Kamlepo insists lands ministry he is heading the ‘most corrupt’ in Malawi

Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Kamlepo Kalua has maintained that he  is heading  a ministry  which is infested with corruption  and that land  is being allocated to foreigners with Malawians taken out of the system.

Kalua said he is heading “the most corrupt ministry in the country” fraught with “parallel structures” that facilitates corrupt practices.

But  Kalua,  who was appointed minister of lands in March 2020  – formerly held by Symon Vuwa Kaunda –  has warned he will  crackdown on dubius land, plot sales syndicate.

The ministry is never short of controversy when it comes to land sales mainly in cities and towns, with corrupt practices taking center stage.

Kalua, who has been a fierce critic of government on corruption, has further threatened to confiscate all land and plots that were sold illegally and those deemed to be associated with corruption.

Recently, the sale of a government school, Livimbo secondary in Area 2 to Malawians of Asian origin and encroachment on government land in Area 9 opposite Crossroads Hotel took center stage as ministry officials were accused of corruption.

About six plots have also been confirmed sold but the proceeds did not go to the Malawi Government Account Number One.

The six confirmed plots are Area 47/1219 reportedly sold at K300 million and Area 43/ 999, Area 43/998, Area 43/995, Area 43/994 and Area 43/993 which went at K50 million each.

The ministry also busted a parallel ‘Lands Office’ in Lilongwe which transacted and sold plots with counterfeit documents.

Issues of land scams are not new in Malawi as many people, including Cabinet ministers and high-ranking government officials have previously been duped.

In 2018, former minister of Lands Vuwa Kaunda, then serving as one of President Peter Mutharika’s advisers, was duped about K1.4 million in a fake plot allocation by one Felix Mangani who posed as controller of Lands.

Vuwa Kaunda and other officials made deposits to an NBS Bank current account number 14411631 under the name of G. Kaunga, the suspected fraudster.