By ROGERS KALERO
UPND Luangwa ward councillor Mary Zimba at the weekend fumed and protested after she was left out of those to receive certificates during the orientation workshop because, according to the records at the Ministry of Local Government, Patriotic Front (PF) James Chabi was the Luangwa ward councillor.
Mr Chabi was elected Luangwa ward councillor during the August elections, but Ms Zimba petitioned the PF councillor and won the case, and was sworn in as Luangwa ward councillor by Kitwe Town Clerk Mbulo Seke.
But, at the end of the three-week orientation workshop at Moba Hotel, Ms Zimba was shocked that Mr Chabi was called out as Luangwa ward councillor to receive the certificate while she was eagerly waiting for her name to be called.
Ms Zimba protested and said she was the Luangwa ward councillor, but officers from the Ministry of Local government told her that, according to their records, Mr Chabi was the Luangwa ward councillor.
“Madam, what we know is that Luangwa ward Councillor is James Chabi. So if you are not James Chabi, then you are not the Luangwa ward councillor. These certificates are not handwritten, but they are printed.
“They were not printed in Ndola or Kitwe but in Lusaka. So the person to receive the certificate is the one whose name is written here on the certificate,” said one official from the ministry of local Government.
On October 14, 2021, PF Wusakile Member of Parliament Pavyuma Kalobo protested over the swearing in of UPND’s Mary Zimba as Luangwa ward councillor by the Kitwe Town Clerk despite the matter being before the courts of law through an appeal.
Mr Kalobo said the case of Luangwa ward was before the courts of law and an appeal was a stay of execution in itself unless Mr Seke had declared Ms Zimba as a winner and decided to swear her in Luangwa ward councilor.
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