Simbyakula

By MARTIN NYIRENDA –

The rationale behind illegal land allocation is effortless because land remains a striking national issue not only for Zambia but also for Africa’s future.
It has socio-economic development prospects attacjed to it as much as it is the lifeblood of mostly the rural population on the continent.
Cases of illegal land administration in the country continue to overwhelm the media with impunity.
Glaring revelations by newly appointed Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Christabel Ngimbu that some employees in her ministry should stop engaging in illegal allocation of land with immediate effect, transcends the truth that the responsible government outfit yearns cleansing to enable it fulfill public expectations.
Ms Ngimbu sternly warns the culprits involved in the illegal allocation of land that they will dance to the legal gauntlet once found wanting, adding that appropriate action would be taken against them.
“I am aware that some employees at my ministry are engaged in the illegal allocation of land as well as corruption, now let me take this opportunity to sternly warn them that they risk losing their jobs once found wanting, Government has a laid down procedure and I will ensure that the law is adhered to without any difficulties,” Ms Ngimbu opens up, in her apparently first sweeping policy statement after her appointment.
The Minister warns that cadres would not be spared regardless of the political affiliations and that her office would ensure the law is equally applied, adding: “As a country we need sanity where land acquisition is concerned, cadres are major perpetrators of illegal land allocation, but to ensure that law and order is restored there will be nothing special as to who abrogates the law, regardless of one’s political party, the law shall be applied.”
It is only hoped that the new broom at the ministry of Lands and Natural Resources will sweep the dust of corruption clogged in the land administration system.
Reports abound where some political cadres have been caught hands down grabbing other people’s land and later sharing it, in their own destructive mode.
Little wonder some foreigners claim ownership of large tracts of land where the locals are at home bewildered with their squatting on land owned by a few foreigners and sections of the elite class in society, including those wielding the corrupt hand in the land administration system.
It is, no doubt, the privilege of the government of the day to stick out visibly in their purposefulness in correcting the macabre state of chassis in the imbalanced land administration in the country.
Even worse still, as Zambia’s population is expected to double in the years to come, the country ought to brace itself ina stride to effectively double food production which requires considerable size of land in capable local hands steering the agriculture sector into a generator of surplus food basket not only for the country but the region and beyond.
Thus, land management becomes paramount and must top the national agenda of scoring sustainable development, equal distribution of national wealth, equal access to basic social services and facilities, employment creation, among others.
A complete over haul of the ‘out-dated’ system applied to administer State land should be initiated to meet the sophisticated changing times in which things operate because cases of some public officers especially those stationed in offices dotted along the railway line have successfully managed to manipulate the processes used to allocate land to their own advantage.
Land in Zambia is part of the identity of the people. In fact, it has more functions than merely being a financial asset hence reforms should also take into account collective ownership as well as models of its use.
Justice Minister Ngosa Simbyakula attests to the truism in a recent interview with this author that the high prevalence of illegality and lawlessness in land allocation and acquisition was a threat to law and order in the country, adding that government was upbeat to curtail the vice.
Dr Simbyakula regrets that innocent citizens have lost their lives in defending their pieces of land at the heels of high prevalence of the land scam, something which has compelled government to establish an Inter-ministerial Taskforce on illegal land allocation and acquisition.
The Inter-ministerial Taskforce on illegal land allocation and acquisition had been constituted to curb the ever growing illegal land allocation and grabbing.
Dr Simbyakula warns that people perpetrating the illegality of land allocation and acquisition will be arrested and prosecuted regardless of their social, political or official status.
He urges the general public to report all suspected illegal land activities to the Taskforce so that those involved could be brought to book.
Some comemntators argue that Government should put in place deliberate initiatives to ensure visibility of the Taskforce to areas out Lusaka to promote accessibility of the same among the people.
Dr Simbyakula intoned: “There has been a high prevalence of illegality and lawlessness pertaining to land allocation and acquisition in Zambia which is threatening law and order in this country. Government is concerned with the manner in which some individuals are ignoring the law and laid down procedures in the acquisition of pieces of land in the country”.
Though the Government has established the Inter-ministerial Taskforce on the illegal acquisition and allocation of land which is charged with powers to apprehend and prosecute all perpetrators of illegal land allocations and acquisition, it is yet to be seen how effective the Taskforce will be to eradicate the scourge and generate confidence among members of the public with regard to teh system applied to acquier land in the country.
Sad enough, the problem of illegal land allocation has its own side-effcets which has also left some houses demolished, effectively threatening the national security.
Dr Simbyakula goes on to explain that government is fretful with the long term impact of illegal land acquisition and allocation.
But as long as the problem of illegal land allocation and acquisition remains unsolved, more and more poor citizens will continue to have their houses demolished in the wake that the whole process to acquire the property proves wanting.
Ironically, the culprits of illegal land allocation and acquisition usually go scot-free while the victims suffer when the deal goes sour.
In more than a single illustration, illegal land allocation and acquisition has continued over time to unimaginable extremes with cases of a host of applicants claiming to have been offered a single piece of land still lingering in the minds of many.
Other cases of situations where there are four successful applicants, for instance, have all been offered a single plot while the official Registry at the Lands Department shows a rather different applicant holding Title Deeds for the same.
Then there is also double plot allocations happening in different forms and those who would have paid some corrupt public officer(s) to acquire letters of offer for the land — which was already being developed by another — still lose out at the end of this rather public administrative circus.
It is such operational public mess which recently prompted the Government to start auditing land and suspend issuance of plots.
Very little has matured from this ambitious national agenda!
There is every need to revitalise the way concerned Government outfits operate with regard to land allocation in a feat to foster transparency and effective service delivery that remains beneficial to the welfare of society and invariably adds value to the system used.
On the whole, the way Zambian public offices conduct business mirrors the country’s character.