By JULIUS PHIRI –
EASTERN Province Permanent Secretary Chanda Kasolo has taken a swipe at Chipata City Council management for tasking council police to collect daily revenue from the markets a responsibility outside their line of duty.
The permanent secretary said it was surprising that the council police were collecting revenue from the markets and other trading places when this was a role for the revenue collection officials.
Mr Kasolo said during the Cholera update in Chipata yesterday that it was not the job of police officers to be collecting revenue from the markets.
The permanent secretary said it was the duty of tax officials at the council to collect revenue from traders and not council police officers.
He alleged that some council officials were busy undertaking trips to China and other countries using resources collected from the markets.
Mr Kasolo said he would not allow council officials to be travelling out of the country without his approval.
“I am very disappointed on how the council is working. Council police are compromised a lot in this town or city. From the look of things, it’s like the job of the council police is to collect revenue. You are a police person, it is not your job to collect revenue,” he said.
He said while men and women in uniform were cleaning up the city, the council was also busy doing politics by allowing people to go back to the streets.
Mr Kasolo said it was unfortunate that some councillors led by Chipata Mayor Sinoya Mwale have allowed people to occupy the streets after the cleaning exercise.
He said the council was also spoiling the cleaning exercise stating that he would not allow the council officers to be retarding the good initiative of cleaning up the markets and streets in the city.
“It is irresponsible that the council has really failed even to perform the basic tasks of clearing the garbage in places where the cleanup exercises have been done,” he said.