THE National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) is owed K11 million in rental arrears by 15 tenants at Levy Business Park mall in Lusaka.
Some tenants accrued arrears over a two-year period while others have not paid rentals since they occupied the shops.
NAPSA has engaged Masauso Banda Debt Collectors and Certified Bailiffs to recover the money from defaulting tenants.
Yesterday, the bailiffs swung into action to execute warrants of distress on defaulting tenants.
Those served with warrants of distress include Ndanji Fashions, which owes NAPSA over K1.2 million, Radian Stores with a debt of K504,309 and Wimpy restaurant under Zana Properties Limited with a debt of over K1 million.
Other debtors are SBM Bridal Concepts (K694,600), Dolce Vita (K257,000), Guess and Nine West (K228,922).
NAPSA director general Charles Mpundu told journalists yesterday that some tenants have defaulted for a long time.
“Some of the tenants have for some time defaulted instead of respecting their obligations by honouring rental payments, some since the building was opened.
“There have been several reasons advanced particularly that at the beginning, some of the lease agreements were not properly executed when we had the previous property manager Liberty Properties of South Africa,” Mr Mpundu said.
He said when Liberty Properties of South Africa handed over management of the mall to J H Anderson, there were issues which were not reconciled.
Mr Mpundu said that could have contributed to some tenants not honouring their obligations but that those issues have now been addressed.
“If the people do not pay rentals, then the property can’t perform and we can’t honour obligations in terms of paying the benefits.
“For Levy in particular, we are not evicting our tenants because they have an injunction in the courts of law but for continuing obligations nothing stops us from issuing warrants of distress,” Mr Mpundu said.
He said NAPSA has not only issued warrants of distress to tenants of Levy Business Park mall but also to others occupying NAPSA buildings who have not been paying rentals.
He said NAPSA needs to recover the money because it has a responsibility to invest money collected from tenants as it embarks on other major projects.
Mr Mpundu also said some tenants have argued that NAPSA belongs to the people and that since they are part of the people, they should be given concessionary rates for rentals, which he said is wrong.
And Debt Collectors and Certified Bailiffs managing partner Masauso Banda said tenants who have decided to close their shops will not escape “punishment.”
“Some of these tenants have started closing their offices, saying they have gone for stocktaking. We know that they have got information that warrants have been issued by NAPSA but we will not relent. We will move in and get their goods,” Mr Banda said.
He said the tenants have been reminded on several occasions to settle their arrears but they have ignored the reminders while some have vowed not to pay the debts.
Other companies that owe NAPSA are Cell Site, Debonairs Pizza, Mwasuwila Christian Bookshop, Book Hut, Bathroom Boutique, Bimm Bureau de Change and Travel, Nakachi, Top of the Town boutique and Incredible Digital Connections.
And an official from the National Business Tenants Association, who asked not to be named, complained of an unfair trading environment at Lev mall.
The source said in an interview that most Zambian companies have been forced out of business due to high rentals.
He charged that Zambian companies subsidise the foreign ones.
“The rentals are too high, in most cases, Zambian small and medium enterprises are paying as much as K80,000 compared to K15,000 being paid by South African companies as these are regarded as anchor tenants, meaning they attract crowds to the mall,” he said.
The source also wondered why NAPSA has engaged a foreign estate agent to manage the mall when it has the capacity to collect rentals.
Government should disband napsa because the entire management is incomptent. Shamend should outsource managent of napsa to an established wealthfund managers. People’s contributions are being looted by these villagers at napsa who call themselves managers. How can managers be having four cars each which they buy after 2 years at book value. Thats looting of prople”s contributions
The Whole NAPSA management should be Fired. This is stupid? They don’t have a credit Control Function in their Finance department?? Why should they wait this long? They are corrupt; it was deliberate so that they give Business to MASAUSO BANDA?? Someone is benefiting. Simple Business rules cannot be followed?? Very Dull and St.upid management.
So which are the magnet stores in Levy Junction mall, Mr Price, Foschini? Local pays ZMW 80K and foreign ZMW 15K..What a difference?
Indeed management at napsa are looting people’s contributions. They get very fat cheques for doing nothing. How can a pension fund have better conditions of service than the world bank? Thats looting. Shamenda must stop the looting of people’s contributions.
Let those so called businesses just pay the rentals due to Napsa. What with us very small businesses in compounds paying rentals regularly. Who do they think they are!
this clearly shows why Zambia will not progress. charging locals 80 K and foreign big companies 15K is too bad. it should be the other way around. shopping malls in australia charge you for the rental space you occupy and charge big shops (local or foreign) for the space they occupy and not because of the crowds they pull to the shopping mall. why mention the names of those who’re failing to pay? if they can’t pay, terminate their contracts without letting the whole world know that they have failed to pay. But reduce the charges to 10K or 15K.
You are right comrade in most cases we don’t make efforts to help ourselves make progress in our own country. Its backwardness really, allowing such a situation and then crying poverty! But then our leader wants an Animal led constitution too…
Zamahala zinata na welensiky…The root cause is that the shops are failing to break even. Lusakan consumers like to “window shop” without spending. Too much human & car traffic at Levy Junction & yet 90% of whom won’t spend a dime at the mall. Surely how do u explain adults travelling many miles to “ride the escalators” at Levy junction & Manda Hill!!!
Good observation. I always wonder why we have so many cars in the car park but few people carrying ‘anything’ that shows that people have been shopping.
lol – riding the escalators? sounds painful. Aaaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhhh!
The question is, If people are not buying your merchandize why keep your shop open? If you are still operating you must pay the owner of the building period. The only worry is how people who are paid every month can wait until rentals have accumulated for years. And they continue to draw a salary???. Shame on parastatals and their proponents.
Awe mwe…..
kekekekekeke..yakosa..faka pressure guys..pay what you owe..!
There is a problem to be a Zambian, how does one find it fit to favour a foreign owned company? The more reasons poverty will not end in this country. For NAPSA it is one of the badly managed companies in this country, which needs to be looked into gain on a serious note. Look at the employees they get this money from and compare the conditions which the NAPSA staff enjoy. One wonders who benefit from this institution.
Yeah, to some extent,…. its a bit weird…….
And yes, we Zambian’s like Chimpwena…..
I mean, with high rentals and high cost of living in Lusaka, do people honestly thing Zambian’s will shop endlessly in such shops…?! Even an Album pa Sounds costs K 99.00 when others can simply buy the same online for 2 Pounds or download it from the internet!
My question is why do we need shopping malls in Zambia anyway? I doubt they are a good business model for development in terms of benefiting local entrepreneurship. Do they not take away business from other long established businesses pa town?
Hmmmm… Interesting. I never knew the Anchor Tenant could pay less rentals than the rest…
I thought it would just be the basic ‘Floor Space’ to determine rentals…. i’m guessing the Anchor Tenant at Levy is Pick and Pay, so you wont find Shoprite, Spar and the like that side. You learn a thing everyday….
I know there is some more “mathematics” im missing, so those who understand these things better, kindly explain to us who are lost!!
Where is empowerment and patriotism when taxpayer/napsa property is used to discriminate againist Zambians in favour of south africans. 80 000 vs 15000 for rentals for foreiners is criminal! Wasn’t Chenda complainig about trade restrictions imposed on zambian goods by RSA. Instead we give, hem the other cheek to smack! MPUNDU must be FIRED.
The people who make contributions to Napsa do not benefit. Only those who work for napsa reap the reward. In Zambia everything is upside down. We handsomely reward people who do not produce anything but claim to be managers of some kind. That’s why the most highly rewarded people are accountants, lawyers, Human resource officers and so on.
Levy Mall, the mall that offers toilet facilities to Everlyn Hone College, NIPA College, Lusaka Interbus Terminus, Lusaka CBA Taxi Drivers, Lusaka Central Policemen and other chaps around there. This mall is all about toilets which these mentioned places don”t have. Thats all. Apart from Food Lovers, Pick-n-Pay, and perhaps 3 more ternants at the mall, the rest of the businesses can’t sustain the rentals charged. This issue of K80,000 and K15,000 is mere rubbish by a defaulter as clearly stated. The bigger the floor space the lesser you’re charged per square metre. In short, Malls are expensive to trade at but very profitable for certain businesses. Food and Medicine for example. Zambians also don’t like paying rentals generally. And Busniess is tough in Zambia nowadays( Sata’s days)
You are rude but unfortunately you are correct. The rentals though must come down and the business owners should also reduce their merchandise or else people would rather wait until they go out of the country to do their shopping. By the way how do the rentals of levi compare with manda hill which is not managed by Zambians I believe (private)?
Arcades also provides toilet facilities to UNZA. UNZA which produces civil Engineers can not even fix their toilets which are not functional mainly due to bad usage.
Zambians,we are just so used to complaining.We want everything to be on a silver plate.If you owe NAPSA the best thing is to fulfill your obligation.NAPSA built that Levy Park using peoples’ contributions.It has fiduciary duty with the contributors of those monies.It is the responsibity of NAPSA to see to it that the finances it uses are in line with their mission statement(good custodians of peoples money).It is folly of the worst order to expect NAPSA to keep quiet and subsdise tenants at the expense of owners of money.LET THEM PEOPLE WHAT BELONGS TO NAPSA.Issues of managers buying vehicles is a non starter.They deserve it since they are educated and contribute in line with their knowledge.
True i don’t understand why people in Zambia always want to focus on non-priorities such as people’s cars at Napsa, thats their condition of service.. And its good NAPSA is chasing people that won’t pay rent as they should..
Pa Zed is not easy to run a clean business GRZ does not help those with shops, too much street vendors and tu ntemba style business. The comodity you find at Levy mall shops and you will find it out side in the hands of the kaponyas with less price. How can you pay rentals and workers? The rentals should be uniform to all Zambian or non Zambian.
For sure, you NAPSA guys why should you over charge Zambians while embracing the South Africans? It is reported that you charge Zambians K80 000 while foreigners K15 000. This is being silly guys….change your ways. Start charging our dear Zambians less than the Foreigners. In fact its the Zambian tax which built that Levy Junction.
Peace and Prosperity To Mother Zambia.
Can we start reclaiming Levy i’m seeing many Hiace buses entering illegally
PF shall take over occupational pension schemes as they have done Napsa. We need monopolies and private businessmen have nothing to do in financial services. All banks shall be nationalised and come under IDC (INDECO). All milling plants shall be nationalised.
Zambia, how I miss UNIP days! It was wonderful sight seeing our women standing in long queues from 0300 hours, in cold or rain, it was the usual queues.
What a sight!
Us who contribute to NAPSA are suffering, and yet NAPSA employees are enjoying,imagine four cars.
Zambians should stop complaining and work hard. The reason our businesses don’t work is due to poor business models that can’t compete with foreign owned businesses. What we need is not the governments help but the creativity and ingenuity to create strong sustainable businesses that can compete with foreign companies. Time to wake up and work hard.
It it is difficulty to understand that the custodians of people’s hard earned cash can exhibit such incompetency. People are earning money every month and cannot collect the rentals from Tenants??? what are they being paid for???
There is definitely something terribly wrong somewhere if this story is true. I sincerely hope that this story is inaccurate otherwise those calling for reintroduction of Indeco in the name of industrial development corporation should realize why people with the right thinking are saying they should not take us back to dark ages
And i don’t see any logical sense why Napsa can keep on holding members benefits who are below the age of 55yrs and have ceased working for an organisation.E.g if one has been retrenched at 40 or 45 yrs why not pay him his benefits? should one wait until he/she attain 55yrs? while Napsa keep on investing his money buy building properties to let.Please advise peharps this has changed.