Angry people from group village head (GVH) Kapesi, Traditional Authority (T/A) Kachere in Dedza on Friday stormed the district commissioner’s (DC) office, accusing their GVH of selling their land to Dedza District Council.
The villagers stormed the office after police rescued the GVH whom they wanted to beat.
In an interview, one of the villagers, Vincent Macheya said they were surprised to see their land being advertised by the district council.
He said: “Our chief has sold our land without our knowledge. He has already sold a land that accommodated 3 000 people.
“We saw posters on trees and noticeboards advertising our land.”
Macheya said when they asked him about the matter he failed to give a satisfactory answer.
He said they use the land for cultivating various crops that they sell to get money for their families.
“We urge the council not to sell the land,” said Macheya.
On his part, GVH Kapesi said the sale of the land started in 2017 and his subjects are aware of it.
“I called village heads in my area to brief them about my intentions to sell the land, but the village heads did not show up for the meeting,” he said.
When addressing the angry villagers, Dedza DC Emmanuel Bulukutu said the matter will be discussed on Wednesday next week. He has since appealed for calm.
