Livingstonia Synod pleads with Mutharika not to assent Customary Land Bill: Says the Bill was passed in a hasty

The Church of Central African Presbyterian (CCAP) Livingstonia Synod on Saturday pleaded with President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika not to assent to the just passed Land Bill, saying the bill was passed in a hasty by Parliament.

Parliament last month passed a Customary Land Bill which will see Malawians paying tax for the land that they inherited from their ancestors.

The bill was brought in Parliament by the youthful Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Atupele Muluzi and the Bill attracted strong opposition both in Parliament especially in opposition benches and outside the house.

Despite the opposition DPP passed the Bill.

Speaking during Umthetho Cultural Festival at Hora in Mzimba district Livingstonia Synod moderator Douglous Chipofya said some of the provision in the Customary Land Bill will make Malawias lose their land.

“Let us maintain our cultural values and you cannot separate land if you want to talk about culture, whose custodians are the very chiefs we are celebrating today,” he said, adding “may God help us jealously safeguard our cultural values.”

He said land is crucial to Malawian culture and as such” inheritance of land from parents to children should not be disturbed.

Various quarters in the country have warned the DPP administration top tread carefully on the Land Bill, saying the Bill has the power to destroy the Party.