Government has said it will not compensate illegal settlers whose houses will be demolished. Deputy Minister in the Office of the Vice President Gaston Sichilima said the demolition process will start soon and those that bought plots from individuals without title deeds will lose their houses without compensation.
Mr. Sichilima told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka today that Government will instead arrest illegal settlers and prosecute them for trespassing on other people’s land without compensating them.
He said Government will go ahead with the demolition exercise throughout the country to restore sanity in the issuance of land.
The Minister pointed out people who have encroached garden area along Mumbwa Road, Chinika and Chalala area risks losing their houses if they have no valid title deeds.
He said people should follow right procedure whenever they want to acquire land and not buy from cadres or people who have fake title deeds or no titles at all.
Mr Sichilima however, said Government will not take appropriate action against cadres involved in illegal land selling regardless of their political affiliation.
He added that Government through the Ministry of lands is the only rightful authority to give land adding that people should either verify with the Council or Ministry of land before building a house to avoid inconveniences.
He said that the demolition process is not the issue of Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) but that Government wants to bring legality to land acquisition in the country.
ZANIS
Start now if u want to lose 2011 elections by more than 50% margin.
One this one am 100% behind the MMD and i only hope the opposition wont throw in spanners
Amakofi ba Sichilima
hello checking one two
ba mmd too much ponyo ponyo ba satanyooko imwe
GOOD. THIS IS MOST WELCOME THING. ALL ILLEGAL PLOTS MUST BE RAZED. HOWEVER, THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE IS MISLEADING: “Government will not take appropriate action against cadres involved in illegal land selling regardless of their political affiliation.” IN ADDITION RAZE DOWN HARZARDOUS STRUCTURES SUCH AS SIMOSON BUILDING AT SOWETO MARKET. ISN’T THERE ANY HEALTH AND SAFETY IN ZAMBIA?
jusy doin there jobs ……deeds r a must…
As much as this may be a good thing to do, the Govt. must still find alternatives for the people who will be displaced. It is there responsibility to provide shelter for the people. Because of their deals, it is the reason end up getting and buying land from scrupulous cadres. The Govt. is the one to blame and they really must not try to solve the problem the wrong way. For starters, they must deal with the people selling the lands who happen to be the Cadres. Many innocent people have bought land the Govt. must really find ways of stopping the vice instead of blaming an suspecting people who buy the land. It will be a disaster to demolish the structures because thousands of people will be homeless. So the best is give them time to sort out the mess they have found themselves in.
Councils and Ministry of lands are to blame for this mess! It would appear the officials in councils are using this confusion to make money (corruptly).
this is ur same story all the time and yet your dog cadres are not arretsed ..rubbish..
lusaka city concil controlled by pf and mayor chikwelete. sata told us since he commands majority in city manucipality he would run a parallel adminstration. lets find a way of bringing sanity to this lawlessness
mmd cadres make money by selling land illegally and the ministry of land makes money by corruptly awarding contract to any a.ss company to demolish the so called illegal structures or houses. who suffers the loss? the poor, the vulnerable…..why not starting by prosecuting those who sale land illegally? if the govn is concerned by this issue, it should start by looking at where this problem originates from, in this case mmd cadres. and also make the land acquiring laws straight, simple and stiff. make sure that corruption is fought with all the zeal at the ministry of lands. but for as long as we dont address these issues then forget about putting an end to this vice.
This problem started when the govnt sold out houses to sitting tenants as a result those who were left out started buying land to build houses . It is almost impossible to get land through the ministry of lands thats the reason why people resorted to buying land from cadres. Council works and ministry of lands are all involved in this scam. They all benefit from these illegal plots. The councils workers are the ones who even issue fake offer letters to buyers. Almost all of these illegal structures have offer letters from the council how they get them nobody knows.