PATRIOTIC Front (PF) secretary general Wynter Kabimba has been named as being among those that benefited from plots at the piece of land where the PF-dominated Lusaka City Council (LCC) has shared plots without advertising them to the public in breach of the 1985 Land Act.

The PF has claimed that the plots were allocated to councillors and members of Parliament but Mr Kabimba, who is not a councillor at LCC, received an offer letter for plot number 915 in Lilayi.

According to a letter dated January 12, 2011 authored by council acting director for legal services Mumbi Chocho, Mr Kabimba was informed that the offer was temporary but the permanent one would be given to him in due course.

But in an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Kabimba said his 15-acre plot in Lusaka West was re-entered and he decided to apply for a replacement and was given the Lilayi land.

He said the plots were not exclusively for councillors and members of Parliament but any other person was free to apply.

Asked how he knew about the plots since they were not advertised, Mr Kabimba said he applied to the commissioner of Lands.

The PF council was last month exposed over its dealings in the land administration after 45 councillors, council high ranking officials and members of Parliament allocated themselves plots.

Mandevu Constituency MP Jean Kapata and her Kanyama counterpart Gerry Chanda, also from PF, are the other councilors that received offer letters for plots and the December minutes on the subject confirmed that the two had been allocated plots.

The Land Act prescribes that all plots numbering above 100 must be advertised to residents to promote transparency in the allocation of plots and only allows councillors to receive plots if they are available during their tenure of office.

Following the revelations, Local Government and Housing Minister Brian Chituwo has suspended the council for 90 days and appointed the Copperbelt Local Government administrator Solomon Sakala to run the affairs of the council.

“The provisional offer is valid until a formal offer issued by the Lilayi Housing bearing the stand number with conditions for development,” Ms Chocho wrote in the letter.

[pullquote]“We therefore consider these allegations as malicious and cheap aimed at gaining political mileage. One would have thought TIZ was a credible non-partisan institution which should not get embroiled in mudslinging,” Mr Mwaliteta said.[/pullquote]

The letter is referenced number mm/ck.
“I am pleased to issue you a provisional offer of the above-mentioned stand at the Lilayi Housing Project as agreed between the LCC and Lilayi Housing,” the letter reads in part.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has since launched investigations against the council and officials recently entered the office of the mayor, which is being occupied by Mr Sakala to seek details on plots.

Dr Chituwo, LCC public relations manager Chanda Makanta and Mr Sakala all declined to comment, saying it would not be prudent to discuss a matter that was under investigations.

Mr Kabimba is on record calling for the reinstatement of the LCC, whose suspension he said was meant to weaken the PF in Lusaka and had even written to Dr Chituwo on the matter.

And Kafue District Council has challenged Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) to prove its allegations that the local authority awarded land to its councillors without following the laid down procedure.

Council chairperson Obvious Mwaliteta said in a statement obtained by the Times in Lusaka on Thursday that as an agent of the Ministry of Lands, the council adhered to all procedures when allocating land to any citizen who qualified for it.

Mr Mwaliteta said the council had in the past recommended allocation of land to various applicants who at one time included some councilors who applied as citizens.

Last week TIZ reported the alleged illegal allocation of land at Kafue District Council to the Anti-Corruption Commission.

“It is very unfortunate that TIZ made these allegations without even bothering to verify facts with the council before lodging a formal complaint to the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Local Government Minister, as a council we strongly refute the allegations and challenge TIZ to prove the allegations against the MMD-dominated council,” he said.

He said the council minutes were available for TIZ and members of the public to scrutinise on request. “This land was advertised in the public media and was open to everybody.

The number of plots was 450, and as of now less than half has been taken up and the rest are still available to anybody who would like to acquire them.

“We therefore consider these allegations as malicious and cheap aimed at gaining political mileage. One would have thought TIZ was a credible non-partisan institution which should not get embroiled in mudslinging,” Mr Mwaliteta said.

[Times of Zambia]

CATHOLIC priest Fr Frank Bwalya has been accused of fathering a child with a woman he worked with while he was head of Radio Chengelo in Ndola.

Fr Bwalya, who has since abandoned his ecclesiastical responsibilities and is now head of a political association called Change Life Zambia, is said to have fathered the child with the named woman he employed at the radio station.

Sources at Chengelo Radio station in Ndola confirmed that Fr Bwalya is suspected to be the biological father of a male child with the woman, who has since been married to another clergyman.

When contacted for a comment on the revelations, Fr Bwalya could neither confirm nor deny the allegation.

When asked if it is true that he has a child in Kitwe, Fr Bwalya corrected the author saying: “You mean Ndola?”

Asked to confirm the allegation, Fr Bwalya said he had no comment.

When asked how he felt that some people are accusing him of having fathered a child, Fr Bwalya repeated: “No comment”.

Asked if he knew the woman with whom he is alleged to have a child, Fr Bwalya just quipped: “I said no comment.”

Sources in Ndola insisted that Fr Bwalya allegedly brought the named woman at the radio station and that the two had an affair.

“I have heard about it and according to what I have heard; Fr Bwalya has a child with one of the workers here. It was Fr Bwalya who facilitated her coming. She is now married to a bishop and that is all I know,” the source said.

When contacted by phone, the woman with whom Fr Bwalya is accused of having a child refused to comment.

Asked if it is true she has a child with Fr Bwalya, the woman in apparent shock exclaimed: “What!” She then cut the line.

Further attempts to call her were futile as she did not answer the phone, which was eventually switched off.

The age of the child could not be established.

Fr Bwalya has formed Change Life Zambia as a platform to propagate his political messages, particularly those against the government.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has said he will not succumb to external pressure to force him to exercise his prerogative of mercy on the 22 incarcerated treason suspects for allegedly advocating the secession of Barotseland from the rest of the country.

President Banda explained that as Head of State he could do that but without pressure from anyone not even the Catholic Bishops.

Mr. Banda stated that he had sought audience with the Catholic clergy but he regretted that they opted to rush to the press when they had dialogue and discussed the matter at length with them.

Mr. Banda was speaking to Journalists at the Lusaka City Airport shortly before his departure for Isoka, Northern Province where he is expected to officially commission the upgrading of the 393-kilometre Isoka-Muyombe-Chama-Lundazi road.

The Bishops contended that the suspects in custody must be accorded their rights as provided for in the constitution and other related legislation and appealed to the Republican President to use his prerogative to release them.

And President Banda is happy with the assurance by the Litunga that Western province will remain part of Zambia contrary to calls for its secession by some Lozi people.

Mr. Banda noted that key people in his government hailed from Western province and he thanked the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE) through the Litunga for working with the Government of the Day.

Asked on the forthcoming MMD national convention, President Banda said MMD members were free to contest any position of their choice.

Mr. Banda said it is the delegates to decide who they want to elect as their leader and those aspiring for party positions should be ready to be rejected by the people.

President Banda, however, advised aspirants for various positions at the convention against being personal but instead strive at service delivery.

He was commenting on MMD chairman for elections Mike Mulongoti and others who had declared their intentions to stand for the position of party vice president.

While in Isoka district, President Banda will commission the Isoka-Muyombe-Chama-Lundazi road that provides a direct link to Lusaka from the Eastern to Western and Southern provinces and connects the Eastern, Northern and Copperbelt provinces.

President Banda and his delegation are expected to return to Lusaka after completing his one-day working visit in Isoka district.

QFM

Government says the 419 thousand kwacha minimum wage was arrived at after thorough consultations with various stakeholders including employers and employees.

Labour Minister Austin Liato says it is sad that people especially from the opposition have continued to criticize the increment saying it is too small to meet the daily needs of an ordinary Zambian citizen.

Mr. Liato said the minimum wage was a product of government and workers because this was done after wide consultations with relevant stakeholders.

Mr. Liato told the Zambia News and Information Service -ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka, Thursday that it was premature for anyone to use the minimum wage to gain cheap political mileage.

The Labour Minister also stated that government took into account all companies who are providing employment to many Zambians before arriving at the minimum wage.

He said government could not have gone beyond the K419 000 agreed minimum wages as it could have disadvantaged some small companies.

Mr. Liato said government’s aim was to strike a balance between workers and their employers.
[ ZNBC ]

The Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) committee for party modernization has called on the Inspector General of Police Francis Kabonde to step down.

Committee chairperson Chiwele Maimisa says Mr. Kabonde’s failed to take appropriate action against PF leader Michael Sata who allegedly was a ring leader in the abduction and assault case in which four party cadres have been convicted by the magistrate court.

Mr. Maimisa alleged that the Inspector General of Police selectively chose to arrest the cadres and let Mr. Sata who he says was a master minder to go scot free.

He says if Mr. Kabonde does not step aside, his committee will march to State House in protest and ask Republican President Rupiah Banda to retire the IG.

Mr. Maimisa added that the police should not be seen to be selective in enforcing the law adding that this is a danger to the country’s security.

And Mr. Maimisa has also questioned the statement that Mr. Kabonde is reported to have made when he appeared before the parliamentary committee on security that the operations of the police have on many times been disturbed by politicians.

He says his committee is giving the IG up to Tuesday next week to reveal to the Zambians the politicians who interfere with the operations of the police as the statement raises more questions than answers.

[ QFM ]