Fri, 10 Mar 2017 12:55:37 +0000
By BENNIE MUNDANDO
EIGHT people whose plots in Lusaka’s Roma Township were stolen by officials at the Ministry of Lands and given to other people have protested the decision by the commissioner of Lands to suspend the cancellation of the fraudulent title deeds until the matter is investigated and concluded by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
“There is no connection between the restoration of our plots and the investigation by ACC which is supposed to identify the culprits for prosecution” group leader Dan Matembo has said.
The commissioner of lands has written to the eight telling them of its decision, a week after promising them that it would cancel titles given to other people dubiously but the eight have described the decision as sheer mediocrity, saying the cancellation had nothing to do with the investigations by ACC as the outcome of the probe had no bearing on titles.
The letter from the commissioner he said was received with shock. “The Commissioner of Lands is trying to play games on an important issue by hiding behind the veil of investigations, yet police who one of the investigative wings, had made it clear in its report of 18th November, 2016 that the eight were the rightful owners of the plots based on the documents they had”.But the group has insisted that the matter was straight forward because the law firm former Commissioner of Lands Barnaby Mulenga used Simsurvey and Mapping Consultants, a company with which his legal firm Barnaby & Chitundu Advocates shared premises, to survey the same plots.
“Why should there be any controversy when Barnaby & Chitundu Advocates were used as caveators for the purported sale of one of the plots by Felix Yona, a foreign national, to Majumo Khunga, one of the employees in the same legal firm.
“These are not stories we are creating but factual recorded events that the commissioner of lands must be familiar with” he said.
Mr. Matembo warned that the ministry should brace itself for a serious fight since it had decided to be evasive and uncooperative on a clear matter of corruption which was perpetrated by some senior officials.
“They cannot tell us that they cannot facilitate the cancellation of titles to plots they illegally gave to other people because doing so would prejudice the outcome of the investigations conducted by some investigative wings because the cancellation has nothing to do with investigations.
“The police carried out an investigation last year and they clearly stated that we had documentation to prove that plots belonged to us. Whether ACC finds corruption in this whole matter or not, that does not change the fact that we own those plots.
“If they think we will be intimidated, then they are making a very serious mistake because we shall fight them to the bitter end and should be ready for more exposure on what they are doing,” Mr. Matembo said.
He also said it was ridiculous for the ministry to be playing “hide and seek” over the matter because the eight were not responsible for the mess created but the bunch of corrupt elements within the ministry responsible for the rot.
“This Commissioner of Lands was not even there when this matter started but why is he siding with the wrongs done by his predecessor and some officials in the ministry?
“If he knew he could not preside over this matter, why was the ministry calling us to resolve the matter? Why were some people sending emissaries to talk to us? We wanted to respect them but now we are ready to spill the beans and we will not spare them because they have stretched us to the limit,” he said.
According to a letter signed by Commissioner of Lands Kopa Muma dated 2nd March, 2017, addressed to Mr. Matembo, the Ministry of Lands will not take any action until the ACC concludes its investigations on the matter.
“I regret to inform you that I am at the moment not in a position to accede to your request (to cancel titles) as doing so may prejudice investigations being conducted by investigative wings of the government.
“I am sure you are aware of the interest this matter has generated ever since you raised the allegations which for obvious reasons are too serious to be glossed over through administrative measures on the part of my office,” Mr. Muma said.
