Magic Plots

The urban areas with special emphasis on Lusaka and the Copperbelt have experienced some interesting and ingenious magic incantations that manufacture plots of land in areas that are known to be fully developed.

The town planners and government departments will close files on development in certain areas only to be re-opened a few years later with a mission to magically create some new plots for sale to the general public.

The magic tricks and juju that goes on in Lusaka is emulated in many other parts of the country to the extent that city planners and local councils begin to create a shanty town that is poorly serviced purely out of greed and abuse.

Commonwealth road in Matero is undergoing some changes that will generate official tuntenba’s along this main trunk road unless arrested by the Ministry of Local Government. Shortsighted immediate gains are chosen instead of orderly development that will have a future positive impact on the quality of life for Matero residents.

Vubu road in Emmasdale is being threatened with the creation of numerous new plots on the interlink roads connecting Vubu road to the opposite parallel roads. Some local council staff have seen it fit to block off the interlink roads on one end and create a plot on the actual road thereby now converting the road into a single access close. There is a current dispute on the Kalanga road and Mimosa road junction where such a plot has been approved for creation using this urban development magic.

The development of a block of commercial plots in Jesmondine has been stalled for a few years now due to a new plot number JES 220 that was magically created on the access road reserve which was designed to not only provide access to the existing commercial plots, but to also provide access routes for sewer and water supply lines.

These examples of magic plots are but a few instances where the local authorities have ignored all city planning blueprints and opted to undermine the orderly development of the city at the expense of frustrating economic development.

Correspondence to the city planners, Ministry of Lands, and Anti Corruption Commission has been forwarded and the acid test will be to see what kind of response and action will be taken.

The urban plots saga is at the brink of evolving into full scale anarchy unless the top brass in the Ministry of Local Government, the top Civic Leaders, and the Minister of Lands, collaborate to eradicate the creation and allocation of magic plots which in many cases create huge legal complications once allowed to flourish.

The real magic plots should come from professional town and city planning that either redesigns complete areas, or develops new areas to be offered to the public through the usual application systems.

Other real magic plots are created through the act of shanty compound dwellers selling their small plots in bunches that share common boundaries. These consolidated small plots magically become one new commercial plot. Examples of this form of magic plots can be seen along the Kafue road in Lusaka in Misisi Compound and John Laing compound.

An interesting magic plot is one that is given by a traditional ruler to an individual or institution. In many cases the plot will not have title deed because although it has been allocated to a single entity to be used for an agreed purpose, the land still officially belongs to the local people and is administered by the traditional ruler.

The most well known creation of magic plots comes from the new plots that are created as a result of a sub division of a much bigger plot. This form of plot is so common that most of our title deeds bear the plot number as being SUB x of Plot number y, where x and y represent the new plot and older mother plot respectively.

The political players use magic plots to attract votes and to cement loyalty. When the exercise is done haphazardly the net result is that service lines are obstructed, several owners with convincing documentation begin to fight for one particular plot, and the city or town degenerates into a slum due to limited road access and lack of maintenance.

There is an obvious shortcoming in the way we manage the creation and allocation of plots in Zambia. This is evidenced by the increased levels of corruption in plot creation, and allocation.

In many countries the residents of any particular area are consulted before the creation of any new plots, or the re-designing of older existing roads and plots structures.

The advice on the street is that don’t be fooled into buying a plot that either has not been publicly advertised, or is clearly located at the end of an existing road or street.

The public must be made aware that obtaining and buying plots can be a tricky business which can easily lead to a huge loss of money and possibly attract some criminal charges.

The Latin property law doctrine of ‘Caveat Emptor’ translates into English as ‘Let the buyer beware’. The buyers or recipients of plots in Zambia must also beware that they do not lose their hard earned money on some magic plots that may disappear as fast as they appeared when the transaction was being made.

Ignorance is no excuse before the law in many cases. The purveyors and customers of magic plots will only have themselves to blame when deals go sour and the authorities demand that illegal or illogical magic plots be eradicated to maintain a measure of development sanity in the nation.

Watch out for magic plots because they could turn out to be magic tricks to extort your money but worse still, they could suddenly vanish at the first signs of trouble. Magic is all about illusion, and illusion is all about seeing something that actually does not exist.

Published 25 May 2010

Making Progress

The recent announcement that China has earmarked over USD5 billion for development of mining activities in Zambia is a measure of making progress.

Further, a figure of USD1.5 billion has been allocated to building the Kafue Gorge Lower power generation project that should produce an additional output of at least 900 Megawatts. This additional power will be required to meet the energy needs within the mining sector over the next five years.

It is interesting to note that several years ago the Chinese government offered to finance the very same power project at a cost of only USD750 million at the time. The cost has now doubled due to the passage of time and the pressure of rising costs.

As a country, we seem to have gone full circle. We started with the Chinese offer, then went on to look for private sector investors in the energy sector, then moved on to negotiate with the World Bank for financing, and finally came right back to the same Chinese offer that we had not jumped at when initially offered.

What has been the immediate cost to the nation? It cost twice the original price quoted five years ago. In addition, we have suffered blackouts, load shedding, and erratic power supply.

Are there some lessons to be learned from this experience? Is it possible to acknowledge that when we negotiate some concessionary development loans for the building of new infrastructure, we should bite the bullet and get on with it so that we efficiently implement the projects rather than procrastinating and finally finding ourselves having to pay double?

Making progress is about being resolute and acting on decisions taken. Making progress is about not missing the opportunities when they are in reach. Making progress is about investing now so as to reap in the future. Making progress is about planning, researching, strategizing, and investing in our future.

There have been ongoing discussions in respect to inadequate electricity generation in Zambia. It is common knowledge that the railway system in Zambia is in a deplorable state. We are all aware that many parts of the country are unreachable for the purposes of workable tourism packages.

Making progress is about addressing these well known issues through strategic partnerships with willing partners such as the Chinese, Indians and any other compatible countries and institutions that would like to develop a progressive relationship with Zambia such that all parties benefit and grow.

Zambia should not be content with building an additional electricity generating power station. Zambia must be looking into the next decade where electricity demand is expected to be four times the current requirements due to the expected growth of the mining sector and manufacturing investments. Zambia should be considering building at least two more power stations just to meet the shortfall of electricity demand between now and the year 2020.

Zambia should be seriously working on a mechanism to resurrect the railway transport system and upgrade it to meet the demands for cross country and inter country trade within the region. Zambia should be working to extend the railway network to all the major commercial border posts and develop links to the regional railway network.

Zambia should be assessing and developing an implementation plan to open up new areas for tourism through a network of international airports that will facilitate direct flights into the targeted areas. This will bring tourists from all over the world right into the key tourism areas and will bring development into many of the rural areas.

Making progress suggests that Zambia moves forward from discussions and dialogue, towards engagement with collaborating partners and implementation of programs and projects.

Making progress informs us that Zambia now has a variety of partners to choose from when doing global business. Making progress challenges us to side step the rhetoric and double talk, and look out for action and commitment to seeing things through to the logical conclusion.

China offers us an opportunity to change our traditional way of dealing with our social and economic woes. We can stop lamenting about the colonial past and disregard the consumption propaganda that is marketed in the media, and begin to take control of our own destiny by shifting our position to the driver’s seat and taking control.

Making progress compels us to acknowledge which are the successful and growing economies of the world and how they can positively impact on our own economy.

Making progress demands that we audit ourselves first, find out where our inadequacies are, and then plug in the loopholes to ensure that we are focused and capable of taking the country consistently forward each year.

Making progress should not only be measured by intangible documentation and pronouncements. It should also be measured by the improvement in the quality of life of each citizen and resident. It should also be measured by simple benchmarks such as quality of education, quality of healthcare, access to information and knowledge, and the systems in place to empower local people through economic activities and the freedom to make individual decisions on the development of a desired future.

Making progress is usually measured on the basis of where we are today in contrast to where we were yesterday.

Published 18 May 2010

Property Scams

As the Zambian economy grows the environment becomes much more sophisticated. Businesses assume more complex mechanisms and things begin to move much faster.

The ordinary person must now rapidly learn to be more careful and more conscious of what is going on around them as an increasing number of unscrupulous people walk the streets of our cities.

In all professions there are rules and regulations to follow coupled with a code of ethics to ensure that business is done in a fair manner. To this end, many professionals are obliged to join various associations and be registered with specific bodies in an attempt to use both per pressure and oversight institutions to promote good business practices.

In the property business it often becomes difficult to distinguish the professionals from the conmen.

Furthermore, one cannot easily determine who the perpetrator is and who represents the victim.

Take the property rental business as an example. Too often one assumes that the person renting out the property is likely to be the conman while the person renting the property is labeled the victim.

Experience notes that in many cases people that go into the market to rent out a property will do every thing in their power to rent out the premises. In an increasing number of cases the people renting out the property do not even have an official mandate to rent out the property. The required official mandate will be in the form of a signed agreement between the property owner and the agent that will authorize the agent to rent out the property on behalf of the owner. Many people sign lease agreements with agents, family members, and friends that do not have the authority to enter into any agreement on behalf of the owner of the property. In short, the agreement or contract is null and void, and borders on fraud.

Money will have changed hands and at some point the legal owner of the property can demand re-possession of the property, or claim for un-paid rentals, or both.

The flip side of the argument is that legitimate representatives for property that needs to be rented out can negotiate with a prospective tenant and still find themselves experiencing losses and possible legal action.

A situation where a prospective tenant offers to rent a property and requests for access to the property so that they can start preparing to make new curtains or other furnishings, can develop into a property owner’s nightmare. The prospective tenant highlights that payment for the rentals is being put together within a few days and offers that on the date of payment the lease agreement will be signed by both parties. In the meantime they would like to visit the property from time to time and make preparations to move in once the money comes in. It seems like a harmless arrangement at face value.

The prospective tenant then visits the property a few times to take measurements and comes with different colleagues each time.

Before anybody knows what is happening, the prospective tenant receives six months advance payment rentals for the same property from one of his so called colleagues.

How? The prospective tenant actually offers to other people, the same property that he states that he wants to rent. The fact that he has access to the property gives him credibility in the eyes of the new tenant, and often the rentals demanded will be well below market rates, thereby making the new tenant pay up front in a hurry in a bid not to lose this good deal.

The conman with the cash in the pocket disappears and leaves the fight to begin between the real owner and the cheated new tenant who is unknown to the owner.

This is a common scam in many countries and often the owner of the property and the cheated tenant have to fight it out in court as the cheated person alleges that the conman and the owner were working together to cheat innocent people.

Sometimes the conman even goes further than just renting out property that he has no authority over. Instead of renting the property out, the conman actually sells it at a price that is one third of the market value. The unsuspecting buyer loses even more than a few months’ rentals as he rushes to his bank to withdraw all his savings to pay for this jackpot bargain property!

If one is looking to rent or buy property then it is important to use some basic rules to ensure a legitimate and mutually beneficial outcome.

It is always a good idea to use registered estate agents and to part away with one month of rent for the work that they do to avoid losing money or spending months in court.

If you want to rent property then make sure that the agent has a bona fide letter of authority from the owner. Ask to see the Certificate of Title if you are considering buying the property.

Do a check at the Ministry of Lands as to who the registered owner of the property is and what encumbrances the property has. Is it mortgaged? Is it being contested by another party? Are they any Caveats registered? Is the property owned by an individual or a number of individuals, or an institution?

If you are renting out property through an agent be sure to be clear about whether you are giving them exclusive rights to rent out he property, or whether they have non-exclusive rights that allows others to market the property.

Holding onto a security deposit of one month rent helps to keep both landlord and tenant focused on eventually terminating the property rental relationship in an amicable manner.

The Law Association of Zambia and other bodies in the legal sector have drawn up sample Property Lease Agreements, sample Property Sales Agreements, and sample Property Assignment documents for use by the general public when dealing with property transactions.

It pays to use these professionally developed documents when dealing with property. For many Zambians, property owned reflects the work and achievement of a lifetime. Let us all be watchful for the property scammers that are out there looking for a soft and foolish target.

Published 11 May 2010

Peace Parks

Peace Parks or TransFrontier Conservation Areas (TFCA) are established through a network of protected areas that link ecosystems across international borders.

Peace Parks are designed for the conservation of wildlife, the development of human resources therein, supporting sustainable economic development, facilitation of biodiversity, and the promotion of peace and stability.

Peace Parks have been spearheaded by the Peace Park Foundation in Stellenbosch South Africa which has many activities in South Africa and covers huge tracts of land in the Southern African region.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Wildlife Conservation and Law Enforcement of 1999 defines a TransFrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) as "the area or component of a large ecological region that straddles the boundaries of two or more countries, encompassing one or more protected areas as well as multiple resource use areas". This Protocol compels SADC Member States to promote the conservation of shared wildlife resources through the establishment of TransFrontier Conservation Areas.

Peace Parks have been established across the Southern African region covering several countries including Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Angola, Namibia, and South Africa. Amongst other goals, Peace Parks are about co-existence between humans and nature and stimulating local jobs creation through developing nature conservation as a land use option.

The Chobe National Park and Kafue National Park Peace Park develops a corridor for elephants to roam freely from Botswana into Zambia thereby crossing international borders unhindered.

Management of Peace Parks provides for the anti poaching units to track down subsistence poachers in hot pursuit across the international borders that are within the Peace Park demarcations. This mechanism allows for a more robust anti poaching drive that is not frustrated by sovereign jurisdiction.

Peace Parks between Zambia and Malawi cover over 35,000 square kilometres and the total area covered by Peace Parks within Zambia is in the order of about 300,000 square kilometres.

Peace Parks in Zambia therefore account for almost 40 percent of the total land mass that constitutes the entire country. This is probably the biggest alienation of land to a specific purpose ever carried out in the country.

There are concerns across the globe about flora, fauna, and wildlife that faces near extinction. In the animal kingdom these include the Blue Whale in the Pacific Ocean, the Giant Panda of Southern China, the Silverback Gorilla of North Eastern Congo and Rwanda, the Tigers of the Sunderbans in North Eastern India and Bangladesh, and of course, the Rhino of Southern and East Africa.

It must be stated that there is another species of animal that is often ignored in the conservation equation – the human being.

Too often the spotlight is on the animals that roam our forests and jungles with very little attention given to the people that share the habitat with these animals.

Have we taken time to understand the drive that promotes subsistence poaching? What conflicts are we designing when we allow elephants to freely roam across the country and trample peasant farmer crops and dwellings? How can rural people play a significant role in supporting conservation? How can animal conservation be profitable to the local people?

These questions and many others are never truly answered. Policy makers and project designers usually use the elite and the law to make their case. The well to do are very conservation conscious in their privileged comfort zones. The law is easily drawn up to force the vulnerable and disregarded to survive with even less than they had yesterday.

It is no wonder that nature is often disregarded when rural people scour the rivers and country side in search of gold, emeralds, and other precious stones that will guarantee them a hefty bounty while no current conservation program offers any such promises.

There is a case to argue that the implementation of the Peace Park program is not as equitable as the blueprints suggest. There is need to invest in the well being of the local people within the environment more so than the current investment that is being done in protecting and conserving the animals. This dynamic is true for Zambia as it is for the Southern African region, and it is the same dynamic that has continued to threaten the existence of the Tiger, Panda, Gorilla and Blue Whale.

There are clearly some international challenges that have not been addressed in developing the conservation programs globally.

The Peace Park initiative looks good on the outside and has some noble goals in respect to conservation for everything except humans themselves. The alienation of 300,000 square kilometres is not such a big issue if the Peace Parks are not exclusively fashioned and managed with only the welfare of the animals as top priority.

It will be wise to reflect on the benchmarks that Peace Parks have set for themselves which pay special attention to the role and welfare of humans.

The statistics may need to be re-written. A study may have to be done to determine whether the traditional authorities have oversight of the majority of Land in Zambia, or could it possibly be the Peace Parks and their management teams?

Published 4 May 2010