4.2 Categories Of Land Ownership 4.2.1.

With the coming in force of this land policy, the categories of

land recognized in Malawi will be defined as follows: 4.2.2. Government land will comprise land
acquired and privately owned by the government and dedicated to a specified national use or made
available for private uses at the discretion of the government. 4.2.3. Government land is in the context
of this Land Policy, used as a more specific description of land acquired by the Government or agencies
of the Government to serve a specific national purpose. For clarity, Government Land will include land
reserved for government buildings, schools, hospitals, etc., or government owned land leased for
exclusive use by individuals, companies and institutions for which ground rent is often paid. 4.2.4. Public
land will be land held in trust and managed by the Government or Traditional Authorities and openly
used or accessible to the public at large. This category of land includes land gazetted for use as national
parks, recreation areas, forest reserves, conservation areas, historic and cultural sites, etc. (a) The public
land designation applies also to all land vested in the Government as a result of uncertain ownership,
abandonment and land that is unusable for one reason or another. (b) Within a Traditional Authority,
the community’s public land will include all land within the boundaries of the TA not allocated
exclusively to any group, individual or family. This designation applies in particular to dambos, dry
seasons communal grazing areas, etc. Such common access or unallocated customary land reserved for
the community are regarded as public only to members of that community and will be protected. 28
4.2.5. In the past, the absence of any distinction between Government Land and Public Land caused a lot
of mistrust and confusion among citizens and land administrators. Because the public land designation
was used to effectively expropriate customary land without compensation, it remained at the root of
most of Malawi’s land problems. This new distinction makes the Government’s acquisition plans more
transparent. The distinction is also necessary for separating land held in trust by the Government from
land acquired by the Government for which ownership is actually transferred to the Government. Taking
the distinctions between Government and Public lands into consideration, the Government will ensure
that: (a) All land deemed necessary for national development purposes in Malawi shall be acquired and
vested in the State as government land to be managed on behalf of the nation by the Minister
responsible for lands, or by other designated agents of the government. (b) Any private land (including
customary estates) acquired to be used for the benefit of the general public or for national development
purposes will be valued and compensation based on the open market value paid to the owner for both
the land and improvements.