The Lusaka magistrate court today heard that
former minister of Lands Gladys Nyirongo questioned land officials on the delay in the numbering of subdivisions of farm number 390 A in Kabwe in Central Province.
Ministry of Lands Assistant Surveyor General, Tony Mwanalushi, 48, of 2704 Cedar road in Woodlands in Lusaka, told Magistrate Sharon Newa that, in December 2006, the former minister called him to her office to explain why there was a slight delay in the numbering of some property in Kabwe subdivision 390A.
Mr. Mwanalushi told the court that after going through the file, he discovered that the file was not complete because certain vital documents were missing.
This is in a case in which Nyirongo is charged with abuse of office of authority, offences, which she committed when she was still minister of Lands.
Mr. Mwanalushi told the court that, in acting to the then minister of Lands’ enquiry, he got documents relating to the same property but realized that there were some essential documents missing from the file.
He said he could not act on the directive by the former minister but instead requested that the vital documents be availed before the numbering of the property could go ahead.
He explained that the file did not contain important documents such as a letter from the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) indicating that it had given back the farm in question to government.
“I recall a day in December 2006, I got a call from the Minister’s secretary that I should go to the Minister’s office and I presented myself to the minister’s office. I found two other people in the minister’s office one of them was Samuel Daka whom I knew as an evaluation officer at the ministry of Lands,” he said.
The witness told magistrate Newa that there was suppose to be a stamped letter from the Kabwe Municipal Council in the site plan, but that this was not in the file.
Mr. Mwanalushi further said that he then wrote a memo requesting that the missing vital documents be provided before he could go ahead with the numbering of the said property.
In cross examination, lawyer representing Reverend Nyirongo, asked the witness on whether there was anything wrong with the file he got.
In response, Mr. Mwanalushi said there was nothing critically wrong with the documents in the file except that some of the important documents were missing.
Trial continues.