HOOLIGANS AND LAND

UNSCRUPULOUS people masquerading as Patriotic Front cadres going about encroaching and grabbing land from rightful owners in Lusaka and in other places should be arrested and dealt with severely to serve as a deterrent to potential wrongdoers.

Cases of people claiming to be PF cadres encroaching on people’s plots and farmyards and forcibly demarcating plots to share among themselves have become rampant and are a great source of concern.

We urge security wings with the Ministry of Lands to quickly rise to the challenge and clampdown on these illegal activities permanently because not only are they denting the image of the ruling party but of the nation as a whole.

We also implore the PF to come out clean on this issue especially that those behind the notorious illegal land grabs are claiming to be PF cadres, or are they?

Remaining silent on this matter is certainly not healthy for the ruling party and only sends wrong signals. If left unchecked, they may gradually undermine the integrity of the party.

Time for the PF to stop the rot is now! This calls for the party to establish whether those going about committing these land crimes are indeed genuine party members. If not, the party has to distance itself from such bad elements or risk being branded negatively.

What is baffling is that the so-called cadres even have the audacity to threat to forcibly grab land from rightful owners if they resist orders to demarcate part of their land into plots for them.

This is going too far and should not be condoned by both the PF and the police.

A case in point is the tiff over the controversial Barlastone farm no F/693/A/28 in Lusaka where a group of cadres have persistently been threatening to grab the farm from the rightful owner since 2016.

Four months ago, Minister of Lands Jean Kapata was forced to physically visit the farm to see for herself the situation on the ground and resolve the protracted wrangle over the farm. Having done so, the minister asked for time to do a verification at the ministry.

But despite this, the cadres have defied Ms Kapata’s orders and have instead continued harassing the legal occupant of the farm, warning he would only enjoy peace if he gave up part of the land.

We can’t help but agree with Zambia Republican Party president Wright Musoma that police should not hesitate to apprehend and cage the perpetrators who have been trying to grab the Barlastone farm from the rightful owner.

The mind boggling question is on whose authority these so-called cadres are acting looking at the boldness with which they are going about their illegal activities?

But the problem of the so-called cadres aside, it is a fact that land tiffs have become so rampant in the country and we believe this is a harbinger of a looming land crisis.

It may sound far-fetched to some people now, but going by the widespread nature of the problem, a crisis is feasible and the sooner this vexing land problem is tackled, the better for the nation.

For example, nowadays, it has become common to hear of thousands of people being displaced from their traditional communal land because a greedy chief or headman has sold their land for personal aggrandisement.

Just a week ago or so, two traditional rulers had to be restrained from exchanging punches because of land disputes, while the Ministry of Lands is also grappling with numerous land ownership disputes.

Perhaps, instead of snubbing Government over the land policy, chiefs should seriously consider dialoguing with the State to come up with a policy that is favourable to all stakeholders but which will stop the unnecessary selling of vast tracks of land to individuals, especially foreigners.

By doing so, the country will have taken one step in preventing Zambia from sinking deeper and deeper into the land quagmire - 53 years later after independence.