Friday, March 29, 2024

Over 800 displaced farmers by an investor complain of police harassment

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Bwana Mkubwa Member of Parliament Hon. Jonas Chanda.
Bwana Mkubwa Member of Parliament Hon. Jonas Chanda.

The Over 800 displaced farmers in Ndola’s Chichele area have appealed to government through the area Member of Parliament, Jonas Chanda to tell the Police to stop tear gassing them whenever they try to seek audience with Golden Lay Limited, an investor that purchased the piece of land they possessed for many years.

They wondered why they are allegedly being harassed when instead, they are the ones who are supposed to be protected and helped to have their land back.

ZANIS reports that the farmers said they are peaceful people who are only fighting for that which belongs to them which has been unlawfully grabed from them.

And speaking through their representative Abraham Manda, the families have vowed not to relent on the matter until justice prevails.

Mr. Manda said the farmers have suffered a lot and have called for quick intervention from government, stating that, it is heartbreaking to see Zambians suffering at the expense of foreign investors.

Meanwhile, Dr. Chanda has urged the affected farmers to remain calm and trust government in the matter.

He said the families should equally understand that police officers are only deployed to maintain law and order where unruly behavior immerges adding that, they should not take the law in their hands.

The Bwana Mkubwa Parliamentarian said he will soon write to the Vice President, Inonge Wina to consider relocating the farmers through the resettlement scheme programme.

He added that, he is upbeat that the Vice President’s Office will quickly look into the plight of the people who he said have the right to own land just like many other Zambians.

The families are sitting on a 2964 hectares of land which was later sold to a foreign investor, Golden Lay Limited without their consent.

And Golden Lay Limited General Manager, Stephan Feinberg acknowledged purchasing the named piece of land by Golden Lay.

13 COMMENTS

  1. South Africa is busy fighting for land to be given to it’s people Zambia is busy grabbing instead of empowering those farmer ..50something yrs after independence. Thus third world leadship mentality .give back that land to our people.aluta continua!!!! Fight for your land .

    • I hope you didn’t support the USA over our sending back Mr Tendai Biti to Zimbabwe. Because Trump is planning to punish South Africa over the issue of appropriations of white owned land. I have brought in this because you Zambians want to oppose the government on anything even going to support foreign countries who plan to punish Zambia. Back to the point. ..the whole thing has been created by political compromise. Anyone staying on any piece of land must ensure they have titles or some papers to confirm the land in question belongs to them. Otherwise people should be stopped from settling anyhow if we have to avoid problems in future.

    • If you think that Lungu cares about ordinary indigenous Zambians, then you’re really naive. This guy has neither care nor respect for his own people. His administration has completely failed to come up with clear land policy that protects the indigenous Zambians. By the time Lungu gets out of office, Zambia would’ve completely been sold to the highest bidder. While South Africa is grappling with how to give land back to their indigenous people, Lungu is doing the exact opposite. Grabbing land from the indigenous Zambians and giving it to foreigners. How do you sell land that indigenous Zambians have occupied for decades, without first relocating them to another agreeable place? Or why you didn’t just empower these Zambian farmers, instead of unjustly driving them off their land? We want…

    • (continued)… foreign investors in our country. But not at the expense of the indigenous Zambians. INDIGENOUS ZAMBIANS SHOULD COME FIRST—BEFORE ANYBODY ELSE. That’s how all countries work in the world today—except in Africa. If you go to Japan, the Japanese people come first before any foreigner. Same thing with China. Same thing with European countries. Only in Africa are foreigners given preferential treatment over indigenous black people. Ignorant corrupt African leaders don’t understand that Africa is the only place in the whole wide world where black people hope to have some dignity and respect given to them, as they are usually discriminated against and mistreated almost everywhere else in the world. In India black people are treated as the lowest class. In Brazil black…

    • (Continued)… people are discriminated against even though they’re the majority population. In America black people are discriminated against, and sometimes even killed on the streets by cops for no good reason other than just being black. And all these blacks in diaspora assume that blacks in Africa do not face racial discrimination as they do. Unfortunately that’s not the case. Greedy corrupt African politicians have no respect for black Africans, and do not hesitate to mistreat their own people, so they can please foreigners. These indigenous Zambians were treated like they’re second class citizens—in their own country. The powers that be took their land without having any proper negotiations with them. When they try to complain, the police get called in to teargas them. Where…

    • (Continued)… on earth is a black person going to be given the dignity and respect that he deserves, like everyone else, if he cannot find it in his own country? Please stop mistreating our people. This is very shameful.

  2. Mr MP, where you as govt not supposed to relocate the people to another place before you could sale their land ? Learn something Zambian leaders , you are behaving way more backward than any country. All things, be it services or products are sold at higher price to you than they would be bought in another country. Other countries are redistributing land to their people , you , it’s opposite . Preposterous!

    • For your own information, this piece of land was not sold by government. The sale was a private transaction but as usual, squatters and those with no information want to blame the government. Government will take up the responsibility to resettle the squatters only because they are citizens and it has a duty to take care of its citizens.

  3. On the Kalulushi Sabina road a Chinese bought a piece of land to set up a plant for treatment of the black mountain slug. After receiving and spending the money the former own complained that he was underpaid. He with the support of local residents influenced the closure of the plant until the matter would be sorted out. After one week the locals turned against their friend for closing the plant because their children who had been given jobs by the Chinese owner of plant had no work and therefore no money was coming. Who’s to blame here?

  4. Jean Kapata needs to streamline the buying and selling of land. Land is our heritage and first economic resource, it can’t change hands anyhow, like you’re selling motor vehicles. Of late Zambians have suffered the indignity of evictions and demolitions from both govt and private entities. Some demolitions have occurred at very awkward hours without taking into account what people have spent on putting up their shelter. If our people can’t be respected in their own country where else will they be? It’s very shameful and inhuman. Edgar please redeem our people

  5. I HATE this SYSTEM of selling LAND to FOREIGN investors AND Eviction of INDIGENOUS people,who could have OCCUPIED their dwelling place for many decades.Its surprisingly that EVEN so called traditional leaders are in front line SELLING land at a give a way price to Asian indigenous. SAD and SHAME.

    • “Woe (judgment is coming) to those who devise wickedness And plot evil on their beds! When morning comes, they practice evil Because it is in the power of their hands. They covet fields and seize them, And houses, and take them away. They oppress and rob a man and his house, A man and his inheritance.”

  6. Surely, even if people are squatters how do you move in at 01, 02 or 03.00am with bulldozers in the name of enforcing the Law? It’s a blatant failure of leadership. Don’t just be eloquent at justifying mistakes or hailing insults at your political opponents, treat our people with dignity. FTJ’s legacy of selling council and parastatal houses to ordinary Zambians will never be erased, he created a permanent middle class. Our people deserve better than what we’re witnessing

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