Kapata bemoans land policy rejection

PARLIAMENT yesterday heard that the House of Chiefs rejected the draft National Land Policy document during the National Validation Meeting in January, because they thought powers over land administration and management would be taken from them.

Lands and Natural Resources Minister Jean Kapata said the Chiefs said that the policy did not indicate their role, function and place in land administration and management

Ms Kapata said all the 22 chiefs from all the 11 Provinces led by the House of Chiefs Chairperson walked out of the meeting without providing Gov- ernment an opportunity to respond to the points they raised by way of clarifying matters and pointing out how the draft policy document had addressed them. She described the reaction by the traditional leaders as saddening, saying that the objective of validating the document with key stakeholders was therefore not achieved.

The minister said this in a ministerial statement when she briefed the House on the outcome of the national validation meeting for the Draft National Land Policy which was held on January 28, 2018 in Lusaka.

“Individual Chiefs spoke, and each of them expressed a sentiment that the draft policy document was not accepted, the Chairperson of the House of Chiefs was the last speaker who summarised the feedback from the traditional leaders with the conclusion that the House of Chiefs rejected the draft,” Ms Kapata said.

She assured the House that despite the set-back, her ministry remained committed to finalising the process and would continue to seek opportunities to engage with traditional leaders whom she said were key stakeholders to the process.

“I am positive that we shall engage in positive dialogue and iron out any misunderstandings that may have occurred so as to ensure that we collectively come up with a National Land Policy that shall stand the test of time and be a critical enabler of the socio-economic development of this our great country, Zambia,” she said.

The minister also encouraged stakeholders to support the policy, emphasising that it was critical for effective and efficient land administration and management. “It is important to note from the onset that Zambia has not had a comprehensive National Land Policy since independence. Land administration and management has been guided by various pieces of legislation, administrative circulars, pronouncements and other guidelines,” she said.