Thyolo out of bounds for Winiko: Malawi courts grants injunction

Thyolo West parliamentarian Charles Mchacha has obtained a court injuction restraining comedian-turned-politician Bon Kalindo, who is also Mulanje South East parliamentarian, for visiting Thyolo district on claims that he is bringing confusion over commercial land.

Mchacha confirmed in an interview that the court injunction has since been served to Kalindo.

“We had to resort to court. Kalindo is obstinate,” Mchacha said.

But Kalindo said he has not yet seen the injunction and down played it, saying he will not slow down his campaign.

Kalindo has been mobilizing the people of tea growing district of Thyolo to stand up against commercial land owners and occupy the land which he argues “rightfully belongs to them.”

According to Kalindo, people of Thyolo and Mulanje were robbed of their land by tea growers “and have been suffering in their own country to accommodate exploiters.”

Malawi’s tea industry, started by colonial masters in the 1800s, occupies thousands of hectares believed to have been grabbed from natives. The industry is also one of the most productive in the world.

In 2014, rose to 8.2 million kilograms, according to Global Tea Digest publisher Rajesh Gupta.