MINISTRY of Local Government and Housing permanent secretary Stanford Msichili yesterday protested over remarks by Public Accounts Committee (PAC) member January Zimba that Kitwe City Council management lacks intellectual capacity.
Mr Zimba, who is Chama North member of Parliament said: “managers at Kitwe City Council have no intellectual capacity to assimilate issues.”
This was when Kitwe City Council town clerk Bornwell Lwanga and Mr Msichili appeared before PAC to respond to audit queries raised in the auditor-general’s 2013 report.
“It is not fair for the Honourable member to say that my officials have no intellectual capacity to understand their roles as managers,” Mr Msichili complained.
But PAC acting chairperson Brian Chituwo defended Mr Zimba’s statement, saying the committee did not insult management at the local authority.
“Surely what contribution did your staff give when preparing your report?” Dr Chituwo asked.
He said it is important for controlling officers to ensure that all questions raised by the committee are answered.
Mr Zimba’s remarks came after Mr Msichili contradicted himself in his response on contracts offered to investors by councils.
Mr Msichili failed to satisfy PAC on the memorandum of understanding and contracts signed by the council, prompting Mr Zimba to utter the words.
The MP is right. The quality of civic and national leaders is deplorable. Intellectual capacity is not even something expected of them. Just a bit of competence. But even that is lacking. Msichili could do well to ask himself how he got in that position of PS in the first place, among millions of Zambia. Tribal and nepotistic considerations were paramount, not professionalism and competence.
Actually, this was even an understatement..Most council officers are extremely dull and only become sharp when demarcating land and issuing plots to more than 5 people per plot…corrupt *****s!!
That is an appropriate assertion by Zimba and only the injured victim can cry foul. For those of us observing the bankruptcy of capacity in most departments in the management of our communities and its properties and welfare is so glaring it isn’t funny anymore. Thank you, Mr. Zimba, for putting that on the table. It will be a shame if our national leaders do not seriously take it up and action it – but then again, how many of our national leaders are adequately equipped to deal with matters competently anyway?
I would love to hear Ndola City Council too…Mumba the most corruption director of legal services on the copperbelt, supported by one Dyness of the same department…Khikiki…Dyness is a stupid old hole who wants to be considered young..namafuta pamenso
This old man called mschili must rest he dozes all the way in meetings and I dnt undastand hw he got that job.Ba presida look at this man this are kabimba pipo who are sell outs
in books written before Hon Zimba was born thats whst is there. Today we have intellectuals who are far more educated than Hon Zimba. it is just the culture of theiving which is killing our country. This culture was brought by your party
Thieving was not introduced by anyone party but by human greed and now it has taken root in the Zambian culture.
Where in a city of 1.5m people garbage cannot be collected and properly disposed. That city council water cannot consistently run for even 3 days, that public toilets are where one chooses to relieve themselves, that today’s zambian cities are 10 times more filthy than they were 15yrs ago despite the world’s advancement in efficient garbage collection technology! So how shall we describe our local city officials? Intellectually incapacitated.
You are also a citizen who relies on hearsay are so lazy that u have never ready water is provided by Water Utility Companies?
You don’t know the difference between Kitwe City Council and Nkana Water n Sewerage?
Hon. Zimba should not think just because he is an MP, then he has intellectual capacity, him of all people should know how these things go. He should also be loud when representing his constitutcy