Times Reporter
3 May 2004
TWENTY-FOUR families that lost their loved ones in the 1993 Gabon air disaster have camped at a Salvation Army guest house in Lusaka demanding disbursement of compensation dues by their lawyers.
Family representatives have rejected the K1.9 billion payment forwarded by Central Chambers from the K6 billion released by Government last week.
Twenty-four of the 30 families who are representing local players are sharing three rooms at Villa Elizabetha.
The families said yesterday that although Government last week released K6 billion to Central Chambers, only K1.9 billion was given to their lawyers Ituna Partners.
The families led by a widow Ruth Chabala, said they did not know how Central Chambers worked out the figures when it remitted K1.9 billion.
They said they had initially agreed that Central Chambers gets 10 per cent as legal fees but what had transpired was that the percentage had gone up.
Ms Chabala said when Solicitor General, Sunday Nkonde released the money he had sent a schedule of how the K6 billion would be shared among the 30 families but Central Chambers came up with its own figures.
Speaking in an interview yesterday, Mr Nkonde said he was not aware of any variation in the compensation which Government had worked out for each one of the beneficiaries.
He urged all parties to allow the families enjoy the money in peace and advised that the issue be reverted to the Attorney General's chambers in case of any dispute.
But Mr Sakwiba Sikota of Central Chambers yesterday said he could not comment immediately because he had been out of office attending the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) annual general meeting in Livingstone.
And Dr Mulwila who is currently representing the 24 affected families said he also did not know why Central Chambers released K1.9 billion when his clients expected K4.3 billion.
He said he had written Central Chambers and phoned them on several occasions but there had been no response.
According to a Government table made available to the Times, each family was supposed to receive between K150 million and K284 million as full compensation.
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