President Edgar Lungu has urged the country’s well-to-do citizens to join Government’s quest to improve the living standards of chiefs.
President Lungu said it was disheartening that some traditional leaderships were living in squalor yet they had wealthy subjects within their chiefdoms.
“We are aware of the needs for palaces and transport for chiefs but due to the limited resources, the provision of these needs by Government may seem to slacken. So my appeal goes out to our partners in development to come on board and help us meet these needs quickly,” the President said.
The President said this when he paid a courtesy call on 10 Central Province chiefs representing Luano and Mkushi Districts.
Speaking through Chief Shaibila of the Lala people, the traditional leaders expressed concern about the delayed completion of three chiefs’ palaces under construction in the province.
The traditional leaders also complained about the lack of transport for chiefs, the slow pace of developing Luano District and some stalled road projects.
Among these were the rural roads connectivity project and the Piccadilly Circus Road which is expected to benefit six chiefs.
The traditional leaders also appealed for dams and boreholes for water resource provision.
The President said resources to complete the three palaces had been released and he would engage the relevant ministries about the pending projects.
He thanked the traditional leaders for acknowledging that the Government was doing something about improving their welfare and he would constantly monitor the pace at which projects were being implemented.
Mr Lungu urged traditional leaders to work closely with their area parliamentarians as a way of making their challenges known to the Government.
The President said Article 165 of the Constitution Amendment Bill Number 10 of 2019 was cardinal in addressing the concerns of chiefs around succession dispute resolution.
President Lungu said the proliferation of chieftaincy was of concern to the Government but the Bill was designed to cure the practice.
Central Province Minister Sydney Mushanga informed the president that the traditional leaders had been very supportive of Government’s development agenda.
Mr Mushanga said whenever called upon, the chiefs provided amenities such as land for Government to establish various infrastructure for use by the people.
Chief Shaibila, who is also Central Province Council of Chiefs vice-chairperson, urged the president to fund the surveyor general’s office so as to address boundary disputes in the chiefdoms.
The traditional leaders thanked President Lungu for the early distribution of farming inputs under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).
They expressed hope that the president would ensure that the Government responded swiftly to the challenges that they presented.
Joining chief Shaibila were; senior chief Mboroma and chiefs Chembe, Mukonchi and Chitina.
Others were chiefs Mboshya, Kaundula, Kanyesha, Mulungwe and Chikupili.
You lie …
Our chiefs are not business minded,they are not good business negotiators just like the current crop of politicians we have in power, that’s why China is phucking us up on every trade deal just like the Europeans and Americans have always done, how do you give out land in your area for toll gates and not negotiate for a certain percentage to go to your Royal trust fund, how do you give out land to foreign investors and not be partner in that investment? Our chiefs are a let down, only mukuni seems to be business minded, him can’t beg for a palace or car. Its time chiefs started issuing land tenure papers in traditional land equivalent to title deeds and every year people would be contributing some land fees to the Royal trust funds, just like we pay for land rates for titled land. Wake…
Chiefs should not have been put on salaries in the first place. It has just led to more problems. Chiefs should be encouraged to work hard just like the rest of us.
They have a lot land which they are selling to illegal investors. Why can’t they venture into farming unlike ghem asking hardworking citizens to start making food donations.
There’s a problem concerning the traditions of some of our chiefdoms due to superstition. In some tribes, it’s considered taboo for a successor chief to occupy the palace of a deceased predecessor. As a result every new chief has to hv a new palace. Now who can afford that? Who took away the power of senior traditional rulers to select junior traditional rulers? These chiefdoms are older than both Northern Rhodesia and its successor Zambia. Wht right did the Zambian government hv to interfere with the tradition it found and without being asked by the chiefs themselves?
Piccadilly Circus Road?………..No comment!
I concur with Lazi that chiefs should not have been put on a salary and how can subjects who contribute through taxation to their salaries again be asked to give extra? This should not arise at all and that it should concern the president when his government promised to construct palaces is rather surprising! Chiefs need to be innovative as some are to help themselves as they can no longer rely on subjects suffering insurmountable hardship. Well at least my chief kale aikete line such that the most deprived in society, needy widows and orphans in the chiefdom are catered for by his palace! Government decision to add chiefs to the payroll made them lazy and dependent! They are not even any longer very necessary to their subjects if not only…
The chiefs have little influence on voting these days and keep on giving them brown envelops.
PF MUST GO!
Let the wealthy subjects run the chiefdoms! Some Chiefs have reduced themselves to parasites on their subjects. The glory of Kings is having wealthy subjects!
Mr President is meddling again in traditional affairs! Wealthy subjects don’t owe poor chiefs a living! If anything, let the wealthy subjects take over the Chiefdoms because they will create wealth in those villages! When some of these chiefs receive brown envelopes and gifts, do they share with their subjects or they eat alone?
It’s not only disheartening ba kateka but also embarrassing to see subjects of these villages doing well in urban areas but forgetting where they came from. I do not know why the diasporan are commenting when in fact these upnd angry diasporan fail to send money for just salt to their poor relatives. Diasporans we are not referring to you. We know the upnd diasporans are poor. Keep your coins
Let the wealthy subjects run the chiefdoms! Some Chiefs have reduced themselves to parasites on their subjects. The glory of Kings is having wealthy subjects!
Mr President is meddling again in petty traditional affairs! Wealthy subjects don’t owe poor chiefs a living! If anything, let the wealthy subjects take over the Chiefdoms because they will create wealth in those villages! When some of these chiefs receive brown envelopes and gifts, do they share with their subjects or they eat alone???
Is it a crime to be rich?
Now I understand why this man hates rich people!
He is suffering from inferiority complex!
Rich subjects don’t owe their chiefs a living!
This is cheap and petty village politics!
Is it a crime to be rich?
Now I understand why this man hates rich people!
He is suffering from inferiority complex!
Rich subjects don’t owe their chiefs a living!
This is cheap and petty village politics!
Truly Paranoid!
He is referring to you bamwankole… yes Chitimukulu PF subjects are feeding him.
Why’s no one asking why the PF government passed a constitutional amendment that took away the power of senior traditional rulers to supervise selection of junior chiefs?
Edigar is a Thief a BIG MWANKOLE, a Criminal and a voucher. Please ba Watchdog can you bring back the hidden knews about Ms Wendy Kanyanta, a widow who was on broad day light ECL robbed of K40, 000 in 2009 that lead to his (ECL) legal suspension. UPND PLEASE BE PRO-ACTIVE AND MAY YOU TELL THE NATION THAT SUCH A PERSON WITH A CRIMINAL RECORD CAN NOT BE A LEADER. WHY ARE YOU NOT BRINGING THIS TO THE ATTENTION OF ECZ AND ZAMBIA TWASEBANA. ITS ONLY IN ZAMBIA WHERE A CRIMINAL WITH THEFT RECORD BECOMES A LEADER WITHOUT SHAME.
HAS HE EVER CLEARED HIMSELF THAT HE DID NOT STOLE SUCH AMOUNT OF MONEY FROM A WIDOW? KABOLALA NI KABOLALA AND HE HAS NO SHAME TO SPEAK TO THE PUBLIC ABOUT HIS OPPONENT WHO IS INNOCENT. BA HH PLEASE BE LIKE KAMBWILI. WE ARE READY TO DEFEND YOU AND ZAMBIANS NEED YOU TODAY…
@Aristotle, your sentiments are very demeaning. You know that there’s no Chief nor Royal Establishment that issues or is involved in the issuance of Business Permits or Investment Licenses or Title Deeds. The people that have failed us are so called technocrats. Chief Musele was cajoled to sign documents for Kalumbila Mine in the night, please acquaint yourself with the Kalumbila land dispute. It’s not Chiefs that have allocated Zimbabwean farmers land in Mkushi that have displaced the locals. Chiefs haven’t authorized commercial farmers to fence off water and firewood sources, even their submissions during Environmental Impact hearings are largely ignored. They don’t collect levies nor royalties. Please spare me the anger
Putting Chiefs on salaries has been the genesis of problems , such that they behave like civil servants were they feel entailed to everything despite been custodian or closer to the resources. What chiefs must doing is taking advantage of the local resources like land to push for development . Instead of crying to government every time
@KZ (The President’s Advisor to LT Bloggers & the Diasporans) please note that Chiefs can’t survive on charity. Every settler within the boundaries of a chiefdom is supposed to pay a levy to that respective Chief. That’s how chiefdoms operated from time immemorial. The Law Government Act has now taken away that authority. Emmanuel Chenda and Wynter Kabimba who are both students of the King Cobra can help formulate the policy on Native Authorities. It’s not too late to ask these gentlemen to assist come up with a policy that’ll ensure that Chiefs stop looking to Central Government for everything. Chiefs are doing so much daily in villages where they have to guide people, sometimes they don’t even have stationery. Please let’s support them
Ayatollah, it’s because Chief Musele is too unsophisticated to be chief in modern times. He didn’t even know wht power he had so he couldn’t exercise it in the interest of his subjects whn he was subjected to pressure from international corporate interests with their lawyers. The chief only to rely on the counsel of village pumpkins.
THERE’S A DIFFERENT TAKE ON ALL THIS.
WHY DO WE NEED CHIEFS WHEN WE CONSIDER THE MISERY THEY CAUSE THEIR SUBJECTS?
CHIEFS SOLD THEIR PEOPLE INTO SLAVERY.
EVEN TODAY HOW MANY CHIEFS TALK ABOUT THE WELFARE OF THEIR SUBJECTS?
CHIEFS ARE A RELIC OF FIEFDOMS AND SHOULD BE ABOLISHED. WE HAVE ELECTED MP’s WHO DO A GOOD JOB.
WESTERN PROVINCE IS UNDEVELOPED BECAUSE OF THE ARCHAIC TRADITIONAL LEADERSHIP PREVAILING THERE.
It is because your only care about your pockets and bank accounts .The only time you think about chiefs is when there is an election because you want them to influence people to vote for you .
@Mwine Mushi, easterners are generally jealous people. Nibaka lijo ma guys aba. Mfiti zilimbwe ku eastern. Elo futi zilibe vision mbava izi. Show me any successful CEO from eastern in Zambia, nkani niuka bwalala chabe. Rupiah stole a lot of money from govt treasury, chap should be in jail at this point. Ni mbava izi. Truth is easterners are not Zambians, nima Malawians and Ngonis are from SA, hence they lack sense of ownership over public assets. Just plunderers and leeches!!! Any wonder ECL is developing property in Eswathini? That is their home ba fi colour.
When I take over from the Kindergarten politics of ECL and HH, I will remove all chiefs from government payrol and abolish / degazette all chiefdoms!
These Archaic primitive Fiefdoms are holding Africans in their primitive past of tribal wars! This One Zambia One Chipata nonsense we see in ECL’s Apartheid regime must be nipped in the its filthy bud before we are consumed in tribal wars! See how some lazy, primitive, tribal, divisive poor chiefs are openly practising partisan politics, lining up for brown envelops, scrounging for a living from off the sweat of subjects of other chiefdoms they readily discriminate against. We have a new generation of Zambian children who don’t give a rat’s a*ss about these primitive arrangements with a dark slave trade past. Why should we continue…
There’s traditional leadership in the UK, in Japan, in Belgium, in Norway, in Denmark and yet these are modern nations that were not held back by their royal families. I do agree that our chiefs can do better but abolishing them would rob us of our ties to the distant past.