By MUSONDA MANGILASHI –
THE sale of 16,000 houses to former Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) workers will be completed in the course of three years, the ZCCM-Investment Holdings has said.
ZCCM-IH Chief Executive Officer Pius Kasolo said ZCCM-IH sold the houses to its former employees and so far 64 per cent of the units had been sold off with all the transactions concluded.
Speaking during the re-opening of the firm’s Kitwe office, which had closed, Mr Kasolo said the initial houses were 45,817 and 29,292 transactions had been completed with title deeds issued.
He said the delays had been due to legal disputes regarding certain houses, the death of former employees, and family disputes, following deceased purchasers.
“With the re-opening of this office, it is anticipated that the processing of tittles will be concluded expeditiously. ZCCM-IH is doing everything possible to resolve the transactions, as such we have come up with a programme that will see the remaining transactions concluded within three years,” he said.
Copperbelt Minister Bowman Lusambo was happy that ZCCM-IH had come up with a three-year programme to complete the transactions.
In a speech read for him by Kitwe District Commissioner Binwell Mpundu, Mr Lusambo said owning a house was an empowerment, hence the need for ZCCM-IH to expedite the process on the remaining transactions.
He said the Government was available to assist ZCCM-IH complete the process and called on former purchasers to work with the firm to complete the process.
“My ministry is anxious to see that all former employees receive their title deeds. The Government’s agenda, among others, is the economic empowerment of citizens. Certainly house ownership forms part of such empowerment,” he said.
Mineworkers Union of Zambia president Chishimba Nkole urged all former employees to visit the office and complete their transactions.
He said former employees had not made efforts to complete their transactions looking at the number of documents that were still in the hands of ZCCM-IH.