Lilongwe City Council (LCC) is yet to collect city rates arrears amounting to over K8 billion despite having issued a warning at the beginning of this year that it would take legal action against property owners who owe it arrears within 30 days.
The warning was issued a year after the council had given the property owners a grace period of three months that expired on December 31, 2013, and LCC was reportedly processing appropriate legal actions.
As of February this year, LCC was owed a total of K2.9 billion and the amount has steadily risen to over K8 billion, according to the council’s new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Moza Zeleza.
This implies that LCC has failed to execute its own February threat where it said: “In terms of Section 91 of the Local Government Act 1989, you [property owners] are required to pay the arrears hereunder notified with thirty (30) days of publication of this notice.”
“In default of failing to pay the arrears within the given period, the property will be sold by public auction for the Council to recover these debts,” read a February notice by Lilongwe City Council which was published in the local dailies.
LCC Public Relations Officer (PRO), Tamara Chafunya, said the council was working hard towards collecting the outstanding city rates.
She added that LCC continues to face resistance and where property owners do not adhere to what is required, the council, through its legal section has been able to seek the courts’ redress, saying currently court cases have been opened for some property owners.
“You may recall that on several occasions, the council issued messages via the newspapers and the electronic media to remind the property owners and in particular the ‘defaulters’ to consider owing up to what is due to the council.
“You may also recall that previously the council put a waiver on the surcharge for outstanding bills as one way of giving room for the clients to pay up the debts. Our revenue enhancement team continues to initiate door-to-door city rate reminders by issuance of current bills and to make certain that property owners receive their bills in good time and without fail,” said Chafunya.
She further said LCC has to make sure that it also adheres to what the law requires at every stage, “therefore seizing of property is a process that must follow legal steps to avoid unnecessary confusion to both the property owners and the council.”
Recently, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Kondwani Nankhumwa, gave the council six months to change the outlook of the city and put in place measures that would resuscitate dormant projects.
He said there are several structures that the city can utilise to generate revenue, yet they remain underutilised or not used at all.
Nankhumwa added that he was disappointed with how the council was delivering its services where health and sanitation are evidently big challenges.
The failure by the council to reinforce the collection of city rates is apparently the main reason why Lilongwe still has dilapidated public infrastructure.
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