Mumena calls for full implemention of FoI Bill
By David Chongo in Solwezi
Tue 26 June 2012, 13:23 CAT
THE enactment of the Freedom of Information Bill into law will be meaningless if it is not fully implemented, says chief Mumena.
Speaking during a public discussion initiated by the Coalition on Access to information at his palace in Solwezi on Saturday, chief Mumena said the PF government had done a commendable job in reviving the Freedom of Information (FOI) law, saying it was one way of giving power to the people.
He noted, however, that while there was encouraging political will by the PF administration in making FOI Bill into law, in the past, there had been a tendency by government not to fully implement the provisions of similar laws.
Chief Mumena of the Kaonde people in Solwezi said people would feel cheated if FOI was not fully implemented by the PF government.
He stated that the current government was brought into power by poor people who expected to be given respect and kept informed on important matters related to the governance of the country.
Chief Mumena said there was unfair distribution of the FOI draft copies, saying he himself did not even have a copy and wondered how the ordinary people were expected to contribute to the enactment of a law that should benefit them effectively.
And Coalition spokesperson Kafupi Banda said citizens had a right to demand for access to information through an established law.
He said when society had access to information, it would be easy for them to hold government accountable for its actions, being the ones who choose leaders through the ballot box.
Chief Mumena's senior induna, Jackson Kakoma, said members of parliament had abrogated their responsibility by keeping the electorate without vital information on governance issues.
He said people in rural areas had little information on a lot of issues like constituency development funds and therefore did not have a say in development matters as members of parliament kept them uninformed.
Kakoma, an alderman of the Solwezi Municipal Council, proposed as an alternative that district commissioners be the ones to disburse CDF because they were closer to the people than members of parliament.
Labels: CHIEF MUMENA, FOI, FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL
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Chief Mumena's land fears
By The Post
Mon 18 June 2012, 13:25 CAT
THE fears being expressed by chief Mumena of the Kaonde people of Solwezi that land in Zambia will soon be in foreign hands going by the pace and sizes it is being given out are real. It cannot be denied that to develop, we need to give reasonable access to land for those with money to invest. If an investor needs land to build a factory or to start a farm, a plantation that will employ many people and generate revenue for the country, they need to be given that access.
But what we see today is people with influence, with a bit of money being given huge tracts of land that from the very beginning it is clear that they don't intend to fully develop and theirs is simply a speculative motive - to one day sell that land which they got for nothing for a gigantic fortune.
And it is true that good land, valuable land in this country is going to speculators at a very fast rate. Huge tracts of land have been allocated to people who are not using them for any productive purposes. And to hold that land, they are using it for game ranching. This includes both customary land and state land.
Customary land is also being turned into state land so easily and at an alarming rate. The reason for this is simply to ensure high marketability of the land for the speculators. The sale of customary land is one of the most controversial subjects in our land tenure system.
Security of tenure is one of the main problems cited against customary land. It is argued that holders of customary land risk losing their rights to it at the discretion of chiefs and other traditional authorities. This is not true. There can never be a better falsehood against customary society than this.
We say this because rights in customary land are basically of two types: of permanent and total nature and of a temporary and partial nature. Where the rights are of the first type, such as ancestral rights, a person enjoys complete security of tenure to occupy and enjoy the land to the maximum extent possible.
There is no customary rule of law, which deprives him of this land. Similarly, even corporate land, that is clan land, is for the clan as long as the clan continues to exist. Even if an individual decides to leave his place of dwelling, his land rights do not lapse. Practice in various parts of our country can bear testimony to this conclusion.
But if an individual is holding borrowed land, the position is the reverse. A borrower has no security since no specific agreement is concluded. The lender can at any time give notice of his intention to reclaim his land. And the issue of insecurity arising from borrowed land is becoming a crucial challenge.
But in truth, insecurity in customary areas is caused by the state itself. Grants of land to investors in customary areas otherwise known, in the land Act 1995, as conversion of customary to statutory tenure have been the leading cause of insecurity in these areas. During colonial rule, residents of reservations were protected from non-natives. Reserves were out of bounds to non-natives.
On the other hand, if a title deed was going to be issued, say a villager in a trust land wants to sell his land to a non-native, the orders provided that the sale should be witnessed by a magistrate in the area who must also attest to the contract.
Also, the magistrate should aver that the consideration proposed was adequate and that he was satisfied that the seller knew what he was doing. Finally, the district officer must approve the sale as well as the district commissioner.
The district commissioner was also a judicial officer in his own right. All this was preceded by a public inquiry convened to enable people with interests in the land to air their views on the proposed sale. This safeguarded the rights of not only the seller but also the people in the community.
At present, a conversion of customary land to statutory land is virtually a secret process so that people that are likely to be affected by the alienation have no opportunity to question the transaction.
All they see in the end are bulldozers, graders and hordes of people ordering them to leave as the land that belonged to them before has since changed hands. This is the most threatening form of insecurity customary land-holders face.
What is more worrying is that there is no provision in our laws for converting statutory tenure to customary tenure. If land has been converted from customary tenure to statutory tenure, it cannot be taken back to its original tenure again.
Due to constitutional requirements, it is not easy to cancel a title deed once issued. In our case, even if the title deed is cancelled, the land does not revert back to customary tenure.
We can learn something from the Kenyan experience on this score. In early 1960s, the government in Kenya decided to issue countrywide title deeds to everyone holding customary land. This is probably the only case in Africa of nationwide statutory conversion of statutory tenure.
Only a few pieces were left for common use. Also, the pastoralist Masai communities totally rejected the policy. Otherwise, the entire country was held on a statutory tenure. The result is that over 40 years later, millions of people have no land.
Most of the individuals who got the title deeds as family heads later sold them, leaving their kin on the streets. The title deeds have led to massive disposition of land rights instead of securing those rights.
There is need to protect our people from being rendered landless in the next few years. A system which protects the people and which at the same time allows economic development to take place can and must be found. We have examples of where organisations are giving limited title to land to enable those who want to use it to do so with ease.
A good example of this is the Show Society in Lusaka who have given long leases to many developers but still own that land. Why can't our traditional authorities be allowed to do what the Lusaka Show Society has done?
Our draft constitution does not adequately and reasonably address the issue of land tenure and land alienation. Zambia has not really sat down to draw its own land policy. We are simply applying various land laws hastily assembled or picked from other jurisdictions without any relevance to the situation here.
There is need also for admission of past mistakes and that some past certitudes like on titling, modernisation of tenure and on customary systems later proved ill-founded. Our land policy should be examined in its historical context, history matters. The land issue should therefore be perceived as one of the human rights and constitutional concerns of our people.
Given that land policy has in the past often severely discriminated against the poor, specific actions to empower this group would be justified to provide them with equal access to economic opportunities. The right to access land is not guaranteed in the bill of rights. In order to ensure effective rights, this must be there.
Labels: CHIEF MUMENA, CONSTITUTION, FDI, LAND RIGHTS
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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
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Chief Mumena advises chiefs to be cautious when issuing land
Written by Gillian Namungala
Tuesday, January 06, 2009 5:33:52 PM
CHIEF Mumena of the Kaonde people of Solwezi district has called on other traditional leaders to take serious caution when issuing land.
In an interview, chief Mumena said there was need for chiefs to assess every individual that was requesting land in view of the current economic challenges in the country.
“As a country, we are going through these economic challenges caused by the global financial recession, hence the need to be focused on matters of land, “chief Mumena said. “Land can serve us in this crisis by carefully scrutinising investors to ensure that they bring serious investment.”
Chief Mumena said chiefs should not just give land to anyone claiming to be an investor but give it to those who would add value to the development of the country.
“This is no time to give land on a first come, first served basis but chiefs should ensure that land benefits the people,” he said.
Chief Mumena also said traditional leaders were willing to work with the government in developing the country. And chief Mumena has called on non-governmental organisations to work with chiefs if defilement cases were to be eradicated. He said it was unfortunate that watchdogs of such vices were only found along the line of rail.
“In villages where these cases are rampant, you can’t find these NGOs,” chief Mumena said.
He said the issue of defilement needed to be treated as an emergency.
“The government and various stakeholders should look seriously at this and find the cause of these defilements,” said chief Mumena.
Labels: CHIEF MUMENA, CHIEFS, LAND RIGHTS
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Chief Mumena urges leaders to give guidance on economic woes
Written by Speedwell Mupuchi
Sunday, January 04, 2009 6:57:39 PM
CHIEF Mumena of the Kaonde people of Solwezi district has challenged leaders to guide the country in finding solutions to the current economic problems being faced in Zambia. And chief Mumena has said there is nothing wrong with declaring Zambia a Christian nation.
In an interview yesterday, chief Mumena said the problems in the mining sector could have been avoided if the country relied on homegrown systems of sustainability. He said it was not always good to rely on external support for the development of the nation.
“I think what we require is to find answers to the situation, it’s not a time to quarrel over the issues, it’s about what we can do to salvage the situation,” chief Mumena said. “All leaders, chiefs, everyone should be involved in finding solutions. Nowadays we are quarrelling more than finding solutions. The nation needs solutions.”
And chief Mumena said he personally supported the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation.
“There is nothing wrong with the declaration, I support it totally, all Christians must stand up and support it. It’s not about who declared it but about what are the accruing benefits spiritually,” he said.
Chief Mumena said it was not time to quarrel about who made the declaration. He advised Zambians not to have misgivings about each other because of the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation.
“The declaration is a higher call to loving ones neighbour as oneself, morality, embracing peace, respect for one another and being accountable to one another. We are misdirecting ourselves when we keep quarrelling over the matter. I don’t think there is any nation that does not ascribe to God as the supreme Spirit,” said chief Mumena.
Labels: CHIEF MUMENA, GREAT DEPRESSION II, MINING, NEOLIBERALISM
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Govt to Open Farming Blocks in all Provinces
Posted on July 13th, 2008
Government has announced that out-grower farming schemes in farming blocks would be opened in all the nine provinces in the country in order to boost agriculture activities and enhance food security. Agriculture and Co-operatives Deputy Minister Daniel Kalenga said government has since embarked on an exercise to put up infrastructure in the farming blocks such as good roads, electricity, water for irrigation which small scale, medium and large scale farmers can utilize to enhance crop production.
Mr. Kalenga said the agricultural sector which will further be promoted through crop diversification in the farming blocks has the ability to contribute to poverty reduction in the country.
The Deputy Minister announced this in Kanakatapa area in Chongwe district yesterday when he officiated at the 32nd Lusaka Provincial and Agricultural Show whose theme is Growth and Diversity through Credit and Finance.
He reiterated government’s committed to supplying subsidized agro inputs to ensuring that vulnerable but viable farmers are supported as they are key players in promoting food security at household, community and national levels.
Mr. Kalenga also disclosed that government has commenced a country-wide construction and rehabilitation of fish ponds.
He added government in collaboration with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has approved a K664 million for the transformation of Kaunga Rural Development Project based in Luangwa district into a Farmer Training Centre .
And speaking earlier, Lusaka Provincial and Agricultural Show Chairperson, Bernadette Simbwalanga appealed to government to revive the Lima and Co-operative banks where farmers could access soft loans through credit facilities.
Mrs. Simbwalanga further commended government for engaging the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) in the purchase of agriculture produce.
She has however urged farmers in the country to strive to add value to their crops if they are to compete favourably on the international market.
Meanwhile, chief Mumena of the Kaonde people in Solwezi district has implored government to promote mechanized methods of farming among small scale farmers in Zambian in order to increase food production.
Chief Mumena observed that the current farming methods among many small scale and peasant farmers were not effective enough to address food shortages in the country.
The Chief said Zambian farmers needed to increase food production so as to cushion the negative impact of the looming hike in food prices.
He told ZANIS in an interview that government should therefore partner with traditional leaders in finding means of averting the looming food shortages in the world.
The traditional leader has since urged other chiefs to partner with government in rolling out modern means of food production.
He further called upon his subjects to keep enough food for their domestic consumption.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, BERNADETTE SIMBWALANGA, CHIEF MUMENA, CO-OPERATIVE BANKS, DANIEL KALENGA, FARMING BLOCKS, INFRASTRUCTURE, IRRIGATION
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