Government urged to finalize the draft land policy

Chipata District Land Alliance CDLA has called on Government to finalize the draft land policy to curb the mushrooming of informal settlements in the country.
Coordinator Allan Kasongo says Zambia is witnessing challenges with the mushrooming of informal settlements where large scale investors have displaced local people and failed to compensate or resettle them.
Mr Kasongo observed that both Government and private land, has been occupied by people without permission from the owners.
He says that this can lead to factors like population growth, and inefficient formal land delivery system.
He cited an incident in Mindolo North in Kitwe, where houses were demolished by Kitwe City Council on grounds that they were illegal, which he says can bring violation of international law.
Mr. Kasongo says that there is need for a land policy to deal with such issues by Government promoting research that can shed more light on how to minimize illegal settlements.
He says it is unfortunate that currently, land policy does not provide a mechanism where local communities can benefit from the revenues realized from land that was once customary.