Malawi National Land Policy - Mokoro

Ministry of Lands Page 6
1. The Government will allow all customary land to be registered and protected by law against
arbitrary conversion to public land. The traditional supervisory role of chiefs, clan leaders,
headpersons and family heads in land matters will be formalized and streamlined to allow
uniform administrative procedures and transparency in all customary land transactions.
2. All customary landholders, defined to include entire communities, families or individuals
will be encouraged to register their holdings as private customary estates with land tenure rights
that preserve the advantages of customary ownership but also ensures security of tenure.
3. Private leasehold estates shall be created as subsidiary interests out of any private land,
including registered customary estates without relinquishing the ownership of the customary
landholder. This provision will allow traditional leaders, family heads and individual holders of
registered customary land to grant leases.
C. Land Access For Non-Citizens
1. The amount of freehold land in Malawi owned by non-citizens will be frozen and limited to
freehold land already registered to non-citizens as of 17 th January, 2002. Non-citizens will no
longer be allowed to acquire title to any new freehold estate.
2. Non-citizens and foreign companies will be permitted to lease land from the Government or
directly from private landowners for investment purposes in accordance with their residential
and investment objectives.
3. From the coming into force of this policy, freehold ownership will be a privilege reserved for
citizens of Malawi. Foreign investors interested in freehold land for investment purposes will
be encouraged to form partnerships and/or joint ventures with Malawians.
4. In accordance with current Malawi immigration laws, non-citizens currently in possession of
freehold estates in Malawi will be encouraged to obtain Malawian citizenship in order to retain
their free ownership. The citizenship right of eligible non-citizens will be protected by law and
will not be politicized or left to individual discretion.
5. Subject to existing transfer laws, non-citizens already in possession of registered freehold
assets of publicly traded corporations shall be permitted to transfer such assets to other noncitizens
only when deemed necessary to preserve the investment value of these companies.
6. With the exception of a few very special types of investments, such as mining, forestry and
some perennial tree crops such as tea (a comprehensive list of eligible investments shall be
prepared), most leasehold terms for industrial and commercial investment purposes throughout
the world generally are for less than 50 years, with renewal clauses allowed. For that purpose,
the standard leasehold term for land leased for investment purposes in Malawi will also be for a
renewable term of 50 years or less.
7. The standard leasehold term for owner occupied residential development will remain 99
years with renewable clauses allowed.
D. Land Use Planning And Registration
1. Land use planning will be extended to all rural and urban land, including freehold, leasehold
and customary estates. However, the declaration of a planning area will not automatically
http://www.malawi.gov.mw/lands/landpol.htm 29/03/2005 15:23:13