African land is for Africans - Canisius

WE must watch over our land and guard against its indiscriminate distribution to foreigners because this is our prized resource and a cornerstone of freedom, development activist Canisius Banda has observed.

Speaking to the Daily Nation yesterday, Dr Banda said Zambia and the rest of the African countries must not be careless over their administration of land as therein lay their freedom which must never be given back to their colonial masters at any cost. He said Zambia and the rest of the continent had remained peaceful hence the need to actualize its true freedom and sovereignty by taking pragmatic steps towards their true liberation, be it political or economic. “Africa must watch over its land. Africans must never sell their land to foreigners. Land is their most prized resource. Land is the cornerstone of their freedom. Africans must understand that freedom is that existential state that enables an entity to best perform its purpose. Africans must understand that without freedom, their survival and prosperity will not come,’’ Dr Banda said. Africans themselves must preserve and harness their resources for their own benefit and the benefit of the rest of the world, he said, adding that Africans must never forget their past because their future was premised on it. He said Africa was the conscience of the world, and that it was not only the birthplace of mankind but it also remained the only hope for its survival,” Dr. Banda said. He observed that the African continent was the most stable and richest continent in the world saying that all things being equal, it could survive without much dependence from other continents. “Its standards must not be from the West nor the East but they must spring from the required order of being as dictated by the maker. One can arrogate that this required order of being is uniquely African. It is called ‘umunthu’. “This African framework of being must inspire all development of the Africans. It is the cultural philosophy that notes that all people matter. That I am because you are. This philosophy of being is neither Western (American or British) nor Eastern (Chinese or Asian). It is universal. It is Godly,” he said. He said Africans must be proud of the relative peace on the continent which must in turn be translated into development. “Africans are the most hospitable and tolerant people in the world. They are the most forgiving and loving. Not a single African country with original Africans in it has developed bombs to kill other human beings. Not a single African country populated by original Africans has developed biological or chemical weapons to kill other human beings,” he said.