In one of the country’s high-profile land cases, the High Court sitting as a Constitutional Court in Blantyre yesterday dismissed a petition in which Pacific Limited challenged provisions of the amended land laws.
The privately-owned firm argued that the Land (Amendment) Act, 2022 and the Customary Land (Amendment) Act, 2022 violated constitutional property rights and unfairly affected land ownership and administration.
have locus standi. | Nation
The case centred on amendments introduced under Malawi’s land reform programme, which sought to modernise outdated colonial-era land legislation.
Through lawyers Mordecai Msisha, SC, and Bright Theu, Pacific Limited sought to have the disputed provisions declared invalid, arguing that the amendments unfairly restrict property rights and discriminate against certain groups, particularly non-citizens.
However, in dismissing the petition, the three-member panel of High Court judges ruled that Pacific Limited had failed to demonstrate sufficient interest in the matter.
The court further found that the company, jointly owned by a Malawian and a British citizen, failed to prove it owned any land in Malawi or that the contested laws had infringed its property rights.
According to court records, Pacific Limited claimed to own 143 leasehold and freehold properties in Malawi.
In a unanimous judgment, Justices Jabbar Alide, Chimwemwe Kamowa and Dick Sankhulani upheld the government’s position that the contested provisions were validly enacted and served the purpose for which they were intended.
The ruling means the disputed provisions remain in force and will continue to govern land administration, acquisition, registration and ownership in the country.
Among other changes, the amended Land Act prohibits the sale of vacant land and requires such land to be developed within two years, failing which government may reallocate it to another developer.
“We conclude that the present matter be dismissed in its entirety on the ground that the claimant does not have locus standi,” Alide said while delivering the judgment.
Attorney General Frank Mbeta, who represented the Ministry of Lands alongside lawyers Neverson Chisiza and Francis M a c J e s s i e , welcomed the ruling, saying the court had agreed with the State’s position.
“The judgment has hinged more on the fact that Pacific Limited did not produce any evidence p r o v i n g that it owns any piece of land in Malawi and that these laws would affect any of its property rights,” he said.
Mbeta said the ruling also recognised the importance of the reforms in strengthening land management, including enabling rural communities to administer customary land through established committees.
He said: “People in rural areas should be able to distribute land among themselves using their committees, and that will prevent foreigners from occupying prime land while local people remain without access to such land.”
There was no immediate comment from Pacific Limited’s lawyers after the judgment.
During the hearing, Mbeta argued that the amendments were introduced to address longstanding concerns over the country’s land laws, which stakeholders had criticised as rushed and flawed when first enacted in 2016.
Government enacted the new land laws in 2016 after years of consultations aimed at improving land administration, tenure security and equitable access before introducing further amendments in 2022.
The legislation established a new framework for land registration, customary land management, and procedures governing land acquisition and transfers.
