Govt-funded projects in Kasempa to resume after probe
By Sheila Masuwa in Kasempa
Sun 12 May 2013, 14:00 CAT
LOCAL government minister Forrie Tembo says no projects will be funded in Kasempa until investigations are conducted on some government-funded projects that have stalled since 2010.
Tembo has since directed Kasempa District council secretary Patson Kapoba to conduct investigations into the poor standard of ten low-cost houses and the Revenue Hall projects undertaken by the local authority.
He expressed disappointment at the poor structures and condemned the buildings, attributing the situation to mismanagement of government funds by some council staff.
Among the projects visited was the ten low-cost houses project that has already gobbled K700 million but whose works have stalled since 2010, and the construction of Muselepete market which received K100 million in 2011.
Tembo also recommended the suspension of some council officers who are allegedly involved in mismanagement of government money to pave way for investigations.
"I can assure you that as long as the culprits are still in those offices, they will start losing documents which would make it difficult for the security people to investigate," he said.
Tembo, who is also Nyimba member of parliament, wondered why his constituency managed to construct ten low-cost housing units with the same amount of money while Kasempa failed to finish the project.
He said people often lose confidence in the local authority once government money had been misappropriated and called on Kapoba to correct the situation by ensuring that his name was not dragged into the matter.
"I know one culprit is in Kawambwa and he was called to come here but refused which to us we take as being guilty," charged Tembo.
And Kapoba explained that the ten low-cost houses had stalled since 2010 because the government had not yet released the final tranche of K300 million as the total project amount was K1 billion.
Labels: FORRIE TEMBO
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Officials in local government, lands most corrupt - Forrie
By Fridah Nkonde and Selina Nyirenda
Wed 06 June 2012, 13:23 CAT
MINISTRY of Local Government and Housing deputy minister Forrie Tembo says some officials in his ministry and the ministry of Lands are the most corrupt. And the deputy minister said Siavonga district council director of works and the district planning officer have been suspended for incompetence.
Tembo said in an interview yesterday, that most officials in the ministries of local government and lands were the ones who facilitate for the corrupt activities in land allocation.
"I am in Southern Province right now investigating how some people have been acquiring land. To say the truth, it is worrying to see how huge pieces of land are being given out in most parts of Southern Province," Tembo said.
He said it was a scandal how some officials in both the ministry of lands and local government were selling land to people without proper documentation.
Tembo said preliminary investigations clearly showed that officials in both the ministry of lands and local government were involved in the fraudulent sell of land.
He said government was not going to sit back and relax because there were a lot of people involved.
Tembo said council officers implicated in illegal land allocation should be handed over to the investigative wings.
He said there were a lot of abnormalities in the way land was being sold and that government was in the process of coming up with a report to expose all those that had been involved in corrupt activities.
He said no interviews and offers of land would be done until all outstanding issues were resolved and completed.
"What we have found out is that most of these officials in both the ministry of lands and local government are collaborating with briefcase businessmen and are conniving with them to take the responsibility of being their agents for the huge pieces of plots that they have acquired fraudulently," he said.
Tembo gave an example of a piece of land belonging to The University of Zambia in Monze that had been demarcated by someone who claimed to have bought it from one of the officials in the ministry of local government and housing.
"The same man even produced fake documents. I am saying fake because the papers were not from the council," he said.
Labels: CORRUPTION, FORRIE TEMBO, LOCAL GOVERNMENT
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PF has de-politicized newsrooms in public media – Tembo
TIME PUBLISHED - Sunday, October 30, 2011, 3:05 pm
Information Broadcasting and Tourism Deputy Minister Forrie Tambo says the Patriotic Front (PF) government has de-politicized newsrooms in the public media and enabled them to operate independently.
Mr. Tembo says government has taken a number of reforms since coming into office last month which have seen the public media operate independently. He stated that the changes that his government has taken in the media include changing of management at various public media institutions in the country.
He said the changes the government has made has resulted in the public media to stop operating as propaganda tool for government but give balanced coverage to different stakeholders.
He said the public were now testifying that the public media had become very objective adding that his government would not interfere in the running of the institutions.
“This is in line with the government vision of freeing the media in the efforts to have objective media,” he said.
Mr. Tembo who is MMD Nyimba Member of Parliament (MP) said this in parliament yesterday when debating the President’s speech during the official opening of the National Assembly.
The Deputy Minster has further said the merging of the Ministries of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources and Information and Broadcasting Services will also help the country to market its tourism potential.
He said the change has already shown results by making Zambia win the joint bid with Zimbabwe to co-host the United Nations World Tourism Organization General Assembly in 2013.
The public media came under serious attack from stakeholders prior to last month’s general elections as it was accused of being biased and used as a tool for propaganda by the former MMD government.
ZANIS
Labels: DAILY MAIL, FORRIE TEMBO, MEDIA, PF, THE TIMES
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Hunger forces Chipata’s Mbilisao school to close
Written by Christopher Miti in Chipata
Thursday, November 13, 2008 8:34:25 AM
NYIMBA MMD member of parliament Forrie Tembo yesterday disclosed that Mbilisao Basic School in Chief Lwembe's area has been closed due to the hunger situation in the area. In an interview, Tembo said the school was closed in September because the children had abandoned classes due to hunger.
"The hunger situation in Mbilisao and Chikwasha areas is bad. I was there during the campaigns. As you know these areas are far from Nyimba and you have to first pass through Lusaka and Mkushi to reach there. Parents are busy looking for food," Tembo said.
He said the school would be opened as soon as the hunger situation was sorted out.
"The other reason why the school has been closed is that the untrained teachers have stopped teaching because they are not being paid. But I hope this problem will be sorted out. I’m also disappointed with the Wildlife Conservation Society(WCS). They had come up with the programme to distribute food in the valley areas but now they left out Mbilisao area," Tembo said.
He said last time, there was a proposal by the office of the Vice-President to distribute 400 by 50 kilogramme bags of maize but that it did not work out.
And Tembo said Nyimba residents were happy that Barclays embarked on a programme to install an ATM machine in the district.
"Barclays has already started installing the machine and they will be finishing very soon and this will prevent people from travelling 75 kilometres to Petauke for salaries," said Tembo.
Labels: CHIPATA, FORRIE TEMBO, HUNGER
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