Nagging land glitches worrisome

IT is undeniable that the problem of land is serious and needs to be resolved urgently before it reaches dangerous proportions. The desire for land among the people is so intense that the citizens are more than ready to encroach on any idle piece of land that they find, including road reserves, railway line reserves, play parks and now land in or around police camps. Clearly this is serious! Walking around Lusaka today, it’s hard to imagine how the government intends to achieve its green economy ambitions with unplanned developments, characterised by substandard illegal structures everywhere. Sooner or later, there will be no empty spaces for people to sit and relax for fresh air, and even more serious spaces for children to enjoy playing as part of their development process. Little wonder it is hardly surprising nowadays to see children in compounds playing football and other games on roads risking their lives. It is simple, they have nowhere to play because play parks and football pitches have been turned into plots while premises or yards which were initially meant to have one or two houses only are now crammed with houses so-called flats beyond the carrying capacity. Just yesterday, we carried a story where the Lusaka City Council is said to have given plots to people behind Emmasdale police camp, land said to be part of the camp. The offers were later cancelled because of public concerns. But what is extremely disturbing is that while the plots in question – those that were given to Zambians were cancelled, foreigners with huge tracks of land in the same area are at ease and busy building. Zambia Republican Party president Wright Musoma has categorically observed that he even knows some of the foreigners offered land in the same area and were even building in places meant for roads. What is the logic of cancelling plots offered to Zambians while allowing foreigners to continue building in the same area? Can somebody somewhere explain this sitation. This confirms concerns pertaining to the inevitable need for a befitting land policy that will strictly empower Zambians to own land. As things are now, it would appear foreigners have an upper hand over locals as they are able to acquire land easily because of their financial ability and of course the existing porous land laws. For how for example, can the displacement of people from the land they have lived for ages and where their forefather lived suddenly become somebody else’s or be sold to a foreigner? As incredible as it sounds, this is happening in this country. This is why we urge fairness to prevail as regards the plots behind Emmasdale police camp. If plots that had been given to Zambians were cancelled because the land in question is part of the camp, then the council should cancel those allocated to foreigners as well. As Mr Musoma says, discriminatory tactics should not be entertained. Zambians should not be treated like they are foreigners in their own motherland. While it is true that some Zambians are the ones selling land to foreigners, it is also true that the land laws of this country need to be scrutinised and appropriate legislation put in place to safeguard Zambians. Given this state of affairs, we feel it is overly prudent for the authorities to come up with a system that will ensure that Zambians regardless of their gender, political and religious affiliation have access to land somewhere somehow.