Zambian gov't to demolish properties built on illegal land

The Zambian government said on Wednesday that it will embark on a nationwide demolition exercise of all structures built on illegally acquired land as it tries to bring sanity in land management.

Minister of Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Jean Kapata said her ministry will in the next two weeks start demolishing structures built on illegally acquired land in a bid to curb land encroachment.

"My ministry, working in collaboration with the Ministry of Homes Affairs, will swing into action and evict as well as demolish all illegal structures," she said in a ministerial statement delivered in parliament.

The government, she said, will not sit idly and watch law-abiding citizens being displaced from their legally acquired land and warned that any person found trespassing on land risks being arrested and prosecuted regardless of their political affiliation.

Zambia has continued witnessing incidents of alleged supporters of the ruling party encroaching on land belonging to other people and selling it to unsuspecting members of the public, especially in major cities.

Meanwhile, the Zambian minister said the government has reserved 50,000 plots to be allocated to citizens under its land empowerment program.

She said her ministry has opened up new areas for development under the land development program in a bid to make land available to citizens, adding that the land will be given to citizens at a minimal fee. Endit