THE Zambia National Building Society (ZNBS) board has terminated the contract of chief executive officer Joseph Chikolwa. The services of Mr Chikolwa were terminated last Friday.

This is according to a statement issued yesterday by ZNBS board chairman David Nama. “The board has meanwhile appointed Mrs Mildred Mutesa, the current director of finance, to act as chief executive officer pending the substantive filling of the vacancy,” Dr Nama said. During cluster meetings at State House last year, President Edgar Lungu was concerned that many Zambians were unable to afford mortgages because they were only afforded by the elite.

He urged Minister of Finance Bwalya Ng’andu then to restructure ZNBS in a way which would enable many people to afford mortgages. The 2018 Auditor General’s report revealed that ZNBS had 56 mortgages worth K26.7 million with irregularities. ZNBS was also found to have lost rental income of K375,468 between 2015 and 2017 due to failure by management to let out the premises despite them being vacant