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Illovo denies land grabbing plot fears

Sugar making giant, Illovo Sugar Limited has dismissed as “unfounded” and falsehood reports that the company’s Dwangwa Corporation is involved in a land grabbing scheme at its Dwangwa plantation in Nkhotakota.

Internal land wrangles within some government-supported sugarcane cooperatives which trade with Illovo in the district recently led to reports and speculation that the company was covertly eliciting land grab from community farmlands involved.

But speaking in an interview, Illovo’s Dwangwa Corporation General Manager Ken Tembo blamed the speculation on lack of understanding of the government-driven project.

He emphasised that Illovo was not part of cooperative development project.

“Those reports are untrue and unfounded,” said Tembo.

“There is clearly lack of information on what is going on. As Illovo we are not involved in any land development project. It’s a misconception; government is developing land for cooperatives using several platforms with some cane growers. All we do as Illovo is to mill the sugarcane after it has already been produced.”

Under the project, farmers are asked to combine several pieces of land to be more productive but the project has been embroiled in a few land wrangles leading to speculation that Illovo, which is a major stakeholder in the sugar industry, was seeking to grab land.

He reiterated that Illovo remain a good social corporate citizen and would never engage in illicit activities but further urged all stakeholders involved in the project to implement civic education activities to remove all misconceptions on the project.

He further suggested that improved land legislation such as the proposed land bill can go a long way in solving such challenges.

The land development scheme is a multimillion project supported by several donors with an aim of improving the livelihoods of small scale cane growers through cooperatives.

Despite being hailed by donors and authorities for improving livelihoods of several people, the ghosts of land wrangles have persistently haunted the project.

Meanwhile, the company has urged authorities in the country to beef up security at its factories amid growing reports of vandalism and theft of property.

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