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Zambia: Veep Cautions Erring Councils
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The Times of Zambia (Ndola)
22 July 2008
Posted to the web 22 July 2008
THE Government has maintained that it will not release funding to councils that fail to submit returns to the Ministry of Local Government and Housing until they clean up their houses.
Vice President Rupiah Banda said that many councils had delayed in submitting their returns to the ministry.
He was speaking during the official opening of the Local Government Association of Zambia (LGAZ) annual general conference at New Fairmount Hotel in Livingstone yesterday.
More than 250 councillors, mayors, town clerks and other council officials from all over Zambia, attended the conference dubbed "Strengthening Local Government for Effective Citizen Participation".
Mr Banda said some local authorities had delayed in submitting returns for Constituency Development Funds (CDFs) while others had not even utilised the funds given to them in 2006 and 2007.
"I direct the Ministry of Local Government and Housing that councils which have not filed returns should do so unless funds have been misapplied," he said.
He said Government would not condone misapplication of funds by councils as that retarded development.
Mr Banda said that it was important for councils to be accountable and transparent and urged the ministry to discipline all the erring councils and officials.
"The timely release of CDF is important for the development of the country. Councils must adhere to financial regulations. It is also important to strengthen procurement policies and ensure that district and council tender boards are functional," Mr Banda said.
He urged councils toprioritise projects to avoid wastage of funds and called for the setting up of integrity committees to check corrupt practices in councils.
"The Government will not compromise the need for councils to adhere to tenets of transparency and accountability in the application of funds," Mr Banda said.
On decentralisation, Mr Banda said that the Government was taking extra care in the implementation of the plan to avoid pitfalls.
"In their current state, councils may not adequately manage additional functions," Mr Banda said.
Government was also determined to address the issues of tenure of office for mayors and council chairmen, which was before Cabinet.
Mr Banda also expressed concern over the growth of unplanned settlements in Zambia and called on local authorities to take urban planning and management seriously.
He urged councils to take advantage of the Land Development Fund.
He said that it was disappointing that most of the local authorities had not taken advantage of the fund to open up their land for development.
The vice-president called on councils to address the housing deficit in Zambia which stood at 1.5 million. He said the Government would increase finances to councils from 2009 to enable them construct affordable houses.
He directed the Ministry of Local Government and Housing to amend the Personal Levy Act Cap 329 and the Liquor Licensing Act Cap 167 to address issues of excessive beer drinking among youths and the illegal sale of beer in markets.
Speaking earlier, Local Government and Housing Minister, Sylvia Masebo assured that Government was not back-peddling on the issue of decentralisation.
On the late release of CDF, Ms Masebo said that her ministry had withheld the funds because it was waiting for local authorities to 'clean their houses'.
She said her ministry had not released grants to some councils because they did not prepare sensible budgets and the Government would next week release funds only for councils, which followed financial regulations.
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LGAZ president Charles Mumena called for civic engagement in addressing challenges affecting local authorities.
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| Copyright © 2008 The Times of Zambia. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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