Malawi men continue to grab land from women – Official

Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development director of administration Duncan Chione has said the new land law which came into effect in 2018 is still facing resistance because men continue to grab land from women.

The official made the remarks in Mchinji on Wednesday during a three-day training involving gender officers, land clerks and community development officers aimed at drawing strategies to close the gender gap.

Chione said: “Issues of land grabbing when a spouse dies are common in villages across the country. Such challenges are connected to cultures and traditions.

“The workshop is, therefore, meant to bring together these officers to orient the people in their various districts that gender is just a socially-constructed issue and that men and women can do things equally, in this case equally own and control land.”

A participant from Phalombe District Council Harris Phiri commended the ministry, saying the knowledge imparted to them will help to mainstream gender into the land reform programme after it was noted that there was disparity in terms of control and ownership of land between men and women.

“The training has given us insight into how we can handle land issues as regards gender in our respective districts,” he said.

The new land reform programme is being piloted in Mchinji, Kasungu, Nkhotakota, Rumphi, Karonga, Chikwawa, Phalombe and Nsanje districts.

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