Strengthening land ownership audit to improve land information management.

The reform area will be implemented initially on a pilot basis in Area 3 and Area 10 of Lilongwe City, and gradually scaled to other areas in Lilongwe City before national rollout. The pilot-first approach allows testing of processes, identification of gaps, and refinement of systems before full-scale national implementation, ensuring sustainability and efficiency. Conducting a comprehensive land ownership audit will strengthen the integrity, reliability, and transparency of land administration within the Ministry. The audit will reconcile physical land records with data in LIMS, validate ownership details and land transfers, and confirm land classifications to ensure that official records accurately reflect the status of each property.

The exercise will also help identify irregular allocations, unauthorized plot modifications, and undeveloped plots that have exceeded the mandatory development period without compliance with lease conditions. Addressing these issues will support enforcement of development requirements, improve compliance with land administration regulations, and enable appropriate corrective actions, including reversion of non-compliant plots to the Ministry where applicable.

In addition, the audit will strengthen internal controls, reduce opportunities for fraud and manipulation of land records, and improve the Ministry’s capacity to track ground rent and other land-based revenues. This will contribute to more accurate revenue forecasting, reduced arrears, and improved collection of outstanding payments.