Out of order mayor, slammed

…as he justifies his not paying for alleged poor service

LUSAKA mayor Miles Sampa has been roundly condemned by various stakeholders for his public tantrums with the latest incident in which he refused to pay K700 at Lusaka’s Roan Sable restaurant after eating the food.

Mr Sampa has drawn the ire of the public for incidents some have described as childish and not befitting the office he occupies. In the latest incident, Mr Sampa on his own admission refused to pay for food he had consumed because the service was allegedly poor even though the food was nice. Economic and Equity party (EPP) leader Chilufya Tayali said Mr Sampa’s behavior leaves much to be desired as it has brought the office of the mayor into disrepute. And PF deputy secretary general Mumbi Phiri who also castigated Mr Sampa advised the mayor to emulate President Edgar Lungu’s humbleness if he is to be lifted up by God. Mr Sampa, admitted on a Hot FM show that he refused to pay the K700 at the Roan Sable restaurant after eating the food, and left a note to that effect. In an interview yesterday, Mr Tayali charged that Mr Sampa should grow up to measure up to the office he holds. “His behavior is bringing the office of the mayor into disrepute. The problem with Miles is that he is too overzealous and immature such that sometimes he acts out of emotions rather than reasoning. “Our advice to him is that he needs to realise that the office he occupies is an office of high decorum and he needs to grow up to measure up to the office because huge responsibilities require high levels of maturity,” Mr Tayali said. He said the best Mr Sampa could have done was to engage the restaurant management if he was not happy with the service. And when she called to contribute .on Hot FM’s breakfast show after Mr Sampa confirmed that he refused to pay in protest of the poor service at the uptown restaurant, Ms Phiri said the mayor’s behavior was uncalled for. Ms Phiri castigated Mr Sampa whom she described as her young brother saying leaders must always exhibit exceptional behavior wherever they are. Speaking when he was featured on Hot FM’s breakfast show via a telephone interview, Mr Sampa said he declined to pay the bill after eating because he had initially requested that they pack his food as he had an urgent engagement but the waiter disappeared for over 15 minutes. The mayor however said that he would still pay the bill with interest but insisted that Zambians should always demand excellent service whenever they were paying for something.