‘Habitat for Humanity not involved in plot grabbing’

Habitat for Humanity Malawi has distanced itself from a row over residential plots the Lilongwe City Council (LCC) has repossessed in Area 49.

Habitat for Humanity Malawi national director Kelvin Kalonga described the issue as personal between LCC deputy mayor Juliana Kaduya and one Moses Chione who accused the deputy mayor of using her powers to grab a plot from him.

In a statement made available to The Nation in response to an article that alleged that LCC demolished structures on plots that belong to Habitat for Humanity, Kalonga said the plots do not belong to his organisation.

He said: “The truth of the matter is that a house structure belonging to Chione, who is not our client, was demolished. This is a personal issue between the deputy mayor and him. The land where the plot is was first given to Habitat by LCC, but because of its proximity to the stream, we did not approve it and handed it back to the council.”

The statement further says Habitat for Humanity is no longer implementing any housing microfinance programme in the country as it is now providing fully subsidised houses to orphans and other vulnerable people in rural areas.

“Under the housing micro-finance programme, our organisation built houses for low-income people in Area 49 and the houses were legally handed over to the beneficiaries who are responsible for paying city rates,” he said.

In an earlier interview, Chione told The Nation that his structure was demolished although the plot was given to him by the organisation.

In her response, Kaduya said Chione had personal issues with her and that he was dragging her name to make her look bad.

She said she has all the legal documents for the plot. n