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Ministry warns illegal property developers

 

The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development has warned illegal property developers that they risk having their properties demolished if it is established that they do not possess authentic documents.

The warning comes at a time illegal developers have besieged the Lilongwe Old Town and other parts of the capital city by constructing substandard buildings.

Kachikho: We do not want people to
lose their money

In an interview in Lilongwe last week, Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Anna Kachikho said government is not pleased with illegal property developers and that action will be taken against them.

She said. “Government cannot allow people just to be building anyhow because there are processes that one needs to follow before obtaining land.

“Once we have discovered that one does not have genuine papers, we will not hesitate but to pull down such structures because we want sanity to prevail.”

Kachikho said government will not even consider how beautiful the structure is or how much was spent but raze down such structures because others use that as an excuse.

“We do not want people to lose their money, so prevention is better than cure,” she warned.

The minister’s sentiments were also echoed by Lilongwe City mayor Desmond Bikoko who said demolishing buildings in the city is proving problematic since the owners get court injunctions.

“We could have demolished the structures that are taking shape in old town, but the case is now in court and we will wait for government direction since we were served with an injunction by the property developers,” he said.

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Kondwani Nankhumwa recently warned that any property built illegally will be demolished.

“Some structures in our towns and cities are an eyesore and need to be demolished, especially if they were built on land acquired illegally,” he said. n

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One Comment

  1. It is because of the corruption that is so embedded within the Ministry of Lands and MHC that people resort to taking desperate measures to acquire land.

    When was the last time that the Ministry of Lands and MHC sold land to Malawians without saling that land to themselves first before they can then sale the same land to the general public at inflated prices?

    Most Malawians have lost huge sums of money in the process of trying to acquire land through the Ministry of Lands and MHC who are harbouring criminals in their offices.
    I really miss the Kamuzu era, that was the only time I could apply for a plot and get it within a month without paying some extra moneys to the very same civil servants who are employed to issue plots to the general public.
    Clean up your house first Madam minister before accusing people of illegal land acquisition…….
    Ndatha ine yanu,.
    Mbonga

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