Parliament has finally passed a Customary Land Bill after a long heated debate that ensued for two consecutive days as the lawmakers tussled in an attempt to make some amendments to the bill.
Most members from the opposition benches proposed a removal of a provision in the bill that subjects landowners to a payment of certain charges on their registered land.
The provision became bone of contention on Wednesday and Thursday as opposition members clashed with government in an attempt to have the provision removed from the bill.
Chairperson of the joint committee tasked to look into the bills, Werani Chilenga, who is also a lawmaker for Rumphi South, on Wednesday argued that the provision will pose a negative impact on poor people who will not be able to pay the fees thereby hindering them from owning land that they inherited from their forefathers.
However, the bill resurfaced in the house yesterday at a report stage and Lands Minister, Atupele Muluzi, had a tough time to justify the clause and convince the house that the provision will only be applicable where a transaction of the registered land is involved.
“There will be no any payment for a holder of land title, the clause will be applicable when they decide to sell the land, lend or get a mortgage and any transaction, and these will normally attract certain fees upon processing,” he said.
After a long debate on the matter, Muluzi seemed to have fought a good fight as the house assented to his justification and passed the bill.
“This is historical because it’s been 14 years since we made major strides in regards to land reforms. As a country that is striving for economic diversification, we needed to address issues of land especially in regards to securing title which will empower people economically,” Muluzi said
This week the house has passed four land related bills including the Land Bill, Physical Planning and Land Survey bills
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