Government has with immediate effect banned the sale of customary land.
Addressing journalist in Lusaka today, ands and Environmental Protection Minister Harry Kalaba Harry Kalaba says he has to this effect directed the Commissioner of Lands and all councils countrywide not to process any papers relating to the sale customary land.
Mr. Kalaba says customary land which has been illegally sold will be repossessed, adding his ministry will soon conduct a land audit on such land.
He has warned members of the public against buying customary land or risk being prosecuted as accomplices to the crime of illegally selling land.
He has however stated that this does not affect innocent Zambians who lawfully acquire land through the normal procedures and villagers who already enjoy their rights on respective pieces of land, but is targeted at addressing new acquisitions.
Mr. Kalaba further states that investors both foreign and local who acquire land through the laid down procedure should not be worried about the measures taken.
Thank you Hon Kalaba, please investigate Mr Syandenge Police Chief western province how he acquired massive land at a place called Kasenga in Namwala. Locals now do not even have grazing land for their cattle. This policeman too rich.
too corrupt
too stupid
Recently read a UNIP era parliamentary report… actually it was Hansard which surprisingly contained one of the best discussions on land, its importance and why we needed to think through sales in relation to having fought hard to get it back in the first place and preservation for the future. It is unfortunate we lost control of this issue as I am not certain we have full knowledge yet of who owns what, how it was acquired and what should never have been touched. Unexpected insight of our early days gained sorting through the family attic…
Mr siandengenis just a clever and hard working man. I went to school with jim and I know very well how he acquired his wealth
Mr. Siandengenis thanks for clearing your name
Hon kalaba thnk you so much.Now ths is wht we call land reforms not theoretical hypothesis with no results & discharge.Viva go to chongwe see wht nkhomeshya has amassed as resrve land fr hr royal family!All prime land reservd fr her family not fr incoming investors.
Why is it that this particular Minister doesnt involve himself in useless rhetoric and character assasination ? If only we had 12 of him in Cabinet o ! Hey !
We thank you govt for taking this long overdue decision.
Chiefs are mere custodians of land on behalf of the many tribes or people they represent.
What has been happening is that a chief would sale the land in his chiefdom and individualy pocket the proceeds of the sale without the benefit to his people other than himself.
Actually parliament should pass a law that a chief can never sale customery land but that he is a mere admnistrator of the land on behalf of the people he represents.
Only when deemed neccessary that govt needs land to develop can the President deggazet such land for development for the the good of the majority .
Well done GOVT and please do not rescind your decision but enact it into law.
It would be good to clarify what is legal and ilegal land in this particular case. Is it land aquired through Chiefs or customary land that Cadres have envaded? “customary land which has been illegally sold will be repossessed,” Certainly people would want to aquire land for various types investments, are there laid down rules that Zambians are supposed to follow when aquiring such land or this ends as a blanket statement to be determined by an officer attending to a particular case to be determined by him/ her? “He has warned members of the public against buying customary land or risk being prosecuted as accomplices to the crime of illegally selling land.” is the buying of customary land ilegal in itself? it would good if the Ministry can clarify what is illegal and and what is not.
Precicely, Wapya Munzi!
Hats off to Hon. Kalaba. There is so much Nonsense of land being sold to Foreigners especially Senegalies and Indians in Mungule area by greedy Headmen at the expense of Zambians. Zambia has become the only country in the world where land can so easily be given to a foreigner. It never happens anywhere. This move is good for the country. WE NEEDED A MINISTER LIKE KALABA LIKE 10 YEARS AGO. In Mungule area especially, you can not even rear a Chicken because every path belongs to a SENESENE. The indigenous villagers have been misplaced and just given a 1 PIN for Chibubu and they are evicted. Land in Zambia is vested in the President by law. LAND AUDIT A MUST IN ALL AREAS OF OUR BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY LEST WE WILL REACT LIKE ZIMBABWE DID.
Do we have an approved procedure for acquiring customary land? The minister needs provide guidance on how customary land can be legally acquired.The government should help its citizens who are setting up smallholdings on the customary land as this will help in fighting poverty in these communities.
What am I required to do if am to carry out any meaningful investment on customary land considering the fact that State land is not readily accessible?
This is a legal and technical issue. Zambian land falls under State and Customary land. If one needs to get any finance to develop the land, or to lay claim to that land parcel, one needs title deeds and that is only obtained after undertaking a cadasral survey. There is a laid process of acquiring land in both State and Customary land. The tricky part that many people dont realise is once one has exchanged hands with an chief but you have no title deeds,in law, one has no claim of ownership to the land. Unfortunately, there is a huge backlog in land surveys across the country and unless one engages a surveyor privately and pay the sums for the survey, people may end up losing out. It would be great for Harry Kalaba to educate the people on what the legal way is in acquiring customary land
#9.1 at MFUMU thank you very much for your points of clarification.The Minister needs to cause his ministry to publish clear guidelines to be followed in acquiring customary land legally. It is in the best of the country to promote the establishment of smallholdings in which case customary land ought to be made available for such development.As a zambian I want to invest my money in a smallholding before I retire.
What we need in Zambia is a total land reform policy which must be to the benefit of the poor Zambian citizens.The acquisition of land by the minority few must also be looked into urgently.
I agree with the sentiments that Zambia is the only country where a foreigner can acquire land so easily.
In Botswana it is impossible to buy land or a house as a forigner unless if you own a registered company/
Zambians please wake up! Don’t sell land to foreigners.Our future generation will be squarters in their own villages.
That does not solve the Batswana’s problem if it simply takes one to register a company before acquiring land. I know of former expatriates of Zambian and Indian origin who own property in Pakalane Estates and other places in Gaborone.
so what happens ayi..!waiting for offer letters..
Trouble in paradise, Our Govt needed not to issue a blanket statement without guidelines. Citizens have legally invested in customary land. Are they going to compasate them because if one used the legal channel of going through the chief and the chief acknowledges, where is the illigality there? I hope the ministry will come out and clarify some of these unclear areas for people to have peace of mind. I dont see it posible that one who buys land from the Chief would be punished and leave people that have forcifully displaced others go scot free like is the case most parts of Lusaka (Lusaka west being the waste hit)