ACCUSED UPND CONCILLOR SPEAKS OUT – I’M A VICTIM OF TRIBALISM BY SOME UPND OFFICIALS, SAYS SINGOYI

ACCUSED UPND CONCILLOR SPEAKS OUT – I’M A VICTIM OF TRIBALISM BY SOME UPND OFFICIALS, SAYS SINGOYI

By SIMON MUNTEMBA

IT is sad that some of my own fellow party members working with headman Kasamu have ganged up against me just because I was not born from here, Kafue’s Kabweza ward councilor Justin Singoyi has lamented.

Mr Singoyi has accused village headman Kasamu and some UPND members of fighting him with all sorts of unfounded accusations just because their preferred candidate who hailed from the area was not adopted and voted for.

This is a matter in which the village headman and some UPND members in Kafue constituency have passed a vote of no confidence in their their local councilor, MrJustin Singoyi for allegedly being corrupt.

On Friday, the residents, through their representative village headman Kasamutold the Daily Nation that they were angry with Mr Singoyi for allegedly  beingcorrupt and getting many plots at the expense of settlers.

But in an interview, Mr Singoyi said only headman Kasamu and a few bitter UPND members were against him because he was the “wrong” tribe and they would have preferred one of them to have been nominated and voted for.

“Out of 14 headmen, only one headman Kasamu is complaining against me. The rest (13) are supporting me. The reason why the other headman and his group are not supporting me is because I was not born from this place. I am a Namwanga by tribe, I just came to settle here. So he and the group are against me because they considers me be an ‘outcast’, but it is the people who choose who they want to represent them,” Mr Singoyi said.

He said if the allegations that they were unleashing against him were true, people would not have reelected him, having been councilor for the ward since 2016.

Mr Singoyi said all the accusations were false and challenged them to provide evidence more especially that no single individual coulsd sell land at will without the local authority’s consent.

He explained that contrary to the allegations that he duped the residents out of over K9, 000 for drilling a borehole which they had not seen, it was the world development committee that asked for contribution and less than 20 paid.

“About the k150, it was the World development committee which instituted a subcommittee to ask for contribution so that they could bring a surveyor for a borehole drilling project and as far as I know only less than 20 households paid.Iwas not even directly involved in collecting the money.

He also refuted allegations suggesting that he had grabbed an incubator which was donated to the women in the area, it was kept at his house because his wife was a chairperson of the women group.

He said he had nothing to do with an incubator apart from keeping it in the house for the club

Meanwhile, the other 13 headmen in Kafue Constituency have reacted angrily to headman Kasamu and the group for having convened what they termed as “an illegal meeting” to pass a vote of no confidence in councilor Singoyi.