By Feston Malekezo & Sam Kalimira:
Nkhata Bay District Council has blocked a land acquisition deal involving Goshen Trust, which wanted to use part of Kaning’ina Forest in Traditional Authority (TA) Thula.
The trust belongs to Prophet Shepard Bushiri.
In a letter dated September 30 2024, addressed to Goshen Trust through mediator Ken Msonda, and another dated September 27 2024, addressed to Thula, Nkhata Bay District Commissioner (DC) Rodgers Newa says the land in question belongs to the Department of Forestry and that, contrary to what some chiefs have been claiming, it is not customary land.
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Newa, who confirmed writing the letter Tuesday, said after the initial application in the land acquisition process, the second step was for the DC to verify if the land had no issues.
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“I regret to inform you that after verification of this piece of land, it has been found that the land belongs to the Department of Forestry and [is] therefore public land. While the traditional chief and her subordinates claim it is their land and [that this is] the basis on which they offered this piece of land for development, which was a good idea, but [they cannot] do so since it is public land,” he says.
Newa said he has since advised Thula and her subjects to rescind the offer, further indicating that no development should take place on the gazetted piece of land.
“The chief has further been advised to follow proper procedures with the government to reclaim their land if they have enough ground to do so. Alternatively, let the chiefs identify another land that is freehold (of any doubts) regarding ownership and make the offer to Goshen Trust,” he said.
The forest lies in Nkhata Bay District and Mzuzu City.
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Similarly, Mzuzu City Council spokesperson McDonald Gondwe maintained that the land in question was protected.
But when contacted Tuesday, Thula said she was not aware of any plan to offer or sell the land to Goshen Trust.
Thula said she was a strong advocate of natural resource conservation, adding that the DC had been writing her letters in which he encouraged her to continue the efforts.
“You know me; I always speak the truth. We, chiefs, protect the forest. So, we have been receiving letters like these, encouraging us to keep on protecting the forest as well as advising our subordinates on the same. So, I don’t know anything about the interest to sell the said piece of land,” the chief said.
Commenting on the matter, Bushiri’s spokesperson Aubrey Kusakala said they were offered the land by chiefs so that they could develop it but that following the turn of events, they were no longer interested in the deal.
“They wanted us to develop the area and, in return, there has to be corporate social responsibility [roleplaying in terms] of building a clinic and probably a school for the community. So, the chiefs met and as part of formalising the issue, they went to Mzuzu City Council and also Nkhata Bay District Council.
“After the discussions, they called us and we went there to see the land. There, we expressed interest to do infrastructure development in the area, including [doing something as part of] the corporate social responsibility which they mentioned,” he said.
Kusakala clarified that they were offered the land with no charge.
“They offered the land for development free of charge. So, upon seeing the communication, it’s now up to the chiefs [to see what to do] if they still want to pursue the matter further,” he said.
Kaning’ina Forest Reserve covers 143.02 kilometres.
