Law should empower rural dwellers — minister
Law should empower rural dwellers — ministerBy Times Reporter
ZAMBIA needs to promote legislation that will support economic empowerment of people especially in rural areas, Justice Minister, George Kunda, has said. Mr Kunda said the Zambian laws should encompass the needs of rural dwellers, especially over land ownership.
Speaking when he met United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP) executive director for Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, Naresh Singh, in Lusaka, Mr Kunda said government would support any legal initiatives meant to empower the people. He said micro-financing institutions should focus on rural areas instead of the current trend where most of them concentrated on urban areas.
He said majority of the people in rural areas did not own a title deed to their land because it was considered customary and in the hand of traditional chiefs. Mr Kunda said since title deeds were not issues for customary land, people could not obtain financial assistance from banks because of lack of collateral or security.
The minister said other areas requiring legal address were the traditional courts that were still outside the formal judicial system but attended to most cases in rural areas. He said plans by UNDP on the promotion of legal laws that would empower the people were also in line with the activities of the Zambia Law Development Commission. “Our traditional courts dispose of most cases. They adjudicate the majority of cases but they are not recognised in the judicial system,” he said.
He said people in rural areas needed access to the justice system and the law development commission had written many proposals to his ministry. In response, Mr Singh said Zambians should use the legal provision to advance their businesses instead of just using it for criminal defences. “The law is an instrument for raising capital and should go beyond micro-financing,” he said. He said people should have some means of protection from the Government through legal provisions. Mr Singh said laws were also required to protect people from losing all their property in case of bankrupt after borrowing.
Labels: LAND
posted by MrK @ 1:10 PM
1 Comments:
Title deeds for rural dwellers. I am all for private ownership by the masses, as long as it isnt' turned into an excuse to start speculating with land. The purpose of any law should be to have as much land being put to use while the benefits go to ordinary people, so Zambia can start building a huge middle class with opportunity for all.
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