Government has continued to sensitise relevant authorities in the country to ensure all land and property owners in Zambia acquire title deeds.
Minister of Lands and Natuaral Resources, Jean Kapata, said all public and private property should acquire titles to guarantee security of tenure and protect their properties from encroachers.
Ms Kapata was speaking at the National Land Titling Programme sensitization meeting in Solwezi today.
Ms. Kapata told the heads of government departments in Solwezi today that the National Land Titling Programme further aims at bringing all state land in Zambia into the national land registration system.
She said the programme aims at issuing out four million titles from the year 2020 to 2027 so as to minimise among other things, displacement of people and institutions that genuinely own land.
“Some of the benefits include security of tenure, evidence of ownership, bringing land into the formal land market and revenue generation for both local and national government among others,” she said.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources further pointed out that Northwestern provincial and local administration should play key roles in making the national land titling programme a success.
“You will work like foot soldiers to sensitise our people at provincial and local government levels about this programme,” she stressed.
Ms. Kapata guided that the national land titling programme will work with planning authorities at provincial and local level if necessary to develop simplified local area plans for prompt approval of such plans.
“Local authorities are agents of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in land allocation and land titling. They are also mandated to regulate, control and plan development and use of land and buildings in their areas,” she said.
She said the ministry expects local authorities to identify settlements and areas that require titling and work with the National Land Titling Programme and the Medici Land Governance during data collection, community sensitization and verification processes.
The Medici Land Governance is the service provider which the government engaged in August 2020 to produce four million titles in seven years.
Ms. Kapata and technocrats from her ministry has since held sensitization meetings in seven out of ten provinces.
And Northwestern Province Minister, Nathaniel Mubukwanu urged heads of government departments that attended the sensitisation meeting in Solwezi today, to share the information on the national land titling programme with the rest of the staff under their charge for the easy and fast spreading of the benefits of acquiring title for land, buildings and other properties in Zambia.
Mr. Mubukwanu said acquiring title deeds was important as it will help to avoid misunderstanding on land ownership among citizens.
Meanwhile, meeting participants sought clarity on matters of land ownership and titling with some civil servants asking for special consideration for them to own property.
In a vote of thanks, Assistant Labour Commissioner for Northwestern Province, Kaunda Mwale said civil servants in the region were excited about the national land titling programme because it will ease the process of acquiring title for land.
Mr. Mwale has also appealed to the government to empower civil servants with land in the country.
Ms. Kapata is in Northwestern province for a national land titling programme sensitization meeting in Solwezi and also for programmes on land development funds in Manyinga, Mufumbwe and Mushindamo districts. ZANIS
