Mon, 05 Dec 2016 10:56:43 +0000
By Kalobwe Bwalya
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) cadres in Lusaka have been accused of taking over the running of markets and bus stations and are allegedly levying marketeers and bus crews and pocketing the money with the full knowledge of the Lusaka City Council, it has been learnt.
But Lusaka mayor Wilson Kalumba has refuted the claims but conceded that the cadres agreed recently to do so under a scheme to help bus drivers in times of breavement.
Mr Kalumba said the local authority was not aware of any political group colleting money at bus stations but that if there were some individuals involved they must stop immediately because what they were doing was illegal and they would be brought to book.
He stated that the council did not have any arrangement or agreement with PF cadres to be collecting levies at the main bus station and markets.
The mayor however said that he was aware that PF cadres recently came up with an agreement to be collecting money from every big bus that left the station and the money collected was to be put in a bank account to assist drivers in times of problems, especially funerals, of which the council was aware.
He said each big bus at the station has what they are calling a bus inspector who is in charge of collecting the monies every day when the bus is about to leave.
Mr Kalumba said the allegations of PF members taking over bus stations was a smear campaign only intended to tarnish the name of the ruling party.
He urged the marketers to be paying all their levies to council officials and not individuals who pretended to be council officials.
And the marketeers have challenged the council to be courageous and remove the cadres from the station.
