The Zambia Air Force-ZAF has denied allegations that it influenced or pressured Chingola Municipal Council to demolish over 300 houses that were built on Kasompe Airstrip land in Chingola.
Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, ZAF Director Public Relations Lieutenant Colonel Helen Chota said unlike public rumors, the claims are incorrect and no other ZAF Airstrips have been encroached.
Officers from the Chingola Municipal Council and Zambia Police Service started the operation around 02:00hrs on August 20 2022 and both houses under construction as well as those that were complete were demolished.
Chingola Municipal Council said the local council did not allocate the land in question and structures were erected without planning permission from the local authority and the Municipality through the department of Development Planning issued enforcement notices on 15 February 2022 for the developers to suspend all works and demolish the structures within a period of 28 days.
However, some residents claimed that some Council officials offered them the pieces of land.
