By Nelson Gonjani:
Across the country, unresolved land disputes continue to flourish.
In Kasungu District, one such dispute has persisted for more than 10 years, trapping over a hundred households in a prolonged legal limbo and putting their livelihoods on hold.
In 2012, Pyxus Agriculture Limited accused communities of encroaching on its Khola Estate in Saiko Village under Senior Chief Chidzuma.
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What initially appeared to be a disagreement over estate boundaries escalated into open confrontation between the company and local people.
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Tensions worsened when the company reportedly slashed crops belonging to community members, an act residents say shattered trust and directly disrupted livelihoods.
The matter went to Kasungu First Grade Magistrate’s Court and then High Court in Lilongwe where it remained tied up in legal processes for years.
The dispute has directly affected about 140 households.
They maintain that it was Pyxus Agriculture Limited that encroached on customary land, expanding beyond its original allocation.
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According to the people, the company initially held about 649 hectares, but the estate has since expanded to about 1,200 hectares, effectively swallowing land traditionally allocated to the community by local chiefs Between 2012 and 2021, several court rulings appeared to favour the affected communities. Injunctions allowed them to remain on the land.
But any hope they had of further stay came crashing down on December 19, 2025 when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Pyxus Agriculture Limited, declaring the disputed land company property.
Malawi News visited the area.
Community member Mazuzo Banda said the prolonged dispute has eroded their livelihoods.
“Since 2012, our lives have been severely affected. We cannot make meaningful development at individual or household level,” Banda said.
“We are energetic and committed to supporting our families, but this uncertainty has crippled us.
“We have children. We fear they may grow up without access to land,” he said.
Another resident, Emily Phiri, said: “We are living in fear. We thought this case was resolved and that life had returned to normal after all these years.
“Now we are stranded again, unsure of what will happen to our crops and our families.”
Phiri appealed for government’s intervention.
“We feel hopeless, yet we are Malawians. We deserve the same right to land as any other citizen. This is our customary land, allocated through our chiefs for community use,” she said.
Group Village Headman Saiko said the revival of the dispute was unexpected and it is “deeply troubling”.
Beyond livelihoods, the ruling has alarmed traditional leaders over what they describe as blurred jurisdictional boundaries. Some community members argue that the judgment undermines the authority of local chiefs.
We sought the response of Pyxus Agriculture Limited through its lawyer, Innocentia Uttober. We did not have any comment by the time we went to press.
Chairperson for the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC), Michael Kaiyatsa, said land disputes in Malawi are ripping ordinary people’s livelihoods apart.
He said where communities have legitimate claim, they should not give up, as long as they follow procedures.
