Mon, 01 Jan 2018 10:33:07 +0000
ALLEGED PF cadres cultivating and demarcting plots on a farm belonging to Webster Mhango claiming the full backing of the Ministry of Lands have been disowned.
Jean Kapata has said that her ministry has not given any cadre permission to cultivate or demarcate this or any other property in Lusaka and that those who are doing so must be reported so that they are arrested by the police.
Ministry of Lands public relations officer Diniwe Zulu has told the Daily Nation that Ms. Kapata had not given anyone permission to cultivate or demarcate another perosn’s farm and should not be drawn into any illegality.
PF cadres in Lusaka’s Barlastone area have taken over the farm in question where they are currently cultivating.
The cadres, led by Mwembeshi ward PF chairlady Josephine Phiri Tembo, have allotted themselves portions of land, including a part where the owner had ploughed in readiness for planting, telling Mr. Mhango matter-of-factly that the farm did not belong to him but one of the squatters, Ms Ketty Mwale, from which they allegedly got express permission to cultivate.
The cadres, two of whom have been arrested for criminal trespass according to records at Matero police station, have allegedly told Mr. Mhango that while he managed to repel them from the farm four months ago, things have now changed as they did not only get exclusive permission from Lusaka District Commissioner Davies Mulenga, but also had the backing of Ms. Kapata. “I could not have come here and got this piece of land if I was not sure who owns it. You can’t expect me to do such a thing. As far as I am concerned, Mr. Mhango does not own this land,” Ms. Tembo told the Daily Nation.
Pressed to produce the title to the land she was claiming, the purported owner of the land, Ms. Mwale, said she will never talk to the media because doing so raised her blood pressure and will only talk to Ms. Kapata whom she allegedly has an appoint with on January 3, 2017.
But speaking to the Daily Nation yesterday, Ms. Zulu called for an immediate arrest of whoever was trespassing and carrying out illegal activities on the same private property because her ministry had not allowed anyone to do so.
She said she was not even aware that there was an appointment reserved for the PF cadres to see Ms. Kapata.
“The ministry has not given permission to anyone to illegally cultivate in another person’s land and therefore, the owners of the farm must immediately report such individuals to police and get them arrested because that is illegal. “I am not even aware that there are cadres who have made an appointment to meet the minister over the same issue. What the minister knows however, is that there is no person who has been allowed to cultivate on a private property without permission from the owner,” Ms. Zulu said.
According to records, Mr. Mhango bought the farm from Mr David Simpson in 1980 and was issued with title to the land by the Ministry of Lands.
