Land audit coming

By SANFROSSA MANYINDA and SILUMESI MALUMOTHE national land titling will be done with the land audit to curb illegalities in the country, Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Jean Kapata has said.The initiative is backed by Government’s resolve to accelerate social and economic development through regularising ownership of untitled properties in towns and cities as well as eradicating inequalities in gaining access to land.Ms Kapata said Government would not allow people to build their structures on any open space, without establishing what the land was reserved for.The minister observed that many people were taking advantage of the fact that, some squatters had been given titles so that they could legally own the pieces of land, a situation that would no longer be the case.The national land titling programme would also help promote security of tenure of land in the country and at the same time ensure that land was documented fairly.According to the Ministry of Lands, there had never been a comprehensive regularisation of informal settlements and systematic land registration in Zambia.“Illegalities of land will not be tolerated in this country, not anymore. A lot of people have been disadvantaged by criminals who sell land through dubious means and leaving them on the street. We want to create the path that will lead people to doing the right thing,” she said.Ms Kapata called on all citizens to always verify with her ministry to establish true ownership of land before making any transactions.And the ministry working with Medici Land Governance yesterday launched the issuance of four million titles to Zambians under the national land titling programme.Ms Kapata said the initial period for the programme was seven years.She said the project would be undertaken by her ministry with Medici Land Governance on a fee-based contract.Meanwhile, Medici Land Governance country director Didier Sangashya said the programme would be done in phases.He said during the first phase about 1.5 million titles would be issued and 2.5 million would be issued in the second phase.