‘Chinsali residents have no title deeds for land’

‘Chinsali residents have no title deeds for land’
By Thomas Nkanga in Chinsali
Wed 26 May 2010, 03:40 CAT

RESIDENTS of Chinsali district in Northern Province have revealed that they have had no title deeds for their land, some of which was obtained 15 years ago.

During a public discussion organised by district commissioner Maximo Chitambi, one resident Aggrey Musamba complained that many people who built their property as far back as 15 years had no chance to obtain title of the land despite the process of issuance of such legal documents having been decentralised.

Musamba observed that it was an obligation of the local authority to facilitate the issuance of title deeds.

He said the title deeds could even be used to obtain loans from financial institutions to enable people expand their businesses.

He said there was urgent need to start the process because many people had built modern property, both commercial and residential, using colossal amounts of money but such buildings stood on illegal land.

Musamba, the former second vice-president of Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU), said the council should also ensure that service provision in the district matched with the levies collected from the public.

Musamba also called for the need to provide adequate sanitary facilities at the bus station and market.

And Chitambi said many people in the district who applied to the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) for funds for their entrepreneurship programmes had been denied access because they lacked collateral.

He said many residents in the district could have accessed the funds being offered by the government through CEEC to reduce poverty levels among communities but were hampered by the slow process of issuance of title deeds.

Chitambi explained that the councils were agents of the Ministry of Lands and needed to ensure that administration of land matters in their jurisdiction were dealt with properly.

He implored the council management to hasten the process so that the district could move in tandem with the rest of the nation in terms of development.

And council district planning officer, Oswald Chibwe explained that he would present the issue of title deeds before council management.

Chibwe said the process of title deed issuance would only start once all legal impediments were overcome.

Chibwe said the council needed to valuate all the property and ensure that they conformed to the standards of country and town planning procedures before title deeds could be issued.