Cdedi gives Minister Msukwa 28 days ultimutum to distribute land to landless in Mulanje and Thyolo
The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) in collaboration with the Concerned Landless People in Thyolo and Mulanje have given the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development up to March 23, 2021, to distribute idle land to the landless people in the two districts.
CDEDI executive director Sylvester Namiwa has written Msukwa, reminding the minister about the commitments he reportedly made during a meeting he convened at Thyolo Boma on Friday, 19th February 2021.
It is further reported that President Lazarus Chakwera sanctioned the meeting in reaction to the letter CDEDI wrote him on December 7, 2020.
In his response, Chakwera directed Msukwa to link up with CDEDI and other stakeholders on the way forward.
The President’s response, which was dated January 14, 2021, was an acknowledgement that he is aware about the land crisis and tragedy in Thyolo and Mulanje districts; hence, the need to act on this seemingly ticking bomb with speed and the urgency it deserves.
But with time passing, Namiwa and the Concerned Landless People in Thyolo and Mulanje feel the government is not doing enough to address their grievances.
“You may wish to recall, Honourable Minister that we agreed in our telephone conversation that you had wanted to have first-hand impression of the situation on the ground by sparing your time to inspect the vast idle land that is owned by the estate owners, and interact with the affected people in the two districts. CDEDI was shocked and disappointed, however, with your sudden change of heart when you instead opted to inspect tea plantations at the Thyolo Boma thereby ignoring the earlier plan. This is the reason why CDEDI participated in the meeting under protest,” reads the letter CDEDI has written to the minister.
Namiwa argues that since the land issue is not new, they did not expect that leaders in Thyolo and Mulanje could stand on a moral high ground and dispute it.
He says people of Thyolo and Mulanje districts are living with a wound and each passing day, the pain is becoming very hard to endure.
“They needed justice like yesterday, hence CDEDI’s insistence during the meeting that we needed a communiqué with clear timelines. To our surprise the meeting ended with literary nothing to refer to in the future. Nonetheless, we were assured of some action when in your own words said you were rushing to meet the estate owners that very same day! This means as per your own promise, you are remaining with Chiefs and Political party leaders to meet in order to round up the consultative meeting,” he says.
“Since we all agreed in that meeting that we have a very big problem in the two districts, we would like to believe that if you were able to meet two groups of stakeholders in a single day, it won’t be a challenge to meet the second and last set of stakeholders within seven days and call for an all-inclusive stakeholders meeting in another seven days and come up with solutions in the preceding fourteen days. It is against this background that CDEDI and the concerned landless people in Thyolo and Mulanje districts are giving you twenty-eight (28) days from the day this letter is delivered, to do all you can to ensure that all the idle land has been given back to the rightful owners.
“Once this exercise has been accomplished, the next item on the agenda will be to engage in yet another consultative process where the estate owners should make arrangements to ensure that part of the tea, coffee, tung and macadamia plantations are managed by the locals, while the estate owners should concentrate on buying and processing these cash crops,” submits Namiwa.
He ends his letter by informing the minister that there is growing insurgency on the landless people in Thyolo and Mulanje since they feel like they are foreigners in their own land and they have waited for unnecessarily longer before justice is served on the matter.
Msukwa could not be reached on his mobile phone as he was reportedly in Parliament where network connectivity is erratic.
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kwao kwa a Namiwa ndia Muthalika uku – koma munalephera kugawa malo kwa anthu munthawi yanu, lero mukuti ultimatum kkk….Malawians know that you are not serious
Is it not the same NAMIWA who took Vincent Wandale to mental hospital when he was fighting for this same land issue in Thyolo and Mulanje? kkkkkkk – my Malawi
What a load of BS. This is only about greed. Most people in these districts came from Mozambique anyway when labour was scarce in the 50’s.
Some people, Namiwa included, are Idiots. Distribution of Land in 28 days? Enough of this comedy please.
Namiwa you are idiot, you had a golden chance the time you were at state house, together with all mulakho enjoying life , that time did you had land for your people ?
This ultimatum is ill timed, Namiwa is a cadet and we know the grouping he heads is supported by DPP symphatisers, why did the Mutharikas not handle this land issue during their reign? They knew the issue is sensitive which needs to be handled with sober minds, thats why the two Mutharika could not handle it, if you want changu with this government on the issue, then I can tell you that you are free to do what ever you like after 28 days, but know Malawi has laws which will catch you and you will regret and rot in prison. Wait and see, dont bring politics into this coz we know DPP has sent you for sinister reasons to this land issue. 90% of votes there are for DPP, you would have sorted them out nthawi munali ku State House kuja.
Go ! go ! go !go !go !. If this minister is not helping then go and encroach the land that rightfully belongs to you. Osaopa and don’t give up!
Hehehe akutitu ‘don’t blink’, look at the demon in the eye. kikikiki. That aside, what happened to Mulanje and Thyolo is disaster, all good arable land was given away by chiefs exchanging it for bag of salt, guns or favors from colonialists. I agree that government must help those citizens access land which is idle. those estates must be asked to give land to the people on willing buyer/seller guaranteed by government. For two long Malawi has favored foreigners.
Now we see the true colours of Namiwa. Another idiot.
You cannot just wake up and grab land which has a deed. Ur just wasting time
No time wasting. When people have had enough, they can do anything. They will grab the land like it or not.
He was at state house eating tax payers money . Why did you not advocate to have people of thyolo have land?
People of Thyolo and Mulanje had the best chance to reclaim land when Bingu and Peter were in power. But when Wandale tried to mobilise them they said he is a mad man. Peter actually made sure that Wandale was admitted at Zomba Mental Hospital.
wandale is indeed sick. But even bingu can’t grab land which has a deed. Ndimulandu wr not in a dictatorship even kamuzu sanalande
Kamuzu had a lot of land, he didn’t realise land was a problem to most Malawians.
Analanda malo, makampani, nyumba ndi zina zambiri. Munali ana kapena.
Deed or no deed, the rightful way is to grab it. Enough is enough.
Why didn’t you claim land for people in Thyolo and Mulanje while you were at state house? Lero ndiye mwaona kuti anthu ku Thyolo alibe malao? Wandale tried to fight for these people but you imprisoned him and sent him to hospital as a mad person. Za ziiiiiiiii
The fight started in the MCP one party state when Kamuzu betrayed the people of Thyolo and Mulanje by siding with his white masters. It has continued in the eras of Muluzi,Bingu, JB, APM and now Tonse Alliance. There is only one way left: invade the land without any compromise. Thus what is left.
This ultimutam us illconceived.
Za ziii. We are a country of Laws.
Those whites who occupied the land had stolen it. Law or no law, the people of Thyolo and Mulanje have reached the pinnacle and no one can stop them now to grab the land that was stolen from them.