121 Kafue teachers and residents have sued the State in the Lusaka High Court, seeking a declaration that the cancellation of 121 plots in Balmoral, which were allocated to them, is illegal.

Michael Musata and 120 others have sued the Attorney General, further seeking an order to reallocate the 121 plots of land to them.

They are also seeking a declaration that they are the legal owners of the said plots as well as costs and any other reliefs the Court may deem fit.

In a writ of summons filed in the Lusaka High Court, Musata stated that sometime in 2017, government issued a directive to all government institutions to obtain certificates of title on all land that was owned by residents in government institutions.

Musata stated that pursuant to the government directive, Balmoral School applied to the Kafue Town Council for a certificate of title on the land in order to be compliant to the directive.

“We will aver that 122 residential plots were delineated and allocated to sitting tenants and other applicants in order to regularize their home ownership and the same area was approved by the Kafue District Council at a council meeting,” read the statement of claim.

Musata stated that they would further aver that they acquired occupancy licenses from the Kafue District Council and began erecting structures upon the various pieces of land allocated to them.

He claimed that despite the allocation of the said portions of land to the 121, the State proceeded to cancel the allocation of the plots and offered them to other purchasers.

Musata further claimed that the Kafue District Council on October 2, 2018, wrote a letter to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, which the Ministry allegedly ignored.

He stated that only 21 out of the 121 beneficiaries were considered by the Ministry and were given different plots from the ones that were allocated to them by the Kafue District Council, upon which land they had started erecting structures.

Musata further stated that the Ministry used the exact map made by the Kafue District Council in allocating the pieces of land to different unknown people.

He stated that the plaintiffs were not given an opportunity to state their case to the Commissioner of Lands prior to the cancellation of the land to them by the defendant, adding that as a result, they had suffered loss and damage.