Government is yet to assist 15 homeless Kasungu families whose
houseswere set on fire due to land disagreements.
According to witnesses, about 30 heavily armed police officers hiredby
Monica Makamu who claims for about 140 hectares of land set ablazethe
houses on July 12.
"We were each give 3 minutes to remove our belongings but they
couldstop us and handcuffed my husband before burning down the house,"
saidLucia Banda, a mother to four children.
In the process, Banda who is also a Banki Mkhonde Treasure, said
shelost K536 000 and some valuable assets.She added that on top of
that, they set on fire a tuck-shop after.But eleven days after the
incident, the affected families are yet tofind place to call home.
"The children are being kept by well wishers while us as parents
wesleep on veranda's due to place shortages," she said.
Kasungu South West parliamentarian Alex Meja said he was
discussingwith the assembly officials to see how best they can assist
thepeople.
"I discussed with TA Lukwa and as we wait for legal assistance, we
arealso Looking at how we have to help the families to have
temporaryshelters," said Meja after giving the families some
monetaryassistance
The district's Assistant Human Resource Officer Isabella Chakhame
saidthe issue is being looked into at the assembly level.
According to Chief Lukwa, the disputed land now belongs to
thevillagers after the lease which Monica's parents expired 10 years
ago.
"When she came to me for some advice, I said if they still want
theland, Makamu should start all over again to renew the lease but
wasastonished to hear that she hired police officers to burn the
houses,"he said.
houseswere set on fire due to land disagreements.
According to witnesses, about 30 heavily armed police officers hiredby
Monica Makamu who claims for about 140 hectares of land set ablazethe
houses on July 12.
"We were each give 3 minutes to remove our belongings but they
couldstop us and handcuffed my husband before burning down the house,"
saidLucia Banda, a mother to four children.
In the process, Banda who is also a Banki Mkhonde Treasure, said
shelost K536 000 and some valuable assets.She added that on top of
that, they set on fire a tuck-shop after.But eleven days after the
incident, the affected families are yet tofind place to call home.
"The children are being kept by well wishers while us as parents
wesleep on veranda's due to place shortages," she said.
Kasungu South West parliamentarian Alex Meja said he was
discussingwith the assembly officials to see how best they can assist
thepeople.
"I discussed with TA Lukwa and as we wait for legal assistance, we
arealso Looking at how we have to help the families to have
temporaryshelters," said Meja after giving the families some
monetaryassistance
The district's Assistant Human Resource Officer Isabella Chakhame
saidthe issue is being looked into at the assembly level.
According to Chief Lukwa, the disputed land now belongs to
thevillagers after the lease which Monica's parents expired 10 years
ago.
"When she came to me for some advice, I said if they still want
theland, Makamu should start all over again to renew the lease but
wasastonished to hear that she hired police officers to burn the
houses,"he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment