KATIMA MULILO – The non-payment of annual rental fees by leaseholders in the Zambezi Region could result in the cancellation of leasehold rights.
The non-payment of annual rental fees by leaseholders in the region has become such a major concern that it has prompted the Zambezi Communal Land Board to issue an ultimatum for the immediate payment of outstanding leasing fees. The land board says outstanding arrears should be settled before the end of June and failure to comply could result in the cancellation of leasehold rights. This was revealed last week Thursday during a joint meeting of members of the Zambezi Communal Land Board and officials the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement. Zambezi Communal Land Board chairperson who is also the Chief Regional Officer, Regina Ndopu Lubinda, issued the warning given the continuous tendency by leaseholders, who comprise mostly of lodges, campsites and farming units who habitually ignore the Communal Land Reform Act. “The Communal Land Reform Act of 2002 provides for the cancellation of the right of leasehold if the holder of that right fails to pay two consecutive instalments in respect of land or fails to comply with any of the conditions subject to which the right was granted. We don’t want it to come to that. We hope by 30th June all the payments will be made,” warned Ndopu-Lubinda.
According to her monies that are collected from leaseholders go towards regional development initiatives. “The fees that are collected are intended to advance the development of the region and indeed the country. It is therefore imperative that our lease holder’s partner with government and the Zambezi Communal Land Board to adhere to this provision of the law,” she further stated. However, concerns have also been raised by leaseholders, who often have to pay the communal land board, a conservancy if operating in such an area and in some cases even to the local traditional authority.
According to the Deputy Director in the Ministry of Lands and Resettlemnt in the Zambezi Region, Charles Musialike, such concerns have not fallen on deaf ears as the government has instituted a task force that is working towards resolving that issue. “We have a task force made up of traditional leaders, the conservancies, the ministry of environment and tourism and the ministry of lands to look into that,” said Musialike. According to him the task force was preceded by the imposition of a moratorium on rental fees by the ministry of lands to allow for the renegotiation of lease contracts, especially given the complaints over multiple payments of rental fees. “The Ministry of Lands issued a moratorium on 1st April 2011 and it ended on 31st March 2012. During this period negotiations had started regarding the concerns over multiple payments. No one was charged for this period until when the moratorium had elapsed, but we ended up with a situation that leaseholders still don’t pay their fees up to now,” said the deputy director.
He said fees that are collected by the traditional authorities from leaseholders do not form part of the Communal Land Reform Act and that such arrangements are out of government control. “Fees that are collected by traditional authorities from leaseholders are not provided for under the Communal Land Reform Act. We however cannot stop the traditional authorities from collecting such fees,” Musialike further said.
The Chief Development Planner in the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement, Mary Kabuku, said the ministry is busy addressing all concerns. “What we have proposed is that land boards issue leasehold rights to conservancies and not tourism operators. The conservancy will then in turn make payments to the land board or the traditional authority instead of the operator making multiple payments. This is still under discussion and it will be up to the operators to decide whether to transfer their leasehold rights, for those already with leasehold rights to the conservancies. Those not operating in conservancies will continue paying prescribed fees as provided for by the law,” she said. Communal leasehold rights are granted by communal land boards with the consent of the traditional authority. The regional communal land board can only approve 50 hectares of land under lease tenure of 10 years. Anything above that requirement is referred to the minister of lands. The annual rental fee which takes one to five percent of total turnover is determined by the communal land board depending on the purpose for which the land is used. Other factors include the value of improvements on the land, the length of the leasehold period and the size of the land. However the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement has also expressed concern over the tendency by some leaseholders who hide their true profits to avoid making the precribed payments. The ministry of lands could not say how many leaseholders have not paid their dues or how much is owed. There are over 100 leaseholders in the Zambezi Region.
By George Sanzila