Churches counselled on land acquisition

CHURCHES in Kitwe should desist from buying land from unregistered dealers to avoid getting into unnecessary land wrangles and consequently losing out on their money, Town Clerk Mbulo Seke has said.

Mr Seke said the Churches must directly deal with the council or Ministry of Lands in land acquisition and not unregistered bodies or individuals.

He said many churches have fallen victims of illegal land dealers who were on the loose swindling people and organisations of huge sums of money.

Mr Seke said in an interview that he had decided to issue a timely advice to churches so that they could be alert and avoid getting into unnecessary land wrangles.

“There have been land issues which have involved churches in different ways although they have not directly pointed at land acquisition, but I thought, I should advise them on the importance of following a procedure.

“My advice to the churches in Kitwe is that the first step towards acquiring land is the council and not individuals. If the church wants to buy land, they should see the local authority and then further the ministry of lands,’’ Mr Seke said

Mr Seke said after dealing with the local authority, the churches should proceed to the Ministry of Lands to acquire certificate of title.

“An example is the case where the church did not acquire land from the council, but from an individual. Any encumbrances arising from such, the church should ask the same citizen as to why he gave them land which was already encumbered,’’ he said

Kitwe has experienced a number of illegal allocations of land including near the Presidential Lodge where some councillors had been implicated.

Others areas which has seen rampant illegal allocation of land include the Zambia Railways land near Polytra in the industrial area. About 14 illegal developers suspected to have been illegally allocated land some councillors have encroached on the Zambia Railways land near Polytra.

Among the 14 illegal developers include a church which acquired land from a cartel of councillors in the business of illegally allocating land.