Prosecute officials over land grabs, paper demands after audit findings

A newspaper editorial has called for tougher action against public officials implicated in Malawi’s land allocation scandal, after a pilot audit in Lilongwe uncovered evidence of widespread abuse of office in the management of urban land.

An editorial published by The Nation newspaper praised the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development for launching the audit, describing it as “a long-overdue step toward restoring order, transparency and public confidence in how land is allocated and used in the country.”

The paper said land administration in Malawi’s urban centres had for years been undermined by poor governance.

It noted that the administration of public land in the country’s urban centres has been characterised by weak records, multiple allocations and a lack of clarity on ownership and compliance.

According to the editorial, a comprehensive audit is essential to establishing exactly who holds land, how it was acquired, and whether any conditions attached to its use have been met — information the paper said was critical for both policy and enforcement.

The paper urged the government to press ahead with plans to roll the audit out nationally, warning that the Lilongwe exercise “must not end as a one-off exercise” and insisting every city, town and district council should face the same scrutiny.

Significantly, the editorial suggested the pilot had already turned up troubling findings.

It stated that some individuals took advantage of the power and influence of the public offices they hold in trust to gain irregular, even illegal, access to public land, often at the expense of ordinary Malawians who were first in line.

The paper described such conduct as a serious breach of public duty, arguing that public office is not a licence for self-enrichment, and warning that when officials and their allies become the chief beneficiaries of public land, the law is undermined, inequality deepens and trust in institutions is eroded.

The paper called on the Ministry of Lands, the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions to ensure accountability, saying this should include criminal prosecution where the law has been broken, administrative sanctions for public officers, repossession of irregularly acquired land and cancellation of titles issued contrary to procedure.

It concluded with a direct appeal to authorities not to let the momentum fade, stating that Malawians expect the audit to mark “the beginning of redress, not just record-keeping.”

The Ministry of Lands has not yet responded publicly to the editorial’s calls for nationwide expansion of the audit or for disciplinary and legal action against implicated officials.