Malawi National Land Policy - Mokoro

Ministry of Lands Page 22
be managed on behalf of the nation by the Minister responsible for lands,
or by other designated agents of the government.
(b) Any private land (including customary estates) acquired to be used
for the benefit of the general public or for national development purposes
will be valued and compensation based on the open market value paid to
the owner for both the land and improvements.
4.3 Trustees of Public Land
4.3.1 Holding land in trust for citizens does not make a Headperson, Chief, or any public
official the owner of the land.
It is therefore imperative that, whereas the management of
any public land by a public agency could justify the granting
of leaseholds and other intermediate uses, it does not
automatically transfer ownership to the trustee and as such
should not be interpreted as private to the Headperson, Chief
or the Government.
4.4 Private Land
4.4.1 Under Section 24 of the Registered Land Act, registration of a person as the proprietor of
any land makes that person or groups of persons the registered owners of private land. Thus,
Private land is all land that is exclusively owned, held or occupied under (a) freehold tenure,
and (b) customary land allocated exclusively to a clearly defined community, corporation,
institution, clan, family or individual. Such exclusive allocations of customary land will
henceforth be known formally as a "customary estate."
4.4.2. A leasehold estate can be created out of Government land or any private land including
customary estates so long as the term of the lease is less than that of the owner. However, in
protecting private property as a constitutional right, it is important to note that:
(a) A leasehold interest under common law is a private contractual right subject to the
enforcement of development conditions imposed by the owner. It is, in practice,
equivalent to a tenancy arrangement and will be recognized as a legitimate source of
land title.
(b) Because a lease grants exclusive use rights, a leasehold estate is also regarded as
private land held by the leaseholder.
Because Public Land, in this policy is land reserved for public uses and
accessible to the public at large, no leasehold estates are to be granted on
land classified as public land. Existing leaseholds established on land
previously classified as "public land" will henceforth be reclassified as
leaseholds on Government land.
http://www.malawi.gov.mw/lands/landpol.htm 29/03/2005 15:23:13