UNLOCKING EFFICIENCY – THE DIGITAL CLEARANCE PROCESS

19 September 2023

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources (the “Ministry”) which is responsible for inter alia the registration of documents relating to land in Zambia and issuance of certificates of title recently migrated from the Zambia Integrated Land Management Information System (“ZILMIS”) to the Zambia Integrated Land Administration System (“ZILAS”).

ZILAS presents a more robust, transparent, and sustainable administration and management of land and natural resources by the Ministry. As part of ZILAS, the Ministry has introduced a process called “Digital Clearance”. Digital Clearance is currently the preliminary step for any process relating to land administration and management.

The Digital Clearance process entails a digital confirmation and verification by the Ministry of details on the certificate of title including the name of the registered title holder.  Digital Clearance is a process, and no land transaction can take place until this process is completed.

The Digital Clearance process can be undertaken online through the Zam Portal (https://zamportal.gov.zm) or physically through the customer service centre at the Lands and Deeds Registry. The following documents are required for the Digital Clearance process:

• The original Certificate of Title (a softcopy will do for the online process); and
• a photocopy of the National Registration Card or the Certificate of incorporation of the registered title holder.

The process of submission of the documents above takes between 30 Minutes to 1 day depending on the functionality of the system. However, the timeframe of approval of the Digital Clearance is currently uncertain. In practice, it takes approximately three (3) to four (4) weeks for the Ministry to approve the Digital Clearance. Therefore, it is imperative that this process is commenced as soon as possible.