Dare To Dream

By Pamela Mumbi, IJM Zambia Field Office Director

Like many in my country, I long for service-driven leadership that will ensure public systems work for the people. I have dreamt of a time when people will have access to vital services, not because they are rich and powerful or because they have influential connections, but because they are in need and deserving of the service.

Attorney Pamela Mumbi (left) meets with an IJM Zambia client.

For those who work in legal aid, the tendency is to focus on the big criminal cases – assaults and aggravated robbery – and as a result, the widows and orphans who often fall victim to illegal land seizure, or property grabbing, are seen as secondary. In my country, Zambia, as in many other nations faced with similar problems, most people feel there is nothing they can do. But in our work at IJM Zambia, we know that these cases are of the utmost importance, because it means caring for a part of our community that is often forgotten – and because the loss of land or livelihood following the death of the family breadwinner is crippling for these families.

In my past work with underprivileged women and children, I found that when people knew their rights, they would report an abuse to the relevant authority. But what followed after filing the report varied from case to case. Some victims found help, while others, usually the very poor, did not.

It was therefore with great joy and excitement that I learned that IJM intervenes on behalf of victims of property grabbing and sexual offences against children in Zambia through legal casework, promoting structural change in the various public institutions designed to protect victims' rights.

Making a Difference

Tomaida, 21 years old, lived with her mother and stepfather, her 8-year-old sister Natasha* and her 6-year-old brother Mwewa* until their mother's death in 2004. For the next two years, Tomaida helped her stepfather look after her younger siblings in the house bought by her parents. But in 2006, Tomaida's stepfather died, and before long, his mother and brother, Lovemore, came to the house and demanded that Tomaida leave. Though Tomaida had been adopted by her stepfather, his family refused to accept her as part of their family. Under persistent pressure and humiliation from her stepfather's family, Tomaida was forced to leave the family home and her two younger siblings.

Tomaida (left) and her younger siblings now live in security in their family home.

The house Tomaida's parents had left for their children was stolen by their stepfather's family. Lovemore lived in one part of the house and rented out the other part, turning the money over to his mother instead of providing for his brother's young children, Natasha and Mwewa. Though Lovemore let the two younger children stay in the home, he treated them harshly, verbally abusing them and denying them full meals. Natasha stopped going to school because no one could pay for her tuition, and eventually, she and Mwewa ran away to live with Tomaida in her small, one-room home.

Like thousands of other victims of illegal property seizure in Zambia, they struggled to meet their most basic of needs after this theft. Without property or land to generate an income, Tomaida struggled to secure money that would provide for the young family's food, education and medical expenses.

Tomaida and her siblings sought help and reported their situation to the local authorities. They also went to the local court. But nearly a year after filing the reports, they were still unable to get back into their home. A social welfare officer of the Ministry of Community Development referred the family to IJM, as our office assists many victims of illegal land seizure.

IJM's initial conversations with Lovemore failed: he denied the children's right to their own house and hired his own lawyer. Lovemore's attorney realized that the law was on Tomaida's side and urged an out-of-court settlement, but Lovemore continued to challenge Tomaida's claim to the land. The case was moved to a higher court before all sides came to an agreement: Tomaida would move back into the family home as her parents had intended, and a portion of the house would be rented out to help the young family with expenses.

A Secure Future

The past few years have been difficult, but Tomaida reports that the family is doing well. Tomaida is able to provide for her two young siblings by renting out the other portion of the house, and both Natasha and Mwewa have returned to school.

People are beginning to believe that there is a system to protect them in times of vulnerability.

Many like Tomaida, Natasha and Mwewa have suffered from property grabbing, a crime that deprives the defenceless of the few possessions or, in Tomaida's case, the only possession they have. Property grabbing is not limited to one class of people; the rich take from the poor, the poor from the poor, men and women from widows and orphans, and grandparents from their own grandchildren.

IJM Zambia is making my dream of a justice system responsive to Zambian law and the needs of the poor a reality by training and working closely with the police, both in property grabbing cases and cases of sexual violence against children. The training sessions with the police have been well-received and the police themselves have asked for more such training.

We have also held many community training sessions to educate Zambians about their rights. Dealing with individual cases of abuse and bringing legal aid to victims case by case is not enough on its own. Communities must be aware of their rights in order to prevent the abuse from occurring in the first place. Communities are beginning to take the crime more seriously, as they learn through IJM training sessions that property grabbing violates both civil and criminal laws. And it is more than just the provision of new information – these training sessions engender a shift in the way widows and orphans are viewed in our communities. People begin to believe that there is a system to protect them in times of vulnerability. A woman will understand her rights after these training sessions. She will be educated about relevant laws and empowered to protect what is hers.

What a great honour it is to be part of a team that seeks justice, defends the orphan and pleads for the widow, and at the same time endeavours to impact and change the public justice system intended to protect people like Tomaida, Natasha and Mwewa.

This work takes a lot out of our team, but it is most gratifying to greet a person who has walked for miles and miles to reach our office in search of a lawyer, to provide her with free but excellent work, and to see the light in her eyes when she gets her property back. We know that God works through us, and He has given us the opportunity – the privilege – to make a difference.