Africa-Press – Zambia. Senior chief Muburuma of the Nsenga-Luzi people in Luangwa district is concerned that the benefits of tourism in the lower Zambezi have not trickled down to his people despite much of the Game Management Area being in his chiefdom.
Chief Mburuma says lodge owners are taxed by Kafue council even by lodges that are in his chiefdom, in Luangwa district adding that there is a need for the local people to benefit from lodges in the area.
“There is a need for us to also benefit from such ventures because we are the owners of the land,” he said.
Speaking when Lusaka Province Minister Sheal Mulyata paid a courtesy call on him, the traditional leader also charged that some of the lodge owners in the area tend to be rude then locals.
Chief Mburuma said there is need for government to intervene and ensure that the foreign lodge owners learn to co-exist with the owners of the land. Meanwhile, the traditional has appealed to government to ensure that mining in the lower Zambezi is formalized to create jobs for the local people.
Chief Mburuma said that his chiefdom does not have employment opportunities, a situation which has seen many youths engage in illegal charcoal burning.
“Charcoal burning can only be curtailed when there are alternative income-generating ventures,” he said. And Mrs Mulyata said that government wants to ensure that development is rolled out to all parts of the country and that rural areas also benefit.
She stated that this is why the government increased the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and is implementing the decentralization policy to ensure that the local people decide their priority areas of development. The minister said that the local people should form cooperatives and venture into lucrative business ventures through the CDF.
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