Abstract: | The importance of the enactment in Malawi of the Wills and Inheritance (Kamuzu's Mbumba Protection) Ordinance, 1964, lies in the fact that it seeks to impose uniformity in an area of the law which had previously been dominated by diverse systems of customary rules. The Ordinance has a dual purpose. First, it institutes a system of testamentary succession to be administered in the local courts, secondly, it provides mandatory provisions to be applied on intestacy which pay scanty regard to the pre-existing customary rules. The article first examines the historical background of the reform, further the Ordinance itself (testate succession, intestate succession, the administration of the ordinance). |