Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Elijah Muchima says he is saddened with the continued reports of corruption in the administration of land.
Mr Muchima said he has been receiving reports from different parts of the country on how title deeds and multiple allocation of land has been administered in corrupt ways.
He said it is disappointing that corruption in the ministry has taken a center stage instead of officers providing the service to the public.
Mr Muchima has since called on the officers in the ministry to service the people diligently.
The minister said when he officially opened the training of officers at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in the new Zambia Integrated Land Administration System (ZILAS) at Chalimbana Local Government Training Institute in Chongwe district.
Mr. Muchima, however, said he is confident that the ZILAS system which is aimed at modernizing the delivery of public services through digital technology will help improve service delivery at the ministry.
He noted that the system has been developed by the Ministry of Finance and National Planning and Smart Zambia in collaboration with the Ministry of Lands.
Mr Muchima added that a total of 57 online services covering all the departments of the Ministry of Lands are expected to be developed of which 33 services have since been completed.
Smart Zambia National Coordinator, Percy Chinyama said the system will no doubt help increase public service revenue collection by eliminating human interactions and influence.
Mr. Chinyama said the system will be rolled out to all the ten provinces and the general public will also have access to online self-service.
You have identified the problem of corruption. What are you doing to stop it?
Government must be commended for the ZILAS initiative. This is what we have been yearning for a long time. However, as much as ZILAS will definitely improve service delivery it can’t alone eliminate corruption in the Ministry. There are several other factors that drive corruption in land administration. One of them is the role of agents. If the Minister can interrogate why real estate agents have prime land while the State doesn’t then he’ll be on the right track to tackle corruption. The NAPSA Kalulushi Housing Project flopped because of corruption in acquisition of that land and unfortunately the culprits have gone unpunished. So don’t just admonish your officers, please work on modalities that will make it difficult for corruption to occur. At the moment conditions for corruption…
I’m sure Hon minister you will not go empty handed.
In shantumbu a known councilor is grabbing traditional land and selling to foreigners
We thought this will be a thing of the past once upnd took over.