Hope for stranded tobacco estate tenants
Kasungu district commissioner James Kanyangalazi says there is hope for people staying at Nthunduwala Camp to be relocated to a better place before the new farming season this year.
The camp, located about 70 kilometres west of Kasungu Boma, is home to 380 people who became homeless after being evicted in the tobacco estates they were working as tenants. They have stayed at the camp for 12 years.
In an interview on Friday, Kanyangalazi said they formed a task force to lead discussions with relevant authorities to identify land to relocate the people to.
He said: “Since 2015, there have been efforts to resettle the families somewhere, but we have not been successful for various reasons.
“It is unfortunate that these people have been at the place for 12 years. We at one point reached out to the Ministry of Lands to identify land for government to buy it. The land was identified, but there were no funds.”
His remarks follow a two-day meeting Kasungu District Peace and Unity Committee convened last week to discuss the bottlenecks that have delayed the relocation exercise.
The meeting ended with the formation of a task force to restart the process.
The task force chairperson Kate Chibwana Nkhata said they will lobby government offices to relocate the people.
She said: “The problem has been that relevant stakeholders have not been working as a team despite having the same goal. As a taskforce, we will ensure that we bring together all the stakeholders and work as a team.”
Malawi Peace and Unity commissioner Francis Mkandawire asked the task force to help solicit aid from well-wishers to buy foodstuffs for people at the camp.
