MINISTER of Lands Sylvia Masebo who is also Chongwe Member of Parliament says government will not shield anyone who is involved in any illegal land activities in the district.

Ms. Masebo stated that there are a lot of land illegalities taking place in the area such as illegal land allocation, encroachment and duplication of ownership title deeds.

She said the illegalities have resulted in local people being displaced from land which they have settled on for decades and also impacted negatively on the environment.

Ms. Masebo was speaking when she addressed various stakeholders in Chongwe who accompanied her on a land management audit exercise which she will be leading in the district this week.

She indicated that the audit is aimed at verifying how some pieces of land in the area were obtained and address allegations of land mismanagement in the area.

Ms. Masebo stated that the audit will also be conducted in every district of the country to address similar challenges related to land management in the country.

She added that the Ministry of lands and Natural resources will be guided by laws which preside over land allocation and management to address land illegalities during the exercise.

Ms. Masebo also refuted claims by some sections of the media suggesting that government has already decided how it will handle matters relating to Forest 27 through a Cabinet meeting.

She disclosed that no cabinet meeting was held to discuss issues pertaining to Forest 27 and that the matter has not yet been concluded.

“The issue of Forest 27 will be properly tabled through a cabinet meeting and once it is concluded, resolutions will be communicated to the public through the right channels of communications used by government,” Ms. Masebo disclosed.

Ms. Masebo urged members of the public to ignore any false information being written by some media houses on Forest 27.

The Minister later visited the Silverest area to interact with illegal vendors who have been illegally trading outside University of Lusaka’s Great East Road Campus.

Ms. Masebo expressed concern over Chongwe Municipal council’s reluctance to move the vendors out of the area as they have not only encroached the road but are also prone to diseases such as cholera due to lack of toilet facilities to cater for the traders.

In response, Chongwe Municipal council Town Clerk Damson Mukwato stated that the traders have been served with demand notices on a number of occasions requesting them to vacate the area.

Mr. Mukwato noted that the council is aware that the number of traders illegally trading at the area has increased as most of them come from Lusaka district.

He said the matter is being addressed as the traders with makeshift structures have been asked to vacate the area.

“We have engaged traders on many occasions and we have told them to move from the area by 29th November 2024,” Mr. Mukwato said.