Supreme Court dismisses Mama Kadzamira land appeal in Kaphwiti lease dispute

Malawi’s Supreme Court of Appeal has dismissed Mama Cecelia Kadzamira’s challenge to a long-running land dispute, upholding a ruling in favour of the family of the late Elias Zakeyu Kaphwiti Banda.

The seven-judge panel, headed by Chief Justice Rizine Mzikamanda, unanimously rejected the appeal as “devoid of merit,” according to the court’s decision dated November 5, 2026, and delivered in Blantyre.

The court held that the lease registered in the name of Elias Zakeyu Kaphwiti Banda had priority over competing claims and had never been lawfully cancelled, surrendered or forfeited.

Kadzamira failed to prove she had an enforceable legal right to occupy the land, and did not establish that any actionable trespass had taken place, the judges found.

“The appellant has not demonstrated any error in the determination of the issues raised in the proceedings,” the judgment states.

The court also rejected arguments that the claim was barred by limitation periods or the doctrine of res judicata, which bars matters already decided from being re-litigated.

The judges ruled that earlier proceedings had not finally settled the ownership questions, and that reliance on the earlier lease remained sound.

The appeal was dismissed in full, the original High Court judgment stands, and costs were awarded against Kadzamira.

The respondents were Sub-Traditional Authority Kawere, Gabon Kaphwiti, Mrs Kaphwiti and Yeriko Mateyu.