By Patricia Kapulula

Lilongwe, August 15, Mana: Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC), Colleen Zamba has appealed to public servants to ensure that there is zero tolerance to fraud and corruption on land issues in order to ensure that there is order in land acquisition.

She was speaking in Lilongwe on Tuesday during a Sensitisation and Awareness Meeting of Directors in Government on amended land laws.

Government, through Ministry Lands is presenting updates to different stakeholders on the amended land laws following an outcry from different stakeholders and the general public on the passing of the bills into law by members of Parliament in 2016.

Zamba said land is a cross cutting issue hence the need for everybody in government to understand the amended land laws and its key provisions.

“One of the key provisions in the amended act is that you do not grant land to foreigners without investment. There is need to assess land owned by foreigners to ensure that it is indeed being used for investment,” she said.

Foreigners can only own land for investment purposes and certified by Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (MITC).

Zamba, therefore, said the provision is not a fight against foreigners but to make sure that land is being used for its intended purpose.

She said in any place there are protocols that need to be followed hence the need to enforce law in order to have sanity.

“There is need to assess land owned by foreigners to ensure that it is indeed being used for investment. So, at some point you have to monitor and make sure that the right things are done.

“An industrial area should be an industrial area and not otherwise. If someone has built houses on an industrial area then they should be demolished because it is not in accordance with the law and to what the country has planned,” said Zamba.

Ministry of Lands Principal Secretary, Davie Chilonga said the ministry has targeted directors, particularly those who deal with land matters, so that they understand the current provisions in the land laws as enacted in 2016 and amended in 2022.

The targeted directors were drawn from ministries of Agriculture; Mines; Local Government, Unity and Culture, Trade and Tourism.

“The idea is that as the ministries are implementing their functions they should be able to follow what the law is providing. This would expedite the processes they undertake so that they have results as expected by the public,” he said.

Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture Director of Chiefs Administration, Charles Makanga said the amended laws are a departure to the old laws hence the need to put in place instruments and structures for smooth implementation of the laws.

“In customary land act, the law has established that we should have land tribunals and land committees at group village headman level to adjudicate or give land to indigenous Malawians. We will have tribunals at village headman, traditional authority, district and national levels,” he said.   

President Dr Lazarus Chakwera directed that all land related laws be reviewed. Following the directive, Ministry of Lands embarked on the review process which led to the passing of the Land Amendment Bills in March, 2022.

The amended land laws addresses issues of sale or grant of land to non-citizens, sale of customary estate, payment of application fees by citizens when applying for a customary estate and the role of traditional leaders in the management and administration of customary land, among others.