Women’s Legal Resource Centre (Wolerc) on Thursday sensitised selected traditional leaders from the Southern Region to the proposed Land Bill from a gender perspective.
Wolerc executive director Maggie Kathewera Banda said much as the Bill might have shortfalls, Parliament should pass it in its next sitting because, among others, it empowers both men and women.
Landnet Malawi national coordinator Yvonne Mmangisa said the objective of sensitising the chiefs is to share information on what the current one contains as part of land reforms in Malawi.
“Malawi has been using an old Act [1967], but when we adopted a new land policy in 2002 implementation was proving difficult because there was no corresponding law.
“What we are doing is to explain to the chiefs what is in the new Land Bill and what changes are in the Bill. We are doing this regarding the importance chiefs play in the administration of land in the country,” said Mmangisa.
Three organisations namely Wolerc, Landnet and Farmers Union of Malawi are advocating for a gender sensitive land law to address women and men’s concern.
Paramount Chief Lundu from Chikhwawa described the meeting as an eye-opener considering that chiefs are custodians of land, but their mandate
is slowly fading as foreigners acquire indigenous’ land.
