mayors welcome Government move

By ALEX NJOVU
FIVE mayors from opposition Patriotic Front (PF) controlled councils on the Copperbelt have welcomed Government’s plans to audit local authorities.
And Copperbelt Province local government officer Solomon Sakala said yesterday that all councils in the province have failed the people and urged them to improve service delivery.
Ndola mayor Charles Chiwala, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, said at a press briefing in Kitwe that the mayors will co-operate with the auditors.
“We would like to welcome the decision by Government to audit our councils. Every year, since 2006 when some councils started to be controlled by PF, we have been audited by Government.
“We are ready to work with the government of the day in improving service delivery to the people. As city fathers, we don’t want to combine politics with work,” Mr Chiwala said.
The mayors present at the press briefing were Stephen Chipungu (Kitwe), Ben Mpande (Chililabombwe), Thomson Ngulube (Mufulira), Simon Chanda (Chingola) and Mr Chiwala from Ndola.
Recently, Minister of Local Government and Housing Eustackio Kazongo said auditors would be sent to Lusaka, Ndola and Kitwe city councils in response to queries raised by members of the public on utilisation of funds.
Mr Chiwala said the Ndola City Council held a special council meeting about two weeks ago at which the councillors agreed to sell the Itawa flats because the cost of repairing them is too high.
Meanwhile, Mr Sakala said councils on the Copperbelt have failed the residents in service delivery.
He said in an interview that there is a lot of uncollected garbage in markets and town centres.
“Do they need K1 billion to slash the tall grass in townships? They have failed the people and they must jack up and improve their operations,” Mr Sakala said.