By GRACE CHAILE
THE refusal by President Hakainde Hichilema to shift from his private residence to the gazetted Nkwazi House in State House is costs Zambians about K126 million per annum, Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) president, Sean Tembo has told the court.
Mr Tembo has submitted to the Constitutional Court that it was unfair for President Hichilema to burden the Zambians with unnecessary expenses when he could have moved into Nkwazi House at State House.
“Having demonstrated that there is no justifiable cause why President Hichilema should put on the heads of Zambian taxpayers an unnecessary expense of commuting between New Kasama where he lives and State House where he works from, which is estimated at K126 million per annum. It follows that this expenditure cannot meet the Constitutional requirement set out in Article 17391(b) which requires that public expenditure must promote the efficient use of natural resources, and is therefore in contravention of the Constitution,” Mr Tembo argued.
This is a matter in which Mr Tembo has petitioned the ConCourt to compel President Hakainde Hichilema to move to Nkwazi which is the officially designated residence for the head of State.
The petitioner claimed that President Hichilema had been refusing to move into Nkwazi House and is petitioning the Constitutional Court so that the head of State could be compelled to leave Community House, a private residence.
Mr. Tembo in his petition argues that the decision by President Hichilema to continue staying at his private residence and commuting to State House had resulted into unnecessary expenses on public resources as his daily trips to and back to Community House were a cost to the nation.
He is concerned about the safety of citizens as the roads leading to President Hichilema`s private residence were not suitable for a presidential convoy travelling at high speed.
He explained that the daily trips to State House from his private residence was causing danger to pedestrians.
Mr Tembo said because of daily commuting, President Hichilema’s motor- cade was recently involved in a road traffic accident resulting into the death of a woman.
The petitioner in his skeleton arguments filed on Monday, submitted there was no equitable development when about K126 million per annum was being spent on the President commuting from Community House to State House on a daily basis while some pupils are forced to learn from under the tree due to lack of classrooms or desks.
“The constitution, in Article 198(d) requires that those responsible for managing public resources must do so prudently and responsibly. The action by President Hichilema of continuing to reside at the unofficial residence where government is incurring costs for his security and movements does not demonstrate financial prudence and responsibly as the government continues to maintain the Nkwazi House which remains unoccupied at a high costs,” he contended.
Mr Tembo prayed to the court to find the Head of State in violation of the constitution to stop wastage of taxpayers’ money.
