Tikwere House was torched—ACB

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has disclosed that it has evidence that the fire at Tikwere House at City Centre in Lilongwe in May last year was a deliberate ploy by some people to conceal information.

The building which houses several government offices, including the Ministry of Lands’ Land Registry and the Government Contracting Unit under the Office of the President and Cabinet, became the focal point of an investigation.

ACB acting director general Hilary Chilomba disclosed that the bureau is pursuing cases related to the fire incident.

He spoke in an interview in Lilongwe on Thursday on the sidelines of a public lecture he presented at Natural Resources College (NRC) titled ‘Corruption in the Land Sector’.

Said Chilomba: “That fire was deliberate and the people tried to conceal evidence. There are some cases we are pursuing of some people who own property like houses and they wanted to destroy evidence at the Lands Registry. But we still have the electronic records of all the information so we will still get the culprits.”

While the acting DG did not disclose the identities of the suspects and the status of the investigations, he said the graft- busting body is closing in on the suspects.

The fire primarily impacted the sixth and seventh floors of the building.

In his public lecture, Chilomba acknowledged that corruption is plaguing the country’s land administration and stressed the urgent need to address the issue.

He revealed that there are numerous corruption-related files on his desk, underscoring the gravity of the problem.

He said: “The system is marred with corruption, as aspiring land officers, you must be aware of the dangers posed by corrupt practices.”

In his remarks, acting director of NRC, a second campus of Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources Patsani Kumambala said 256 students are pursuing a diploma in land administration and 34 aspiring land registrars are set to complete their courses next week.

On her part, Land Registrars president Bashira Kananji, who is also Machinga Machinga District land registrar acknowledged that the positions are vital for national development but also susceptible to various forms of corruption.