The land policy in Zambia and its effectiveness in promoting the well-being of communities in Lusaka province.
Date
2021
Authors
Kandondo, Chilambwe Selestino
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
Policy makers in Zambia have attempted to put up several initiatives to protect local land rights through land reform policies and projects. By so doing, changes have been made in land governance structures, both at local and national level. At national level, the government tried to deal with the lack of effective and transparent land administration by changing the land policy. A number of drafts in order to try to deal with the situation were published. Some of which include: The Draft Land Policy in 2002, the Draft Land Policy in 2015, and the current Land Policy which was drafted in 2017. Despite the many land reforms and land acts having been enacted, the administration and management of land services in Zambia are still issues of great concern. This raised questions relating to the extent to which the land policy promotes the well-being of communities in Lusaka province. The study used both qualitative and quantitative methodologies based on a case study of Lusaka province. A mixed methods research design was used to collect both primary and secondary data. The data was collected from a total sample of 177 respondents and key informants. Purposive sampling was used to sample key informants, while multistage sampling, combining simple random and convenient sampling, was used to select respondents. Questionnaires and interview guides were used to collect the data. Internal consistency was used to measure reliability, while content validity was used to measure validity of the data. SPSS was used to analyse quantitative data, while content analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. Results show that well-being was not met in any way, and the most common reason given was that there were so many foreigners buying land instead of local citizens and yet the government claims in their policy document that they are ensuring that land is preserved for the future. According to the results, local government officials, MLNR officials and land owners recognized a national planning framework to be a
tool for the management of land and a very important thing to have in place. Further results also showed that there was collaboration between Chiefs and the Government. Whenever land for resettlement was needed, it was readily available regardless of whether it was traditional or state land. This study also revealed that the extent to which land is being preserved for future use is to a very lower extent. Based on the results the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources (MLNR) officials, council officials and the Chiefs avail that there is no proper approach and plan to preserve land for the future. one of the main recommendations of this study is that the government must devise a proper implementation plan which comprehensively deals with land issues, unlike fusing it in a broad national development plan. This could propel effective land administration and management in Zambia. The study also recommends that a proper land audit should be done to ascertain how much land is available, then determine which percentage of it should be reserved for the future. This should be done with consultation and help of the chiefs, since they are the ones in charge of most of the unsold land which exists in Zambia.
Description
Thesis of Master of Public Administration (MPA).