THAT’S THE WAY

LANDS Minister Jean Kapata has finally done what she should done long ago, that is, clip the wings of cadres who have gone on rampage grabbing land from rightful owners with impunity. Obviously fed up with nagging stories of so called-party cadres invading private land, Ms Kapata yesterday decided to flex her muscles and stop the nonsense by personally inspecting the controversial twin farm No. 693/A/28 in Barlastone where an ownership battle is raging. We commend the minister for finally stepping out of the “comfort zone” of her office to verify what has been going on at the farm where cadres are embroiled in a bitter ownership battle over the said land. The cadres a month ago invaded the Barlastone farm in Lusaka claiming they had express permission from the minister’s office to possess the land in question. But contrary to these claims, the minister categorically denied giving permission to the cadres to take over the land after she toured contentious farm to verify details and to check on the beacons. Ms Kapata warned that her ministry will not tolerate people encroaching on private land in the name of being party cadres and promised to sort out the Barlastone furore once and for all. This is as it should be. Sensitive issues such as those involving land wrangles can never be amicably resolved by remote control but by government officials leaving their comfortable offices to observe the situation on the ground first hand. Like we have said before on this platform, prevention is better than cure. Ministers and other government officials should never wait for a problem to grow out of proportion before they can take action. Naturally, it becomes costly to solve a problem once it has worsened and this is why it was crucial to stop the cadres as soon they invaded the Barlastone farm to prevent the situation from degenerating into a potential catastrophe. Land issues are very sensitive and the likelihood of people fighting over ownership is very high. However, this can be avoided if people followed the right procedures in acquiring land at all times. Regrettably, party cadres seem to have become so big-headed and powerful of late that they have the audacity to do whatever pleases them, including forcibly occupying any open piece of land they find. Public concerns and calls for the cadres, especially those from the PF and the United Party for National Development (UPND) to be tamed keep falling on death ears. If anything party cadres are only denting the image of their respective parties. Leaving the cadres to operate as loose cannons just breeds chaos and sends wrong signals to the public. This is not good for the nation which thrives on the rule of law. Given the persistent incidences of land grabbing, it is our humble appeal to the political parties to put their cadres in their rightful place as opposed to grabbing other people’s land. We urge other ministers to emulate Ms Kapata over her decision to put her foot down and stopping the so-called PF cadres from breaking the law without fear or favour. Two wrongs cannot make a right, Time has come for ministers and indeed other government officials to leave the comfort of their offices and physically go on the ground to solve problems if need be.