Chiefs walk out of land policy meeting

TRADITIONAL rulers yesterday walked out of a draft national land policy validation meeting where Lands Minister Jean Kapata was present, demanding to have their submissions reflected in the document.

The draft national land policy is expected to address a number of issues in the management of land in the country, a commodity whose distribution has raised serious concerns.

House of Chiefs chairperson Chief Ngabwe argued that the draft policy had left out some submissions which were made by traditional leaders, before rejecting the document which he described as null and void.

“We want a document which will empower chiefs to fulfill the customary land tenure to protect the interests and inheritance of the Zambian people for generations to come,” said Chief Ngabwe.

Chief Ngabwe argued that there was no inclusion of the role of chiefs in land management.

“Where will people settle if their land is not taken care of by their traditional leaders. We need a dual system in the management of land in the country and the role of chiefs should not be taken away,” he said.

But Ms Kapata expressed disappointment over the action by the chiefs to walk out of the meeting, adding that Government was open to listen to concerns by stakeholders, including the traditional leaders.

Ms Kapata said she wondered whether the chiefs were referring to the current draft policy in their concerns and that the ministry had engaged all stakeholders in a consultative process leading to the formulation of the draft.

Earlier, Ms Kapata explained the draft national land policy was aligned to the Zambian constitution which among other things provides security of tenure for lawful land owners.

Ms Kapata had urged all stakeholders and general citizens to read the contents of the draft policy to offer objective comments to help finalise an object land policy.

“We will work in a consultative manner in the review and development of the final national land policy,” she said.

Ministry of Chiefs Permanent Secretary Michael Pwete said the ministry will engage the Ministry of Lands to re- engage the chiefs as they are vital in the distribution of land on behalf of the President.

Mr Pwete says land issues are national and chiefs need to be properly involved in such matters.

The current draft national land policy was done in 2006 following wide consultations with various stakeholders.

The process to finalise the process was briefly suspended during a national constitution review consultative process during the MMD regime.

The process was restarted in August 2015 through another consultative process with stakeholders which included the traditional leaders.

Meanwhile, Chief Ngabwe has demanded that Government convenes a meeting with all 288 chiefs so that the interests of the Zambian people will be reflected in the national land policy.

“Our emphasis on managing customary land is not to work against the government. It is the civil servants working against government.

We want to protect chieftainship and the customary land system which is vital for Zambia’s future generations,” said Chief Ngabwe.