Senior Chief Musele of Kalumbila District in North Western Province has advised government not to issue a title deed for Trident Mine as the mining giant has failed to fulfill its initial obligations in the area.
This is after the First Quantum Minerals -FQM-operated Mine applied to government through the Ministry of Lands and Natural resources to put thirty-eight thousand hectares for surface rights and five thousand hectares for township expansion on title.
Chief Musele says before the Mine started mining, they agreed on constructing decent accommodation for those who were resettled in 2013 to pave way for mining activities.
Speaking during a community meeting with Lands and Natural resources Minister Elijah Muchima and North Western Province Minister Robert Lihefu, Senior Chief Musele said the land that the mine is seeking to be on title is vast and should NOT be allowed to be in private hands.
And Mr. Muchima said government will not ignore the input of traditional leaders in making key decisions regarding development.
The Minister said government values the input of traditional leaders as they are partners in development.
Mr. Muchima said government wants local people to start benefiting from the natural resources.
Meanwhile, FQM Country General Manager, Kingsley Chinkuli said the mine will continue negotiating with government over its development.
Who gave trident the said vast land?????
Was the demarcation done at night!?!?
So its NOT just VADENTA, but you have a company in its helm is a High Profile ZAMBIAN – Former Army Officer and Former Diplomat !!
Mr. Chinkuli, One would expect him to understand the Zambian people needs, alas ! he is doing the same things that YOU criticise foreign companies for.
The chief didn’t get his cut as agreed.
Hello someone please tell me where we get these rankings or titles from? Senior Chief. Does this mean there are junior chiefs? And why Paramount Chief? Most of these titles are from colonialists and we happily adopted them
@4 In some tribes these titles were enshrined in their traditions. A good example is the Luba-lunda group and Zulus from which the ngonis came from. When the white man came he added these titles but the hierarchy was already in place. The lozis also have this structure. But there are some groupings that have adopted this system. These are the ones where you have wrangles over who takes over or they can’t agree on who should be the senior or paramount chief.
The land they want is way too big. The best is for the township land to be under the Council not the Mine. They should not get more than 200 hactares of land. Its way too much
#1 TIA, get to know the history of the mine. It was 1st owned by Mr Chilufya Kazenene who once served as Chingola MP and Minister in the MMD. It was after he sold the mine that trouble began. The new owners fanced off the whole area and displaced many, in some cases even graves were exhumed without the consent of the families. This put Chief Musele at loggerheads with his subjects as he was accused of betrayal. I hope Muchima won’t shy away from addressing these injustices
The government and the mines made the chief to sign the surface right at night and threatened to kill me it was not even some thing to talk about and this same mine operates without a title deed. The chief was not paid any amount of money till to date all the evidence required is there so everyone is welcomed to come and see hear for him self
#7 Albert Muzeya… did the agreement include something for the Chief? If so the Chief, should have insisted to be paid before signing. Nobody was going to kill you.
First Quantum Minerals (FQM) has noted with concern the media reports of criticism by the Honourable Minister of Lands Elijah Muchima and Senior Chief Musele.
The company noted the historic grievances that were raised but expressed dismay that the remarks had the potential to undermine the new spirit of partnership and investor confidence engendered by President Hakainde Hichilema since the announcement of FQM’s intention to invest an additional US$1.35 billion in North-Western Province made earlier this month.
Through its Trident Foundation, the company relocated 597 households when it began development of its Sentinel Mine at Kalumbila in 2013.
All legal requirements were fully complied with and all qualifying community members were fully compensated in accordance with the…
The Chief cut a deal but then wanted more after the first deal. It is important to educate our chiefs. Sad story. Your morals cannot erect only after a bad deal.