TWO suspended councillors and another suspended official at Livingstone City Council yesterday pleaded not guilty to 25 counts of corrupt practices, abuse of office and forgery.
This was after former United Party for National Development (UPND) Livingstone City mayor Milford Maambo, suspended UPND Musiotunya ward ouncillor Ziwa Ziwa and former acting Livingstone town clerk Chabala Chanda yesterday appeared before Livingstone Magistrate Benjamin Mwelwa for plea in the Livingstone Magistrate Court.
The trio, who are being prosecuted by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), are charged with 25 counts related to corrupt practices ,abuse of public office, corrupt acquisition of public property and forgery.
Maambo,46, a businessman of house number 2613 Dambwa Central in Livingstone, Ziwa, 39, old business man of house number 188 of Lusaka road in Highlands Livingstone and Chanda ,41, a Livingstone City Council employee of house number 16 A Makoma road in Livingstone, did abuse their authority as Mayor, Councillor and acting Town Clerk respectively by involving themselves in corrupt practices.
Facts before the courts were that between November 1, 2014 and August 31, 2015, the trio while acting together with unknown persons did involve themselves in corrupt acquisition of public properties ,abuse of public office, corrupt practices , forgery and issuing of offer letters without laid down land alienation procedures contrary to the Anti-Corruption Act of 2012 and the laws of Zambia.
When the matter came up for plea, the trio pleaded not guilty to all the 25 counts slapped on them.
Magistrate Benjamin Mwelwa has since set April 29, 2016 as dates for mention and May 31 and June 1, 2016 as dates for commencement of trial.
Magistrate Mwelwa also extended the police bond for the accused persons.
The three are being represented Adrian Nkausu of AC Nkausu and Philip Mukuka of AMC legal practitioners.
Pleased that the tree are still in court for those heinous crimes. I just read the other day that the mayor and his Musi-O-Tunya ward thieving counterpart were acquitted after they refunded in full their victim after trying to sell for K 47,000 a piece of land they offered themselves. As UPND we want PF to emulate our zero tolerance to corruption.
were ever there is a stealing case, a bemba is involved.
In government now the bembas have corrupted the docile easterners. In colonial days the whites had bembas as garden boys and field workers and the easterners as house boys because they did not trust the bembas. Still the bembas managed to have the easterner garden boys steal food from the kitchen for them.
These UPND, if they ca behave like this before they get into power, how about when they announce their arrival which mad man or woman will talk? It will be scramble and these are good signs.
These UPND, if they can behave like this before they get into power, how about when they announce their arrival which mad man or woman will talk? It will be scramble and these are good signs.