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13. There is a need to create a Policy Analysis and Studies Unit directly under the Permanent
Secretary's Office of the MOL.
When the MOL was split from the Ministry of Agriculture, the research capability
remained with the latter ministry, and there is no capacity for sustained, informed
thinking about policy within a ministry preoccupied with delivering land and titles.
14. There is a need to rethink the present structure of the ministry's senior management to reflect a
broader concept of the ministry.
As it stands, the ministry is a structure to deliver lands and titles and little more.
Organizational structures in other Ministries of Lands and agencies with similar
responsibilities in the region should be examined. Possibilities include a bifurcation
into divisions under an Undersecretary (Urban) and an Undersecretary (Rural) and the
creation of a post of Director-General for Provincial Land Administration. Among
other needs, it is important to ensure that the Survey Department serves the needs of
the Department of Lands, rather than pursuing a separate agenda.
15. There is a need to redesign the land allocation committee and the office of the commissioner.
The commissioner should be appointed by the president subject to approval by
parliament, and serve a 10-year term. The land allocation committee should be
composed of prominent citizens selected in the same fashion, not bureaucrats. The
committee should decide allocations, with the commissioner as chair with a tie-
breaking vote.
16. The most critical aspect of decentralization is the transfer of responsibility for urban lands to
municipalities.
The bulk of the ministry's work concerns urban land and reducing its workload can
most effectively be accomplished by establishing the necessary skills and record
keeping at municipal level.
17. Regional and provincial offices of the ministry should be fully integrated, with a single officer in
charge, rather than divided into departments with separate lines of authority running to Lusaka.
Decentralization cannot be expected to work unless this is achieved. At present, the
provincial office of the Lands Department and the Survey Department make their own
arrangements for office space, have their own vehicles, etc.
18. The regional office of the ministry in Ndola should be primarily a Land and Deeds Registry, while
decentralization of other Lands Department and Survey Department activities should be to provincial
level.
Regional offices are still considerably removed from the location of most lands and
clients. The provincial level is a more appropriate level to which to decentralize most
ministry functions. After offer of a lease, land development tends to begin without