Nkhotakota District Council cornered on land ownership

Mystery surrounds ownership of a former airfield in Nkhotakota as the district council has failed to produce supporting documents prove the piece of land was handed over to it by the Ministry of Transport and Public Works.
The piece of land has been a bone of contention between the council and citizens.
The issue was raised during an extraordinary full council meeting convened to discuss the way forward on plot allocation at the airfield as there are claims that the initial allocation was not procedural.
The meeting was full of drama with two members of Parliament (MPs) testifying that they obtained plots because of their status despite not meeting requirements.
Nkhotakota Central MP Peter Mazizi said his sister, Grace, obtained land without applying or paying.
Said Mazizi: “I tried to follow proper procedures but was not entertained because council officials told me that time for submission of application forms was over. Remarkably, I received a call some days later that I was supposed to submit my application form and money but I told them I was not interested because they had earlier on told me that they had closed.
“The official insisted and I told them to allocate the plot to my sister Grace. Surprisingly, my sister obtained the plot without any application or money. Worse still, she does not even have a bank account as per requirement.”
Nkhotakota South-East MP, Everson Makowa-Mwale, said he was no longer interested in the plot allocated to him as there was no transparency and accountability in allocating of plots at the aerodrome.
“I was surprised a plot was assigned to me because I did not present all important documents such as bank statements. I would like to have my name deleted because there was no transparency and accountability,” he said.
Makowa-Mwale further said that the principal secretary (PS) for Ministry of Transport and Public Works showed ignorance on the matter and wondered whether the council had a valid ownership document of he airfield.
Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development PS Chris Kang’ombe, who attended the meeting, said there was no evidence that the Department of Civil Aviation surrendered the land to the council.
He also told the council that there was need for ministries of Transport and Public Works, Lands, Housing and Urban Development and, Local Government to work together and help the council follow right procedure for land ownership and distribution.
In his remarks, Nkhotakota District Council chairperson Manfred Kanjiwa commended the idea of starting all over again, saying the plot allocation committee sidelined the councillors.
On his part, Nkhotakota district commissioner Felix Mkandawire said all the procedures were done through authority from the district council.
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Ivy Luhanga said the council skipped important procedures. She said the council was supposed to have a draft layout plan designed and presented to the ministry as per request before everything was done.