Parliament has today passed the Land (amendment) Bill of 2022 which prohibits the granting of land to persons who are not citizens of Malawi and seeks to resolve land related issues Malawians have been complaining about.
According to Minister of Lands Sam Kawale, the bill amends the Land Act in order to harmonise and standardise the interests in private land titles.
It also provides for the development of freehold titles within two years of the commencement of the Act. If owners of freehold land fail to develop their land they will relinquish ownership to the public.
The bill also regulates the change of use of agricultural land by prescribing conditions under which an approval for change of use shall be made.
The Land (amendment) Bill is one of six bills the Ministry of Lands will amend in this sitting. The others are Land Survey (Amendment), Physical Planning (Amendment), Registered Land (Amendment), Land Acquisition and Compensation (Amendment) and Customary Land (Amendment) bills.
Writing on his Facebook page, Kawale said a very comprehensive process was taken to engage stakeholders in land issues.
“We can confidently say that we exhausted all known stakeholders. It is in our interest to see that land use and management is carried out in the most effective and efficient manner,” he said.
He added that with the new laws, land will not be sold to a foreigner unless the person meets Investment and Trade Centre (MITC) conditions of an investor.
“Non-Malawians with land will have their land until lease expires, and will only be renewed if they satisfy MITC investor requirements,” he said.
