Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Zambia must grab all land belonging to foreigners-Mbita Chitala

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Mbita Chitala
Mbita Chitala
Veteran politician Mbita Chitala has proposed that Government must enact laws that will compel all foreigners currently owning land to surrender the land to the state.

Dr Chitala has also proposed that government should also make it a criminal offence for any foreigner to own land in Zambia.

He said government should also criminally prosecute any Zambian that facilitate the ownership of land in Zambia by any foreigner.

Dr Chitala said the move by the MMD government to enact the 1995 Lands Act 1995 which allowed foreigners to hold title to the land was an unpardonable commission.

He said this has resulted in many foreigners acquiring land at the expense of Zambians.

Dr Chitala who was part of the first Chiluba administration said this in a statement released on his Facebook page.

He regretted that large tracks of land in Zambia are now owned by foreigners.

“It is my submission that this foolish conduct by our governments must come to an end. Many Zambian patriots are arguing that the provisions in our laws that allow for this reactionary conduct must be immediately repealed,” Dr Chitala said.

“This issue of our governments since 1991 of being complicit in auctioning our land to foreigners must be stopped. Before the colonisation of Zambia, Africans owned all land.

The British signed fake agreements which robbed Africans of their land. The last concession was in 1909 which gave all land and mineral rights to a private company called BSA company,” he said.

“In the Kombe case of 1926, a British court ruled that all the land in Northern Rhodes/Barotseland was owned by the British crown. In 1924, the British took over the administration of Zambia to be and promulgated some pseudo law to protect Africans from removal from assigned land. In 1928, the British established reserves for Africans and crown lands for European settlement – some apartheid and racism.”

He added, “In 1947, the British promulgated a law to allow Africans to hold land in native trust lands only. In 1959, they enacted a law to remove the African people in Gwembe area arising from the construction of the Kariba dam and in 1964, they promulgated the Barotseland Agreement to create the new nation of Zambia. After independence in 1964, all land in Zambia was vested in the State President.”

“From 1968, the progressive UNIP administration enacted the Land Acquisition Act which allowed the new Zambian state to acquire land from absentee landlords and address the dangers of foolish commercialisation of land. In 1975, the government enacted the Land (Conversion of Titles) Act which among others, abolished freehold tenure,” he stated.

“In 1985, the government again correctly enacted an amendment to the Land (conversion of titles) Act which amendment disqualified non-Zambians from acquiring land in our country. This however was abused by the retention of a provision that allowed the President to alienate land to any foreigner.”

“Let us learn from the nationalism of the pioneers of our independence and stop the auction of our land for pieces of silver to foreigners,” he cautioned.

“It is crooked Zambians that have facilitated the ownership of all land to foreigners on Kafue road etc. and our governments are complicit in facilitating this robbery of our land.”

145 COMMENTS

    • Behave yourself ka Mutale, which PF cadre? You know deep down your heart that this is one of UPND’s manifesto

    • Land has been taken by UPND if you go to western and southern provinces.

      Chitala’s lips. I wouldn’t want to be kissed by those iyeee

      Thanks

      BB2014,16

    • Good point Mushota, and now look at the kind of buildings in western and southern province, is that what you want to bring to the provinces iwe ka Mutale?

    • Love him or hate him Mbita is right on this one. Most of you will he happily buying land from Individuals and mostly foreigners without asking how they ended up with that Land and not you in the first place. When did you last see Government through Min. of Lands or the council for that matter advertise available land? especially in Urban areas? But you still see Chinese and other foreigners acquiring key pieces of land … WAKE UP don’t criticize the guy just becoz of political affiliations this is bigger than that. Also appreciate that he has confessed to being part of the Mess up!

    • ABOUT TIME.
      THANKS CHITALA.
      CAN YOU IMAGINE A ZAMBIAN OWNING LAND IN CHINA? FOREIGNERS ARE NOT ONLY GRABBING OUR LAND BUT OUR JOBS NOT TO MENTION OUR MINERAL WEALTH. AND THEY LAUGH AT US BEHIND OUR BACKS.

    • Mugabe took that route, have you seen a better Zimbabwe today iwe shameless? South Africa is now in the hands of blacks, is it getting better or worse? Learn from other countries and dont just jump and make noise over things which you cant manage properly. Almost all building contracts given to locals are a disaster, either contractor runs away with money or he builds a toilet instead of a hotel. Let foreigners help develop this country, they are doing what you have failed to do.

    • The only thing Zambians can have to their name is land above all things.
      The sale of land to foreigners is wrong our poor chiefs are bribe with a few dollars and sell large tracks of land in the same way many chiefs sold slaves in exchange for silly things like mirrors shoes and suitcases decades ago.
      If not properly handled this will result in a situation like Brazil where squatters force themselves on land because of the shotage of land. Another issue is corruption at the ministry of lands.
      BUT calling for land grabbing is wrong like in Zimbabwe it has implications. Lets do it the right way either just allow 99 year lease for foreigners or don’t sell at all!
      Land had been a cause for wars in many places.

    • I don’t agree with Mbita (Formerly Dereck) Chitala. May this moratorium can come in 20 years time. When fly over this country you’d always see huge masses of land that look virgin, with all communities clustered only along major roads. This tells (1) Just how few we are for our country’s land size (2) how clueless we are about utilizing our land for national development and as tool with which to fight poverty

    • That is True to some extent.
      I bought land here in Australia and It does not belong to me but the queen of england. They can get it back anytime if they want. It is instead leased every 100 years so basically it is not mine even if I bought it. Zambia should not just give land like its cheap

    • Finally, someone advocating sense on the issue of land. I wholeheartedly agree with you Mr Chitala. We need to take back our land. Its become impossible for a Zambian to acquire land through the Ministry of lands, we need to change this. Let’s learn from Zimbabwe and South Africa.

    • Iwe James Buga are you high, are you in right mindframe to even think about shortage of land in zambia? use google to see how much undeveloped land we have, plenty of it….when you are landing at night either ndola or lusaka you would think you are crash landing. There is nothing like thats the only thing zambians are entitled to …is land. My friend, the only thing we are entitled to is our brains – lets use our brains to develop zambia, there is plenty of land everywhere in Zambia. Dont turn this great country into a banana country – we are not interested in only having zambian names on titlle deed have substandard buildings everywhere, which would take forever to reverse. Get free piece of land and show us that you can develop it into something worthy calling development. Leave…

    • Education without good character transformation is worthless! Better to be wise and be addressed as “Mr” than to be a muwelewele and to be addressed as “Dr” or “Prof”! If it is land you want, just take a flight to the Zambian skies and see how much bush we have in Zambia. Of that land only less than 10% is utilized and a fraction of that is legally in foreign hands doing Agriculture as a business! Generalizations are dangerous and those claiming to be academicians should know better!

    • No Mr Mbita, that is not the way to go.

      How much land is there in Zambia? Plenty.

      How many Zambians are really utilising it? Very few.

      So why get land from innocent people whom we gave land ourselves.

      There is no difference between them and us, the only thing is God decided that they were born from another country, but they are our brothers and sisters.

      What Mbits should be saying is that land must be repossessed from any individual who is found to have acquired it dubiously, whether he is a foreigner or a Zambian.

      Nationality should not be part of the criteria, but conduct and act.

      The blood flowing through you, Mbita Chitala, is the same as the one flowing through any other person whether Zambian or not, black or white, red or green, yellow or blue.

      It is wrong…

    • It is wrong doing that must attract redress, not nationality.

      What is wrong with a foreigner being given land legally? And what is right about a Zambian acquiring land illegally?

      Come on, we are in another age now not stone age.

    • These are xenophobic sentiments which the PF want excuted with the help of Lungu.

      According to Chitala s statement Lungu should be prosecuted first. Now the dilema of this statement is that Chitala is openly suggesting to commit treason by proposing to have Lungu removed by virtue of his arrest for facilitating the sale of land yo foreigners.

      Culprit No. is Lungu and his followers on this issue.

      I strongly condemn such barbaric and xenophobic suggestions by failed political novices like chitala.

      Zambia under Lungu and PF is increasingly becoming discriminatory thats HH is fighting to remove PF and stop it from damaging its good reputation on caring for refugees.

    • How is this xenophobia? God will never make more land. I totally agree. He is not advocating kicking out foreigners.

    • @Munone and others claiming there is lots of land in Zambia are one of the symptoms of poor African thinking which will not take us anywhere.
      1. Whilst there is lots of land how much of it is
      a) easily accessible?
      b) habitable?
      c) fertile and ideal for farming?
      2. Having lots of idle land gives you the ability to easily plan for future cities and highways.
      Stop thinking like small brains so you sell all the land and you have a situation where people use it as private hunting areas.
      Yes when you fly you see land you also see the Muchinga escapement most of which is only good for monkeys!
      Learn to plan and save for your grandchildren!

    • @ james buga, stop being an alarmist for nothing. tell me a successful country in the world that does not give land to foreigners? Even great Britain, if you have money you can buy land or property, whats special about Zambia? You have had this country for over 50yrs now, please show me the buildings that are purely developed by Zambians and are of international standard??? You are crying for land when you cant not even construct a proper toilet. Lusaka was planned by zambians, do you see the floods during rain season, is that the kind of planning you are talking about? Stop living in a box, the world has become a global village, we must learn to co-exists and share ideas. Be smart by learning from foreigners who have passed this stage rather than holding unto to pre-colonial mentality…

    • He is Right, its stupid for Zambian Government to just give land or sale to foreigners. Let Zambians Own the land and foreigners can rent from native Zambians. Its shocking to see how Chinese are being given land. wrong move and before this gets bad. No land should be given to Foreigners.

    • HE should have said iddle land not every land even where its productive. Some indians are keeping huge pieces of land idle and sky rocket prices to unimaginable levels when they sale and thats murder.

    • The truth is no one owns land whether Zambian or foreigner! That is why you hold lease titles of fixed duration and in addition paying ground rates! Stop profiling good people on account of their citizenship! Our friends are busy converting jungles into cities. We are lazy at doing our own bush clearing. It is wicked to want to dispossess others of their livelihood! Clear your own bush ba MC!

    • Meanwhile you want foreigners to be feeding you and giving you jobs.
      If you want it that way stop running around asking for handouts from foreigners

    • Infact, Derrick Mbita Chitala should tell the nation how much he siphoned from Ministry of finance in the pretex of bailing out the defunct Meridien Bank before talking about such retrogressive ideas.

    • Xenophobia even when you never created any borders of your own. People don’t own land in Zambia. It is leased

    • Our ancestors were colonized unwillingly and then the Kaundas liberated us. We chased the Kaundas and then started recolonizing ourselves – Very Sad!

    • “Before the colonisation of Zambia, Africans owned all land.” ????

      Which Africans were those? Which “colonization was that? Most Zambians today come from ancestors that invaded this country from West Africa! The only people that were here then were the San.

      So should we now give all Zambia back to the descendants of those people that are now living in Botswana?

    • @Duno that is history conjectured from only 700 years ago but where were we before that? We have not been on earth for only a thousand years but over 300,000 years. Were we living in West Africa for 300, 000 years? Not possible.The continent has been our home all along and we traversed it now and then for 300,000 years. Just as some of us recently moved from Congo to KwaZulu South Africa and came back north to Zambia Malawi Tanzania we were doing the same for millenia

  1. No nonsense! We have plenty of land in the country which have not developed and we want to grab land from foreigners? Its clear that most Zambians when given prime land only build substandard buildings. This is backward thinking.

    • Start using your language ARM CHAIR CRITIC to show the world you can stand on your own two feet. You learn in a foreign language, you sleep in a house originally designed by a foreigner, you drive a car manufactured in a foreign country and yet you want to claim to be suitable to develop Zambia single handendly? You have plenty of land, you develop that first then claim what belongs to foreigners.

    • This i diot is just broke and envious. He was part of the government that implemented the law in the first place. Whilst your friends where busy investing thier money, you were busy splashing it out on girlfriends

    • Bitter Chikkala is so wrong on this. All land transactions in Zambia are done on behalf of the President. Also alienation of land over 250 acres has to be signed off by the President. So blame “he who is always drunk” for dozing on the job.

    • Ba Munone muli bapuba nshatala monako icipuba ngaiwe you are foolish to your toes and please don’t talk about Zimbabwe because you nothing of what the west has done to Zimbabwe. All wars fought from time immemorial have been over LAND without LAND there is no ZAMBIA, you make a border on LAND, your food comes from LAND, you walk on LAND, your minerals come from LAND, you will be buried on LAND, you build on LAND, your water is on LAND, I can go on and on about LAND and you will see that without LAND there is no survival. This is what the Whiteman knows better than the Blackman even a baby whiteman cries LAND and we teach our children to cry CAAAAAAAR! There is no ZAMBIA WITHOUT LAND PERIOD!

    • guys grab land from foreigners? no we have lots of land in Zambia; most commercial farmers are foreigners; let us not walk on the path of Zimbabwe which was once a bread basket of Africa and now they have become cross border traders; what a shame because it started with people thinking wrong; land never ever belongs to anyone of us because we pay ground rent to the government;

  2. What the point…..those foreigners only buy Zambian reg cards and passports…just look at the amount of Indians in Zambia who can’t even speak English let alone a Zambian language who have Zambian papers.

    While lynching blacks in india and Pakistan they come and be racist in our country.

    The first thing the Indians did is bribe lungu and his wife in the form of donations when lungu took power. Now they rule zambians.

    • Spaka – There are many many indians that are very fluent in our mother tongue are you not talking about the Chinese that the PF has sold the country to ? They can’t talk english yet they own land and businesses in Zambia. !

    • High time

      There many Indians who speak local languages but also many many more who don’t. Go to their shops and factories and look in the back or go to their clubs you will be shocked.

    • @ 3.3 Spaka like lilo,

      So you like what you have watched on YouTube?

      Is that the basis for the idea of grabbing land?

      Why emulate what you don’t approve? If they kill that side should you also kill this side?

      If Mandela had your mentality South Africa would have been a bad place to live today.

  3. I have been saying for a long time that Zambia is the new Zimbabwe. We in upnd do not tolerate this way way of thinking. Zambia has land laws which need need to be enforced irrespective of one’s colour or nationality. The sad part is thay What this man man is saying is already happening because pf thugs have been grabbing land and terrorising those that have legal entitlement to land. The issue of land in Zambia is a time bomb waiting to explode but as usual the illegal government of pf is sleeping

    • Patriot aka asigai aka terrible just look at how much land pf thugs like kambwili have amassed.

    • Hh has never been in government and has had to follow due process in acquiring all assets. Why is it that hh is not facing any cases into his his wealth while kambwili was until magically his cases have disappeared

    • NEZ don’t defend HH blindly. Anyone can be investigated, even you, but that does not mean you are a criminal or broken any law. So for Kambwili it simply means the government has not found anything wrong with his assets otherwise he would have been a cell mate to HH right now. Can you explain how HH acquired his wealthy other than taking advantage of privatization to pocket billions of kwacha at the expense of poor zambian’s livelihood?

    • HH is a farmer and through his hard work he has earned respect. It doesnt matter where you get paid from as long as you have worked and someone has to pay you for the work done according to the agreement. Most of you PHDs will die with mouths full of words of envy with nothing to show but hatred. The fact that you have proof as you claim but keeps lamenting on internet shows how dull you are. Go and report if your accusations holds any water.

  4. I agree with Dr.Chitala.At the rate we are going, we will wake up one day and find all land gone to foreigners and then we will go the ‘Zimbabwe way'(start grabbing back land from foreigners) and then our economy will be far worse than Zimbabwe. Being an impoverished nation we have this tendency of selling land to foreigners at a huge cost with the intention of building a house, buying a car, starting up a business.

    • Is Bitter Chikkala saying that Zambians have to be protected against themselves? Zambians are very willing to sell their lands for a few Kwacha or bottles of whiskey. The foreigners are doing what works with Zambians. This is how the slave trade was facilitated by Africans. The real issue is that Zambians must be empowered with affordable loans to enable them to develop their land and operate businesses. Without capital accumulation, Zambians will remain poor, living on unproductive land.

  5. Some people read books upside down…! Why profiling foreigners, when most of our leaders and his friends send their children to foreign countries using foreign money for studies?

    • Good observation! I also question the assumption that Zambia which was drawn up by clerks with rulers and erratic pencils in 1885 in Berlin is a legitimate construction. Why are supposed anti-colonialists so willing to defend the shape of Zambia but are so pruriently anti-white? Blacks never chose to be locked up in a Zambia with hostile tribes that hate each other. Zambians have to question whether Zambia should continue as it is or if should be repartitioned so that compatible tribes can live among each other: thieves with thieves, bakachema with fellow bakachema. There’s nothing special about a failed state called Zambia.

    • The existing boundaries must be contextualized. They can serve as starting point in terms of national and regional development planning. The real issue is benefiting people. One area where governments can make a difference is free movement of people, goods and services. It makes business sense to place regional integration at the service of people. The colonial boundaries must not be worshiped. Instead, these boundaries must be regarded as bridges of peace and development.

    • Mugs -many countries allow non nationals to own land, for example- Canada, New Zealand, USA, UK, Ireland, Germany, France Switzerland, Spain , Jamaica, Barbados, Bahamas Bermuda, Fiji, Seychelles, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri-lanka, Marius and the list goes on.

  6. Good point with a big ‘BUT’ Mbita! The problem is that you people only manage to serve yourselves and those close to you when in government. These issues could have been resolved strategically way back but you lot neglected that fact. Now you are coming out from your wood works to suggest something that right now would exacerbate tension in the country. Why not advise your Government filled up with equally selfish people to begin evaluating the value in the context of contribution to Zambia and strategically buy off the land that is not adding tangible value to our nation? And the twat from from Glasgow aka Mushota, is UPND foreign? Get off your high horse and think about Zambia instead of living on tax payers money in a foreign land. Go to work!

  7. Bupuba nobufontini for one to even think for whatever reason that a foreigner can own land in Zambia…..ninshi wats yo aim, to be squatters? Mbita, on this one u r a great son of Zambia, thumbs up, pantu this current set up, buututu of the highest order….

  8. Gallunia farms owned thousands of Hectors of land from Lusaka international airport all the way to Chisamba. Today the same gallun has sold thousands more acres to his kith and kin and remitted millions of $$$ here in the western world. What have achieved as a country out of such deals? Mbita is very right.

    • You may add that this Galu was given that land for free by KK. Now you Zambians have to buy it from him at a price he fixes himself. This pisses me off big time!!!

  9. The former diplomat is not clear on a certain number of points. First, the historical argument needs to be contextualized. There is need to go beyond a narrative. The narrative in itself without devising established and tested solutions is crying over spilt. One tested solution is compensation in cash and in kind. Or is a revenge genocide being suggested? Second, the call for land audit to inform land policy and land law is in itself not a bad idea. However, the implementation process needs to meet fundamental principles, including equity, justice and economic development. It is neither possible nor desirable for millions of people to own equal portions of land at any given time in their respective countries. If implemented, the suggested plan can cause chaos with even fewer new landlords…

    • If implemented, the suggested plan can cause chaos with even fewer new landlords substituting the relatively bigger number of former landlords. As for the successes and failures of the First Republic and Second Republic, the historians continue to do a great job of documenting and analyzing where they went wrong.

  10. I need clarification whether Lamise/Lamasat has bought the Kamwala Remand Prison. A larger % of developers are not those that originally acquired land from the State. It’s either from agents or other parties. Land is now only available when you deal with so called estate agents, soon we will have no land to even bury because large tracts are in private hands. Chalo nshi?

  11. Land is the most sensitive issue in any country.Nations,kingdoms have raided each other over land.It therefore requires a very balanced registration that should result in what Mbita is calling for.Land administration should be well articulated and organized not to become a conflict matter in the future or now.There are so many lessons around us about Land conflicts.Right now there are killings in Kenya over pastoral land.Zimbabwe is a good case study when land issues cause conflicts.Politics aside,it is morally right that government intervene in this land issue.This is a topic which should not pick political sides but be tackled with a united and sober approach.

  12. I think it’s only good to say foreigners should only Rent the land not to owner it.coz before we new it we gone be landless

  13. Land is a very sensitive, hence, it requires sober minded people to look into this matter. I think it is us Zambians who are culprits because we are more interested in getting commissions and not looking at the bigger picture. Today land is given to foreigners because they bribe everyone starting from the top to bottom. Even surveyors are bribed so that drawings are done quickly and with a blink of an eye, a title deed is out. No wonder, you will find undeveloped land in Zambia because everyone is waiting for Chinese to buy instead of doing farming. When are we going to develop with this kind of thinking???

  14. Thank you mr mbita for your idear, but we have one problem, this gavenment can not bling the chage that Zambians need, this govenment is controlled by capitalism system which allow those with power to control the government system’s

  15. Theres plenty of land in Zambia that lies idle.one reason Zambia is a poor is because we have not made good use of the vast land that we hv. If other people have the resources to develop the land let them come from wherever they are to develop our land. That’s economic development. they will never take the land any where.It will always remain here. We should appreciate that foreigners are helping us to develop our land. Many Zambians like Chitala himself don’t even have the money to buy land and do something meanigful with it. I am a Zambian and I own land in the USA and in Manchester-UK and in South Africa. Land is for people with money. poor people like Chitala cannot do anything with land. even for the fertiliser and seed to plant they have to be assisted by govt and these are the…

  16. Grab land and do what with it? Zambia has virgin land the size of half of France with no hope of development or what so ever. Its amazing how poverty is making some of you reason, Njala Imasabayilusa. Mr Mbita and your followers, develop infrastructures and creat jobs and stop propaganda against hard working people who have created jobs and development in the same land your Lazy self Know has always been there before the very foreigner you attacking purchased. Some Zambians and Mbita are Lazy, grab land and then what? You can’t even finish the road development project you think over night by grabbing land from foreigners you have made it in life? Away foreign land development is very much welcome

  17. You have hit the nail on it’s head, land should be taken away from foreigners. I’m not allowed to own land here where I’m. Please let it be in black and white and inshrined in the law that no foreigner can own land in zambia. Those that have helped foreigners acquire land dubiously and at the expense ofzambians must pay for betraying real owners

  18. Government of the day has been fore-warned. Already there is an element of land grabbing by political cadres, meaning, this issue is indeed already a problem. It is a time bomb. Time is now to do something about it otherwise nobody will be spared when the bloody bomb explodes.

  19. Land is always dear to nationals in any country but zambians love money and sell their land; i dont support the idea of getting back all land owned by foreigners; but igive credit to Mbita for bringing up this topic; we need new laws which will make it impossible for foreigners to own big pieces of land but lease limited land for 99 years

  20. I pose this question to Mr Chitala- after we grab the land and lets say its given to you sir and your children and grand children. Tell me how you will develop it. Do you have the money sir, I don’t think so. Many Zambians, sir, are just like you. they are penniless. what will they do with the land. just for maize seed to plant for food to eat they have to be assisted by the govt? Awe sure .

  21. @House Fly,Bane Chitala knows that the land we hold title to is “leased” to us for 99years.This is cheap politicking.

  22. No Mr Mbita, that is not the way to go.

    How much land is there in Zambia? Plenty.

    How many Zambians are really utilising it? Very few.

    So why get land from innocent people whom we gave land ourselves.

    There is no difference between them and us, the only thing is God decided that they were born from another country, but they are our brothers and sisters.

    What Mbits should be saying is that land must be repossessed from any individual who is found to have acquired it dubiously, whether he is a foreigner or a Zambian.

    Nationality should not be part of the criteria, but conduct and act.

    The blood flowing through you, Mbita Chitala, is the same as the one flowing through any other person whether Zambian or not, black or white, red or green, yellow or blue.

    • It is wrong doing that must attract redress, not nationality.

      What is wrong with a foreigner being given land legally? And what is right about a Zambian acquiring land illegally?

      Come on, we are in another age now not stone age.

  23. So sick and tired of these people that are living in the past. Zambia has got plenty of land to go about, do you know what they do not have, MONEY. You need MONEY to develop those lands so they can be viable and I’d rather have land used for commercial activities than it sitting idle.

    These guys from the UNIP days should stop trying to stop progressive policies. If UNIP was so great, why did they squander resources, destroy industry and put us in the poor state we are in today? UNIP lost with a 70% majority to the opposition, the highest in Zambia since multi partisan politics. That tells you that people disagreed with your policies.

    Land should go to whoever can provide the most economic benefit, land that is productive results in more tax revenue and job creation which results…

  24. I strongly support Mr Chitala, You don’t just give out land to outsiders the way it is happening in this country.
    land is symbol of power and influence, and that is what we are giving out. GOVERNMENT SHOULD CHARGE ANYONE FOUND FACILITATING FOREIGNERS IN ACQUIRING LAND WITH HIGH LEVEL TREASON.

  25. Grabbing, no. But if they persist in owning the land, let’s breed with their children and balance the scales. I, for one, feel that if the white/asian man can come here for out land the best revenge is to infiltrate their communities with mixed race children and dilute their dominance.

  26. House fly aka terrible unless you are a multi millionaire and get a pastoral lease for 99 years all land you buy on title in australia is yours and can be sold with you retaining the profit.. google is good even for illiterate bigots.
    Oh, my research has shown that your grave site is yours for only 99 years in australia….Maybe that is the plot you bought your own grave.
    99 years lease here in zambia is too long, why not give 25 year leases with option of 25 year extensions subject to proper development which benefits the nation

  27. I would agree with all those suggesting leasing the land as opposed to selling it, we might say we have plenty now, think of the future generation. These people are not getting small pieces of land they huge areas. I am sure even in Zimbabwe, at the time when they were giving land to whites, they had enough, but letter as the population grew, they discovered, bigger chunks of land were owned by foreigners. Unless we want to fight this battle in future then we can continue selling.

  28. Balance is required in all actions, how many investors in agriculture are we now going to attract when they exposed to ideas like this. They develop the kand create employment all the while waiting for zambia to go tbe path of zimbabwe.
    Why dont we concentrate on agriculture and take advantage of Uncle Bob’s behaviour and supply food to that buggered nation.
    Make their misfortune our good fortune. If we eventually follow uncle bob’s path who in the region is going to grow food for us
    Thingod gave us 2 eyes to see 2 ears to listen and 1 mouth talk…. use your senses accordingly

    • Masalamuso,
      Zambia should give land on lease not to sell it. Imagine where you are today, look at that flag, can you be allowed to buy even a piece of land for garden? If no why only in Zambia? Land is our identity and above all our future. I understand your point but we have to also consider our growing population as land is soon becoming scarce due to development.

  29. Wise words,these foreigners will pass on that land to their bloodline. Can an ordinary Zambian own land in India,Syria or Lebanon. Not possible,so why do we allow them to do so here.

  30. The government have themselves to blame. They are very bad at enacting and enforcing good legislation but very good at alarming people. These comments are intended to hype xenophobic behaviour for incompetence on the government’s part. Surely the government should have a record of who owns what and therefore put laws in place that will ensure Land is distributed fairly to citizens of Zambia? Most developed countries will not allow ownership of their Land to non-citizens. Corruption on the African continent is a curse we struggle to abandon. Perhaps if categorize corruption cases on the same level as treason then maybe we may start to see some change in attitude.

  31. Mmmmmmmm, after developing the land which they have been given for a long time, you want it to be grabbed from them; they have put on buildings, all these things you want to grabb….be realistic and fare in looking at life from the perception of putting yourself in to the siituation. The land was given to them undeveloped, they did and have done and are still doing goodness on these pieces of land and we come saying we own this land; we are the citizens of this land….aaaaa, if life has become difficulty it is not good to grabb somebody something you gave to him happily and in agreement.
    We survive through the co-operation of of others…..Zambia without other countries cannot survive. Life balances on the ecology system. These very foreigners are helping much the Zambian citizens…

  32. There are a lot of red tapes in acquisition of land by Zambians.It is so frustrating and time consuming.A foreigner gets land without any strings attached.Zambians will be subjected to an unnecessary interviews and meetings for them to acquire a piece of land.It is a big shame that councils treat Zambians with a suspicious look whenever they want to acquire land.
    If land administration is not handled properly,the generation to come will be in great problems.

  33. UPND chaps were rejoicing when marketing HH that he has a big house on an island in a foreign country – well if you think giving land to foreigners is bad , tell your HH to give up all his properties in foreign countries since he is a foreigner there just like these same foreigners you want to grab land from – otherwise keep quiet and learn!!

  34. The ‘socialist’ in Dr Chitala is back!

    This time I agree with you: land MUST be reserved for Zambian nationals, whether that is considered Xenophobic or not. LAND BELONGS TO ZAMBIANS. Foreigners MUST go back home and buy land in their home countries.

    In the USA it is “America[ns] First”…in France the recent elections seems to demonstrate a shift towards “French First”…in South Africa, it’s jobs and land for South Africans First…why should it be any different in Zambia?

  35. This is a planned statement to reinforce Zambia’s move toward the situation that is in existence in Zimbabwe.
    You choose an emotive topic which in turn galvanises pipo whilst distracting them from the real issues affecting their lives.

    Yes Zambians need to own our own land but dont let us end up like zimbabwe.

    When a magician does a trick with his right hand always look at his left hand

  36. I don’t know if this is right because Zambians have proven to be failures when one acquires skill and knowledge no one takes bold decisions to change our environment for the better.I hear a lot of Zambians bragging about their achievements academically but none of their achievements have been put to good use.I never hear of architects designing state of the art buildings this is just one example instead we continue to apply our skills in countries that least need them all in the name of bettering ourselves.Greed and lack of vision is our problem and this will require seriously changing our mindset.

  37. Only in Zambia can such a stupid thing can be allowed. Foreigners need to acquire land on lease not to own it. Thumbs up Dr Chitala, hope the government will not open its deaf ear to listen to your valid point because corruption is at the helm of top leadership. The issue of land is very important and politicians should attach importance when addressing it. Ask uncle Bob peshilya apo pa Zimbabwe how to deal with such messes.

  38. Only in Zambia do presidents think God is still creating nations for them to be selling land meant for its own people. Only corrupt government can be that reckless.

  39. how about we say let Government Buy back all the land… am sure these foreigners bought this land they just didn’t go about claiming it did they.. FFS.!! ..Issue of Grabbing back the land is not right.. in whatever sense you look at it and there is no way you can explain it to me that will make sense.

  40. I think people need to debate these issues very objectively. Mbita has brought up a topic that is very relevant to us as a nation. His analysis of the changing circumstances is a lesson for us. Take for instance a question like are our children going to dig into the history and see it fit to get back the land we have sold to foreign nationals? This is true to at least three Southern African countries including to day’s South Africa. The land Issue is an emotive issue and will remain so depending on circumstances. Is Zambia immune to this narrative now or in the near future? If we do not debate issues like this objectively we will sooner than later find ourselves implementing policies that our colleagues implemented light years ago!!. So let us not dismiss or simply accept these issue on…

  41. @at house fly just stood as an example to us all,he said he bought land in Australia which can be grabbed from him at anytime…..I think Mr mbita is not saying to completely grabby the land from foreigners,but be it like they are renting,they can develop,they do what ever they want but in mind they should know that this land belongs to Zambia not me……

    • In Australia the gov’t can not grab your land unless you fail to pay local council rates which also applies to Zambia as well.

  42. Anybody who has the capacity to develop any part of the 752 thousand square meters of land called Zambia must be allowed so. All you do is to up conditions that ensures that value from the arrangement is gained by Zambia.

  43. UNKNOW KNOWN ONLY TO PHIRI THATS

    THERE IS NO LAND IN CHINA COASTER AREAS SOUTH CHINA AND OTHERS FOR AGRICULTURAL AND MOST OF IT POLUTED AND NOT FIT FOR AGRICULTURAL AND CHINA HAS SEEN THAT POTENTIAL IN ZAMBIA SOUTHERN NORTHERN COPPERBELT EASTERN NORTHWESTERN TO SHIFT AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY TO ZAMBIA FOR EXPORT TO FEED 1 BILLION PEOPLE IN YEARS TO COME

    ITS TRUE THOSE AGRICULTURAL ZONES MUST BE CAREFULLY PLANNED AND GIVEN FOR THE BENEFICIAL INTEREST OF ZAMBIANS IN CONVENTURE WHERE ACQUIRED LEGALLY ITS FOR THEM AND TITLE SHOULD ACCRUE

  44. With due respect to Dr. Chitala, land in this country is under two systems; Statute and Customary. If my memory serves me right, land in the hands of chiefs and other traditional leaders is in excess of 70% and the State below 30%. All State land is in the name of the President and all “Land owners” with title lease the land from the President for 99 years after which by operation of the law it is mostly renewed. For anyone to own land he must qualify as provided under the Lands Act. So if you qualify, whether you are from Mars or whatever, you are entitled to that Land for up to 99 years from the date of issue of the lease.

  45. LET THEM FIND PRODUCTIVE USE FOR THAT YET TO BE ACQUIRED LEARN LESSONS AND GUIDE AS PER YATATA MBITA CHITALA AND REALISE THE LAND AGRICULTURAL DIVENDS

    ITS LATE THAN NEVER TO REALISE THE POTENTIAL IN WATER AND LAND FOR AQUA AND AGRO USE YET SO POOR ZAMBIA

  46. Please grabbing land from the rightfully owner is an evil act. If someone buys land using the rightfully institutions be it cadres, who are zambians, let that land belongoing to them till Jesus’s comes and forget about 99 lease Clausee. While the your demands make some sense but they’re vented toward the wrong people…we also own land elsewhere and actually have lived in other parts of this world but that’s not a food move. Let’s not put blame on innocent investors however you deem them right..we are a donor dependence country who cannot even process our own Minerals in our backyards

  47. Politics aside land is a contentious issue and must be handled with utmost care. The past weeks have seen the shooting of two white lodge owners in Kenya over grazing lands. Strike a balance where not all land is given to foreign developers and not all land is allowed to go to waste. Like it or not we need development and land is part of this development.

  48. Politics aside land is a contentious issue and must be handled with utmost care. The past weeks have seen the shooting of two white lodge owners in Kenya over grazing lands. Strike a balance where not all land is given to foreign developers and not all land is allowed to go to waste. Like it or not we need development and land is part of this development.

  49. Politics aside land is a contentious issue and must be handled with utmost care. The past weeks have seen the shooting of two white lodge owners in Kenya over grazing lands. Strike a balance where not all land is given to foreign developers and not all land is allowed to go to waste. Like it or not we need development and land is part of this development.

  50. The 1975 Land (Conversion of Titles) Act abolished freehold tenure and vested all land in Zambia in the name of the President. By virtue of this Act, nobody besides the president can own land in Zambia, the best anybody, Zambian or foreigner can have is a leasehold interest curved our of the president’s freehold for a 99 year interest. It is therefore most “stupidous of this failed red-lipped snake to claim that foreigners are owning land in Zambia. He just wants to stir up xenophobic attacks on foreigners in Zambia. By the way, guesse who was in Chiluba’s govt as a deputy minister when the Iturian pygmy Ka-shortie” ascented to the 1995 Lands Act 1995, Derrick Mbita Chitala! It was also Derrick Chitala’s own gun that miraculously disembowelled Dean Mung’omba’s wife in the dead of…

  51. …. the night after the two Mbala mafiosos parted ways! If there is any two lepers creeping the Zambian political landscape today that need putting out of their misery, its Mbita and Miyanda! And whatever whore he kissed that is turning his lips red must have given him a death sentence, I hope its the same on George Kunda kissed.

  52. Welcome to Zimbabwe. This sh!thole Lungu has created with his mentors Mugabe and Museveni is exactly what all you id!0t cadres wanted. You get what you deserve.

  53. For your information not all developed countries allow foreigners to own land.
    UK and Germany are exceptions and allow anybody to own land. But this was never the case. They did not allow wealthy foreigners to own land until recently. That is until their citizens were wealthy enough to compete with foreigners.

    Zambia is poor. If you let foreigners own all prime land what will your children and future generations find ??? Nothing.

    • so we should let PF cadres and this ugly lips man own the land? Zambia needs development, period. We cannot all just sit and eat nshima.

  54. Chitala this act was enacted when you were in cabinet, did you not see that it was in bad taste at that time?

  55. Holding onto land which you’ll never use is worse than keeping a woman when you know that you don’t have an erection.

  56. So you want to grab land and give it to the harebrained PF cadres? Or so you want to follow Mugabe’s Zim? If you want to be a populist, give the PF cadres your farm or hideous face for punching.

  57. This loser must be caged before he causes mayhem in Zambia. He was diplomat in Libya just for a few month and was fired by Levy for his loud undiplomatic mouth! No wonder he has red lips because what comes out of those lips is satanic. By the way, some people sometime back wanted him dead, are they still on that quest?

  58. It ia amazing why LT gives space to this finished politician and so called welensky economist. Now I know why: If Mushota can be allowed so much space from u.s.e.l.e.s.s. articles in broken english, what more articles from derek chitala???? It speaks volumes of LT.

  59. This is one ugly man, and those lips, yikes! He does not own an acre and now wants to blame foreigners. His father Mugabe must be very proud of him. Useless man

  60. Shocking and unacceptable. Only citizens of Zambia should be allowed land purchase. Agree that immediate laws be enacted to take back land sold by the Act. Those who took money for that land should be made to give it back to non Zambian foreigners so they do not lose out.

  61. Ba UNIP. Back to the land. Revisionist nincompoop morons should not be allowed. Does he not remember Maharaji and Winson? Special friends of Kaunda who should have special rights to own all of Zambia to make Heaven on Earth and diesel from grass… What about giving Zambians tenure over their own land? Was it FJT who removed that? I don’t think so. What a tosser

  62. Derrick Chitala (Mbala Mafia) has no direction. He was in the forefront of those MMD policies.

    He wanted to sale Zambia to Kaddafi but Mwanawasa fixed him. Now he is an unpaid PF vuvuzela.

  63. This guy should be smoking too much nowadays. I am just wondering who his supplier is. Just how does one at his level start thinking like that. What a shame of a creation.

  64. It is very sad that Zambians believe giving land to foreigners will lead to development or that there is plenty of free land in Zambia. I live in Botswana which has very few people ( 2 million on 582 000sq km) and yet you cannot get land as a foreigner. Namibia is no different. It is hard just to stay in these countries as a foreigner and they are doing far far better than” the most democratic” republic of Zambia.Did the developed country give land to foreigners to develop? Quite the opposite. Little wonder they say Zambians have the lowest IQ in Southern Africa.. Plenty of idle land, where is it? No patriotism whatsoever. Go to Lebanon or China or India and see if you will get an inch of land

  65. @32.1 chundai secretary general if you read my previous block you will see that i am advocating 25 year leases with options to extend if performance targets are met that benefit the nation.
    Yes foreigners can buy laand in australia, the have statutory body called the foreign investment review board
    Doubters Google

  66. Stupid idea that should be left alone if you ask me. Look at Zimbabwe they are running around like headless chickens, being disgraced everywhere because of what became of their country after grabbing land from foreigners. They dont even have money in their reserve bank and the Zimbabwean Dollar can’t even trade on the international market. Today those foreigners who came to Zambia from Zimbabwe, are now responsible for Zambia having surplus maize to feed even Zimbabwe and other nations. There are so many issues of important to concentrate on in Zambia right now and Xenophobia is not one of them. It’s unZambian, period. Perhaps what he can suggest is to put an end to this policy so that distribution of land to foreigners comes to an end. By the way, is it not under this same…

  67. You are wrong Mr Mbita your thinking is so low. America is developed because of the foreigners. before 1964 we were building houses with sewer lines after whites left today you are using soak way in all new houses there’s no sewer lines. All companies UBZ. Rop Zambia,Dunlop to metion few are no longer we have created employment in other country we failed to run this companies. sports creation facilities all are not working but Golf clubs were foreigners are active everything is intact. open your head and look back Mr Mbita

    • True and well said..! The West is developed because of the foreigners in their countries. London is run by Nigerians, Indians, Chinese, Zambians, Zimbabweans, Jamaicans, or West indies etc…..! Without these London is nothing. I live here and I know.

  68. The next thing will be that Lenjes are going to ask all other Zambians to leave Lusaka because that is their own land that God gave to them. Where is this all going to end? And these degrees they give people at UNZA, they actually make people more foolish! Chitala with Aka founded MMD but he failed to rise to Cabinet Minister until Chiluba fired his yellow redish lips! Then he founded Mbala Mafia al Qaida with his friend Dean whose wife he tried to disembowel leading to Dean forsaking the red lipped python! Then he crawed back to MMD where Levy felt sorry for him and sent him to Libya but given his loud mouth and overblown ego, he had oral s.e.x with Muammar al-Qaddafi leaving Levy furious and fired the red lipped one, on the sport. He campaigned for King Cobra but since the big snake new…

  69. nzelu za Derrick zabu mambala Number 1 so left him out in the cold. No that “njala ya munyokola” there he is now stirring up land xenophobia thinking that Lungu will say, “ha Derrick is very patriotic let me hire him as minister for patriotic and sansamccation fimo fimbi”.

  70. It is wrong for Veteran politician Mbita Chitala for proposed that Government must enact laws that will compel all foreigners currently owning land to surrender the land to the state. He should have said that Government must enact laws that will compel all foreigners currently owning unused or unproductive land to surrender the land to the state.Or else itwill be like in Zimbabwe

  71. Chibote Farm, York Farm, John Lange Farm were all taken from white farmers – go and see what is happening there now…! Missisi compound used to be a farm, land was subdivided to those who worked for the lady Miss…! See the state of it now.
    Galun farms – what has happend to that farm… iyee and you want more land
    the problem with half educated Zambians is that they think they know better. Dr Chitala where did you get your PhD from? Now you go back to Zambia and try and tell lies about the people that educated you? Mmm

  72. In the UK anyone can buy land or property, they just welcome you like their own. People from around the world buys houses in the UK and put them on rent if they do not want to live them. Or you can move to the UK and buy your land and property and live in it. Do not be told lies but those who go back to Zambia and try and rubbish the very people that gave them the papers they hold dear…!

  73. Banks are not Zambian owned – is this man going to ask government to get them from their owners?
    Vodafone is not Zambia – they stores and offices are everywhere on Zambian soil – what now?
    Stanbic, Barclay’s offices are on Zambian soil…!!!

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