The North-Western Province Development Council of Elders has bemoaned the alleged rampant theft of public funds at Solwezi Municipal Council.
It has been purported that over K100 million in locally generated resources was allegedly embezzled between January 2022 and June 2023 at the Solwezi Municipal Council.
North-Western Province Council of Elders Chairperson Kenneth Kapata has recommended all council workers at Solwezi Municipal Council be transferred saying the officers involved in the misappropriation of funds must be fired.
Mr. Kapata said the region was struggling with service delivery and noted that the pilfered public funds would have helped to develop Solwezi District.
He, however, wondered where Solwezi management was when the over K100 millions of public funds was being embezzled.
It is alleged that authorities at the municipal council refuted allegations labeled against the municipality that it had misappropriated funds in 2023.
And the North-Western Province Council of Elders Chairperson has since advised all the twelve ward councilors to be vigilant, affirming that the monies were pilfered under their watch.
“We have no confidence in the current workers at Solwezi municipal council, they must all go, we need new people to work, not the current crop, they are a bad seed” said Mr. kapata.
Meanwhile, North-Western Investments and Development Foundation (NWIDEF) President, Gilly Kakunta urged the Auditor General’s Office to randomly conduct audits of all councils in North-Western Province.
He said it was disappointing that Solwezi Municipal Council which was supposed to be spearheading development in the district was engaged in fraudulent activities
“All councils in the province must be audited to ascertain if they have all stolen public funds” said Mr. Kakunta.
The figure keeps on rising. Welcome to new Dawn of thieving!
That Mayor must resign . He is a discgrace to the UPND.
It’s very distressing to hear such stories. K100M isn’t a small amount and it’s not possible for a single employee or a few to steal such funds without the involvement of senior officers. Why is Garry Nkombo quiet about this? He’s very quick to point an accusing finger at the PF, so we expect him to show leadership and provide an explanation for this. What is he doing about it? Let him not ignore the call from the Council of Elders. Solwezi is lacking in many areas and this money could have addressed some of those. Arrest them!
The Elder however, wondered where Solwezi management was when the over K100 millions of public funds was being embezzled.,
These people work together. Nobody will be fired. They will simply be transferred to other districts and replaced by another condemned group from another district.
ZICA, the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants, should always speak out when such reports get in the news. Are their members involved or they’re not? It’s very likely they are because the movement of funds in any organisation needs the involvement of accountants. If ZICA members are involved, then they have failed in their custodial function. Looking forward to hearing from ZICA.
And someone says people from the North are thieves. Things are getting worse ati wakulekafye… From MPs and police sugalite scandles to now council coffers… ati wakulekafye… Really?!?!
Are you telling readers that only people from North-Western province work for Solwezi Municipal Council? This kind of thinking will break Zambia one day. This matter is about stolen Solwezi Municipal Council money and not the origin of the thieves, fullstop, case closed, end of story.
Firing is not enough. That is saying its ok to steal since all that will happen is that you will be fired if caught but you will already have accumulated enough wealth by then so you can start your own business. They need to be prosecuted and jailed and all monies and assets dubiously obtained must be forfeited to the state.
Most painful thing is thinking how much that amount should have brought developmental wise. Its the curse of Africa , life in prison with hard labour should be mandatory sentence to all who embezzel public funds.
@Spaka
I thought corruption and theft ended August 12th 2021……and turns out UPND is even worse than PF
Am being censured by LT after some pusswys complained about me
Can the journalist be specific with the activity misappropriations?
Where was the mayor and the Town clerk? The mayor must resign and the town clerk fired
These people work together. Usually the people you have mentioned play in the background.
When people talk of North, they mean North of Zambia and NOT otherwise. So what is North of Zambia, even Copperbelt is North of Zambia. The central is Capital City of Zambia and the other is South of Zambia.
In terms of East and West there are also two parts, the Capital is the Centre.