Police have this morning demolished houses that were built by encroachers in Mzuzu on private land. The encroachers who include Malawi Congress party officials according to Zodiak online, were crying on the site claiming they have proper papers.
This demolition comes barely a week after the High court in Blantyre granted an injunction evicting Malawi Housing tenants from houses Malawi housing built on private land in Ngumbe in Blantyre belonging to Costa and Samantha Scordis.
In Court the Scordis Family is asking the court order demolition of the 65 illegally constructed houses.
There was drama at Ngumbe in Blantyre where Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC) tenants were being evicted from their houses which the parastatal organisation constructed on the alleged private land.
Several families are expected to be chased out of the 65 two-bedroom semi-detached houses which MHC built with a K3.5 billion bank loan on a freehold farming land belonging to the family of Costas and Samantha Scordis.
MHC management ignored professional advice not to proceed with the housing project due to ownership issues forcing the Scordis family to drag the corporation to court in 2018.
Lawyer Kuleza Phokoso is representing the Scordis family.
The 65 houses risk demolition because in court the Scordis family is demanding the financially struggling MHC and its agents to remove any structures built on the 53 hectares piece of land and if they do not remove Scordis would demolish and remove all such structures at the cost of the MHC.
There was no immediate comment from MHC as both its acting chief executive officer Jordan Chipatala and public relations officer (PRO) Ernestina Lunguzi did not pick up their phones.
However Government through the Minister of Lands Kezzie Msukwa and Abida Mia and Titus Mvalo are said to have intervened to negotiate an out of court settlement with the Scordis family to avoid the demolition of the houses.
Tenants say they feel unsafe as any day they will be chased and the houses demolished even if it takes time.
(Report by Viweme Kumwenda)
