‘NO NEED FOR PANIC OVER ZAMBIA, DRC LAND DISPUTE’

THERE is no need to panic over the land dispute between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Chiengi District because the matter is amicably being resolved by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Minister of Home Affairs Joe Malanji has said.

Mr Malanji said SADC had already tasked an independent team on a fact-finding mission to establish the beacons on the land in question after both Zambia and

DRC separately requested Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa for his help in resolving the matter as chairperson of the SADC Troika on Peace, Politics and Security.

The Minister said both Zambia and the DRC had shown willingness to provide resources for the exercise.

“So for now as Government, we cannot make any comment because the matter is being resolved by SADC. We both paid US$200,000 to SADC to go and put up beacons,”Mr Malanji said.

He was reacting to remarks by former Finance Minister Katele Kalumba who complained that it was annoying that Zambia wanted to give away its mineral rich land in Chiengi to DRC because of an agreement which was signed by the colonialists in 1894.

Dr Kalumba said that the agreement which was signed by the colonialists due to their selfish interests, could be resolved so that the land in question continues to be for Zambians.

“We have natives there who are the Bwile-speaking people and we cannot give away this land and then these people be displaced from the land they have been occupying for many years.

“I have talked to the ministers to ensure that this land is protected, we need to be aggressive sometimes so that people who live there can be saved from being displaced,” he said.

Dr Kalumba indicated that the Zambian Government must fight hard to ensure that the land which was almost being grabbed by DRC was protected for the benefit of the future generations.

In an interview yesterday, he predicted that there would be bloodshed if future generations come to know that the land in question was grabbed on the basis of agreements signed in ancient years.

He urged the government to be aggressive on this matter because Zambians could not afford to lose mineral rich land.

Dr Kalumba said the minerals on the land in question was very critical to the country’s economic growth because revenue would be realised.

The former minister said if the people in the area were displaced, the action would be against their human rights and this should be avoided at all cost.

A small territory in Tanganyika Province has been at the heart of a border dispute between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia for several decades.

In the past several months, the presence of Zambian soldiers on Congolese territory has raised tensions to a new level.