“WE may be poor, but we deserve better.”
These were the words of Solwezi Catholic Diocese Bishop Charles Kasonde in his opening speech at the three-day North-Western province Chiefs Indaba held recently in Solwezi.
In truth, the theme was: “Our Land, Our Future” but you would be right to say the deliberations at the indaba were centred on the eight worded sentence by Bishop Kasonde.
The indabe which was convened by Caritas Zambia with support from Swedish faith based organisation Diakonia under the Strengthened Accountability Programme (SAP) attracted about 24 chiefs and representatives from Solwezi, Kalumbila, Kasempa, Mufumbwe, Manyinga, Kabompo, Zambezi, Mwinilunga and Ikeleng'e districts.
The SAP which is now in its second phase aims at advancing the rights of women, men, the poor and youths to hold duty bearers accountable and to demand improved service delivery and sustainable use of natural resources.
It also seeks to enhance target media’s ability to produce programming that improves duty bearers; accountability and responsiveness to rights holders’ demands for improved service delivery, sustainable use of natural resources, gender equality and corporate social responsibility among others.
And that is exactly what was being advanced at the indaba.
North-Western which in other circles is referred to as the new Copperbelt is endowed with many natural resources that range from natural water bodies, forest reserves and mineral wealth among others.
But despite all the wealth and potential, the province is still regarded as one of the poorest in the country.
It is on this backdrop that Bishop Kasonde urged duty bearers to trade cautiously and only allow development that benefits the people, while promoting peace and justice in the region.
“I am not saying we become enemies of development but we pay attention to what sort of development that enhances us and improves the lives of many people and not a few with egoistic tendencies," he said.
Bishop Kasonde said there is need to guard jealousy the land resource because not all investment can benefit the people.
He said duty bearers should embrace development which is appreciated by the people and benefits the local communities.
"I encourage you our traditional leaders to continue being proactive and work with the Government in safeguarding our cultural heritage, land and environment for the sustainable ecological well-being of our people," he said.
North-Western Province boasts of many sources of Rivers that run their waters throughout the year because of the environment that has been well preserved but are now under threat from industrialisation.
"Due to development and industrialisation, our land may remain vulnerable and susceptible to the depletion of forests, excavation of River sources and rampant degradation of our environment," he said.
Chief Ishindi of the Lunda speaking people of Zambezi district suggested for a mechanism that allows for chiefdoms to have a 10 per cent stake on taxes collected from mines in the region.
Whether that is feasible or not, the suggestion was backed by other chiefs, including Caritas Solwezi projects officer Lewis Miyanda.
He suggested that chiefdoms push for a law that will enable them to own shares in mining companies in the region as opposed to depending on corporate social responsibility programmes to improve the livelihoods of people in communities.
Mr Miyanda said passing such a law will give chiefdoms a sense of ownership to their natural resources.
"There is no way you could be living at the mercy of the mine investors through corporate social responsibility. These natural resources belong to you and your people," he said.
The chiefs also petitioned Government to prioritise the awarding of mining licences to local communities to enable local people benefit from their God given natural resources.
The chiefs wondered how some mining and exploration licences are issued without their consent.
They urged the Government to only issue mining and exploration licences to prospecting investors only after consent letters are given by the chiefs and communities have agreed to the proposed investments.
"While the Ministry issuing these licences is in Lusaka, we only receive documentations which we are expected to sign. In such cases, various chiefs have been robbed off their land," they said in a communique read by Chietainess Nyakuleng'a of the Lunda speaking people of Zambezi district.
"We are concerned about the lack of a prescribed criteria for the issuance of exploration and mining licences which disadvantages potential investors that could bring meaningful development to the host communities because the dormant investors hold on to licences for too long without doing anything," they said.
The chiefs are dismayed with assertions that they consent to selling land to foreign investors.
This came as a result of Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) North-western provincial principal inspector Morrison Songwe cautioned chiefs against consenting to certain projects without consulting.
He said: “The problem is that some of you agree to these developments before the implementation stage, making it difficult for us to act once the project has been approved already.”
But in the communique, the chiefs argued, saying: “How can we be accused of selling more than 250 hectares when we are not allowed to do so. We the chiefs understand the need for our land which is our birth right and that of our children that will live on it for years to come."
How about the gold rush in Mwinilunga?
It is real!
Chief Chibwika’s representative Isaac Mungwala said the situation in Kasenseli village has normalised after the deployment of over 45 police officers to the area to keep vigil.
“We do not need any investor from overseas to come and get the gold and leave without our people benefiting,” he said.
Chief Musele of Kalumbila district advised Chief Chibwika to source for a mining licence to permit the chiefdom to mine the gold legally, for the benefit of his subjects.
“That gold is yours! Just follow the guidelines of the law and start mining it because what we should be discouraging is illegal mining,” he said.
From the deliberations and with the words of Bishop Kasonde still echoing, it is clear that most of the chiefs in the region feel they are getting a raw deal from the mines and the natural resource endowment in the region.
Senior Chief Sikufele of Manyinga district bemoaned the bad state of roads and bridges in his area despite having many investors in the area.
“We don’t even have any Government girls’ school in the province apart from Mukinge Girls Mission Secondary School which is a Catholic school. This is not right,” he said.
The chiefs also urged mining companies operating in the province to be consultative and prioritise the needs of the people when implementing corporate social responsibility programmes.
Government on the other hand expressed concern on the increase in land wrangle cases in the province.
In a speech read for him by assistant secretary Beatrice Muyambango, North-Western Province permanent secretary Willies Mangimela called on chiefs to ensure proper land management and administration to avoid the land wrangles as they push for better deals.
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