The Lusaka City Council (LCC) has issued a 10-day ultimatum to outdoor advertising agents to remove all politically-branded billboards before they are destroyed by the local authority. LCC public relations manager George Sichimba said in a statement yesterday that the local authority will move in to rid the city of the billboards if the owners fail to adhere to the directive by October 26 this year.

Mr Sichimba said elections are long gone and that it is time for advertising agents to remove all politically-branded billboards. “The council has observed with concern the increased number of billboards within the city despite several reminders to agents about the need to have their billboards labelled. “This situation has made it difficult and time-consuming for the council to execute its duties as identifying owners of these billboards is a challenge,” Mr Sichimba said.

The local authority has equally set October 26 this year for all affected agents to label their billboards with company names and billboard identification numbers. Mr Sichimba said failure to comply with the directive will result in the removal of the billboards. “After October 26, 2018, the council will embark on a massive removal and cutting of illegal billboards and unlabelled ones,” he said.

He said affected agents who will not cooperate with the local authority will have themselves to blame. Zambia went to the general elections in 2016 which President Edgar Lungu of the Patriotic Front won.