Civic leaders hail Govt over new allowance 

Mon, 06 Mar 2017 12:50:47 +0000

COUNCILLORS in Northern Province have commended Government for adjusting their monthly allowance from K700 to K3,000 saying the increment will help them discharge their duties effectively.

Mulilansolo ward councillor Aaron Zimba told the Daily Nation yesterday that contrary to critics who saw nothing positive about the increment, Government must be commended for the adjustment because it would provide relief to them.

Mr. Zimba said instead of attacking Government that the adjustment was too little, the new allowance would at least cushion them, adding that he expected that more adjustments would be effected from time to time.

“It is only prudent to appreciate what Government has done for us. We pushed for this matter and the fact that Government has responded should be commended. Of course that is not what most of us were expecting but let us learn to appreciate because this will not be the end of the adjustments.

“All we need to do now is to concentrate on developing our areas rather than complaining unnecessarily. The adjustment is minimal but it is better than nothing at all,” Mr. Zimba said.

His Katopola ward counterpart Rodricks Mulenga echoed his sentiments, saying the fight for improved emoluments for councillors was not in vain as Government had responded after a long battle and that there was need to appreciate the move. Mr. Mulenga said it was now time to let by-gones be by-gones, adding that the frictions that came as a result of the fight for better perks for civic leaders should end as councillors had fought a noble cause despite some of them being suspended over the matter.

He urged councils which suspended councillors to consider reinstating them so that they could start discharging their duties accordingly.

“It must be understood that the crusade for emoluments by councillors was not a fight for our personal glory or to enrich ourselves but that through the same, we can at least contribute to the lifting up of the peoples’ livelihood.

‘‘Our aim is to meet the needs of the vulnerable people and improve service delivery within our wards through monitoring of various developmental activities and holding community meetings to address issues that affect our people.

“As councillors, we remain indebted to President Edgar Lungu for authorising the sourcing of K58 million outside the 2017 national budget meant for our allowances. We only hope that this will be backdated from the date we were sworn in,” Mr. Mulenga said.