Converting traditional land to statutory land on title deeds can be tedious and onerous with many ‘minefields.’ It can be very frustrating, especially if one has no boots on the ground. At TRION Estates, we assist clients in navigating this terrain. The conversion process needs to tick all the boxes with no shortcuts:

Our brokerage services ensure that the right procedures are followed to include:

• Village committee letter signed by the full committee, not just the headman. This states that everyone in the village agrees with allocation.
• Chief’s letter approving land allocation. The chief must sign 8 copies of survey diagrams.
• Approval at both planning committee and full council meeting. 
• Initial site plan by a surveyor showing boundaries. The Survey Department, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, will verify that the boundaries submitted are correct by doing their independent survey.
• Initial site visits by the local authorities to ascertain that villagers are not displaced, traditional burial grounds are not affected, and common waterways are not given out. This same procedure is done by Lands Department, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources. For land above 120 hectares, remote sensing surveys are done at the National Remote Sensing Centre in Lusaka. 

The most important thing is to follow the laid-out procedures and be in constant communication with the community and traditional rulers.