MATERO PF member of parliament Lloyd Kaziya says the altercation which happened between him and his councillor, Annie Chinyanta, on Wednesday was a trap to force him into manhandling the latter.

But Chinyanta says Kaziya does not know what he is talking about and will soon be forced to retract his statement.

On Wednesday, a video went viral on social media where Kaziya had an altercation with Chinyanta in Matero’s Emmasdale area over a piece of land.

In an interview, Kaziya explained that the councillor had been rude to him ever since he assumed office, and that she had been provoking him.

“She wanted to provoke me to a situation where I could physically handle her. That is what she was leading to and I sensed that. She just wanted to embarrass me and that was the whole idea of shooting that video. But there is no crime to this because, you see, Local Government Ministry has taken interest into this matter, Lands Ministry has also taken interest into the matter and I have been talking to them. So, they are coming tomorrow (today) on the ground to verify what is happening and the truth will be told. The video does not explain anything,” Kaziya argued.

He insisted that Chinyanta had been rude to him since he was elected back in 2016.

“She has been rude throughout the tenure! I have just avoided her. She has been extremely rude. Whoever knows her closely regrets knowing her. She is that one person you can be friends today and tomorrow you are enemies. She is so vulgar that anything, she will raise her voice. So, that is the kind of leadership and you wonder those are people aspiring to take over from us as MPs. What will remain of Matero if you hear there?” Kaziya asked.

He also charged that Chinyanta had been allowing illegalities in Emmasdale in the name of development.

“It’s unfortunate that somebody recorded the incident halfway. The gist of the matter is that there are some illegalities going on in Emmasdale. That is a third illegality I am trusting with coming from one known councillor. There is a road in Emmasdale that has been given to an Indian at a fee. I had even brought ZNBC cameras to come and see what is happening. I went to warn the Indian from closing the road because he has even put a concrete slab on the road with a view to extend his wall fence! There is a second case involving Emmasdale Bazaar, just near Chaisa bus stop. The community from there called me to say, ‘this Indian is extending his wall fence towards the tar mark’,” Kaziya explained.

“So, I went to see him requesting for papers. I stopped that man and I talked to the Town Clerk and they have written to him to stop construction. This is a third one where you sell a piece of land under Zesco pylons to a Rwandese national. And I was called by the community again to say, ‘can you come and see what is happening here,’ and I went there. I got there only to find people busy constructing on Vubwi road. That is directly under 33KV Zesco pylons. I went there and stopped those people from constructing. I asked them who was developing the area, but they couldn’t disclose. Then I gave them my number to ask the developer to call me so that I look at the papers and warn him that you cannot develop under the pylons.”

And Kaziya said when he went to verify the complaints brought to his office by the community, the councillor started insulting him.

“No sooner had I left the place, they went back to construct. I was called again by the same community to say, ‘these guys have gone back to construct!’ That is how I went to pick up the police officers from Emmasdale after lodging in a complaint. And I was given three police officers as you can see in the video. We asked the developer to go and bring the documents and he went to call Annie Chinyanta instead. He took about 30 minutes, keeping us waiting outside! Annie just came and started insulting me. I said I have come to verify the documents, but she insisted that I have been harassing people that have been trying to help develop Matero and Emmasdale. Then she instructed somebody to start filming. Then I didn’t realise that she was up to no good. She made me so upset that I called her ‘useless’ because whatever activities she has been doing in Emmasdale are all illegal activities. After realising that somebody was filming, I just went into the car and left,” narrated Kaziya.

When reached for comment, Chinyanta said she could not respond to Kaziya’s claim as she needed clearance from the party hierarchy.

“Can you give me time, I haven’t gotten clearance yet. You know, I am a constituency chairlady as well, so I am not allowed to issue statements anyhow. I will definitely give you my side of the story, but just give me some time. Even over the weekend. Just continue getting statements from that man (Kaziya). He will come and retract them because he doesn’t know what he is talking about! That is why he is talking anyhow. And I can’t do what he is doing. I am a leader. I need to know what I am supposed to do. I don’t want to have his attitude. So, let him talk about whatever he wants to talk about, but I will give you my own statement. Just give me time,” said Chinyanta in a separate interview, Thursday.