The State, Traditional Leadership and the Politics of Land Reforms in Malawi
| Autor: | Maureen Kapanga, Happy M. Kayuni, Michael Chasukwa |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | The African Review. 48:451-475 |
| ISSN: | 1821-889X 0856-0056 |
| Popis: | This paper discusses the political power dynamics over land between the state and traditional leadership in relation to issues surrounding the Malawi new land laws of 2016 (i.e., land reforms). The passing of new land bills in parliament represented one of the most contentious political issues in the country between the state and traditional leadership. From a political perspective, the paper takes this disagreement over land policy between traditional leadership and the state as a clash between two sources of power with land reform being merely a platform. Using the land reform process therefore, the paper examines how these sources of power were applied. The paper therefore contributes to the existing debate of the relationship between state and traditional leadership in the modern era. The findings are derived from a qualitative research through key informant interviews with selected traditional leaders, government officials, members of parliament, Civil Society activists and academics. The findings confirm what the literature says that land reform is basically a highly politicized process. Another important finding is that the current political factors show that the land reform process will ultimately be in favour of traditional leadership’s interest. The paper argues that both formal and informal powers are used by government and chiefs as they influence each other regarding which reforms to be adopted bearing mind that the interests of these players are embedded the institutional design of the same reforms. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|