Government says it has started the process of repossessing being chunks of land dubiously allocated to the so called investors on the expense of Zambians.
ZANIS reports that Chiefs and Tradition Affairs Minister Prof. Nkandu Luo said this in Mumbwa yesterday when she visited Chief Kaindu’ s palace in continued search for land relocated over 1,000 squatters in Mumbwa Game Management Area of the Kafue National Park.
The Minister was shocked to see that Hernan Folly Farm was allocated 2,500 hectares of land in the banks of Kafue River more that the threshold, which Chiefs and Councils can give out adding that any land more than 250 hectares, needs consent from the President.
Prof. Luo said she would inform President Sata so that the process of reposing land from Hernan Folly Farms commences and he would only be given 250 hectares and that a buffer zone must be created away from the leave.
The Minister warned that government will deal ruthlessly with any one breaking the rules in land allocation whether a traditional leader or a local authority as land is being held by the President in trusted to the people of Zambia.
She observed that only few individuals who are not Zambians are the one owning land throughout the country as similar names a found everywhere.
Prof. Luo also observed that there have been a lot of problems regarding the allocation of Land in Chief Kaindu and directed that the process of land allocation in the Chiefdom must be stopped until all queries regarding the same are resolved.
Meanwhile, only 159 squatters of the Mumbwa GMA out of 1,111 will be relocated to the Kaindu – Chitanda disputed land as it has only 1,000 hectares as opposed to the 11,000 hectares earlier announced.
The minister said the Surveyor General who went on the ground to map the area found that the earmarked piece of land have people already settled in it and only few spaces were available to relocate the squatters.
The minister added that more land must be sourced from the nearby Chiefs so that people in the GMA are removed as soon as possible before the onset of rains.
She disclosed that the first bunch will start moving in soon and government through the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit will help them with tents and relief food until they are integrated into society.
And Chief Kandu has complained to the minister that he had no land to settle as he was squatting in the land owned by the Catholic Church.
He said that he would not know where to go if the Catholic Church evicts him as the palace was built on the catholic land.
Professor Luo however, said the government is in the process of engaging the Catholic Church so that an alternative land is provided for the Church.
Good move. The chiefs are the main architects of this problem. They are too corrupt. A journalist friend of mine sent me a very good article last year which highlighted this issue and how the chiefs and some guys in the ministry of lands have been conniving to give out large pieces of land to these so called investors. Mostly these investors come with fake promises, like building schools and hospitals for the local community. Once the land is given and gazetted the local community never see`s the promised schools and hospitals.
Exactly Mugabe ‘s deceptive initiative.
What ever land will be repossessed will then be shared amongst the PF minions, exactly like what happened in Zimbabwe.
Wanzelu,
You don’t have a clue as to what happened in Zimbabwe. The ‘land went to Mugabe and his cronies’ lie, is so old it belongs to a different decade.
The Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB) membership went from 1,500 to over 80,000.
That is not possible, if the giant estates were only taken from 4,500 white ‘farmers’/estate owners, to 6,000 ‘friends and cronies of Mugabe’.
There has been a decade long, multi-billion dollar propaganda effort against Zimbabwe, especially because their land reform program is real, and has benefited hundreds of thousands of families, well over a million people if you count dependents.
That is why the same De Beers is shaking in it’s boots that the Zimbabwean program is adopted in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Kenya.
By the way, the 2014 tobacco season went great.
There is a huge increase in tobacco farmed under contract, and the total produced in 2014 was well over 200 million kilograms, 214.4 million kilograms. (The 2000 export was 227 million, but at this rate of growth that will be overtaken next year.)
Google: 2014 Flue Cured Season fctobacco
There is also an excellent book on the land reform process called:
Zimbabwe’s Land Reform – Myths And Realities, by prof. Ian Scoones of Sussex University, et al.
Hernan Folly Farm! Tis’ folly indeed! It is a good thing the gov’t is correcting this appalling situation. How did these foreigners get that amount of land at the cost of Zambians who are now Squatters in their own country? After Robert Mugabe took action; falling foul of colonial whites who wanted to keep the status quo, was there no lesson for neighbouring countries? It is not clear how the gov’t could have let this happen, after all these lands would have needed to be registered at the Ministry of Lands and title deeds granted by other bodies other than the traditional chiefs. Let’s hope this will not happen again, if PF wins elections. It is clear the gov’t allowed it. We commend PF’s action in rectifying this; we want none of this in future. Someone took monies arrest…
It was about time.Bring back our land
Wanzelu, exercise that brain of yours. You don’t have a crystal ball to predict such will be done by PF, so you are merely making unsubstantiated comments.
Also the comment on Mugabe is not correct. A lot of poor Zimbabweans, have been allocated land. And their economy is coming around. The allocations of these lands to these people was wrong. PF feeling the wind of change are acting on it. We need culprits arrested and monies paid back.
@ Patriotic Abroad u r right,
Luo you r doing fine control ILLEGAL allocation of Land by Chiefs/Mof Lands officials.
BUT REMEMBER WE ve known u & Kaseba ve PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRATIONS & u ve both STARTED THE CAMPAIGNS for 2016.U ve STRATEGISED & shared PROVINCES using govt RESOURCES BUT remember we r not blunt,Personally I ve GREATER FORESIGHT ‘SORRY FOR BOASTING’.
KASEBA was even saying some rubbish & Boasting of the 2UNIVERSITIES built in 1 Province at a Goal.
DO YOU KNO THT IF PEOPLE GET ANNOYED THEY CAN BOMB those INSTITUTIONS ? YOU can ve GREATER CIVIL war tht u even fail to quench & run away. Be careful with whtever u r doing.
Bomb university /?? What’s in your head ??? Bet you never seen doors of high school. Stick to issue at hand. Chiefs selling land like that southerner chief who has even bot self a limousine like Beyoncé uses. Ati Mukuni or something like that . The F…
Indeed this is good news, but even some of the land which was suppossedly obtained through the ministry of lands by some of these foreign investors was done so illegally look at Sable farm in Central province for instance how can an individual own so much land as we just watch??? Awe mwe tuli fipuba, some of the farmers own huge tracts of land and employ very few people, export the produce to neighbouring countries and pay just a pittance in taxes how are we benifitting?? Look at Mkushi and Chisamba so many rich farmers but no real corporate responsibilty is seen from them. Mugabe was and is an old senile ***** let’s not make comparisons with us grabbing land in that same manner but still I think these commercial farmers have had it too easy.
Same applies with Dar Farms in the Copperbelt, those Greeks own up to 70,000 hectares of prime land which is used for cattle ranching, they employ less than 500 people where is the sense here?? A lot of those animals are exported to Congo. They obtained this land during the Chiluba regime, we as Zambians are not benifiting at all. We should rather seize these lands and turn them into state farms or divide them into smaller units of 50 hectares and lease them out to only Zambians.
This is exactly what should be done to curb greed in land acquisition. 250 Hectares of land is more than one needs especially if there is no commercial farming being done. Job well done Prof. Nkandu Luo. One Zambia One Nation.
Can Luo advise her counterpart @ Min of Lands to do something about thenewly introduced Land management systems as we the public are not being served efficiently, due to glitches being experienced with new software, officers can not access some info, people just sit in their offices sometimes reading newspaper as they doing nothing, surely, how do you switch off the old system without letting them run parallel? we are sick & tired of being told come next week, you go there, only to find the same scenario. Min of Land should hand over management of land issues to a new Land management Authority, run like PACRA, this will see & ease the current delays in sorting some issues such as transfer of property, leases, etc, let Min of land deal with offer of land, mapping and other survey…
Indeed we need our land back. Its long overdue, Well done bwana Minister!
“And Chief Kandu has complained to the minister that he had no land to settle as he was squatting in the land owned by the Catholic Church.He said that he would not know where to go if the Catholic Church evicts him as the palace was built on the catholic land.” This is a very corrupt drunk and irresponsible chief. HOW can a sane chief GIVE AWAY 2500 hectares to foreigners and remain with NOTHING to build his palce on?
This issue of land can never be sorted out without a having the nation Zambia at heart. Lets learn from the Nswanas in Botswana. First prevaliage is given to their nationals on issue. Look at Kamwala shopping area, people of Asian origin have taken over. Its indeginous Zambians at council who allocated those plots.
Funny indeed ,chiefs can be corrupt if left unchecked they can even sale their own subjects , how do you all the land to foreigners just for a bottle of beer , when you wake up the next day you are evicted from your palace