Zambia Railways Limited has evicted several tenants from its houses in Ndola, a development that has sent fear waves among those still occupying the company’s houses.
A check by ZANIS in Kansenshi, Northrise and Chifubu residential areas today where Zambia Railways Limited has houses, revealed that several houses belonging to the company have been vacated and were being guarded by security personnel from Panorama Security services.
Speaking in separate interviews, some of the affected tenants said they had been evicted from the houses after they failed to buy them after an offer to do so.
But other evicted tenants claimed to have bought the houses and accused the company of not honouring the purchase mode, which they claimed involved deduction of money from their terminal benefits.
One of the affected tenants, Josephine Gondwe, said she has been evicted from the house despite having paid for the house in full through deductions from her terminal benefits.
Mrs. Gondwe has since appealed to government to intervene in the matter and protect the affected families, the majority of whom are headed by widows and orphans.
She said it was unfair for people to be stripped of of investments that they worked for in the many years of their service to the company.
She noted that government should follow the process through which the houses were sold and ensure that justice prevails.
Mrs. Gondwe further said it would be unfair for the former Zambia Railways Limited workers to lose out on the houses when deductions from their terminal benefits have already been made.
She however disclosed that there were still some tenants who have not fully paid for the houses they were occupying but explained that such people were remaining with only small amounts to complete the payment.
And an eyewitness, Edna Chilupula, bemoaned the alleged inhuman manner in which the tenants were evicted.
Ms Chilupula said the evictions were torturing to the tenants especially the orphans and aged widows.
She called on government to intervene in the matter since the selling of houses was a government policy aimed at empowering Zambians with houses.
And when contacted for a comment, the Zambia Railways Limited authorities in Kabwe declined to comment on the matter.
ZANIS
ZAMBIA RAILWAYS is still a parastatal which is controlled by the goverment.so in short they are telling you that you are paying for having voted wrongly in the last elections.
But I thought the agreement was to take the whole amount from the retirement parkage and if somebody’s parkage was insufficiant then they automatically dont qualify. Something is not right here
“Mrs. Gondwe has since appealed to government to intervene in the matter and protect the affected families, the majority of whom are headed by widows and orphans.” I usually sound unfair whenever I respond to such statements because people have stopped thinking by merely transferreing the thinking to government. Why not get a lawyer if you feel agrieved? in fact, if it turns out that indeed you paid for the house yet you are being victimised, you could claim for damages through which you could even settle legal costs. On these issues I am yet to see government do anything except let the due process regulate itself and in most cases people have jsut wanted to get the houses without paying for them. may be the case for this lady is different, but a legal process will give her an adavntage.
Too Bad but i don’t think ZR Officials are fools to evict without following procedures.
envicted even after paying for the house in full, i also smell a rat. And #3 you are right on, the biggest problem that we zambians have developed is we need government to do everything for us. Surely where is individual responsibility? People have just stopped taking responsibilities and are expecting that government will help them in everything.
I feel for the people, ZR should be more considerate when dealing with such issues. I think some senior people in ZR Ltd are after some of those properties because some of them are built on prime land that is set to go up in value. The affected families must seek legal aid and take this company to court, I know some people have been living there for many years. Government must insulate against such issues and I would urge them to take the matter to Ndola Central MP Mr. Mushili to look into this matter as well. Human right organisations must also get involved in this issue.
That iz very inhumane. I hope all logic understanding did not fail between the partiez involved.
remember the plight f former ubz employees and be ye cautious