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A 93-year-old woman in Mangochi, Maliatu Yusufu, has been given back her land after it was unlawfully grabbed and distributed to other subjects by Group Village Headman (GVH) Liguluche.
In 2020, Maliatu Yusufu, who had peacefully held a piece of customary land since 1950, was surprised to see the GVH distributing her piece of land to other subjects. Alarmed by this development, her nephew reported the matter to GVH Mtamba, who suggested demarcating the land, a decision that Yusufu was not satisfied with.
The matter was appealed to T/A Mponda, who ruled that GVH Liguluche should vacate Yusufu's land together with his subject. This ruling was only adhered to for three years.
Maliatu Yusufu, assisted by her nephew, sought legal aid, and the matter was assigned to Senior Legal Aid Advocate Upile Mapata and Assistant Legal Aid Officer Maxwell Shaba who commenced proceedings in the High Court.
After the summons was issued and served to the Defendant, GVH Liguluche visited the Bureau’s office and expressed his interest in settling the matter out of Court. Yusufu was called and the matter was mediated before both parties. They reached an agreement that the GVH would stop any acts of trespass on the land and the subjects who were allocated the land, would be assigned other portions of land outside the Yusufu’s land.
After the discussion, the GVH indeed allocated other pieces of land to the subjects, and Yusufu was told to continue using her land.
An agreed order was made and was signed by Justice Ntaba.
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