No early reprieve for banned councils – Minister

THERE is completely no chance of early lifting of the suspension of the Kitwe and Lusaka city councils before the three-month period elapses, Local Government Minister Charles Banda has said.

Dr Banda maintained that the two councils would remain suspended as investigations continued.

THERE is completely no chance of early lifting of the suspension of the Kitwe and Lusaka city councils before the three-month period elapses, Local Government Minister Charles Banda has said.

Dr Banda maintained that the two councils would remain suspended as investigations continued.

The two local authorities were last month suspended for three months for illegal allocation of land.

The suspension was meant to allow Government to deal with the ills at the institutions and identify the culprits.

"Thinking of lifting the suspension early before the three-month period is over is a non-issue. People should just wait until the whole investigation process is complete," Dr Banda said.

The minister said Government was taking time to ensure that the two councils were properly investigated.

And Minister of Lands Jean Kapata advised residents of both Kitwe and Lusaka who had complaints to report to the ministry while investigations were still going on. Ms Kapata said it was important that those with complaints reported so that the matters could be dealt with at once.

"But I can confirm to you that we have received a few complaints from the citizens and we encourage them to keep bringing those complaints forward," she said.

Ms Kapata said the government was committed to ensuring that any problems to do with land illegalities among other challenges were resolved.