ZAMBIA: Zambian authorities begin mass demolition of illegal houses in and around the capital Lusaka

Zambia has started a mass demolition of illegal houses in and around the capital Lusaka in a move to end corruption in the allocation of plots. State police and municipal council staff pulled down houses in an exercise which began late on Friday (March 9) night and ended in the early hours of Saturday (March 10). Officials say the move could leave millions of people without houses and that it was a step to get rid of graft in the allocation of residential and business plots in Zambia where opposition parties often accuse senior members of the ruling party of soliciting bribes to allocate land to desperate citizens. Police said the operation was deemed successful and that police officers were involved in order to safeguard the security of council officers demolishing the houses. Some houses were still under construction although some had been completed but were yet to be inhabited. Information Minister Vernon Mwaanga said on Thursday (March 8) that Zambia's cabinet had endorsed plans to raze houses which were constructed on land not authorised for residential properties. The decision comes after populist opposition Patriotic Front (PF) party leader Michael Sata, pledged to demolish illegal houses to pave the way for new ones during last year's presidential elections. Sata lost the vote to President Levy Mwanawasa, who won his second and final year in office. Mwanawasa sacked Lands Minister Gladys Nyirongo two weeks ago, accusing her of allocating plots to her family while several senior officials in the ministry were suspended on corruption charges involving inappropriate allocation of land. Zambia's demolitions recall a controversial programme implemented in neighbouring Zimbabwe by President Robert Mugabe's government, which in 2005 provoked an international outcry by destroying thousands of illegal houses.

ITN Source | March 11, 2007

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