Council, farmers tussle over 360ha land
At least 800 farmers from Nantipwiri in Thyolo District are defying the council’s decision to evict them from a 360-hectare (ha) they are cultivating.
The farmers claim they were given the land by former president Joyce Banda on November 7 2012 at Chisawani School Ground, Bvumbwe, in the district.
They have since vowed to “die fighting” while the council insists that it owns the land and has documents to prove its case.
Nation on Sunday’s attempts to confirm the claims with Banda on Friday proved futile as she was out of reach.
But the council’s intentions to develop the land have since ignited fury among the farmers who have on numerous occasions confronted and chased officials from the piece of land.
“We have invested our sweat, blood and tears on this land. We cannot let the council take the land away from us just like that,” said the farmers’ vice-chairperson Dennis Nanthumba on Friday.
He claimed that when the former head of State allegedly gave out the land, located between Nantipwiri Fuel Service Station and Chigumula Market, she also gave local residents another piece of land behind Bvumbwe Market.
Nanthumba claimed that Banda stressed that the land should be fairly distributed to the farmers, considering that much of the land in the district is taken up by tea estates.
The farming households that have since benefitted from the allocated land are from traditional authorities (T/A) Kapeni, Bvumbwe, Chimaliro, Tomasi and Senior T/As Ngulube and Magi.
Speaking on behalf of the traditional leaders in a separate interview on Friday, Don Lazarus Lambulira, who is group village head M’maliha, said they have tried to engage the council on the matter but to no avail.
He said: “Why does the council want to evict us at this point? All along the people have been benefiting from this land and now they just want to take it away from us?
“Where do they think we are going to go from here?”
When asked what they would do if the council proceeds to evict them, Lambulira said: “We will die fighting.”
His sentiments were also echoed by Hussein Chiwanga, another representative of the farmers.
When asked if they were given documentation pertaining to land ownership, the farmers, however, acknowledged that they were not.
On Friday, the farmers held a demonstration close to the land, carrying placards in protest of the council’s decision to evict them.
However, Thyolo District Council spokesperson Yamikani Yapuwa said on Friday: “If they are aggrieved, they can go to court. Otherwise, there is no proof that the land belongs to them because they do not have documentation to show for it.”
She also confirmed being chased by irate farmers alongside officials from the Ministry of Lands.
On July 16 2024, the farmers had an audience with Ministry of Lands Principal Secretary Davie Chilonga, Thyolo District Council officials and police officers from the South West and South East policing regions, Limbe and Bvumbwe.
