Zambia Media Critique

The case of civil society and land policy advocacy in Zambia… By Bruce Chooma SINCE the attainment of independence in 1964, Zambia has failed to put in place a comprehensive land policy. All land reforms after 1964 were triggered by specific needs at each particular time. A lot of concern is rising from various quarters inside and outside Zambia on the dwindling voice of civil society in Zambia’s governance space. Such a strong voice is necessary to hold government in check and accountable to its people as it is a conduit for the amplification of citizen voices. This article seeks to reflect on the strategies employed by civil society over the years in championing the rights of Zambians to access and control land. This is premised on the fact that, the land question is essentially what the fight for independence was about. That the land is the heritage of the Zambian and generations of Zambians to come must be assured that concrete steps were taken to preserve their land fo...

By Bruce Chooma On my recent visit to Zimbabwe, I took time to attend an exhibition of the Chibondo Genocide at the National Heroes Acre in Harare where liberation heroes are buried. The exhibition was put together by the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe. It’s a story of how in April 2011 Zimbabweans awoke to a rude shock when hundreds of bodies were discovered stashed in a disused mine. According to Rumbidzai Bvira, a historian and curator of the National Heroes Acre, the Chibondo (formerly Monkey William mine) exhumations were carried out in the context of giving former freedom fighters lying in shallow graves and disused mines, decent reburials. The exhumations brought sadness across the country as bodies kept coming out mostly of freedom fighters. It is believed the extra-judicial killings were carried out between 1972- 1979. However the episode having come just before a general election then was a subj...