12 Gwembe headmen dragged to court

A civic leader in Gwembe District has dragged 12 headmen to court for failing to spearhead the construction of a health post in his ward.

Bbondo Ward councilor, Patrick Hanjeme yesterday told ZANIS in Munyumbwe that he had decided to sue the 12 headmen in his ward so that they could explain in court why construction works at Bbondo have not started despite that all building material had long been delivered in the area.
[pullquote]“About K30m CDF money had been released and already, K24m has been used to purchase building material and delivered on site,” he said.[/pullquote]

Mr Hanjeme explained that construction material worth K24m bought from Constituency Development Fund (CDF) for the construction of a clinic is still marooned in Bbondo.

“About K30m CDF money had been released and already, K24m has been used to purchase building material and delivered on site,” he said.

He said about 100 pockets of cement, planks, iron sheets, window frames and other building materials were delivered in June this year and construction works were scheduled to complete this month.

Mr Hanjeme added that he was forced to drag the headmen to court because they had failed to mobilize their subjects to mould and burn bricks as part of the 25% contribution by the community, leading to staled construction works of the health post.

He told ZANIS in Gwembe that he hoped that the court would issue a court order to ensure headmen work in the stipulated time to complete the clinic project that he said would greatly reduce the distance that people in his ward have to cover to access health care services.

And Malambo Village headman, Mailoni Simonga told ZANIS that he was shocked when he received a court summon over the matter.

Headman Malambo who sat outside court to await court to open said headmen were doing their best towards the construction of a clinic in question.

In addition, Pathius Cheelo of Kantundwa Village said works on the clinic were moving, though at a slow pace.

“We are working bit by bit”, he said.

[ ZANIS ]