Chief Naluama of Mazabuka has issued a stern warning to Namwala Member of Parliament, Major Robbie Chizyuka and his Indigenous Rights
Committee to stop sowing seeds of discontent among villagers earmarked for resettlement by Albidon Zambia Limited, Munali Nickel mine.
The Chief told ZANIS in Mazabuka today that his warning should be taken seriously to avoid embarrassment.
Chief Naluama said he is disappointed to learn that Major Chizyuka decided to address an illegal meeting in which he allegedly incited villagers to resist the
resettlement programme and refuse to move to the new housing units built by the Mine.
The Chief said he is aware that the some opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) Members of Parliament have teamed up to frustrate the investor
from carrying out construction works after their bid to throw away the application to approve the 2,100 hactares of land during a recent full council meeting failed.
Chief Naluama said he will not allow lawlessness to take root in his chiefdom by enemies of development.
The traditional ruler also questioned which people Major Chizyuka and his Indigenous People’s Rights are claiming to represent when they do not even hail from his
chiefdom.
Chief Naluama advised Major Chizyuka not to waste his time misleading people because the stage at which the resettlement programme has reached was irreversible.
But Major Chizyuka said no one has got the right to stop him from protecting disadvantaged communities.
He said he has instructed villagers affected by the opening of the mine not to accept to be resettled at the new farmland bought by the mine.
Meanwhile, Mine Manager, Sixtus Mulenga expressed disappointment at the level of frustration from the opposition UPND.
Dr Mulenga said the investor is there to open up development adding that the mine management has not violated any law to deserve such harassment and intimidation.
He expressed shock to learn that a meeting had been called without the knowledge of the mine, chief and local government leadership.
Yesterday villagers of Mugoto area in Mazabuka District of Southern Province expressed anxiety about their possible displacement by Albidon Nickel Mine which is
seeking to expand its business interest in the area.
Speaking on behalf of the villagers in Mugoto today, Indigenous People’s Rights Association Chairman Joshua Ng’andu expressed worry that the expansion of mining
operations by the Australian mining company would dislodge the villagers.
Mr. Ng’andu said the further expansion of mining operations would be to the disadvantage of the local community.
He said although Albidon Nickel Mine is a welcome investment, steps should be taken to ensure that the villagers are not disadvantaged.
Mr. Ng’andu said long-term interests of the local community should be taken into account by both the mining company and government authorities.
He said the mining firm should demonstrate its social responsibility by ensuring that the livelihood of the villagers is taken into account.
Mr. Ng’andu lamented that over 2000 villagers risk being displaced by the expansion of the mining operations in the area.
He said the villagers, who are largely pastoral farmers, risk loosing their herding-land and their crop fields thereby threatening their household food
security.
Mr. Ng’andu further lamented that the villagers would also loose their investment which they pumped into the building of their homes and other structures.
And Namwala Member of Parliament Major Robby Chizyuka said Albidon Nickel Mine, an Australian company, did not have the right to displace the indigenous people.
He said the expansion of the mining operations would inevitably dislodge the villagers and force them to relocate to water-logged areas, which are not habitable.
Major Chizyuka said the interests of local communities should be top of the agenda of any investor wishing to invest in any locality.
He said issues of compensation and social responsibility should be cleared before an investor seeks expansion of their business interests.
KANO NGA EBO!!!
Hey learned men of Zambia… are we just going to be opposing anything just because we are in the opposition? We were ,initially, told that the the people affected are happy with the resetlement package, the chief has welcomed the move, the president is in the fore to see the project comence so what is the big deal Bwana Chizyuka? You guys, the so called parliamentarians, are so blank and daft with no single ideas of how you are going to develop your constituencies. And now people want to come up viable projects which will benefit the masses but you still want to stand on the way so that you are seen to be effective at the expense of the ignorant poor villagers. By the way, Chizyuka, do you kown how much Nickel fetches on the world market? I expect you to check the figures before you can raise some more dust over this viable project.If ,perhaps, you have anything better than this project quickly share it with us otherwise you better shut your mouth.
mwenipabo mweiche, u should learn to see, judge and then act.the so called investors have done more harm than good to the local people.KCM is an examle. These white dudes are interested in money nothing else.building houses for the villages is a good thing.
pls share your facts with us about the conditions offered to villages.
check my english.
For the past 10 years i have failed to understand African politics. Greedy people have continued to rule. Chizyka i know you don/t stay in the village, you are enjoying the GRZ money and you are talking useless. You want the people in the villege to be disadvantaged, man this is development, at list new brick houses are built, better than they had before, they have a place near which they call ku nchito. this company has provided employment for the people. Bwana Chizyuka if this company goes are going to build good houses for these villagers and give them nchito. Mungo bwata bwata chabe palibe na vamene mudziba. Durin election time you were promising people employments, but know you are denaying them. I think you have fail your work, let someone who is competent replce you. To you the oppositions if you truely LOVE mother Zambia, it’s time you come together with the ruling party and make a 20 years strategical plan in development, but if you dull like Chizyuka, it better to tie a big
stone around your neck and throw you in the Kafue river , You have no use to the local people. Hey man this is reducing rural-urban migration. I hope they will open others mines in Eastern , western and southern provence.
Gentlemen let’s not laugh loud about this thing,we must be cautious the way we do these things cos it involves people.To begin with Albion has not submitted an environmental impact assessment to ECZ and this could prove otherwise,the recent pollution of Kafue river by KCM must act as a basis about the kind of investors we have. Building displaced people houses is not enough, many factors must be taken into account for long term impacts.ECZ is still waiting for that document in the meantime some one was busy shouting at others to go to hell.I bet the MP could have a reason to present his fears,I for one no longer have respect for these investors cos of corporate greed, if this is allowed to continue with flaws in it , some stupid govt official at some stage will come and tell us that contract they signed is above the law.Fellow Zambians we have gone thru thin and thick,let us treat these matters seriously, let us not become myopic like before
We should give the invetor the chance to develop southern province.The land were is over grazed and over populated such that the animals have to been taken to Kafue river basin in summer,due tio insufficient grazing grass,i welcome the initiative as long as the displaced farmers are given better alternative arable land.When you talk of investing in the infracture structure by the farms am surprised that to date some Zambian do not know that we have not developed our home stead for proper dwelling.If the investor is offering betterhome stead than it acceptable.Lets support the Chief and his People for the betterment of the area.
I wish to respond to a set of coments by Mwinebapo Kellies and Cosmas UK and to thank Chilumba Francis Ngosa and Kafula Bwalya for their objectivity and confidence. Firstly I am not in any way peturbed by the Chief’s atterances. I have come across that sort of thing in our fight for the land astride Kaleya river which Zambia Sugar wanted for itself at the expence of the Indigenous people of Kabanje. The Mwanachingwala Conservation area project we defeated it in similar manner. There was also the Mbeza irrigation project which was to have displaced thousands of people from their prime cattle grazing area. Mpongwe, Bangweulu and others are similar examples of our fights for the rights of indigenous people. Fortunately for us we have always been successful.
By the way as a young person ascending the ladder to wisdom, you should begin to worry more about what you have not heard in a speech than what you might have heard. The map of our country Zambia at the pedical is what it is today because of a Zambian Chief who sold that land to King Leopold the 2nd For a set of shiny things and bottles of whisky. The Belgian King knew there was a lot of copper, gold and cobalt in the bowels of the earth. The Pedical is now part of Congo DR. The descendants of that Chief exist today in zambia. Yet Zambia is minus the pedical. Beware!, I warn you of people with clothes like batterflies.
Coming now to the issue of the indigenous people of Mugoto and the Nickel Mine: Did you know my dear youngsters, that the giant mine in Mufulira sits on surface rights of 500hectares only? I supose you may wish to ask yourself the Question, Why does Abidon want so much surface land rights when they already have more than 80 square kilometres of underground rights. Why should we as Zambians give them an extra 2,100 hectares when they have not extracted a single ounce of nickel and yet Mufulira mine which is currently operational and employing thousands of Zambian workers sits on only 500 hectares? Try giving yourself some answers.
The point I want to drive home in your little heads is that the Indigenous Peoples Rights Association is not entirely against the nickel mine. What we object to is their expansionist imperialist attitude of desiring an extra 2,100 hectares even before they extract an ounce of nickel.
Furthermore, you know the story of Chief Nkana of the Copperbelt. The Senegalese and Malians came to mine precious stones in his area. Those foreiners are now some of the world’s rich people. I understand from someone who has been to Senegal that there is even a street called Nkana Street in Senegal named after our good Chief, which street is lined with tall buildings built from emeralds money obtained from the bowels of the earth in Lambaland.
Today, when you go to Chief Nkana’s Palace, the road is not tarred, he still uses candles for lighting in a poorly built delapidated structure refered to as the palace. His once beautiful landscape is littered with open holes which once served as emerald mines.
Come on young people. Come and join the Major in the non enviable fight for the rights of you the indigenous people. It is not about the price of an ounce of nickel. It is about your dignity and the dignity of our ancestors who soujouned on that land many centuries ago to give us the rights to the land we now claim.
Indeed, the issue is about concessioning that land to the Indigenous people of Mugoto so that they the people of Mugoto can continue to earn royalties from the mine in such a
manner that generations of Mugotians shall continue to to earn from their land for the entire life of the mine. We do not want another Nkana or Kabwe in Southern Province.
Maj Robbie M Chizhyuka, MP
Namwala Constituency and
National Chairman
Indigenous Peoples Rights Association.