Zambia's Land Act 1995 — the law governing the classification of land as state, customary, or leasehold, and regulating how land can be held, transferred, and converted between categories.
The Land Act Cap. 184 (1995) is the principal land law in Zambia. All land in Zambia is vested in the President on behalf of the people (similar to Zambia's colonial and post-independence framework). Citizens hold land through leasehold title (from the Commissioner of Lands) for urban/commercial land, or through customary tenure in rural areas administered by traditional authorities. Converting customary land to leasehold requires the consent of the traditional authority and approval by the Commissioner of Lands. The Land Act governs compulsory acquisition, easements, and leasehold registration.
A farmer in Eastern Province has cultivated land under customary tenure for 20 years. A mining company obtains a leasehold title over the same land without the farmer's knowledge or the traditional authority's proper consent. The farmer challenges the title in the Land and Deeds Registry Court and with the ZHRC.
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