Tighten land acquisition laws

Fri, 09 Jun 2017 14:45:50 +0000

THERE is urgent need to firmly and decisively deal with corrupt elements in local authorities if Government is going to overcome the problem of illegal and fraudulent land allocation across the country.

It is utter absurdity and unpatriotic for local authority officials, as agents of the Ministry of Lands, to disregard adherence to the guidelines and procedures in the administration of land and prioritise giving out huge pieces of land to foreigners at the disadvantage of indigenous Zambians.

The latest land row in which 37 developers of Kakolo Light Industrial Area in Bwana Mukubwa Constituency in Ndola had their structures under construction demolished at the instigation of a Somali national, not only goes to show grand corruption in the land alienation process in local authorities but also how overzealous police officers can become in executing a civil matter with impunity.

Is it not bizarre that the demolition exercise of structures purported to sit on this 25 hectares of land in dispute was carried out by police officers as opposed to the Ndola City Council authorities?

By virtue of the Ndola City Council being an agent of the Ministry of Lands, it should have ideally conducted the demolition exercise if indeed it was established that the 37 developers encroached onto this piece of land.

H0wever, revelations indicate that both the Somali national and the 37 indigenous developers have documentation issued by the same Ndola City Council. Definitely, the local authority is to blame for all this kerfuffle.

It is believed the Somali national acquired the 25 hectares of land from former Ndola Mayor Davis Chiwala in 2011 while the victims also claim to have authentic offer letters to the land in question issued by the said local authority.

Needless to underscore that the awkward position in which the local authority finds itself is as a result of insatiable appetite to solicit for bribes from unscrupulous foreign nationals.

If documentation shows the Somali national to be the rightful owner of the said land, why did the Ndola City Council go ahead to issue offer letters to the 37 indigenous developers? Only corruption makes this feasible.

We observe with dismay that such an unfortunate incident in which Zambian citizens have their land wrestled from them by foreign nationals is not novel.

For instance, a few months ago, we extensively published stories which unearthed a similar scam in which eight Zambians had their plots sold to a foreign national in Lusaka’s Roma Township despite being in possession of authentic documentation from the Lusaka City Council.

It is clear that many local authorities deliberately do not follow stipulated guidelines and procedures in the administration of land to eligible applicants. Instead, they complicate the process so as to squeeze some money from innocent individuals that would like to buy land.

It is common knowledge that more often than not, many well to do people have rarely followed the right procedure when it comes to acquiring land from either the local authority or Ministry of Lands. Usually, brown envelopes exchange hands to waive the requirement to fill an application form and attend interviews.

Wrangles that have engulfed the UPND run Siavonga District Council where some individuals are in possession of offer letters even when they never attended interviews mirrors the status quo in many local authorities across the country.

In this vein, we think the Minister of Lands Jean Kapata must seriously consider not only suspending the Ndola City Council and Kabwe Municipal Council from acting as agents in land administration, but also crack a whip on all councils that flout provided guidelines and procedures.

Following the suspension of the Ndola City Council and Kabwe Municipal Council, we think it is equally imperative for investigative wings to hastily and thoroughly probe the police officers who were involved in the demolition of houses of the 37 developers in Kakolo Light Industrial Area in Bwana Mukubwa Constituency.

It is almost obvious that officers were merely hired guns to advance an evil scheme targeted at suppressing Zambians’ right to land for purely selfish reasons which act was ultra vires.

We fully support Government’s decision to suspend all erring local authorities in land administration as this is the only way Zambians will be protected from losing their land to a cabal of corrupt officials that have infiltrated the system.

We urge Government to tighten land administration legislation to ensure indigenous Zambians have their right to access land not only protected against foreigners but also guaranteed.