Chongwe Council comes under fire

THE council must be seen to be in charge of technocratic undertakings in the newly upgraded municipality, a Chongwe resident has charged.

Mr. Thomson Chakaleka told the Daily Nation in an interview that the council must not be afraid to act in the interest of prudent town development.

"The behaviour by council is uncalled for. How can they just be warming seats and leave the issues of town planning to fate or indeed the traditional powers?

“We are now a municipality, but institutions such as Zesco still insists that we seek authority from the traditional leadership when we apply for power connection.

How can Chongwe be the only district that does that? This is a hindrance to development. This bottleneck should not even exist in this era," he said.

Mr. Chakaleka further observed that the traditional leadership had a cardinal role of presiding over traditional matters. It is for this reason and others that they should not be overstretched by loading technical duties on them.

"Chongwe is growing and so residents should not be subjected to the idea of struggling to get clearance from the traditional leadership. Electricity is not a luxury, but a necessity which must easily be accessed," he said.

Mr. Chakaleka who is also the Patriotic Front's district and publicity secretary observed that city council's neglect of its core duties was hindering development. "As a party we feel this cumbersome scenario is making the ruling party look like it is not working. Even water connection is just as bureaucratic" he said.

In similar fashion, Mr. Moses Mwachikoko, a resident of Libuko village narrated how land was grabbed from him by a local traditional land committee. I acquired the land 3 years ago, but to my shock the committee recently asked me to forfeit part of it to a Mr. Mali of Lusaka.

“Where is the council when the local leadership is doing all this? I appeal to the Chieftainess to sincerely collaborate with council to stamp out this rot. Many were losing land in a similar manner," Mr. Mwachikoka said.

Another resident who preferred anonymity accused council of being flat-footed and was not exercising its powers. "Many projects cannot not take off because our council is too blunt to perform.

They surely have enough technocrats. Asking the traditional leadership to give technical advice is rather asking for too much from them," he said.