• SOME of the houses earmarked for demolition in Chifubu Township in Ndola after some developers ‘encroached’ on Lot No. 38153 belonging to Mr Abraham Phiri.– Picture by PATRICK HARA.
By MARTIN NYIRENDA –
DOUBLE allocation of plots by local authorities is now parallel with the kiss of national failure.
The land scam is likely to get worse before it gets any better because the vice has reached that point.
John Hancock, the 17th Century philosopher, would most probably have described the activities at some local authorities as the root of all sins crippling the vector of society because the whole vice remains a sheer history of public interest.
Sadly, double allocation of plots remains a typical ticking bomb set to detonate sending the anticipated development activities agog with the failure to deliver on the public expectations!
This article will weigh down on Ndola City Council (NCC) where the vice was gradually eroding the moral capital of councils effectively culminating in the public loss of faith in the council.
Ndola business executive Abraham Phiri was offered land anchored behind Chifubu Police Station on which he acquired titles in 2010.
“The Lands and Deeds Registry of Zambia witnesseth that Abraham Phiri of Ndola in Zambia is a tenant or lessee for the unexpired residue of a term of 99 years for the 4.0319 hectares on Lot No. 38153/M …,” says
the Certificate of Title.
“It has come to the attention of (Ndola City) Council that your property is on F1/L/38153/M which is a private property belonging to Mr Phiri Abraham. Kindly surrender your offer letter within seven days failing which we shall deem to have the offer cancelled.”
The letter, dated March 14, 2014 and authored by the NCC director of legal services Levis Mumba, is addressed to Verity Chipi, who is among seven others whom the council laims their properties have been built on a private property belonging to Abraham Phiri.
The same letter is also addressed to Mathews Sakala, Mwila G. Malama, Chapewa Malama, John Kalokoto, Judge Raymond, Emman Lwando and Mbale Dominic.
Amplifying this rather rare but not too isolated undertaking, Mr Phiri’s lawyer Caristo Mukonka Legal Practitioners wrote a letter dated May 14, 2014, to Dominic Mbale regarding criminal trespass on his property (Lot 38153/M) that following the criminal investigations and the inquiries held at Chifubu Police Station in the CIO’s office from “which you requested for more time to wind up your activities on our client’s property … we shall cause the police to proceed to prosecute you in the courts of law for criminal trespass.”
Initially, seven plots were sub-divided on Mr Phiri’s land and now the number of sub-divided plots has since reached 13.
After four years, the NCC Town Clerk on May 19, 2014 wrote to Messrs Caristo Mukonka Legal Practitioners with reference to criminal trespass on his property (L/38153/M).
“Kindly be advised that your client (Mr Phiri) has an option of getting seven plots on a virgin land opposite to his site. Let us know whether your client can get the said plots in lieu of what he has lost to the trespassers,” reads the NCC letter in part.
“Towards October 2010, I found some people have started activities on my land and when I asked them, they said the land on which they were carrying out developments was allegedly allocated to them by a named ward councillor.
In September 2011, Mr Phiri took the matter to court … the consent order was entered where it was agreed that the 17 plots on the land in question should be surrendered to the council official who claimed it belonged to him and the NCC would offer Mr Phiri alternative land on plot number 11260 in Mitengo area and plot 5191 in Pine Groove in Kawama.
On July 18, 2014, the NCC (refer: LM/DLS/10287 and 10271 Mitengo) offered in principle two residential stands to Mr Phiri, says part of the letter signed on behalf of the Town Clerk and copied to directors of legal, city planning and finance.
Inquiry by this author reveals a Dr Mumba has already been offered the said plot in Mitengo and was building a property on the same land.
“The issue is with the legal department at the NCC but I am still building on the plot!” Dr Mumba chips in though he withdrew from dwelling much on the issue for obvious reasons.
Dr Mumba was sold the Mitengo plot in September this year while Mr Phiri was offered the same plot in July 18, 2014.
Again, the NCC offered Mr Phiri alternative plot opposite his land which he “later discovered was already owned by a Mr Changala”.
In 2012, he applied to have his plot sub-divided to enable him assign the 17 plots by court consent order.
“As I was waiting for the numbering of plots, council officials presented before the council meeting 24 names of applicants under the guise that they were being offered new plots meant for regularisation in Chifubu Township,” says Mr Phiri.
The seven more applicants to the 17 amended by the court were presented, gloomily disregarding the court order.
NCC Mayor Samuel Munthali knows the story of Mr Phiri when he says the land under question was allocated to Mr Phiri by the “Ministry of Lands without consent from the local authority which has powers to plan and allocate land.”
“We have given him two plots. We gave him the plots three weeks ago which are better than what he is complaining about. We have given him the plot covering 20,000 square meters compared to the 5,000 square meters which he has lost. Why he is coming to the media? He wants to portray us to be bad,” intones the Mayor.
He advised this author to approach the NCC public relations manager Roy Kuseka for verification, contending that ‘alternative’ plots have already been offered to Mr Phiri and there was a file to that effect.
When contacted, Mr Kuseka said: “The NCC has not changed its position on compensating Mr Phiri. We will compensate him once land is found.
He is not the only one with such a problem. The council has not changed its position to compensate him … they will give him what’s due to him.”
A day after separately interviewing Mr Muntahli and Mr Kuseka, Council Town Clerk Ernest Sumani wrote a letter dated November 4, 2014 with Legal Director of Service Levis Mumba’s signature appended on it to Caristo Mukonka Legal Practitioners reaffirming that Mr Phiri has already been allocated two high cost plots namely 10287 and 10271 Mitengo, adding: “You are therefore advised not to write directly to the offerees (of the land under dispute) but to the council who made an undertaking to compensate him (Mr Phiri) with alternative plots”.
On the heels of factual contradiction, two days later, in his correspondence, on November 6, 2014Mr Mumba writes to Caristo Mukonka Legal Practitioners that Mr Phiri has been offered plot numbers 10271 Mitengo and HST 28 Stadium Area Hillcrest Extension.
“You are requested to acknowledge safe receipt of the offer letters. I further wish to inform you that we have cancelled offer letter dated July 18, 2014 as the plots offered therein are encumbered …”
The 10271 Mitengo stand is offered pursuant to the consent judgment dated August 29, 2011 under cause No 2010/HN/392 so is residential plot in Hillcrest Stadium area. But Mr Phiri does not approve of what he terms as ‘shadow letter offers of plots’ since the offers were far outside the court order agreement!
The consent settlement order (2010/HN/393) in the High Court between Mr Phiri as plaintiff and Oscar Himanga (first defendant) and NCC (second defendant) shows that the parties concerned agreed that judgment be entered as follows:
“The plaintiff shall surrender to first defendant the parcel of land being the 17 created subdivisions of Lot No 38153/M Ndola which have been partially developed by the persons reported to have bought the said subdivisions from Mr Himanga.
“The second defendant (NCC) shall compensate the plaintiff for the land lost by two high cost plots known stand no. 11260 Mitengo, Ndola and plot no.5191 Pine Groove Ndola. The first defendant shall facilitate at his own cost the normalisation of the subdividing of the land surrendered to him.”
This particular But again, the role of councilors and other council officials should be spelt out to avoid such similar cases which always demnad a thorough follow up even when the pen is not well-irked!
Local Government and Housing Minister Emmanuel Chenda recently declared NCC as the most corrupt council in the country for many reasons.
And for now, the NCC should fondle its own misgivings something which flummox many as much as it magnifies the depth of qualm about the council regarding double allocation of plots — the root cause of sins of all forms of corruption.
