Who sold Munali School land?
GOVERNMENT has expressed anger and indignation at the encroachment at Munali Secondary and Tunduya Primary School where illegal structures have been erected by private developers.
Two on-spot checks by Cabinet Ministers were last conducted as Munali MP Nkandu Luo and Lands Minister Jean Kapata led their colleagues to the affected schools following reports on encroachment and construction of private and commercial buildings.
It is not yet clear under what circumstances the land was allocated but Munali Ward 33 councillor Sylvester Mulenga is surprised that Government was not aware of the development yet the developers claim they had title to the land.
Speaking to the Daily Nation yesterday, Mr. Mulenga said land encroachment at the schools started a long time ago under the watch of the same authorities which were now expressing ignorance over the matter.
He said the Ministries of Lands and General Education as well as the Lusaka City Council (LCC) were in the best position to explain alleged illegal land allocation.
"For those structures to be erected, it means the owners have title to the land. It also means that since that land belonged or still belongs to the school, then it must have been re-planned. City planning and re-planning is done by the council. Title deeds are issued by the Ministry of Lands.
"It is surprising that the authorities are shocked at the alleged illegalities within the schools yet they are the ones in charge and they have been watching these structures being built. No one can build a filling station overnight,” Mr. Mulenga said.
He said investigations must be conducted to ascertain who facilitated the issuance of title deeds and who was behind re-planning since that was Government property.
"As a councillor, I cannot stop those people from building. The moment I go there, I will be cited for criminal trespass and the council can't even give me legal aid because the law does not allow them to do so, just like I do not have the mandate to stop construction of those buildings.
"We need to get to the bottom of this matter because neither the schools nor the Ministry of General Education complained to me over what they now term illegality despite construction having started years back. So, let this matter be thoroughly investigated and a way forward be found,” Mr. Mulenga said. ...as Govt steps in
A MINISTERIAL fact-finding mission led by Munali MP Nkandu Luo over the construction of illegal structures on Munali Secondary and Tunduya Primary School grounds has been instituted.
On August 14, 2019, a combined team of Lusaka City Council (LCC) and state police swung into action and demolished illegal structures and evicted some retirees who had been residing around the two schools.
This was after a 14-day eviction notice issued to them elapsed.
Now, unscrupulous individuals are said to have returned to the area where they have demarcated and sold out plots where the construction of flats is underway.
So far, two visits to the affected schools were sanctioned after Cabinet received reports that the land which belongs to the two schools had been demarcated into illegal plots, with developers now erecting structures.
Professor Nkandu Luo, who is Livestock and Fisheries Minister, visited the area last week in the company of Lands and Natural Resources Minister Jean Kapata, General Education Minister David Mabumba, other officials from the two ministries and school head teacher from the two schools.
On Friday, Prof Luo again visited the area with Presidential Affairs Minster Freedom Sikazwe and Local Government Minster, Charles Banda.
Prof Luo expressed disappointment that while Government was modernising schools across the country, some unscrupulous individuals were shrinking the physical space of the learning institutions by creating illegal plots.
“The land around the two schools is what Government has reserved for building centres of excellence and science. All this land is given and sold out and in the end there is nowhere to build or develop science and technology sites for our schools.
“My office and Cabinet has received information that land which belongs to Tunduya Primary and Munali Secondary School is being sold out and both commercial and domestic buildings are being constructed,” Prof Luo complained.
She said the other piece of land which had been tampered with was the Mumana Primary School.
“It is sad that at the point when we want to develop and modernize our schools not only in Munali constituency but the entire country, some people are busy selling plots,” she said.