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