Zomba residents owe city K2bn in taxes

Zomba City Council (ZCC) has urged its residents to pay taxes to enable it deliver its services.

The call comes against a background of residents owing the council K2 billion in 2017/18 taxes.  

ZCC acting chief executive officer Mussa Mwale said this during a budget consultation meeting on Tuesday to enable the residents have a say on the 2019/20 budget.

He said “The aim of the conference is to solicit views of residents to improve service delivery. We also want the residents to tell us where we are going wrong, so that together we can fix things for the benefit of everyone in our city.

 “We heard the aspirations of the people, but for that to happen there is need for them to do their part such as paying city rates,” he said.

Some of the key concerns raised were the need for the council to intensify recovery of unpaid rates, the need to end roadside markets, the need for the council to expedite construction of Zomba Stadium, expansion of some markets in the city to create more space and replacement of traffic lights near the District Commissioner’s office.

One of the residents, Daniel Phiri, asked the council to incorporate the people’s input and improve on enforcement of rules governing the council.