Maravi

Land in Zambia will soon be in foreign hands, warns chief Mumena

Land in Zambia will soon be in foreign hands, warns chief Mumena
By Gift Chanda in Kabwe
Mon 18 June 2012, 13:24 CAT

LAND in Zambia will soon be in foreign hands going by the pace and sizes it is being given out, warns chief Mumena. In an interview, chief Mumena of the Kaonde people of Solwezi expressed concern at the rate land acquisitions by foreign multinational companies especially mining firms were going on in the country.

He warned that if the situation remained unchecked, the country risked have no land for its future generations.

"We risk being landless and being slaves in our own country," said chief Mumena on the sidelines of the just ended chiefs' indaba on enhancing transparency in natural resource management held in Kabwe and organised by the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ).

"We really must be careful on how we give it land out to investors. Land is a resource that we must guard jealously. You realise that when land is given out on title on leasehold, there is no mechanism in our laws presently to revert the usage of that land from leasehold to customary. It is a one-way traffic and so we find that one of the consequences is that we ourselves risk becoming landless."

He observed that there was too much speculation on land.

"Many people are acquiring land not because they have usage for it but they are reselling it very exorbitantly. The question is who is benefiting from this saga," he wondered. "We must realise that God is not creating anymore land, in other places it has already become a very scarce commodity."

He urged the government to give out land to priority projects.

He also advised the government to check the size of land it was giving out.

"Land is a resource that we must guard jealously. This is because land has to do with our survival, our identity, dignity and our production. And as such I think it becomes crucial that everyone of us guards this land very jealously," he said.

He also urged his fellow traditional leaders to exercise caution in the distribution of land.

"We must not be careless with it. Let there be proper consultation even before we parcel out big chunks of lands," said chief Mumena.

Labels: CHIEF MUMENA, FDI, LAND RIGHTS

posted by MrK @ 3:33 PM