Parliament sets 2 weeks for Livimbo inquiry
Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani Hara says Parliament has launched an inquiry into the encroachment and alleged sale of Livimbo Primary School and other related controversial land deals.
The Speaker said in an interview yesterday said Parliament will roll out the inquiry from December 9 to 19, adding three committees have been entrusted with the task.
Said Gotani-Hara: “Parliament has set up a joint committee comprising of three committees namely; Legal Affairs, Education and Transport and Public infrastructure to inquire about a number of issues on public land, including the Livimbo issue.”
She however, said they are still consulting on how to conduct the inquiry.
Legal Affairs Committee chairperson Kezzie Msukwa has since confirmed the invitation by the Speaker but did not shed more light on which stakeholders they will be calling.
He said: “I can confirm that three committees will be involved in the inquiry which will start from 9th to 19th of December, there are so many issues we need to explore.”
Lilongwe City South West legislator Nancy Tembo disclosed the Livimbo land sell during a Legal Affairs Committee meeting with ministry officials in October this year.
The revelation stirred a debate on social media and other circles after The Nation published the issue, and Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Principal Secretary Joseph Mwandidya admitted that some of its officers were involved in illegal land dealings.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has since instituted a probe into the alleged sale of the school.
Meanwhile, Irfan Mohamed Patel and Ahmed Yajub Laheri have threatened to sue government over part of Livimbo Primary School land which they are accused of encroaching.
While admitting that Livimbo School was encroached, Minister of Lands and Urban Development Symon Vuwa Kaunda, who has since toured the school three times, insisted that government did not sell the school.
He, however, admitted the existence of a parrallel lands office in his ministry.
Kaunda said Laheri has encroached 6.1 metres into the school premises, ordering him to comply or risk having his property destroyed.
However, Laheri has maintained that it is the school that encroached his land and said he would take legal action to challenge government claim.
Laheri insisted that he bought the land and has valid papers which he is ready to prove in court.
Controversial land deals are not new in Malawi and many people, including prominent and high-ranking government officials, have previously been duped.
The minister lost about K1.4 million through the dubious deal.
A month ago, Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development busted a parallel lands office in Lilongwe which transacted and sold plots with counterfeit documents. Seven suspects were arrested in connection with the dubious office.
