Dowa family pushes for land compensation

A family in Dowa District says it is struggling to get compensation from government for its four hectares allegedly allocated to the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) in Mvera in 2018.

In an interview yesterday, one of the family members, Willy Chogadama Tembo alleged government through Mvera Combat Support Battalion took over their farm without compensating them.

“Our land, valued at K200 million, is 15 kilometres from the battalion. We inherited it in 1950 from our forefathers,” he said.

Tembo said the family was not consulted on the takeover and was surprised one morning to see beacons installed in their farm.

“Later, we received an invitation from Traditional Authority [T/A] Chiwere to meet at the farm where we were asked to stop farming and harvesting fruits and wait for compensation from government,” he said.

However, Tembo said since then, the family has been to MDF, Dowa District Council and the Office of the Ombudsman to push for compensation.

Responding to a questionnaire, MDF spokesperson Kelvin Mlelemba said MDF does not handle land issues.

“The Department of Lands acquires land for us and they are well versed with compensation issues,” he said.

Dowa District lands officer Lezius Banda denied any knowledge of the issue, but T/A Chiwere confirmed holding discussions with both the family and MDF on the matter.

“The family filed a complaint to my office demanding compensation for their land. I then held discussions with the two parties and we also visited the land in question,” said Chiwere.

He said MDF pledged to involve authorities on the matter.

When contacted, Office of the Ombudsman spokesperson Arthur Semba said they traced the matter and the information they got was that the issue involved customary land.

“In that regard, it is the district commissioner that has to resolve it. As such, it was referred to Dowa District Council for their action,” he said.