting allocated this dodgy Maple Leaf flag? It does not represent North West Endland, does it?
Deja Vu , thanx for the info . This culture of senior officials both in public office and in big companies taking state or company resources for private use harks back to the Unip era mentality . Let’s hope our evolving democracy will expose this mindset more often , but with poverty always in the equation , it’s gonna take a paradigm shift to move forward with the ‘development’ that is always on our politicians’ lips !
BTW Deja Vu , do you think you can lay your hands on this report by LCC from where you are?
I think these people are just being victimised because of where they come from – what do you think Her Ladyship? This RB is persecuting us because of where we come from. Me and Her Ladyship will be celebrating when this Ngoni goes back to his village in Chipata.
BWANA MINISTER BRAVO, SOME PLOTS GIVEN TO THE POST NEWSPAPRES EDITORS AND STAFF INVESTIGATE THE LCC
#33 under the law (Local Govt Act) minutes of the council are open to the public, other than those that are confidential. I worked for the council in Zambia and was an advisor on matters that had legal implications. The problem is that members of the public are not aware of their rights. There are many things members of the public by are entitled to by LAW, regarding Councils in Zambia but no one is willing to enlighten them and as such every crap is swept under the carpet. By the way I should point out that a council in Zambia is a legal entity, capable of being sued by anyone who feels infringed by the actions/decision made by a council, which has legal implications. These Councilors do not understand anything and that is the big problem. Some people think a Council is just buildings, wh
We need educated councilors and not ba sub A
Our Phd students had done their research well. Now, we need the Anti corruption to do theirs and the courts to prosecute these thugs. Well done Mr minister. If these LCC officials were in the West, they would have resigned on their own. I am wondering too, where is the PF vuvuzela the Post on this mother of all city council corruption scandal? this shows that the vuvuzela is itself corrupt.
Well done minister. Good decision.
# 39 Zoona bwaima kuno . Thx for the clarity , notwithstanding the fact that walipusauka ! Good picture..
This is nothing to worry about. When PF come into power, they will only steal and practice corruption for 90 days. After that they will become democratic, transparent, efficient, innovative and ethnically representative. Sata will turn out to be an intellectual visionary, who will assess issues before making a pronouncement. This 90 days thing is working. Even Chituwo himself has said that the council has been taken over for 90 days!
The post cover this story with the maureen property saga too than Rb & kalu everyday. By the way why is hh blacked out.
what kind of a law is that? if the major has 10 plots then what more the president and his ministers. i suppose the president has 100 plots, VP has 80 plots,VJ has 60,Ka Mulongoti 40 and Shikapwasha 20 not forgetting William Banda who is at 15.
#37, are you not ashamed of your tribalism? arent you the same chaps who accuse Lozis of tribalism? Nature is sorting you out i suppose, so far no president from your tribe. none in sight!
#31, you are wishing someone dead, really?
Stealing by any person is bad and criminal. Let the truth be estabished since they are saying the acted according to the law?
The first question is, does the law allow allocation of pots to councilors? If yes, how many plots are given to each councilor? It Is every year or for the particular term? These are some of the questions to be investigated, further if the truth has to be established there is need to loook into the past dealings when Lusaka council was run by MMD-what was the practice then?
These said, there is also a need to investigate all the councils not only the PF ones as it is a trend today. There is a lot of false accusation on the PF and Sata such that people have stoped taking the accusation seriously but as a joke.
SO LET ALL COUNCILS BE INVESTIGATED.
This is showing also the fact that it does not end on the councilors. If a major can have10 plots by law, how much plots has a minister, Vice president and President? Are they not 100 plots for each person?
There is need to change the law in Zambia. In all the councils its the same…they give 100 plots to each councilor as the law permits it. So let us work toward fareness in the allocation of plots. This rot is in all the councils and has to come to an end. Infact if Zambians were serious, they would demand that the law be reapealed.
NONSENSE.
#36
The Lord SITH I live in Kitwe and Lufwanyama, but I will be in Lusaka 31/01/11. Hope I will grt the minutes.
BWAIMA. In the olden days to be councillor you had to have property not belonging to PF or MMD. I remember in Chingola we had already rich councillors like Jimmy Flemming, Mr. Puta Mr. Kapika just to mention a few. To day even some crap from Kapoto will become a councillor. This type of councillor will be used by the educated Town Clerk
And also what we want is , if really these people have commited a crime, let them be punished. Prosecute them and this should be extended to all councils in Zambia. Those run by MMD, PF and UPND. Any councilor found wanting regarless his/her political inclination should be prosecuted and jailed.
But knowing the MMD nothing will happen to the MMD councilors for they have failed to tame William Band who confiscates plots from people. This is the injustice Zambians should not tolerate.
Let all found wanting be prosected and jailed period.
#50 I agree with you, but then we need to change things and I feel it is the people home who should go in for change. I do not see any reason why Zedians home should be denied their rights. It is totally wrong and this is our problem. If we can fail to inform the public about their rights how do we inform them when we steal? Never
Land in urban areas is a scarce resource and should be allocated fairly. We have a situation were the rich are the ones accumilating land at a greedy rate becuse they are able to bribe. let it be 2 acres per person and no more, if you have had land allocated by the council you will have to wait 4 yrs b4 you get another allocation. That way at least the common joe public will have a chance.
Good afternoon
This is a serious issue. Land allocation is nothing to be taken lightly. It is because of land that some countries are still caught up in conflicts that began centuries ago.
The minister has done well by taking the bull by the horns and suspending the honorary council office to pave way for investigations. I fully agree with our Senior Citizen on #1 – sanitizing public offices is the only way to weed out national corruption to the core.
What a despicable dreadful bunch of thieving public officers; and their dodgy mayor has the cheek to justify getting 10 plots! Like SC has suggested, let the government make resources available and carry out a 100% audit. We’re trying to expand our investments back home and these are the chaps that mess things up. Here in the UK, MPs are being dropped and even prosecuted and jailed for fiddling with their expenses. What world do these councilors live in? And the private paper and its NGOs are quiet because it’s the ‘wrong’ guys that have stolen.
The land is Libala south is destributed by MMD cadres, i know of several people who buy land from the MMD in Libala South so please visit this issue as well. Have they allocated any plots to the MMD party for re-ditribution??
Good move by the government and one of the few people I respect in MMD. However, it is fair to say that this would not have happened had LCC been MMD run. I say this because there are a lot of cases involving MMD councillors and cadres where the minister has been dragging his feet. I have been involved in a protracted three year battle to keep a piece of land which is rightfully ours. Not even court rulings are enforced. The entire political establishment in Zambia is rotten. It is no use for the likes of #1 Senior Citizen rejoicing because they see this as a blow for MMD. Until the law can be applied equally, Zambia is doomed to follow Congo and other failed states.
They should be arrested, that scam is worse than Chiluba’s deals. And Mr. Sata don’t tolerate such acts for sure.
this case highlights the lack of leadership in our country. Its ok to steal and be corrupt so long as you are opposition? guys lets be reasonable here. this case was brought to the fore by a WHISTLE BLOWER based on the same law Post, TIZ and other un-patriotic zambians have been fighting against. if there was no such law then this case would have been swept under the carpet. now instead of sata showing some staesmanship and principle, they are hiding behind “well even the others are doing the same” this is the most foolish defence one can give. A crime is a crime and in law ignorance is not a defence. PF must show that they are capable of leading and can live by the same principles they expect MMd to live by. So if kalulushi also has some issues let a whistle blower bring it out.
This is very evil & selfish by the councilors.Let the law take its full course.The minister will also need 2 extend this 2 all the councils.
So far according to the news we have so far Sata has not been quoted saying anything about the council. It could mean two things. 1. Its either like in this case Daily Mail is biased and wants to pain the PF a bad picture or 2. Sata agrees that these people of his running the council surely do have a problem, since he himself was once Minister of local government he knows what happens. But He could also be silent knowing that the current Minister doesn’t know about what goes on. The only way is we should wait and hear the results of the investigation. If there is such a law and assuming that the information we have been given is true. Then its a bad law and needs to be Changed. If the law doesnt not exist and the law was dubiously obtained, they must face the law.
what i meant on 62….and wants to paint a bad picture…… If that law does not exist and the land was dubiously Obtained they must face the law.
# 38 makaka lyobe, ulimbwa tamwakaimone mwefupuba mwe.you r the people that promote tribalism..
lets not be naive. This is the same story in all councils countrywide. He is not being sincere by overreacting on Lusaka City Council when he leaves councils such as Mongu that have been allocating themselves plots and stealing from government grants and he has done nothing just because its an MMD run council. I thought he would be a professional. Besides, its not only plots that should qualify a suspension of a council. Act now we want to hear what you have done about the corruption at Mongu council!!
Imiponto ba mushota muleke. so you mom made a wrong choice by marrying your dad, hence you as a product.
#62 Sata does not tolerate this kind of behaviour. He is waiting until all the necessary data is available. The fact is this is going on in MMD controlled councils country-wide but the mister is not going to go for the nuclear option because MMD would not allow him. Only people like Senior Citizen, who are naive, will be jumping up and down.
#13 u are a ziyach….biyach
# 13… It’s biyachez like you that never appreciate shiizi for as long as you are eating dick…Why the Fcuk are you going to streotype all men like that biyach…
#13 you are really a dog. U think u being married to Muzungu is a miracle ye mbwa we iwe, kolwe ni chipato
#13 you literally annoy me with you stupid and shallow comments!!!!! you gold digger,B*Tch!! I hate your guts with passion!
Politics is not a dirty game BUT dirty people go in with their dirty, washing their dirty in clean water hence dirtining the clean water. If clean people go into politics then politcs will be clean. Please whoever has the will to serve fellow Zambians. This is the time to do so. Who have clean lives!
PF leaders are very corrupt. I have said it so many times that SATA can not and should not be trusted. He has now told his gang that this is time to start estate businesses like his. You never know may be some of those plots are his. I have known him acquire plots by using others when he was Lusaka governor and then minister of local government. Make SATA president and almost all the zambian land will his and his gang. Look at ZANU -PF in Zim and PF in Zambia!. If you cant see the similarities then take some time to digest what PF stands for.
Mushota # 13
I totally agree with you. Zambian men are generally thieves and have no spine for principles or values, or even legacy. That explains why when a Zambian man is trying to impress his wife or his girlfriend, he steals more. Many suffer from what I may call a ‘chintubwingi syndrome’. Instead of buying a bag of cement, he will buy a corolla – without a house. Instead following his fathers legacy, he will avoid anything to do with honoring the parents and respecting where he came from. We need more Mushotas in Zambia. It s a pity that white man grabbed you too early.
The Buck stops at the minister not the council. Brian, you may be onto something here. Councils are your responsibility, deal with them. What I mean is, IMPROVE THEM!
This crap about PF or MMD led councils is utter nonsense!
In all fairness, the council should be cleared of wrong doing.
However, one would like to see more land allocated to the general public.
I do not know whether the council team actually paid for the land. If they did, how much?\
It is because of ill headed office bearers that we find most Zambians can not afford to buy land.
Those who have it, God knows some might have bought it cheaply from the likes of counsellors under scrutiny.
Still others, bought it at inflated rates. Our state should ensure that land is affordable. In fact, our land should not be paid for!!! It is our land.
those who scream loudest over filth are usually swimming in it themselves. its the jimmy swaggart story adapted for our benefit and being repeated ad infinitum, ad nauseam!!!
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