– Government to start repossessing big chunks of Land.

Government to start repossessing big chunks of Land.

Mumbwa, August 14, 2014, ZANIS — Government says it has started the process of repossessing being chunks of land dubiously allocated to the so called investors on the expense of Zambians.

ZANIS reports that Chiefs and Tradition Affairs Minister Prof. Nkandu Luo said this in Mumbwa yesterday when she visited Chief Kaindu’ s palace in continued search for land relocated over 1,000 squatters in Mumbwa Game Management Area of the Kafue National Park.

The Minister was shocked to see that Hernan Folly Farm was allocated 2,500 hectares of land in the banks of Kafue River more that the threshold, which Chiefs and Councils can give out adding that any land more than 250 hectares, needs consent from the President.

Prof. Luo said she would inform President Sata so that the process of reposing land from Hernan Folly Farms commences and he would only be given 250 hectares and that a buffer zone must be created away from the leave.

The Minister warned that government will deal ruthlessly with any one breaking the rules in land allocation whether a traditional leader or a local authority as land is being held by the President in trusted to the people of Zambia.

She observed that only few individuals who are not Zambians are the one owning land throughout the country as similar names a found everywhere.

Prof. Luo also observed that there have been a lot of problems regarding the allocation of Land in Chief Kaindu and directed that the process of land allocation in the Chiefdom must be stopped until all queries regarding the same are resolved.

Meanwhile, only 159 squatters of the Mumbwa GMA out of 1,111 will be relocated to the Kaindu – Chitanda disputed land as it has only 1,000 hectares as opposed to the 11,000 hectares earlier announced.

The minister said the Surveyor General who went on the ground to map the area found that the earmarked piece of land have people already settled in it and only few spaces were available to relocate the squatters.

The minister added that more land must be sourced from the nearby Chiefs so that people in the GMA are removed as soon as possible before the onset of rains.

She disclosed that the first bunch will start moving in soon and government through the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit will help them with tents and relief food until they are integrated into society.

And Chief Kandu has complained to the minister that he had no land to settle as he was squatting in the land owned by the Catholic Church.

He said that he would not know where to go if the Catholic Church evicts him as the palace was built on the catholic land.

Professor Luo however, said the government is in the process of engaging the Catholic Church so that an alternative land is provided for the Church.