The Government has pledged to permanently resettle families displaced from Kasasile in Nkhata Bay District, nearly two years after they were forced from their land and stripped of their livelihoods.
In a press statement issued on Thursday, and signed by the Principal Secretary Amani Mussa, the Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development says it has resolved to identify land in a neighboring district where all the affected families would be resettled.
The Ministry says government remains committed to ensuring that the resettlement process is conducted in an orderly, transparent and humane manner, while safeguarding the welfare and dignity of all affected families.
The Ministry says a committee comprising MPs and officials from the Ministries of Lands, Defense, and other government agencies has been established to coordinate the exercise, and pending identification of permanent settlement land, government has provided a temporary shelter to the families at Thungwe.
It adds that the Ministry is prioritizing the identification and acquisition of land while the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) would continue supporting families at the temporary shelter.
The statement follows a meeting between Minister of Lands Chimwemwe Chipungu, northern region Members of Parliament (MPs), Minister of Justice Charles Mhango, and Minister of Defense Feston Kaupa to discuss progress on the resettlement process.
This announcement comes as affected families, frustrated by what they describe as repeated unfulfilled promises, are on their way to Lilongwe to seek an audience with government authorities over their plight.
The families were evicted from their land in 2024 by the Malawi Defense Force soldiers, who also allegedly destroyed their crops leaving many households without livelihoods, and since then, the displaced families have been living in temporary shelters while awaiting permanent settlement.
The soldiers say they evicted the residents from the land because it forms part of a military shooting range.
Residents, however, have maintains that the land belongs to the community and was inherited from their forefathers.
