Chingola Mayor Titus Tembo merits a pat on the back for his aggression and dynamisms to combat the cancer of illegal land allocation which has infiltrated Chingola.
Whether he has been using chemotherapy or herbal remedies, the bottom line is that there are signs that the battle is almost won.
Chingola has been grappling and battling with serious land illegalities where some employees at Chingola Council, Councillors and land scammers would freely go on rampage to allocate land.
Chingola’s Pie City and Nchanga hotel were two havens harboring these known conmen who would proudly tell their prey that they had an office at either of the two places.
Though Titus Tembo himself may not be perfect or free from some allegations of land illegalities, the truth is that he has shown leadership amid extra pressure from PF members who feel and think that land is free for sharing as long as they are in the ruling party.
This has made him very unpopular among PF members but he seems lately to be enjoying support from his Council and the Councillors.
The hot penetrating knife of Titus Tembo on land illegality was unleashed when one of the Councillors from PF was jailed for land illegality and a Senior Zambia Army officer was jailed over land illegality.
This Councillor who was also a Church Reverend is still serving while the Army officer has appealed to the High Court.
This message was loud and clear, some notorious land scammers went scampering for safety thereby leaving the two conmen nests Nchanga hotel and Pie City free of such.
Some surveyors who were reported to be working with the land scammers were transferred from Chingola Council though some council officers are still involved in the vice.
Thanks up to this far.
However, there is need for Chingola Mayor and his team to go to the root cause of land illegality.
Severally, land illegalities are incubated and fermented by the authorities themselves in this case Titus Tembo, Councillors and the Councils themselves.
What you see rapturing in form of land illegalities is as a result of the corrupt tendencies of leadership using underhand methods to enrich themselves in what appears to a layman as transparency.
There is no way the council can be awarding advertised parcels of land to the same rich individuals on pretext that the hoi polloi cannot build if given land.
There seem to be huge exchange of money behind the scenes for the same people to be freely getting land at the expense of genuine Zambians that simply need a legal piece of to build a house where to lay their heads.
Some people are on record of getting high cost parcels of land on each land advertised using several different names rather theirs but with a clear hint to the authority of what name will apply under them.
If Titus Tembo and his Council want to end land illegalities they should have clear system of land allocation which will mean awarding land even to the poor who have never been recipients of land advertised at the Council.
This can only be achieved if the Council use legal documents such as the National Registration Card number as key to identify if one is a beneficiary of previous land allocation.
You cannot be chasing people away from land interviews saying they don’t have bank statements as though they will apply to the Chief for traditional land.
What you are seeing as land illegality is a sign of serious land distribution failure. This doesn’t overrule some residents who are good at benefiting from Council land distribution and later sell the land.
