LandNet appeals for quick enactment of land laws

LandNet Malawi has blamed government for taking long in enacting Land Amendment Bills that were proposed in 2006.

Speaking in Lilongwe on Friday when he met government officials on the status of the proposed bills, LandNet Malawi board chair Robert Kafakoma said the absence of land amendment laws has negative impact on Malawians who cannot afford land at expensive prices.

“Civil society, through LandNet, proposed land-related bills to the government in 2006, which have not yet been passed into laws. What we want is to send a message to the government to pass the land-related bills into Acts.

“Poor Malawians are failing to access land as the rich are buying and acquiring land at their expense. Even widows and children in the villages are suffering with no Act available to provide full land ownership,” he said.

Kafakoma said non-Malawian citizens are accessing land and building without restrictions.

“Non-Malawians who come to this country are allowed to invest as long as they are in partnership with a Malawian citizen. However, because of poverty, Malawians are selling their land to these non-citizens, leaving a lot of Malawians with no land to access.

Chief land officer Kamuna Kanthukako, however, said the proposed bills are at Cabinet level.

“It [takes] a long process for a bill to be passed into a law. As of now, the proposed land bills are with the Cabinet and will soon be brought to the Parliament for debate,” he said.