<P> A number of groups such as the Tonga people had no tradition of chiefs or else the military and political upheavals of the 19th century had resulted in there being no uncontested legitimate candidates, or situations where the existing Principal Headmen were ethically different from their people . In the lower Shire River valley, which until the mid-19th century had been populated entirely by Mang'anja people, in the northern part, some of these Principal Headmen were from the Kololo people that David Livingstone brought from Botswana in 1862 as porters for his Zambezi expedition who had driven out Mang'anja chiefs, whereas, in the northern part, Mang'anja chiefs survived as Principal Headmen, but the local population consisted of Sena people, recent migrants from Mozambique . Even among the Mang'anja headmen, there were competing claims to legitimacy . </P> <P> Native Authorities were located in the areas of Native Trust Land that had been created in 1916 . In the early 20th century, the view among British government lawyers in the Foreign Office was that the act of declaring a protectorate over a territory gave Crown the right to dispose of land there . An Order - in - Council for government of the British Central Africa Protectorate of 1902 vested all rights to Crown lands, empowering him to dispose of any such land . In 1904, Alfred Sharpe, who was Commissioner from 1896 to 1907, received powers to create reserve out of Crown Land under the Native Locations Ordinance . By 1913, the Native Reserves covered 6.6 million acres out the 22.3 million acres of land in the protectorate, and a further 2.6 million acres of Crown Land were designated to become future reserves . </P> <P> A Land Registration Ordinance in 1916 recognised the Native Reserves as Native Trust Land, to be held in trust for the benefit of their African communities . This legislation did not provide for the administration of Trust Land by those African communities or their leaders, as formal Indirect rule was only introduced in 1933 - 34, although, in practice, chiefs had day - to - day charge of land distribution . However, once the Native Authorities were instituted, they took over formal control of most of this land . </P> <P> Compared with Northern Nigeria, where Lugard has pioneered Indirect rule, or even Tanganyika Territory to the north, Nyasaland's Native Authorities were significantly underfunded . They were entitled to two pence in every six shillings of Hut tax raised, although this was a much greater rate than Principal Headmen had previously received . In addition, Native Authorities could levy a range of fees and receive rents from leases of Native Trust Land, a valuable source of extra income where European farmers wished to grow tobacco . However, outside the tobacco - growing districts, overall Native Authority revenues were small: all of those in the Southern Province had a combined income of only £ 880 in 1935 . This gave the Native Authorities very little scope for promoting social development, although some attempted to provide primary education, dispensaries, produce markets or rural roads . </P>

The native authority system of local administration was introduced by the british in nigeria to