By OLIVER SAMBOKO
TONGAs have differed on the petition to President Hakainde Hichilema and Parliament over the 1950 displacement of the 57, 000 indigenous inhabitants from the Zambezi River, as others have complained of being sidelined on the issue.
Some Tongas were forced out of their land by the British South Africa Company imperialists who sponsored the lake Kariba Dam hydroelectric during the 1953-1959 Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland which fell apart in 1959.
Recently, a group led by Moses Haaketa petitioned the Head of State and Parliament to consider engaging the British government and the World Bank with a view to seek compensation and repatriation of those willing to return from Zimbabwe where they were forcefully settled by the colonial government.
However, Mr Mweembe Silumamba said in an interview that the petition on the 1950 displacement will overshadow efforts to have a new province which the people in the area have been demanding for a long time.
He warned that failure by the petitioners to withdraw the petition and table it to all affected families before taking it back to the President, will result in people in the area to ask their members of Parliament from the valley not to entertain the issue when it is tabled before the august house for consideration.
