Wrangles over land are on the increase in Zambia, with Chingola Municipal Council creating headlines in August when it ordered the demolition of over 300 homes that were built illegally in the Kasompe Airstrip buffer zone.

And just as the dust was beginning to settle came news that more demolitions were on the cards, this time, in Chingola’s Luano ward.

How local authorities continue to fail citizens because of weak enforcement of land issues is a perennial problem that refuses to go away.

In this report by MakanDay journalist Lovemore Sondashi, the 321 km Lusaka-Ndola dual carriageway is caught up in a land wrangle that promises to put spanners to the smooth implementation of the carriageway project.

Sondashi’s story is just one example of a nationwide land management crisis that authorities are failing to address, perpetuating negative social and economic outcomes.