‘Land law must favour locals’

Thu, 22 Jun 2017 09:43:27 +0000

By SANDRA MACHIMA

 LAND distribution needs to be addressed seriously to ensure Zambians are not displaced from their inheritance just because some foreigners have money to buy off those responsible for its management, United, Prosperous and Peaceful Zambia leader Charles Chanda has insisted.

Mr Chanda said he had on several occassions urged authorities to ensure land was tied to National Registration Cards and not companies, because locals were losing out.

He said his organisation was now vindicated that foreigners had easier access to land in Zambia because it was too expensive for indigenous people.

Mr Chanda said the distribution of land should have been done fairly among all citizens in the country.

“I decided to embark on a land citizen empowerment to ensure the majority of Zambians own land because land was made expensive thereby giving advantage only to people, mostly foreigners, to have access to land at the expense of the Zambians.

And this could only be achieved if the land policies in Zambia is addressed and ensure each land is tied to those with local NRCs,” he said.

Mr Chanda said reports that senior officials were engaging in land wrangles was unfortunate because they were the ones who were supposed to be ensuring that Zambians benefited from their land.

He urged both the Chiefs and the government to put Zambians as a priority in land distribution.

Mr Chanda noted that the laws governing land acquisition by foreign nationals in Zambia were weak, saying that had given them competitive advantage over the indigenous Zambians because of finance.