Govt exposes more corruption in councils

Sat, 01 Jul 2017 11:12:46 +0000

By OSCAR MALIPENGA

INVESTIGATIONS conducted by the Ministry of Local Government have revealed serious financial mismanagement in the issuance of fuel to mayors and council chairpersons, Parliament was informed yesterday.

Minister of Local Government Vincent Mwale attributed the financial mismanagement in councils to solicited, unjustified and rampant local and foreign travel by most council officials without approval.

Delivering a ministerial statement, Mr. Mwale, who is Chipangali Patriotic Front (PF) Member of Parliament, said his ministry had observed that most principal council officers had a tendency of leaving their stations without authority.

He said there had been general outcry from members of the public regarding the management of public funds by most councils and local authorities which prompted his ministry to carry out investigations.

“Mr. Speaker, as a result of this imprudent use of the public funds by councils, service provision has been adversely affected to the dismay of Government and the people at the local level.

“I cannot sit and watch the continued mismanagement of public resources at the expense of service delivery by our councils,” he said.

Mr. Mwale said from now on all principal officers shall seek permission in writing from the permanent secretary, Ministry of Local Government, through the provincial local government officers in their respective provinces before leaving the station.

“The written permission has to be Under Flying Seal (UFS) of the mayor/council chairperson before submission for clearance from the provincial local government officers in their respective provinces for any council officer leaving the station.

“With immediate effect, all principle officers and council officers will be required to attach written permission to leave their stations to support their payment for travelling out of their stations, failure to which the ministry will have no option but to direct that disciplinary proceedings be commenced against such erring officers,” Mr. Mwale said.

He said all councils were advised to maximize the utilization of the office of the provincial local government officers in their respective provinces established under section 118 of the Local Government Act Cap 281 of the laws of Zambia.

Mr. Mwale said only issues which could not be resolved at the district and provincial levels including policy issues should be referred to the ministry in order to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.

He said mayors and council chairperson would only be given fuel when officiating at ceremonial functions, adding that for their daily operations they would be required to use 30 percent fuel allowances paid to them as stipulated in their terms of conditions.

“All applications for authority to travel abroad from the local authority will be approved by the Ministry of Local Government before submission to the Secretary to the Cabinet for authorization in order to curb the indiscriminate travel abroad by all council officials in the councils.

“Further, councils will be required to submit all applications to travel abroad fourteen (14) days before the date of travel,” Mr. Mwale said.