Copperbelt province Permanent Secretary (PS) Augustine Kasongo, has refuted allegations being peddled against him of being involved in selling of parts of land in Ndola City.
Mr. Kasongo says allegations that his office has benefited from the sale of parts of land along the Ndola – Kabwe road and in Mukulugwe ward, in Bwana Mkubwa constituency are untrue.
He has described the allegations as malice aimed at tarnishing his office and derail efforts to bring sanity in land administration.
President Hakainde Hichilema recently made it clear that he would not protect any of his ministers or government officials who engaged in corrupt activities.
Briefing the media at his office yesterday afternoon, the permanent secretary refuted the allegations he said deserved to be treated with condemnation deserved.
“I have been informed that there is information circulating in public that my office is involved in the sale of land to a local developer which is not true.
“ In Bwana Mkubwa, the land in question belongs to First Quantum Mineral limited (FQM) and they are working with the government land agency in distributing of the mentioned land to the community and part of it will go to the council.
‘” The President is on record that anyone who is involved in land illegalities is his own, if I am involved, let the law take its course.
“ But, I want to state that such stories will not derail this office to bring sanity to the Land Administration in the province,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ndola Mayor Jones Kalyati says the council has established that the land on Ndola – Lusaka road which has dragged the provincial Administration was sold off during the reign of the previous regime.
Councillor Kalyati says the local authority has since instituted investigations to find out how it was acquired and if the right procedure was followed.
“Where the parcel of land is there are electricity pylons and they are supposed to pass a dual carriage way connecting Ndola to Lusaka.
“ And there is not much space where development can take centre stage.
“ We have since advised the developer to halt any works on site until we conclude our investigations,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Kasong says the new dawn government has observed the mistrust among the general public on land administration owing to alleged corrupt practices.
Mr. Kasongo has however assured the general public that the government is cleansing the system to ensure equitable land distribution in the region.
The institutions that can clear allegations of corruption by those that hold public office are investigative wings. The New Dawn must stop the habit of taking the corruption fight to the press. If Muchima really wants to bring sanity to land administration he must regulate the activities of real estate agents. It’s not correct that agents can have land when the State hasn’t. You’re turning this country into a laughing-stock
“…….the land on Ndola – Lusaka road which has dragged the provincial Administration was sold off during the reign of the previous regime……….”
Under every stone of goverment, corruption by the previous regime is found…………
Everywhere ……….
When we say corruption was happening on an industrial scale, it is no exaggeration………….
Whether he is guity or not that’s for ACC to investigate but when I hear land scum allegtions in any govt as evident in the past just know that in the background its rampant. I mean in Zambia you can be scummed by an agent who can knowingly sell a piece of land twice with his lawyer in on the deal but pretending not to know.
Such allegations should be taken seriously by this gpvt if it is really wants to fight the war against corruption…suspend this PS let him step aside for internal and external investigations!!
I am not surprised…. this chap was PF through out but meanwhile he was passing information to the opposition. In short he’s an opportunist. So let the ACC take a break from taking on Lusambo and concentrate on this person. We don’t know the extent of his involvement yet.
Corruption at the Ministry of Lands has always been there but the UPND want to make it look like it started with ECL. What’s annoying is their new found lame excuse of blaming everything on the PF. We’ve the history of leaders that shared UNZA land, some Reverend went to prison over land. Those serving now aren’t immune to corruption, they might even be worse
Yes…Deja Vu wants ACC to leave his mate Bowman …really laughable
Did I say leave him alone? I said take a break because he’s already in their possession. But it seems you don’t want to talk about this PS. Why? If you are not careful Upnd will be more corrupt than PF because people like this PS. Watch him… he’s slippery… so much that when he sees Upnd losing ground he’ll do what he knows best…..
#6 Ayatollah
June 15, 2022 At 9:16 am
“Corruption at the Ministry of Lands has always been there but the UPND want to make it look like it started with ECL. What’s annoying is their new found lame excuse of blaming everything on the PF…….”
ECLs GRZ will be found to be the most corrupt in the history of zambia……..
Lungu will be hard to beat as being the most corrupt useless manager of the countries resources……
Corruption and looting was being operationslised as normal practice in his administration …………
Dont worry ba PS nothing will happen to you until when upnd is out of power so make the most of what you can ten years is a short time looks long