The land rights pressure group, People’s Land Organisation (PLO), has commended President Lazarus Chakwera for directing the Ministry of Lands to review the country`s land laws.

This comes following Chakwera’s call to the Ministry of Lands to review all the land laws and make sure they are brought before Parliament for amendment in the next sitting of the August House.

Chakwera’s directive was made on Wednesday at Parliament where he went to answer questions from Members of the House and he was responding to Chitipa South Legislator, Werani Chilenga, who wanted to know what government is doing to ensure that contentious issues in Land Related Bills are sorted out.

Commenting on the development, PLO leader, Vincent Wandale, said reviewing the country`s land laws is the progressive way to deal with increasing land squabbles.

Wandale said: “I think this is a very good starting point knowing that the claims we make are coming from the issue of laws which were enacted in the year 1965, the first land law of Nyasaland and in the early 1967 the first land law of independent Malawi and then in the year 2016 the same law was enacted to cement the previous law.

The first thing is to make a review to know where the fraud is, and its basis and if indeed it’s true that the land belongs to indigenous people of this country then it has to be given back to them.”

During the meeting with the Members of Parliament, Chakwera was also asked to explain how his administration will address issues to do with the selling of land to foreigners, existence of freehold land and payment of fees for customary estates.