By Vincent Gunde
The Department of Physical Planning in the Ministry of Lands, has appealed to chiefs, political and religious leaders to encourage people in their respective areas on the need to register their land for certificates to claim ownerships.
The Ministry says Government has formulated the new customary land law after noting with a great concern that people are just selling their land illegally saying the new land law will protect their land and the will have ownership for the land.
Sensitizing the Dowa District Executive Committee (DEC) at a meeting held at the Dowa boma, the Department’s Senior Planner , Tapika Mwafulirwa, said the new customary land law will see foreigners having no chance to secure land as was the case before.
Mwafulirwa observed with a great concern that about 85 percent of land in the urban centres has been sold to foreigners illegally for mansions, shops and business premises leaving the owners of the land as refugees in their own soils.
He said DEC members being technical arm of the council has capacity to civic educate the rural masses on the importance of registering their land and have certificates to claim ownership of the land saying even if they die, the land will remain to be theirs.
The Senior Planner dismissed fears that the new customary land law will force the owners of the land to be paying tax to government saying the law has been formulated to empower an individual citizen to have ownership of his or her land and not to pay tax for his land.
Mwafulirwa said the new land law will give rights reserved to the owner to sublease his or her land to anyone for a period of 10 years but this does not mean that one can buy the land claiming that ownership is still with the individual because he has a certificate over his land.
’’The new customary land law has benefits such as secured land, rights over their land and certificates to show that the land belongs to them,’’he said.
He said similar activities were held in the area of Traditional Authority Mwansambo in Nkhotakota claiming that communities there after registering and receiving certificates for their land, are singing songs of glory that there land is protected.
The Senior Planner expressed hope that the songs of glory will be extended to the Dowa communities claiming that the people of Dowa and Nkhotakota are of one tribe and have similar cultures and traditions over their land.
He has since encouraged Malawians across the country to participate fully in this customary land Act registration to possess their land advising them that land is the only gold they have left by their forefathers hence a great need to register and protect it for future generations to cherish.
