Criminal abuse of office charge for Vic Falls housing director

By Leonard Ncube

Prosecutors have summoned the Victoria Falls Municipal housing and community services director to court to answer to charges of criminal abuse of office.

The local authority suspended Lot Siatimbula on Tuesday last week without pay and benefits and ordered him to surrender a Ford Ranger he was using, a laptop and a cellphone bought for him by the municipality after he allegedly allocated a stand to his son without following council procedures.

Siatimbula had initially been set to appear before an internal hearing at the council on Wednesday last week but the process was postponed indefinitely as he was now meant to appear in court.

On Saturday he was escorted to Victoria Falls magistrates’ court by police officers but didn’t appear in court as prosecutors served him with summons to appear for trial on Friday this week.

“You are hereby summoned to appear before court on Friday March 3, 2017 on charges of criminal abuse of office as a public officer,” read the summons.

According to court documents, Siatimbula allegedly violated Section 4(D) (1) of the Victoria Falls Municipality Code of Conduct thereby making him liable to a criminal charge of abuse of office as a public officer.

The allegations emanate from unprocedural handling of an application for a residential stand in Victoria Falls by his son Sena Mumpande, when the housing director allegedly made misrepresentations to council about the stand and attempted to coerce the chamber secretary to process an agreement of sale and later tried to reverse the process.

Mumpande was supposed to buy the housing stand in question, stand number 1585 measuring 3300 square metres, at 25 percent of all costs excluding 15 percent VAT meaning he was to pay $15 815 of the total $48 410.

“On 30 January the accused misrepresented that council had withdrawn stand number 1585 from Sena and by copy of that letter the treasurer was required to process a refund. There was no council resolution to allocate stand number 1585 and to repossess it as purported in the letters that he wrote yet council was supposed to have resolved to allocate or repossess the stand. Such acts constitute an offence in terms of Section 4(D) (1) of the Victoria Falls Municipality Code of Conduct,” reads part of the documents.

It is alleged that on December 2, Siatimbula proceeded to pay $15 815 for the stand and wrote to the chamber secretary on January 6 instructing her to draw an agreement of sale for his son alleging he had an offer letter and other documents. The Chronicle