GETTING TO WORK

NEW Lusaka mayor Miles Sampa has a mammoth task to transform the city into a clean, green and healthy place, but to succeed he will have to fearlessly nip corruption in the bud at the Lusaka City Council (LCC). The vice is arguably deeply rooted in illegal allocation of plots at the local authority. Right now, Lusaka is choked by many illegal structures built on corruptly acquired plots, which has since left several companies and individuals embroiled in bitter endless litigations over land. Media reports of land encroachment and disputes as well threats of demolition of illegal properties are increasingly uncommon nowadays. Already, Zambia Railways Limited is in the process of demolishing over 300 illegal properties built right on its land (within 50 metres from the railway line) which poses a serious threat to lives of the owners. The company has not hidden its displeasure over this situation and has vowed to raze the structures but is presently in dialogue with the local authority to establish the how and why the plots were allocated to the sitting tenants. Clearly, the problem of illegal plots has not only resulted in distorting the image of the city but has triggered other serious social and economic problems in the city. These include unplanned settlements, which mostly lack proper water and sanitation facilities and other much-needed municipal services. The local authority is finding it extremely difficult to service such areas with good roads, solid waste disposal services and other vital social amenities since they are illegal. From the foregoing, it is undeniable that Mayor Sampa has an uphill battle to completely eliminate corruption at the local authority which is among the root causes of the various problems the City of Lusaka is reeling from today. And unless the mayor takes bold stops to stamp out corruption, his wonderful plans of transforming Lusaka into the city of the people’s dreams will be shattered and amount to nothing. We, therefore, vehemently agree with losing UNIP candidate in the recent Lusaka mayoral polls, Alfred Banda’s observations that weeding out corruption at City Council which is entrenched in the illegal allocation of land should be on top of Mr Sampa’s agenda. This is a daunting task indeed but is attainable. Mr Sampa has pledged to bring sanity at the local authority as well as to transform Lusaka into a clean, healthy and green city by working with all stakeholders with impartiality. This is a prudent and welcome move. But Mr Sampa’s 10-point plan and all these might hit a brick wall if some crooked council officials perpetuating corrupt activities are not quickly identified and flushed out once and for all from the local authority. We urge Mr Sampa not to leave any stone unturned to stop illegal land scams that have dented the image of the council and scared some potential investors. Sadly Lusaka is not the only council in this predicament, but councils countrywide. Given the magnitude of the problem at the local authority, it is evident that Mr Sampa can’t weed out the problem of corruption singlehandedly. Residents and other key stakeholders need to get involved to enable him achieve his 10-point plan for a clean, green, healthy and safe city.