The government has ordered Ukwimi Farmers Coordinating Committee in Lusangazi District to stop the illegal allocation of land.
Lusangazi District Commissioner Mike Tembo has also suspended the operations of the Farmers Coordinating Committee because of its illegal land allocation activities.
The District Commissioner has said investigations into the matter are underway by the police and a solution will be found for those people that bought land through Ukwimi Farmers Association Committee.
Mr Tembo said the decision to stop the operations of the Ukwimi Farmers Coordinating Committee was arrived at following numerous complaints his office received from members of the community in the area with regard to the alleged illegal allocation of land.
Speaking in an interview yesterday, Mr Tembo said it is suspected that the operations of Ukwimi Farmers Association in the area were illegal as it had no blessings from the Local Authority and the chiefs in the area, adding that land is vested in the President.
“We held a meeting yesterday with the Ukwimi Farmers Coordinating committee and satellite leaders after allegations surfaced that these people were illegally selling land in the area, and so I have suspended the operations of the said committee with immediate effect as you may be aware that land is vested in the Republican President,” he said.
Mr Tembo added that some forms and receipts that were issued to people by the same committee upon allocating them with land were also confiscated for further investigations.
He advised people intending to buy land in Lusangazi to desist from paying any money to any committee but follow the rightful procedure by going through the Council or chiefs.
Mr Tembo also warned people dealing in illegal land allocation that they will be prosecuted by the law.
“Anyone intending to sell land in Lusangazi illegally will be dealt with by the law because all land and we will not allow every Jim and Jack selling land,” he said.
And Chief Sandwe of the Nsenga People of Lusangazi District has supported the Government’s decision to stop the operations of the Ukwimi Farmers Association Committee because it was illegally operating in the area.
The traditional leader said the operations of the committee were disturbing farmers in the area and that he has already informed the Provincial Resettlement Office in Chipata over the matter.
“I’m in total support of the stop order that the Government has issued to that committee because their operations were illegal and were disturbing our people in Lusangazi,” he said.
