By SYLVESTER MWALE –

A CASE in which Disadvantaged Children Pathfinders Association Trust (DCPFT) is seeking the demolition of more than 200 houses in Lusaka’s Libala Township has been taken for arbitration.
The DCPFT was in 2011 granted an order by the High Court to demolish more than 200 houses in Libala South for encroaching on its land.
But Brentry Zimba and 92 others prevented the destruction of the structures by obtaining a stay of execution of the order before the matter went for trial.
The defendants insisted during trial that they had valid documents that had been issued by the local authority and it would be wrong for the non-governmental organisation (NGO) to destroy the structures.
However, DCPFT patron Peter Simpemba told the Sunday Times during the week that the two parties had been advised by the High Court to settle the matter outside court.
“We have left all the options available for the residents apart from demolishing the structures but the court has given us an opportunity to settle through arbitration,” Mr Simpemba said.
“We hope we could find an amicable solution to the problem but I know that the council will also be the key in this process because they are the authority that offers plots.”
The matter hinged on the fact that the association is the holder of the title while the residents are said to have been issued with letters of offer for the land in question by the Lusaka City Council.
The structures at plot number 33857, commonly known as Yellow Shop, were built in 2006 after political party cadres went on rampage dividing the land belonging to the NGO.
Efforts by the DCPFT to reclaim it proved futile until 2011 when the court ruled in its favour.
The organisation is said to have lost out after donors withdrew their offer to build a hospital at the same land because of the encroachment.
Mr Simpemba has since written to the council to seek clarification during arbitration on the issuance of offer letters on a land that already had a title.