Digitalized land management panacea to corruption-LA

 

Daily News Reporter

 

Land management, ownership among other processes is not amenable to corruption in Zambia in the absence of digitalized records to plug corruption, interest groups have noted.

 

Global anti-corruption body-Transparency International and the Land Alliance, a consortium of Non-Governmental Organisations promoting fair land policies, laws and land administration and takes into account the needs of the poor call for digitalization of all records coupled with a systematic monitoring of acquisition procedures to avert corruption as demand rises.

 

To plug the uncouth act, TIZ-Zambia and Zambia Land Alliance, Thursday launched a land management and transparency portal to plug corruption in land management at munipality and traditional authority’s levels as a way of restoring land management.

 

The duo note that with the lack of computerized records at various authorities, corruption remained an active exercise when people seek to acquire land, spurred by various circumstances, including lack of information on how land should be acquired and other procedures.

During the launch, TIZ-(Z) executive director Maurice Nyambe noted that much of the process was at the mercy of the officials handling the acquisitions and with the increasing demand for land in recent years, corruption and the lack of transparency was becoming a norm, which should be nipped in the bud and avert the scourge from escalating.

 

The portal, being re-launched to be expedited until 2025-the second time after it was initially launched in 2018 and to be operated initially in four districts-Choma, Mansa, Chibombo and Kasempa, on the basis of new spaces being opened for allocation of land, would seek to provide information on potential existing and potential owners pm ownership procedures.

 

The portal will be complimented with literature translated in languages that are commonly spoken in the affected areas to enhance comprehension by would be land owners.

 

The innovative approach by the two players is to ultimately champion transparency and enhance the effectiveness of its mandate.

 

The process will later be escalated to all parts of the country to curb the vice which has left many existing and would be land owners at the mercy of some municipality or traditional land authorities that perpetuate corruption.

 

“The land transparency portal, marks a significant step in our ongoing commitment to enhance transparency and accountability within Zambia’s land sector through our Land and Corruption in Africa project.” Mr. Nyambe.

 

The project is funded by the Germany Government and is being piloted in over eight countries in Africa in a quest to eliminate corruption related activities.

 

Land and Corruption in Africa project is arguably set up to combat corruption inland governance and contribute to improved welfare of people who depend on land but lack information.

The people, in turn, are often duped by various authorities for lack of information on procedures, hence, harboring corruption, land being a hallowed status and as a critical resource for livelihoods and development.

 

“How land is governed is a potential area for corruption risk that particularly affects the vulnerable segments of society, chiefly affected women, youth and the elderly who are sidelined by virtue of their status quo.

 

Land governance encompassed the rule, processes, and structures governing access, use, decision-making, implementation, enforcement and the management of competing interests in land.

 

And ZLA Project assistant and paralegal officer, Mufalali Samalumo regretted the unabated corrupt tendencies harboured at various levels with some potential land owners being induced into engaging into: “Status recognition” of land owners in cases of traditional land being sought.

 

“Some people are asked to pay a courtesy call to the traditional leaders and deliver either a chicken or other expensive gifts as a show of appreciation, but no one knows how much the same respect amounts to. At councils, some are asked to pay something to speed up the process, yet they are not told how much the favour is worth, and all that is corruption” Mr. Samalumo notes.