Vuwa clarifies Atupele not at fault, Livimbo not sold: ACB says no probe

Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Symon Vuwa Kaunda  has exonerated former minister Atupele Muluzi over the Livimbo government school land saga, saying he was never apportioned blame to him, insisting the plot has not been sold.

Vuwa Kaunda said the school in Lilongwe has not bee sold as widely speculated and that in any event he did not fault Muluzi.

The issue of ownership of the Livimbo School land came to light during a meeting between Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament and a Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development delegation when Lilongwe City South West legislator Nancy Tembo said the public school was sold.

The revelation stirred a furore on social media networks as Ministry of Lands, Princiapl Secretary  Joseph Mwandidya admitted the ministry was infested with rot.

Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development has since  busted a parallel ‘Lands Office’ in Lilongwe which transacted and sold plots with counterfeit documents. Seven suspects were arrested in connection with the dubious ‘Lands Office’.

Meanwhile, Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) has clarified that that United Democratic Front (UDF) leader Atupele Muluzi is not going to be investigated over the land issue there is no reasonable suspicious linking him to any wrong doing.

Muluzi was briefly the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development in 2017. In the same year Anna Kachikho was also Minister of Lands.

But while the graft-busting body is not targetting Muluzi,  ACB senior public relations officer, Egrita Ndala, assured that the bureau will not draw parameters in its  land grab probe

Ndala said there will be no sacred cows in the land-gate investigations.

“Of course, we are not a position to tell who we are investigating. But let me assure the public that ACB will not set parameters in our investigations. Anyone involved in the land-gate will be pursued. So, I would like to appeal to the public to exercise some patience while we do our work,” Ndala said.

The young Muluzi is currently in China as visiting scholar at Peking University after losing his Machinga North East parliamentary seat in May 2019.