Government clarifies Livimbo schools saga
The Ministry of Lands has said Malawians of Asian origin did not encroach into a piece of land belonging to Livimbo Primary and Community Day Secondary schools in Lilongwe as it was widely reported.
The then Lands minister Symon Vuwa Kaunda had to rush to the scene to ensure that peace and order prevailed.
Ministry of Lands Principal Secretary Bernard Sande said, in fact, it is the school that gained about 50 square metres of land belonging to the business persons.
Sande said this when he appeared before members of the Legal Affairs Committee (LAC) of Parliament in Lilongwe on Monday.
In 2019, it was widely reported that public land was corruptly sold to Asian business persons, who built warehouses which were demolished immediately after the reports made rounds.
“We carried out a retracement survey, which established that the land was never encroached into. In other words, there was no issue and that is what we have determined,” he said.
LAC Chairperson Peter Dimba said they wanted an update on the issue because it caused pandemonium in the past.
He said the committee was happy to learn that the government land was intact.
The committee has since advised Livimbo School Committee members to apply for a title deed to avoid a repetition of the issue.
“On the issue of demolishment of the warehouses there, we have learnt that it had nothing to do with the issue of land encroachment.
“It had to do with the fact that some people built warehouses without authorisation from the city council. So, the city council went there to demolish the structures,” Dimba said.
Mathews Kasanda is a journalist who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from University of Malawi (The Polytechnic).
In 2015, Media Institute of Southern Africa awarded him the Best Print Media Education Journalist of the Year accolade.
He joined Times Group Newsroom in September 2019.
