Simasiku engages council on Katima residents’ concerns

Katima Mulilo Urban Constituency Councillor Kennedy Simasiku says there are issues that require the Katima Mulilo Town Council (KMTC) to urgently engage the public. This should be done through information sharing sessions where clarity must be provided and where necessary, decisions made for the good of both parties, said Simasiku in an interview with Nampa, following the public demonstration recently in which residents of Katima called for the removal of Redforce and brought up other issues related to the town council.

Simasiku told Nampa that an invitation was extended to KMTC to join the Constituency to engage and resolve some of the pressing issues the communities are faced with. One such issue is Redforce, a debt collection agency appointed by the council, and the issue of interest charged on outstanding municipal accounts. “We fully support the idea that, where qualifying pensioners deserve a rebate or specific treatment due to them being senior citizens, they ought not to be forced to pay amounts they cannot afford in comparison to their living wages.

The issue of invoicing dates must be corrected and conveniently sequenced to both parties but importantly, properly communicated to the community for clarity. And finally, under normal circumstances, the burden of recovery should not be entirely dumped on the end user considering the current economic circumstances our country is faced with, and one would hope that such a condition in the contract can be renegotiated or be noted for correction in future. These suggestions were made to KMTC by our office too,” Simasiku stated.

At the public demonstration two weeks ago, demonstrators called for the closure of Redforce and removal of the KMTC councillors and its chief executive officer. The demonstrators charged that the current town council leadership has failed the masses in delivering proper services. They recited water shortages, poor services and corruption as some of the factors that are forcing them to demand for the removal of the team. The petition was handed over to Katima Mulilo Town Council Mayor Lister Shamalaza, who promised speedy feedback. Full feedback is expected to be delivered on Sunday when the whole council will be present, including CEO Raphael Liswaniso.

(NAMPA)
AI/PS/EK
(NAMPA)