‘Stay away or risk your life’ — Minister’s chilling warning over unexploded army bombs

Malawi’s Minister of Defence Feston Kaupa has moved to quell growing public unease over a controversial military boundary-marking exercise, insisting the operation is nothing more than a re-establishment of existing army land — and not, as some communities fear, a land grab.

Speaking on the sidelines of Parliament, Kaupa explained that panic had spread among locals after the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) began marking out boundaries, with many mistakenly believing the army was moving to seize additional land rather than simply reaffirming what already belonged to it.

The Minister said mounting pressure on land across the country had pushed some communities to settle and farm within areas long designated as military property — forcing the MDF’s hand.

“This is not land grabbing. We are only re-establishing the boundaries for land that already belongs to the Malawi Defence Force,” Kaupa insisted, adding that the Ministry of Lands formally recognises the disputed land as military property.

Chilling warning over unexploded ammunition buried near villages

But behind the reassurances lay a far more alarming revelation — that the boundary exercise is also a matter of life and death, with Kaupa warning that live ammunition left behind from military training exercises could still be lurking in the ground near unsuspecting communities.

“We appeal to the locals to move away from land used for military training because some ammunition left behind during exercises may still be live and very dangerous,” he cautioned.

The Minister issued a stark warning to anyone living near barracks and training grounds, urging them not to trespass, cultivate the land, or touch any suspicious objects they might stumble upon — with unexploded ordnance posing a serious and potentially fatal risk.

Anger over compensation delays as families wait years for payouts

Kaupa also faced awkward questions over long-running compensation delays affecting people whose land was seized for government projects — including 461 beneficiaries in Nkhata Bay, and families impacted by the Meru Garrison project in Chitipa, where a staggering K300 million in payments remains outstanding.

The Minister admitted the ministry was now in talks with the Treasury in a bid to unlock the funds and finally get money into the hands of those still waiting.

He added that compensation packages would be revised upward to reflect the soaring cost of building materials, after the original property assessments were carried out all the way back in 2021 — leaving many families short-changed by years of inflation.

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