LOCAL Government and Housing Minister, Stephen Kampyongo has grilled councils in Ndola and Kitwe over rampant illegal land allocations which are denting the Government’s image.
Mr Kampyongo has since announced that Government has formed an inter-ministerial taskforce to investigate the alleged illegal land allocations in the entire Copperbelt.
Mr Kampyongo who is on a tour of Copperbelt towns, has so far held meetings in Ndola and Kitwe, where he warned council management and councillors that no one would be spared once found wanting.
Ndola City Council (NCC) Town Clerk Ernest Sumani failed to convince Mr Kampyongo on why the local authority had allocated land near Kafubu River without approval from the Ministry of Lands.
During a meeting with NCC officials, councillors and members of the public, Mr Kampyongo said he had received several complaints of illegal land allocation by the council.
“I will not hesitate to use powers vested in me by President Edgar Lungu to discipline all council officials and councillors found wanting,” he warned.
Mr Kampyongo who was accompanied by Home Affairs Deputy Minister Panji Kaunda, noted that there were a lot of irregularities in the way the NCC allocated land which in most cases was given to the wrong people at the expense of local residents.
He said NCC had a planning department which should have considered the environmental aspects before allocating land near the Kafubu River.
“I have not come to the Copperbelt for witch-hunting, but to bring order and sanity in terms of how land is allocated to people by the councils. There will be no sacred cows, whoever is involved in illegal land allocation, whether a Patriotic Front (PF) councillor or council officials, will be dealt with by the law,” he said.
He said that although there was population growth on the Copperbelt, local authorities should be able to allocate land in a more transparent manner.
In response, Mr Sumani who had difficulty to explain why the local authority was allocating land illegally, said the land was given to members of the public, without the Ministry of Lands numbering the plots.
Mr Sumani admitted that the council had given land to people building near the river without approval from the Ministry of Lands.
At the Kitwe meeting, Mr Kampyongo said major councils such as Kitwe City Council (KCC) should be exemplary in land administration for other local authorities to emulate.
He said issues of illegal land allocation by council officials and councillors in Kitwe had dented Government’s image and needed to be addressed immediately.
Mr Kampyongo did not hide his displeasure over the many cases of illegal land allocation that had rocked KCC.
He said illegal land allocation was making people lose confidence in Government’s land administration system
“As institutions that have been delegated with the function of administering land on behalf of the Ministry of Lands, let’s ensure that we allocate land to people in a legitimate way,” he said.
Mr Kampyongo was disheartened that complaints to do with the unfair administration of land by KCC had kept reaching him including President Lungu.
He said following the many cases of land matters that had characterised councils on the Copperbelt, Government had resolved to establish the inter-ministerial provincial taskforce to help address land matters.
“We will be creating this provincial inter-ministerial taskforce soon after my tour of the Copperbelt,” said Mr Kampyongo who was also in the company of Copperbelt Minister Mwenya Musenge.
He should take keen interest on how land is going to be allocated across the new Mufuchani bridge in Kitwe.. We’ve seen how these corrupt councillors have been selling land to people who never applied or attended interviews for the Ndeke presidential plots to the exclusion of some of us who paid application fees and attended the fake interviews.
HERE IS HOW THE COUNCILLORS AND COUNCIL OFFICIAL “STEAL” LAND”-
THEY GET LOTS OF LAND/PLOTS EACH AND PUT IN DIFFERENT NAMES OTHER THAN THEIR NAMES. IN SOME CASES THEY USE NAMES OF PERSONS WHO HAVE DIED.
THEY THEN SALE SUCH LAND WHEN THEY WANT MONEY AT A HIGHER PRICE THAN THEY GOT IT FROM THE COUNCIL. I HAVE ACTUALLY BOUGHT ONE SUCH LAND MYSELF THAT WAS OWNED BY THE COUNCILOR AND ITS WAS IN SOMEONES NAME.
IF THE TASK FORCE CAN INVEST THIS THOROUGHLY, THEY WILL BE SO SURPRISED WHAT THEY WILL FIND.
Mr Kampyongo, I can assure you that we are solidly behind you and you’re the right person for this job.
Ndola residents have continued to suffer when it comes to land issues. Hundreds of people applied for DORA HILL plots in Ndola Central District, paid K 500.00 application fee, to date our hearts are still bleeding because we do not know what criteria Ndola city council is using to allocate land.
Land is given to individuals with no capacity to build and people who could put up structures in two months time cannot access any piece of land.
Surely anyone who is going to contest as MP on PF TICKET in Ndola central will have a hard nut to crack.
Imwe. Is the land in question under the jurisdiction of the council or the state? There is land within district boundaries that is under the jurisdiction of the local authority and the local authority has the mandate to allocate it to developers. Only state land needs to demarcated and formally handed it over to the council for allocation to developers
Miya, the issue is not following the right procedure in allocating the land. Meaning possible corruption, and lots of it for that matter. So a thorough investigation is in order. I don’t know what the current corruption laws in Zambia are, but I would suggest a minimum of 15 years imprisonment with hard labor should be meted out to anyone proven to be corrupt, i.e. anyone using public office for personal gain.
We are behind you sir, former lands minister Ho. E Chanda at one time last year said Ndola City Council is the most corrupt council in Zambia. It is for this reason that most land issues in Ndola High court today are due to alleged illegal land allocations. I would like to urge Hon. Kampyongo to look at most of the cases in Ndola High court to do with land so that he understands what is going on, Eg most of the poor people who had land in Mitengo near Chifubu have lost it to some business men due to unfairness and corrupt council employees including the top management who always grab land from the poor in the name of lack of papers from lands. The most corrupt sections are Planning and Legal and there is need to overhaul these sections for the people of Ndola to see sanity in fair…