Attempt to Sale the Land was Revoked by the Royal Land Commission that Cancelled Earlier Consent Granted
CLARITY ON THE PUPORTED SALE OF MWALULE IN CHILINDA OF ULUBEMBA
[Chitimukulu Palace, Chitimukulu)
….On 13 May 2026, the two pieces of land were presented to the 3rd Ordinary Council meeting of Chinsali Municipal Council for the purposes of the conversion of leasehold….
6. At the time Village Headman Chitaba gave away the land, Chief Nkweto assented, and the application for conversion was presented to Chinsali Council, these transactions were both contra legem (against the customary law of UluBemba) and contra bonos mores (against good morals of UluBemba).
MUNGWI-19 June 2026]- The Bemba Royal Establishment wishes to bring to the attention of AbaBemba and the general public the following:
1. The Bemba customary law of land, as recorded in 1915 by Mr Cullen Gouldsbury (a District Officer in Northern Rhodesia, writing in the July 1915 Journal of the Royal African Society Volume 14, Number 56, on page 377] is The general principles of the [Bemba] Law of Land are as follows:-
(a) All land is the absolute property of the Paramount Chief, and, under him, of the
Territorial Chief. In practice, the individual commoner enjoys the usufruct, although the Territorial or Paramount Chief retains the right to dispossess him whenever he desires to do so.
b)Land is not owned by anyone but the Chief. It is worked by the individual for his own benefit.
2. During ‘Icilye ce Lamfya’ of 14th March 2025, Mwinelubemba Chitimukulu Kanyanta-manga ll introduced safeguards against indiscriminate sale of land in all the territories of UluBemba.
He instituted the Land Commission, headed by Senior Chief Nkula, as the sole organ of UluBemba for assessing applications for conversion of leasehold.
This instruction is by its nature a part
of the customary law of UluBemba. It was reiterated during the 02 May 2026 lcilye ce Lamfya
2. All their royal highnesses in UluBemba, the Permanent Secretaries of Muchinga and Northern
Provinces, the councils in districts of Muchinga and Northern Provinces (where we have Bemba
territories), and the general public were invited to /cilye ce Lamfya
3. On 15 December 2025, Village Headman Chitaba under Chief Nkweto in Chinsali gave away
250 hectares of land to Evans Hichilema and another 250 hectares to Nang’andu Hichilema
for agricultural use. The land is supposed to be wholly in Chitaba Village of Chief Nkweto. The
village is near Mwalule Royal Cemetery but is not part of it.
4. On 18 December 2025, the site maps for these two pieces of land were generated and Chief
Nkweto assented to them.
5. On 13 May 2026, the two pieces of land were presented to the 3rd Ordinary Council meeting of Chinsali Municipal Council for the purposes of the conversion of leasehold.
6. At the time Village Headman Chitaba gave away the land, Chief Nkweto assented, and the
application for conversion was presented to Chinsali Council, these transactions were both
contra legem (against the customary law of UluBemba) and contra bonos mores (against good morals of UluBemba).
Therefore, all the agreements that have been done between the recipients of the two pieces of land and the village headman (and subsequently the chief and the council) were invalidated by the existing Bemba customary law
7. On 22 May 2026, Senior Chief Nkula as Chairperson of the Land Commission and the most senior Bemba royal domiciled in Muchinga Province summoned the recipients of the land and Village Headman Chitaba. Chief Nkweto was invited.
Senior Chief Nkula notified the recipients of the land and Headman Chitaba that the transaction was both contra legem and contra bonos mores. Chief Nkweto of Chilinda withdrew his assent.
Therefore, AbaBemba and the general public are hereby informed that no piece of land in Mwalule has been sold or given away. In fact, it cannot be sold or given away by anyone because it is a very sacred territory that has mechanisms for self-preservation against desecration.
Some land in Chitaba Village near Mwalule was given away outside the provisions of Bemba Law of Land. The application for this land to be lawfully given away has not yet been received by the Land Commission of UluBemba.
