The challenges facing decentralization in Zambia are deep, with stakeholders revealing that political interference of operations of city and municipal councils being one of the major items that need urgent attention and hamper efforts by councils to become viable.
One of the most glaring irregularities is where you find district councils that house large scale mines that take up huge tracks of land are found to be financially limping as efforts to collect due levies are a challenge as most of these companies appeal to higher offices who then prevail on the councils, ending up with uncollected dues.
The Zambian Business Times – ZBT can reveal that most municipalities housing large scale mines are struggling to collect levies with most large scale mines being either behind, over-negotiated with backing of senior politicians or simply facing a situation of neglected payment attitudes of the dues.
One such council if the Chililabombwe Municipal Council, which houses two large scale mined in Konkola Copper Mines – KCM and Lubambe Copper Mines. In an interview with ZBT, the Chililabombwe Municipal Council disclosed that Lubambe Copper Mine is owing about K3.8m I’m overdue land rates
The local authority said the Chililabombe based Lubambe copper mine has only paid up to May this year, hence owing the local authority about K4 million. KCM with its problems even owns much more to the council.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with ZBT, the Executive officer in charge of debt and administration for the council, George Mulenga revealed that the Mine has the said unpaid balance which is supposed to be paid to the council.
And Chililabombwe Council director of finance Gabriel Lui confirmed that the mine is truly owing the local authority as they have not been paying since May 2022. Lui explained that the Chililabombwe based Lubambe copper Mine pays an annual amount of about K6.6 million and a monthly amount of K550k.
Lui said the mine has only paid up to may the sum of K2.7 million out of the annual K6.6 million Mulenga reaffirmed that Lubambe Mine has not paid anything since May 2022, hence accumulating to the said amount of money owed to the local authority.
The Chililabombwe based copper mine had earlier in July cut about 200 jobs which the company undertook by asking its employees to apply for voluntarily separations. Insiders said some jobs and individuals were targeted and that there it was more of retrenchment than voluntary separations.
