Wandale demands referendum
Vincent Wandale, who denies instigating a grouping agitating to grab land from a tea estate in Thyolo, yesterday stunned a packed courtroom when he claimed the land must revert to locals because it was obtained illegally.
The self-styled leader of People’s Land Organisation (PLO) appeared defiant and charged when he commenced his defence at Blantyre Magistrate Court which found him with a case to answer last week.
He asked for a referendum to hear out landless Malawians, saying the dispute was a geopolitical question.
“We are talking of colonial land ownership and it is not a secret that the title deeds obtained by Conforzi Tea Estate are fraudulent. Let anyone who is against us challenge us through a referendum,” said Wandale.
He denied the three counts of conspiracy to commit a misdemeanour, unauthorised use of land and criminal trespass.
He claimed to have power over all land under what he terms “the African Traditionalist Republic of the United States of Thyolo and Mulanje” whose headquarters is reportedly at President Peter Mutharika’s home—Ndata.
Wandale was detained early last month when a crowd invaded Conforzi Tea Estate to share idle land. He insisted the tea estates belong to the natives and their ancestors.
He argued: “We had no intention to commit crime, but to address by peaceful means the social injustice surrounding the land issue which the government of Malawi has failed to resolve despite many promises.”
He reiterated the calls for a lasting solution to the land row, asking estate owners to surrender all uncultivated land to “the neglected natives” to restore peace.
He claimed they were forced to form a new country because they feel government as well as the United Nations does not serve their interest.
He told the court that oppressed people do not need permission from anybody to claim their sovereignty, saying no one can force them to belong to a republic that does not represent their interests.
He drew the court’s attention to the unilateral declaration of the independence of Kosovo.
He asserted: “Even though we do not have our own police, army or administrative centre, we are still a State, Kosovo started from a scratch, look at where it is now.”
Farcically, he threatened to drag Malawi to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for detaining him contrary to the Vienna Convention on diplomatic immunity.
Senior Resident Magistrate Thokozani Soko has since adjourned the case to Wednesday when the trial will resume at the besieged tea estate.
