Maravi

Lands commissioner's plots raise questions Pt 2

Lands commissioner's plots raise questions
By Nomusa Michelo
Monday February 26, 2007 [02:00]

Meanwhile a day after the interview, on February 15, 2007, Sichone supposedly received a letter from PACRO confirming to him the de-registration of his company Landrite Investments, which he supplied to the reporter along with other documents. During the interview on February 14, 2007, Sichone made no mention of his supposed application in January 2004, to de-register Landrite Investments.

The letter purported to have come from the office of the registrar at PACRO was signed by an E. M Ng’andu and read as follows; “Following your physical search on our electronic register and your subsequent letter of 5th February, 2007 in which you have noted that despite your request of 3rd January, 2004, your search revealed that the above named company had not been removed from the register. I wish to, on the contrary confirm that your company was struck off the register of companies on the 6th of August, 2004 which was at the expiration of six months from the date of your request and issuance of notice thereto, in accordance with the provisions of Section 361 of the companies Act. However, we have inadvertently maintained the name on the electronic register. We wish to assure you that the name will be removed from the electronic register with immediate effect. We regret the inconvenience that the continued reflection on our electronic register may have caused you,” the letter read.

The undated letter was on headed paper and stamped with the date stamp from the office of the registrar, PACRO, and dated February 15, 2007, a day after the interview with Sichone. However, during a physical search conducted at PACRO on January 29, 2007, the company file did not contain the letter requesting deregistration nor a statutory declaration of assets. Section 361 (4) of the companies act states that ; “Where a company- (a) by ordinary resolution requests the Registrar to strike it off the register; and_(b) lodges with the Registrar a copy of the resolution, summary of accounts, and a statutory declaration of two or more directors showing what disposition the company has made of its assets and that the company has no debts or liabilities;_the Registrar shall cause to be published in the Gazette a notice to the same effect as that referred to in subsection (2).”

Other documentation supplied by Sichone include a written statement, in which Sichone claims that he was lost when the reporter asked him about Landrite Investments during an earlier interview, since the company had never operated as he became aware that it might conflict with his position as registrar of lands then. During an earlier interview on February 14, 2007 Sichone said his brother Clifford was running the Landrite Investments on the Copperbelt and had even been supplying agricultural inputs during the 2006/2007 farming season under Landrite Investments.

In a subsequent interview on February 17, 2007, when Sichone was called to confirm if he indeed had applied for the de-registered of his company in 2004, since the file at PACRO did not contain the letter requesting de-registration and why it had taken so long to confirm de-registration, Sichone said it was not his problem “That is not my problem. Maybe the patents office could be in a better position to answer that. The fact is I took that letter there,’ he said. “Even in the letter, they said they realised the mistake and corrected it.” Sichone also said that he surrendered the two small commercial plots in Mass Media area because the company had no use for them and only needed a residential property on which to build his house. “All I want is a residential property where I can build my house. I have no intention of acquiring land anymore,” he said.

Other documents supplied by Sichone included letters of correspondence with Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) director general Nixon Banda and Special Assistant to the President for Legal Affairs Darlington Mwape on Sichone’s interest in acquiring a residential plot in Mass Media area. According to a letter dated September 8, 2006, from Sichone to Mwape in which he declared interest in the two properties already acquired by Mizumbi farms in Mass Media area, headed ‘Acquisition of Commercial Stands 35210 and 25211 Lusaka Mizumbi farms limited’. One of the property numbers, 25211 should be 35211, yet the response from Mwape quotes the correct plot number, 35211.

In the letter Sichone states that due to the busy nature of his office and considering the company had no capacity to develop the two small commercial plots, he could surrender them to the state and request the land allocation committee in the ministry to approve any other plot for residential purposes to him and not Mizumbi Farms. “Your clearance is hereby sought considering that I am the only person who executes leases and doing so without your knowledge would not be desirable,” the letter stated.

In response to Sichone’s letter, Mwape advised him to have recourse to the ACC Act in regard to disclosure of interest as well as to seek further advice with the ACC director general (Nixon Banda). The letter read in part: “I agree that you surrender the properties back to the state. As you have correctly stated you are the sole executor of leases and thus you will be deciding upon a matter in which you have direct interest. For the purpose of future allocations to yourself, I would advise that you have recourse to the Anti-Corruption Commission Act in regard to the disclosure of interest. You may also seek further advice from the director general Anti-Corruption Commission.”

In a letter dated September 26, 2006, Sichone wrote to Banda, declaring interest to apply for stand LUS/36433 residential property in Mass Media area. “My bringing to your attention is within the provisions of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act whereby I am required to declare interest as a dealing public officer and interest in a plot in which my decision is required. I would be grateful if I received guidance on this matter,” the letter read in part.

And in a response dated October 5, 2006 Banda stated that Sichone’s declaration was noted. “However, I wish to advise that when this matter comes up before the committee which will be considering other applicants, you should repeat your declaration and recuse yourself and never participate in the deliberations of the committee,” Banda’s response read in part. Sichone said he surrendered the two small commercial plots because the company had no use for them and only needed a residential property on which to build his house. “All I want is s residential property where I can build my house. I have no intention of acquiring land anymore,” he said.

In his written submission, Sichone also states the only relative he had given land to was his cousin Gershom Simukoko and that he had not unreasonably allocated land to his business associates. “As regards my business associates, wherever, they are, I still maintain that I have not unreasonably allocated more than one plot in each category to any of my friends. I would urge you to verify both computer and file records,” he stated. Meanwhile, Zambia Land Alliance national coordinator Henry Machina said corrupt elements in land allocation agencies should be flushed out of the system.

In an interview, Machina said stern measures needed to be taken against people who abused their authority to acquire land in the land allocation agencies, namely the councils and the Ministry of Lands. “People involved in corrupt allocation and acquisition should be removed from the system. And of course the ACC has to come in and investigate them,” Machina said. “But the one problem we have is lack of protection for whistle-blowers in the system. Whistle-blowers are very important and they need to be protected. Many people don’t feel safe to report even when they know what is going on and who is involved.” Machina said there were cases in which officers used their relatives and friends to acquire land, making it difficult to prosecute such cases.

He said in order to deal with corruption in land allocation, a more coordinated system was needed. “The problem we have is that the system of allocation is not coordinated, we have the Ministry of Lands, the councils and land resettlement scheme who allocate land,” he said. “We need more efficiency in the system. We also need an information system that cannot be tampered with like it was in the past. There have been cases where people’s names have been deleted from the system and title deeds have been given to someone else.”

Machina said there was also a need to speed up the process of giving title deeds. He said even though it should only take a week to acquire title deeds, in some cases it took several years to get title to land.

Meanwhile, lands minister Gladys Nyirongo has called on the public to report cases of corruption by officers in her ministry in order to stop the rot. Nyirongo said it was unfortunate that people made allegations against her officers without reporting them to the relevant authorities. “If there is such a tendency, which has been going on, it is most unfortunate. My only plea with the people is that if they know of such things going on, it is better they take that information to relevant authorities so that investigations are carried out, even cases where it is alleged that they are using other people’s names,” Nyirongo said.

She said land is a vital commodity, and if people have been given the opportunity to own land and they sell it, it is regrettable. “Let us not abuse the privileges given to us. We need to guard jealously these issues of land,” Nyirongo said.

Without mentioning names, Nyirongo said she had received complaints of some junior officers who had allegedly acquired a lot of wealth soon after joining the ministry. “Those that we have heard about and seen, we have reported to the ACC and investigations are going on,” she said. “But you see the general public is not helping us if they don’t give us this information for investigations and action to be taken.”

She said public officers who were found to be corrupt should not be allowed to continue holding public offices as corruption removed the

And lands deputy minister Moses Muteteka said the ministry is putting in place measures to address corruption in the ministry through the integrity committee of which Sichone is a member, and the Lands Tribunal. He said the ministry received an overwhelming number of applications for land every month and that there was little land left in Lusaka owned by the state. Muteteka said if there were any officers found engaging in corrupt practices, the ministry would waste no time in exposing and disciplining them.

When asked about the allegations levelled against Sichone and other officers in the ministry, Muteteka said he had heard complaints but for as long as people did not take their complaints to the people responsible, nothing would be done about it. “If at all any officer will be found, we shall not waste time but to expose and discipline such an officer,” Muteteka said. He said the ministry was eager to get rid of corruption in the ministry and instil public confidence. “This is why we are appealing to the general public if they have a problem they should not hesitate to report.

Muteteka said he had not heard an adverse report about Sichone, the legal officer Anna Mwitwa, lands officer Daisy Mulenga and Registrar Barnaby Mulenga.

He said from the time he has been with the ministry he had not encountered any illegal activities. Muteteka said Sichone, Mwitwa, Daisy and Mulenga were intelligent, responsible officers who were performing their duties to expectation.

Meanwhile, Sichone has been appointed acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Lands following the suspension of former PS Mukuka Zimba on allegations of abuse of authority. Sichone’s appointment has sparked outrage among workers at the ministry. Workers who stormed The Post on Thursday morning alleged that Sichone was corrupt and should not hold that office. “That man is just too corrupt to hold the office, since he became commissioner, he has acquired several properties,” they said.

The workers who spoke on condition of anonymity claimed that Sichone had amassed a lot of wealth during the period he has been Commissioner of Lands. Among some of Sichone’s alleged acquisitions are a Mercedez Benz E-class, Toyota Prado, and a Toyota Corolla. “A civil servant, such vehicles, that is too much,” said one of the workers.

Labels: CORRUPTION, LAND

posted by MrK @ 5:05 PM