Blantyre District Council lands registrar Isaac Bisiwisi says the registration of land in Traditional Authority Kunthembwe in the district will help to end land disputes in the area.
With support from World Bank-funded Malawi Watershed Services Improvement Project (Mwasip), Ministry of Lands is implementing a land registration exercise in T/A Kunthembwe and part of T/A Chigaru in the district.
In an interview on Monday, Bisiwisi said they expect to register over 25 000 land parcels in all targeted group village heads (GVHs) in T/As Kunthembwe and Chigaru.
He said the exercise is expected to resolve land disputes, encroachment or boundary disputes and stop wanton selling of land.
l Wisdom Chirombo
Said Bisiwisi: “We started with sensitisation meetings at district council level, village development committees and area development committees. We also facilitated the election of customary land committees in GVHs Mzigala, Imbwa, Kunthembwe, Gwadani and Majora.”
Community member Nangulo Mandani, 37, from GVH Imbwa in T/A Kunthembwe welcomed the exercise, saying she is a victim of land grabbing.
“When my husband died in
2000, his relatives took away household property and the customary land where we used to grow crops,” she said.
Mandani said she grew up appreciating that land is a key asset for sustainable livelihoods and economic development.
“Land registration, therefore, will protect widows like me from losing land,” she said.
Customary Land Committee member Clifa Selfasio from GVH Kunthembwe said the committee oversees the land registration process and regulates customary land-related disputes, among others.
“Records show that each week, at least four land-related cases are reported at village level; as such, we are hopeful that the exercise will end the disputes,” he said.
Selfasio said the ministry will issue land certificates to land owners once the registration is over.
