Chiradzulu councillors’ action halts service delivery
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councillors in Chiradzulu, who on Thursday closed district commissioner (DC) Memory Kaleso’s office, have brought service delivery at the district council to a standstill.
The Nation’s visit to the boma yesterday morning found all the council’s offices closed and some people, who had come to seek services from various offices, returning without being assisted while others were just seated contemplating their next move.
Apart from the DC’s office, others that are closed include the administration, district youth, forestry, accounts, National Registration Bureau (NRB), deceased estates, social welfare and labour.
Edna Chimera from Namulu Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Kadewere in the district went to the offices yesterday to collect a deceased estate payment for her husband who passed away in 2005.
Chimera, who said was in dire need of the money to pay rentals and school fees for her two children, learnt that she could not access the payment as the council was not operating.
“I got a call last week that the payment is ready and I should come to collect it. I came here with hope that today I would get the money which my children and I have been waiting for.
“This is not fair. The councillors need to find the best way to deal with the issues they have against the DC instead of making members of the community suffer,” she said.
Also affected due to the closure are chiefs who were supposed to start receiving their March 2017 honoraria starting from last Wednesday.
Yesterday, Kaleso said it is impossible for other council employees to work normally with the DC’s office sealed because the other offices require her in their operations.
Chiradzulu has three Cabinet ministers, namely Emmanuel Fabiano (Education, Science and Technology), Joseph Mwanamvekha (Trade, Industry and Tourism) and Henry Mussa (Labour Youth, Sports and Manpower Development).
Fabiano and Mwanamvekha refused to comment on developments at the council, saying they do not have details whereas Mussa could not be reached on his mobile phone.
Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development spokesperson Muhlabase Mughogho said the ministry is still waiting for a legal opinion it sought from the office of the Attorney General (AG) on how to resolve the issue.
There has been bad blood between the DC and the councillors, who allege that Kaleso is a People’s Party (PP) sympathiser.
Among other things, the councillors accuse the DC of not supporting DPP activities.
