Mzimba North constituency legislature, Agnes Nyalonje has tipped the National Assembly to consider inclusion of Chiefs from Mzimba district in the list of stakeholders that are to appear before four committees tasked to scrutinize Customary Land Bill.
The bill was referred to Committees on Legal Affairs, Natural Resources, Women’s Caucus, and Agriculture for thorough scrutiny with expertise from stakeholders well versed in customary land issues.
Before the bill was referred to the committees on Friday, Honorable Nyalonje told the National Assembly that most of new areas highlighted in the bill as areas for improvement are not new among Chiefs of Mzimba.
She said Mzimba chiefs have a robust system of Customary land management which is still practiced now and therefore considering significance of the bill, Chiefs in Mzimba are relevant stakeholders who can give their point of view to enable the new legislation to incorporate the customary systems that are already in practice.
“What stands out is that the way Mzimba Chiefs have managed the land for generations is very different to the way land has been managed in other parts of the country and that their system works.” Noted Nyalonje later in an interview
She emphasized that in the search for a improvement it is good that the consultations should not lose sight of those things that are already working now.
Nyalonje also disclosed that Mzimba Chiefs are also concerned with some provisions in the new bill particularly on huge powers given to Minister.
She mentioned that the recent meeting Chiefs had with number of stakeholders including Mzimba Heritage Association, MPs and academics, Chiefs said putting so much power into Minister allows fertile ground for corruption and they further expressed their wish of having their input heard before the proposed bill gets implementation.
“Chiefs are saying involve us because for us to feel that we own these pieces of legislations we must feel that they are addressing our challenges. Because the areas where the legislation is seeking to improve may already be there but on the other hand there might be other areas that have been left out that as far as they see should be included in order to strengthen the legislation.” She said
