State of Land Information in Malawi

During the colonial era, data and information were largely treated as confidential in Malawi. According to Mambulasa (2016), many statutes in Malawi dating back to colonial times promote government secrecy and the withholding of public information. This has resulted in lingering land administration and management challenges. Land-related problems have been a constant feature of Malawian society, including the pre-colonial, colonial, and post-independence periods starting in 1964.

Malawi started reviewing its land-related laws in 2003 in order to comply with the 1994 constitution and the Malawi National Land Policy of 2002. This included standardising the parcel identification numbering and indexing systems in order to improve the accessibility of large volumes of parcel records.

The newly published State of Land Information in Malawi report assesses the availability and openness of land-related data in the country. It serves as a diagnostic tool for the land information ecosystem in Malawi to enable targeted interventions for improved information management at a later stage. The first section describes Malawi’s legal framework for data governance and for opening up information. It examines Malawi’s international and national commitments to access to information and its instruments for data and information governance. Good data governance ensures transparency about the purpose for which information is collected, stored, and disseminated.

See also the State of Land Information reports for other countries in the region: South Africa and Namibia.

Abstract based directly on original source.