Source: Malawi News Agency 
LandNet Malawi says land grabbing from widows and widowers will be a thing of the past once Malawi Parliament passes the new Customary Land Bill into law.

Speaking recently at Mpherembe in Mzimba District during an awareness meeting for the new land law, Projects Officer Joseph Gausi bemoaned that most women in the northern region lose control of land once their husbands die.

"Due to patrilineal culture here in Mzimba and the rest of northern region, land ownership is mainly in the hands of men. Women are not regarded as owners because they are married to a man's village," he said.

He added that men in the southern region and other areas where they practice matrilineal culture face similar predicament when their wives die.

"The situation renders most widows and widowers destitute due to lack of land for agricultural activity.

"Once the Customary Land Law is enacted, the husband and the wife who will be required to jointly register their customary land. This means when the husband dies, the wife will not have a threat of loss of land which is normally the case now," Gausi said.

He, however, said the widow or widower loses control of the land if she or he chooses to remarry.

 LandNet Malawi's land bill awareness meeting at Mpherembe  in Mzimba District - Pic by McCarthy Mwalwimba

Gausi said LandNet Malawi expects that the new customary land bill will be tabled in Malawi Parliament during the next sitting in June so that people can start enjoying their rights.

The awareness meeting was attended by various members of the community, including Area Development Committee (ADC), Community Based Organisations (CBOs) and faith based organisations.

One of the participants Charity Chinula hailed the new law for empowering women to have right to land tenancy.

"Many women have been losing ownership of land when their husbands die. They are left with nowhere to farm thereby perpetrating their poverty. I am glad that this law will put such incidences to an end," she said.

During the meeting participants were also briefed on the universal voluntary guidelines on responsible governance of land tenure. The guidelines were developed by Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN to serve as a guide in development of land policies laws.

The awareness meeting was funded by International Land Coalition. Apart from Mzimba, other targeted districts include are Salima, Ntcheu, Dedza, Phalombe and Kasungu.

• Malawi