Friday, March 29, 2024

HH’s cattle graze crop fields of about 140 families in Kauwe Village

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VILLAGERS in Kauwe village in chief Nyawa’s area of Kazungula District in Southern Province are demanding that United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema (HH) to compensates them for crop damage caused by his animals in the area.

But when contacted for comment, Mr Hichilema regretted the destruction of crops but added that cases of human animal conflicts in villages were very normal and that there was nothing new in the particular issue.

Area ward development chairperson Owen Matale said that about 140 families in Kauwe had their crops damaged by HH’ s cattle which strayed and grazed in peoples fields around the area.

Mr Mutale was speaking in Kauwe Village on Tuesday when the villagers called for dialogue with Kazungula District Administrative Officer Goretti Bbalo to register some of the challenges the area was faced with.

He said there was crop damage and encroachment of HH’s animals which had multiplied in huge numbers over the years.

“We want to see how HH is going to compensate the farmers here because the population of his animals has grown and his cattle have been terrorizing people’s fields in the area and this might lead to starvation in the area coupled with poor harvest due to poor rainfall,” Mr Matale said.

Area farmers union Chairperson Aaron Maketo also said that there was need to reconsider the boundary of Mr Hichilema’s farm in the area because the fence that was put around the farm was depriving the local people access to a stream which was a major source of water for the villagers and their animals.

Mr Maketo said villagers wanted the fence to be drawn back about 100 meters outside the stream which was currently enclosed in Mr Hichilema’s farm.

“People here depend on that stream for water, the unfortunate part is that it has been fenced inside Mr H.Hs farm and we feel that is an encroachment. So we demand that relevant authorities come and revisit where the beacons for his farm are supposed to be put,” Mr Maketo said.

Mr Maketo said his committee has approached Mr H.H over these matters and he has promised them before that a solution would be found, but no favorable response was forth coming.

He said it was for this reason that villagers were now seeking the indulgence of government to see how they could be assisted in resolving especially the issue of encroachment into the only stream in the area.

And acting Kazungula DC Ms Bbalo in the company of area Council Secretary Winstone Kasonkomona said the land in question was customary land which Mr Hichillema might have been given by their traditional leadership.

Ms Bbalo said government was however concerned and committed to ensure that these issues were resolved and were it was within their jurisdiction, something would definitely be done.

But in an interview yesterday, Mr Hichilema said such human animal conflicts in villages were very normal and that there was nothing new in this particular issue.

Mr Hichilema said it was regrettable that people’s crops were damaged by his animals and that it was not the first time such a thing was happening, but was quick to mention that there were people on the ground in the area who were sorting out the issues.

He said animals do not think and that these conflicts were supposed to be expected and in village set ups were animals stray and eat in people’s fields.

“I am aware of this situation in Kauwe and am very sympathetic with the affected families, but there are people on the ground who are trying to resolve these issues and am hopeful that a solution shall be found,” Mr Hichilema said.

73 COMMENTS

  1. AS A LEADER SHOULD. HH IS TAKING RESPONSIBILITY SHOULD IT INDEED BE DETERMINED THAT HIS CATTLE DID GRAZE AND DAMAGE PEOPLE’S CROP.UNLIKE THE PF WHO WOULD HAVE BLAMED IT ON THE RAIN. A GOOD FARMER AND NEIGHBOR. THANK YOU HH.

    • Menace to society is what this man is! He will always work against the Zambian people. His arrogance and detached attitude is indicative of a person only interested in his own gain.

      Fake Kachema, his cattle and his party have no direction just roaming the countryside aimlessly!

    • why were these cattle left to roam free,,,, where were the kachemas??,,,, this is the side effect of taking kachemas to lusaka city

    • I thought HH was the president of Southern Province so what is the problem. His cattle can graze any where they wish and that stream for the village should be fenced off in his farm! Viva HH.

    • Kachema Kateka -KK-HH, I thought your cattle were only in Choma and Chibamba, I learn that u have cows in Namwala, Kalomo, Kabwe and everywhere. Estimates are that KK owns half the cattle in Zambia.

    • i doubt the while story more becoz it involves pf dc.140 villages near hh farm how??villages are about 5km apart so meaning animals had to walk 750 km to the last village.last we will only hear that hh is not a zambian.pf dont know where to go what to say

    • Silly zambian comments from corrupt minds. so you mean HH took his cows to the maize fields to eat. Yet this dumb government official has just mentioned that HH farm is fenced so what is the fuss here. A normal citizen will support HH because he is a farmer and entrepreneur.

    • @Nubian princess

      Your shallow mindedness will reduce you to a menace instead. The man has not denied that his cattle might have destroyed people’s cattle. In places where Tongas live this normal and not news at all.

      HH has always been helping the people of that area no matter what, with jobs and the food situation when the PF government has failed to provide.

      I am sure its the jealous PF minions who are blowing it out proportion and making political capital out an issue thats never strange amongst the Tongas. These issues have always been settled amongst the affected people without any government interference at all. Why now?

      I think its those tuma PF appointed people trying to squeeze buck out HH. They wont get any thing at all. HH will compensate the affected people…

    • These PF DC, have no money for their salaries. So the PF has told them, try any tricks to force wealthy people like HH to pay their salaries.

      If they think HH will pay PF DCs any thing, then they are joking. HH is a principled man. He will just compensate the affected people directly not through these corrupt DC.

      What I think happened is that, these PF DC minions hatched a plan to cause conflict between HH and the people by importing thugs from Lusaka to go to Kazungula and cut his farm ‘s fence deliberately so that his animals which have never strayed at any time in history to stray and destroy people’s crops.

      If HH discovers any tricks in this case he will relocate all the animals from that area and start crop farming instead.

    • HH is a very GREEDY person,how can he fence off a river he knows too well villagers depend on for their survival? Let him go tour areas where the affected families live, the same way he has been touring compounds.

    • Okay, we have a Bible for this type of issue. Since I am HH’s supporter, its just fair that I also give some advise where necessary. In this case, HH is supposed to compensate the owners of those fields according to the damage that will be determined by the professionals in damage assessments:

      Exodus 22:5 KJV
      If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man’s field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution.

      In simpler English:
      “If a man causes a field or vineyard to be eaten, and lets his animal loose, and it grazes in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field, and from the best of his own vineyard”.

    • So ka Nubian, based on a bunch of cows straying into people’s fields, that is your assessment? You need to get laid, loosen you the fcuk up coz your frigidity is worrying.

    • The other part concerns the access to the stream for the villagers. Here is what I think should happen. HH must give access to the villagers cattle to the stream. Its clear that before the farm or fence was expanded, the villagers had access to this fresh water stream. HH must therefore move back the farm fencing 100 meters back so that the community may have free access to this stream. I believe this stream was a landmark.

      Proverbs 23:10-11kjv
      ” Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless: For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.

      Deut 27:17kjv
      ‘Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary mark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

      Proverbs 22:28kjv
      Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have…

    • The only concerning part in this story is HH fencing off the stream in essence denying his POOR NEIGHBORS access to water—to me, that’s VERY TROUBLING. Especially that HH can probably afford to sink a few boreholes (if he hasn’t already) to supply water to his cattle. But the poor villagers have no such luxury. So HH should be reasonably here.

      He shouldn’t be emulating “ba MWISA” from Zimbabwe (the angry MABUNU) who have settled in Zambia and brought with them the mentality of “a Master Class” deserving everything and poor locals can GO TO H-E-L-L.

      Nonetheless, animals/cattle straying and destroying neighbor’s crops is a very common occurrence to anybody who has raised cattle before. The trick is how you compensate the aggrieved party—speaking from experience.

    • HH is indeed a wise-man, imagine if it was RB’s goats or not going too far the PF goats Kambwili takes off, they let feed on a golf-course in Luanshya, and the only answer the golf-players got was “boma-ni-boma”.
      Read HH’s answers twice, so damn correct man, that who we are in villages. And now it is a chance to create jobs, all willing-men from Kauwe village should get job as “Kachemas” at HH farms.

    • @Change, what kind of stream could be fenced off completely? Meaning the stream starts and ends in the farm in question. The story has a lot of pores! But as has been said, when such things happen, it doesnn’t take a politician to resolve it.

    • Instead of visiting Kamwala ,Marapodi and other shanty establishments in Lusaka,HH should go and console the villagers whose crops have been damaged by his ngombe.He cannot say there are people on the ground when this is a very big issue that requires his personal attention on the ground.

    • Common insaka issue in villages which does not need government intervention! HH understands it very well thus his comment that there are people dealing with it at its appropriate level thus other than politicking this is a matter which is not newsworthy!

  2. Menace to society is what this man is! He will always work against the Zambian people. His arrogance and detached attitude is indicative of a person only interested in his own gain.

    Fake Kachema, his cattle and his party have no direction just roaming the countryside aimlessly!

    • @Nubian, you are destroying yourself with anger and jealousy. What has HH or anybody done to you? You really need deliverance from those evil spirits that are haunting you.

    • Numbian for nothing!!!! These villagers had no crops to write about. This is an opportunity for them to find some money to feed their families. The farming season was very poor everywhere in Zambia and indeed, there was crop failure and really nothing to live on.
      Money for HH is not an issue and these issues of animals crossing over to the next farm is normal and the farmers know how to live together all the time. OOoooohh this poor Numbian has nothing to politicise.

  3. Demonstrate the caliber of your leadership….This is an opportunity to show how sympathetic you are…

  4. And the blame is on PF not having good agricultural policies and yet HH animals graze his voters fields. What a shame!

    • Your writting is clear to show that u come from a very poor back ground. It is very normal in SP to hav animals graze in pipo’s fields. There is a lot of wealth here compared to where u come from. Pipo resolve these issues without problems you dander head.

    • @ Chained.

      You are absolutely spot on. You are commenting from an informed position not these useless PF minions who have no idea where beef comes from.

      People have never owned cattle dont know that such conflicts are very normal amongs cattle owners every where.

      If you check, even in Eastern province, chief Mpezeni’s and other chiefs ‘cattle does stray and grazes people’s crops several times but thats never news at all.

  5. Mmmmmh the farm is very big imagine the whole stream being fenced, or the villagers just want to be passing through the farm admiring HH’s cattle. Sorry for the 140 families, HH tell your employees to resolve that. Can’t wait to see NEZ’ comment Hehehehehe!

  6. HH’s Farm is farm is fenced & cows have crazed the maize of the peasants.What are these usefull *****s want to portray?

  7. This is a fake story cattle in southern province always has men and boys to control them in the fields.

    • Did you not read the story? HH has confirmed it.

      No need to blame HH for this. However, what will be critical is how he resolves the issue with the people concerned.

  8. Zambians are generally very jealous people to other successful Zambians. Typical black way of thinking. Go HH. Its your cattle. This villagers even go to the extent of even damaging the fence so that animals can come out and eat their crops.

  9. People always want to misinterpret the story. HH has taken responsibility and his workers are there trying to solve the problem. What has happened is normal, cattle at one time or another do stray and eat in crop fields whether your own or your neighbours’. Solutions are always found by the affected parties. Even in town, your chicken can stray and eat your neighbour’s vegetables. The point is conflict resolution.

  10. Ba Zambia sure is that you call politics please live H. H alone . Mwalibelela insala ba Zambia keep your pf and l will keep my H.H

  11. That Mutale boy in the Tonga village is a PF cardre trying to be noticed. HH has farms all over the country and nothing of this nature has been heard over years..while Edgar is has none..May be after he leaves state house.

    -Levy had a farms.
    -RB had a farm..
    – not sure about Chiluba and Sata..(Bembas are lazy people mind you)

  12. Having accepted it, HH should just sit down with the affected villagers and solve the matter promptly. Do not allow it be blown out of proportion to dent your ambitions. You are still on track sir, prove the man you. Remember simple minds discuss people instead of the real issues.

  13. I am anxiously waiting for the comment of PF beacon of “intelligentsia” Mr. Chanda to explain HH failure to educate his cattle to the same level of PF cattle.

    • No need to politicise the issue. Even my goats ate my neighbours vegetables. We had s mall lapse and goats took advantage. I don’t like HH but this not one of reasons I don’t like him.

    • @ Ndaje Kahks

      To late. It has been already politicized. When Kambwili cattle crapped on the “greens” of the golf club, it was “ecological” lawn-mowers.
      Now, if we are going to believe main article, cows have become “terror” weapon.
      What a bunch of uneducated psychopathic 1mbeciles!!!

  14. HH has taken responsibility unlike PF and EL who would have kept quite and hoped this died away like they are doing with the multitude of allegations against them—-Kambwili stealing council land, $25 million airport theft, $192 million loan hidden, The millions of $s for bore holes in Western province when a fraction of that will suffice, etc, etc, etc, etc
    and many many more scandals that are unsettling the pipo.

  15. Mr HH was busy cooking nshima in bauleni meeting people at the grassroots and yet fails to directly meet the villagers whose crops have been destroyed by his cattle. He would do better to meet them than sending someone, because his love for people would be seen in such a situation.

  16. Such things happen. But I do not think this hinges on HH as a person. Look, many people only want to focus on a negative that a project has, forgetting that HH actually is employing people who are supporting families. No company is loved by any community.

  17. “His cattle have been TERRORIZING people’s fields in the area and this might lead to STARVATION in the area” Mr Matale said.

    Sure, boss? Sounds like these cows must be Janjaweed!

    …when what? Mr. Kambwili’s cattle are simply “eco-friendly lawnmowers” doing the golf course a favor?

  18. Am not an H.H follower but on this issue there is no need to start politicising this issue. If it was just an ordinary farmers cattle people would be quiet but because its H.H everyone is talking. This is a common thing in most of our village and farm settlements so don’t make a big issue out of nothing.

  19. SOME BASIC LITERATURE ABOUT SP CULTURE

    1. Luba >>>>>>>>>> Where animals are kept
    2. Mwembezi>>>>>> One who controls animal movement and welbeing
    3. Chikochi>>>>>>> A cart pulled by animals ( for daily transport logistics)
    4. Chilayi>>>>>>>> A sledge ( Y-shaped log) pulled by animals – for fetching water & wood
    5. Halya>>>>>>>>> Animals straying in another man’s crop field (this is a normal occurence & compensation is done)
    6. Musune>>>>>>>> Male animal used for cultivating vast crop fields
    7. Muchende>>>>>>> Male animal used for breeding

  20. Animals are animals, you can’t put the blame on a human being for destruction caused by them, however if the aggrieved-complain and owners claim responsibility ,and both parties agree to compensate and to be compensated, that settles the matter after all according to the bible human beings were given authority over them by the almighty God. That settles the matter. Court rise!

    • News is news however you look at it . Chiwamina mbuzi kuluma Galu not Galu kuluma mbuzi. The animals are kept by human beings and are supposed to be controlled as such. Ukuteka imbwa mano……….If HH is failing to control animals that do not think, how then is he going to manage people who have senses? Abashi HH

  21. Am afraid,this is the man who want plot1…ati animals do not think,i agree with you but you can control them.plz U5 dont bring your animals to lsk twapapata especialy near state house……

    • The story says there is a fence at the farm they are complaining about. It doesn’t say how the animals got over the fence. Just condemning you can’t even read the story properly. You think because someones cows eat a neighbour’s crops then he can’t be president. Really strange way of reasoning. Its the usual PF/UPND politicking going on here. its nothing serious.

  22. HH inspires me, very hardworking & visionary Zambian. My 30 cattle the other year did the same & i had to compensate for the damage. If HH become the president of the great nation, Zambia will be much better than Botswana in terms economic strength.

  23. Kashema is busy visiting compounds while his cows have been left unmanned without Kashema terrorizing people’s fields. How can he lead the country if he cannot control his own cattle. In Kachema land I am sure this human animal conflict will be very very normal. We will even have cattle in Cairo road, State house Mulungushi International Conference center etc.

    • This story lacks merit. Too many issues mixed up. 1. The cattle straying into maize fields 2. Starvation because of cattle and poor rainfall 3. A stream passing through HHs farm been fenced off and depriving people of water. So if the farm is fenced off, did the cattle jump over the fence? How can someone claim to be deprived of water when the stream just passes through the farm-does the water end in the farm? Tonga villages are far apart. How can cattle stray to 140 villages within a short period? I am happy HH took responsibility even though he knows that the story is not credible

    • 25.1 flag Stanley. I am missing something here. I can not see anything tribal in my contribution. There is nothing tribal about a Kachema not chemalling his animals.

  24. If you’ve lived in a rural area you will understand that this happens very often. Cattle eating peoples crops that is. These things are resolved mutually or end up in the local courts. But since PF is involved here through the DC its a sign that its again the usual political mud slinging. PF supporters already green with envy at HH’s wealth will be condemning him for having so much cattle. 140 families mmmmmh.

    • Yes we know this happens in rural areas but not to so many families at a time. there is some element of carelessness here guys. 140 FAMILIES IS JUST TO MUCH. Which riches are you yapping about? Why don’t you find out how he got the riches?

  25. Lusaka Times you have a reputation for being balanced so don’t soil it with useless stories like this otherwise you will end up like Zambianwatchdog and Zambia Reports. i.e biased!!

  26. Yes we have been told about HH’s cattle destroying crops and the measures are being put in place to remedy the situation. How many cattle has Lungu got? KK had shambalakale, Chiluba – no farm, Mwanawasa had a farm, RB has a farm, Sata had started displacing some villagers in Mpika to start a farm and what has the current President got in terms of agricultural brains? Any leader who had no piece of land either commercial or his village will never appreciate what the farmers are going through and they contribute to suffering of rural dwellers. To make news out of HH’s wealth is stup.dity , you better write about how Lungu stole his clients’ money.

  27. Why keeping a herd of cattle only to live them feeding on your neighbors farms. Where were the kachemas at this point? Due to peanuts hh pays them they abandoned the cattle to also help themselves in the same fields. Maybe they were stealing maize. When we say hh doesnt look after his workers properly this is what we mean and the results are there to see. Problem with tongas is too much akaso stingy people.

    • @. Spongy Bob #30
      This is not a place for tribal comments, I am not a fun of HH but I hate tribal comments because with such attitude zambia will never develop, if you are an employer you will end up employing fools.

  28. @ Spongy Bob.. ati “problem with Tonga’s is too much akaso stingy people”. Why do Bemba, Namwanga and Ngoni women like stingy Tonga men. The Tonga men must be generous somehow somewhere! Balapela bamambala.

  29. THAT IS HOW HOPELESS HH IS HOW CAN HE BLAME ANIMALS LET HIM JUST COMPENSATE THE AFFECTED FAMILIES AFTER ALL THEY ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN HIS ANIMALS. SHAME

  30. Very foolish comments all the way through starting from LT itself.I am sure they get kick backs form PF.
    Only PF has sewn a lot of hatred ion the country. Brainless people have adopted divisions among the populace
    Really sad

  31. when hatembo and Hambwalula owned the land the river problem was not there. No adjustments have been made and in 2000 the lands department came and remeasured the farm. Now that HH is running the show u want to victmise him. Come Maketo, u are hungry big fellow. those guys had the same number of animals.

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