Minister of Lands and Natural Resources Sylvia Masebo says the government has encountered more issues relating to land allocation among traditional leaders.
Nonetheless, Masebo has admitted that the entire land authority system in the country, including the ministry of lands, has a number of issues that must be resolved to eliminate all disputes relating to land allocation.
“From what I have discovered, I think there are problems everywhere, but I think the area where the problem is very pronounced is at the level of the headmen,” Masebo said.
The minister noted that several issues have arisen in the administration of customary land due to traditional leaders and individuals’ lack of information and failure to follow the established procedures in the allocation and acquisition of land.
“The problem we seem to be facing more is with customary land because a lot of people are acquiring land with the intention to resell it. We have also seen the mushrooming of estate agents because all they are selling is state land, which may have even been converted without the consent of the chief, until people start coming with their title deeds,” she said.
Masebo has since called for strict adherence to the approved and lawful procedures in the management of land among all stakeholders to lessen the rate of land disputes in the country.
“I think if we can all stick to the procedures that we ourselves create, we can have fewer problems. But somehow, we sometimes tend to ignore the procedures, and in that case, you will later find that you issued an approval, and yet on the ground, a social survey was not done to ascertain that there are villagers who have been living in that area for many years,” she added.
However, Masebo disclosed that the government has continued to collaborate well with traditional leaders in terms of customary land development in the public interest.
“When it comes to development, the chiefs and the state have worked well, but I think the problem arises when a title has been issued and the chief claims not to have been consulted,” she said.
She was speaking when she featured on the “Sunday Interview” program on ZNBC’s TV1.