An investigation of land conflicts under customary tenure in Petauke district: a case study of Kalindawalo chiefdom.
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Date
2022-06-29
Authors
Phiri, Matthew
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Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
This research investigated the land conflicts under customary tenure in Petauke district. The objective of the study were to describe how customary land and traditional authority are conceptualized and administered; to examine the mechanisms of accusation of land under customary tenure in Kalindawalo’s chiefdom and to establish the main challenges in customary land acquisition in the chiefdom. The study employed a case study design to collect qualitative data from a total sample of 35 participants using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions.
The findings show that participants had an understanding of what constitute land conflicts under customary tenure. Many subjects get involved in land conflicts because their customary inheritance lack of proper guidance, documentation of customary land, suppression by their traditional leaders and the influence external forces. The findings also show that tradition leaders where to be blamed for their involvement in illegal land alienation which has resulted in land conflicts. The findings also established that there were several land conflict under customary tenure between the traditional authority and the local council during the period of 2011 to 2015. A number of subjects were made to surrender their land of inheritance to the local council authority for construction of a community hospital in the same chiefdom. Strategies were outlined and suggested to help stop or avoid the involvement of subjects in land conflicts. One of the strategies is that conversion of customary land to statutory tenure should be well documented in the constitution.
Secondly, is that the national house of chiefs should come with code of conduct chiefs will have to abide by where the acquisition of customary land is concerned. Furthermore, there should be a distinctive boundary between customary and statutory land which should guide the alienation of land.
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Keywords
Customary land tenure. , Land tenure--Law and legislation--Zambia. , Customary law--Zambia.