Solid as the rock: Mutharika speaks tough on Land Bill

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Peter Mutharika

President Peter Mutharika says he is surprised by calls from some human rights activists for him not to assent to the Land Bill.

In a statement through his press secretary Mgeme Kalirani, Mutharika said the bill was not forced down the throats of legislators in Parliament.

On Monday, Billy Mayaya who is a renowned human rights activist led a group of people who were demonstrating against the land bill.

Mayaya and his group said they are seeing no goodness of turning the bill into law saying people in the village are at the risk of losing their land to the government, hence no need for Mutharika to approve the bill.

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During the demonstrations, Mayaya also argued that the bill has so many loopholes which need to be looked into and ironed out before taking effect.

However, the state president through his spokesperson said he has been taken aback by the calls from the activists.

The Malawi leader argued that the bill was brought to parliament and was passed by the members of the chamber.

He said this could not be reasonable enough considering that Mayaya is an individual and the law was passed in the bill by a group of people who are Members of Parliament.