Ndola City Council paralyzed

Tue, 27 Jun 2017 12:18:05 +0000

By VIOLET TEMBO

ANXIETY has gripped Ndola City Council as business is in near-paralysis following mass transfers announced yesterday which have seen more than 300 council workers leaving the institution.

Others likely to be fired are Town Clerk Enerst Sumani and four directors from legal, administration, planning and housing as they have been sent on forced leave by the Local Government Service Commission pending investigations. An impeccable source close to the development said the Town Clerk and the four directors were being investigated over 150 plots that the council repossessed from Mitengo and Pine Groove which were allegedly shared among those in management.  The source said former Mazabuka Town clerk Wisdom Bwalya has since assumed the position of Town clerk of Ndola as the  Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) have instituted investigations.

“The commission commenced sitting on Saturday and the Town Clerk together with the four directors from these four departments were informed of their transfers and we initially heard that Mr. Sumani had been transferred to Chipata district.  “However, when President Edgar Lungu, who was in the province was briefed about the development on Sunday, he ordered that the decision be reversed.  “He (President) told the commission that it cannot continue transferring problems from one place to another because such transfers did not root out the problem and ordered that the five must be  investigated over these illegalities and if found wanting, the instructions are that they must be fired,” the source disclosed.

The source disclosed that the commission had indicated that it was carrying out its usual mandate save for the top directors and the Town Clerk’s issue, saying the affected officials’ predicament was as a result of their loyalty in wrong-doing to a named senior Government official who had created a lot of agitation in the city especially over land allocation.